2022年经济学人 BBC成立100周年：未知的前景(2)

To justify¹ the imposition of an annual licence fee, BBC programming has always had to offer a combination of popularity and piety².

为了证明征收年度订阅费是合理行为，BBC必须一直提供受欢迎且虔诚的节目。

Television, which currently takes 55% of the ￡159 fee, has always tended to provide the popularity.

英国广播公司电视台从159亿英镑的会员费中收取55%，一直以来都倾向于提供流行节目。

In the 1970s the comic double act of Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise won audiences of over 20m.

20世纪70年代，埃里克·莫克坎贝和厄尼·怀斯的喜剧双人秀获得了超过2000万观众。

Today, "Strictly³ Come Dancing", a game show, gets ratings of 7m.

如今，竞赛节目《舞动奇迹》获得了700万收视率。

Radio tends to do the piety.

广播往往是虔诚的。

The World Service broadcasts in 42 languages to 492m people.

BBC世界电视台以42种语言为4.92亿人进行广播。

Radio 3 offers programmes with such titles as "Discovering Music: Monteverdi Madrigals".

广播第三台提供类似《探索音乐：蒙特威尔第牧歌》的节目。

Radio 4 offers the implausibly wholesome⁴ "In Our Time".

广播第四台播放非常益于道德培养的《我们的时代》。

Recent episodes have included "Hegel's Philosophy of History", "The Hittites" and "Tang Era Poetry".

最近的剧集还包括《黑格尔的历史哲学》、《赫梯人》和《唐代诗歌》。

The common man has not always been grateful for the BBC's efforts.

普通人并不都对BBC的努力心存感激。

A 1950s sketch⁵ show described the BBC as a "part of the English heritage. Like suet pudding and catarrh".

20世纪50年代的一档小品节目将BBC描述为“英国遗产的一部分。就像羊油布丁和黏膜炎。”。

But the BBC mattered.

但BBC很重要。

Its news (despite grumbles⁶ about lefty bias) was trusted, its radio all but loved.

它的新闻(尽管有人抱怨其有左翼倾向)受到信任，它的广播受人喜爱。

For Britons of a certain age not only the outspread century but humdrum⁷ daily life itself was, like a bourgeois⁸ Book of Hours, measured out by its tread: breakfast with "Today", supper after "The Archers⁹" and insomnia¹⁰ with the shipping¹¹ forecast, whose litany of names "North Utsire, South Utsire, Forties, Cromarty..."

对于某个年龄段的英国人来说，BBC就像一本资产阶级的祈祷书，漫长的世纪和单调的日常生活都在它的陪伴中度过：早餐时收听《今日》，《阿彻家族》后享用晚餐，失眠时伴随的海上天气预报，和一连串的地名——北尤伊斯特岛，南尤伊斯特岛，福尔蒂斯，克罗默蒂……

- was as unintelligible¹² as a religious chant and, to many, as comforting.

——对许多人来说，它们就像宗教圣歌一样难以理解，但宽慰人心。

Now that bond is breaking.

现在，这种纽带正在破裂。

Smartphones and streaming have switched off communal¹³ tvs and radios.

智能手机和流媒体已经关闭了公共电视和收音机的功能。

Programmes are consumed individually, and at will.

节目是独立收费且自愿的。

The particular blend of serendipity¹⁴ and boredom¹⁵ that led people to watch "Antiques Roadshow", or to listen to the wind forecast for the Faroe Islands, has gone.

因为巧合和无聊生活的神秘指引而观看《巡回鉴宝》或收听法罗群岛风向预报的情况，已经不复存在了。

Mr. Hendy observes that the BBC was born with an "umbilical link" to radio.

亨迪先生发现，BBC生来就与广播有着“脐带式联系”。

The technology, it turns out, wasn't there to serve the BBC; the BBC served the technology: the medium was the message.

事实证明，不是技术在服务BBC，而是BBC在为技术服务：信息是其中的媒介。

In its triumphant¹⁶ first century, the BBC forgot this.

在其取得胜利的第一个百年，BBC忘记了这一点。

It is now being painfully reminded of it.

现在，它痛苦地回想起了这一切。

The message from the era of smartphones is brutal¹⁷.

智能手机时代的教训是残酷的。

Viewing figures among the young have collapsed¹⁸; in a typical week, a fifth of 16- to 34-year-olds consume no BBC content at all.

BBC在年轻人之间的收视率大幅下降；按一周的时间计算，16岁至34岁的人中有五分之一根本不看BBC节目。

There is a sense that the BBC doesn't do enough to justify itself: it can cover a state funeral beautifully but it is increasingly irrelevant¹⁹ to many.

BBC好像没有努力改变形象：它可以完美地报道国葬，但对许多人来说，它越来越无关紧要。

Too few shows are "Strictly" style hits; too many are tosh.

没有几个节目像“舞动奇迹”一样热门；大多数节目都在胡说八道。

At a time when it needs to prove its worth, it has cut World Service jobs.

在需要证明自己价值的重要时期，BBC削减了世界电视台的工作岗位。

Catastrophe²⁰ is unlikely, but decline of some sort probable.

大灾难不太可能发生，但某种程度的衰退可能会出现。

The end of the BBC's first century has a less than celebratory feel.

BBC第一个百年的到来并不太让人欢欣鼓舞。

1 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

2 piety   

n.虔诚，虔敬

参考例句：

• They were drawn to the church not by piety but by curiosity.他们去教堂不是出于虔诚而是出于好奇。
• Experience makes us see an enormous difference between piety and goodness.经验使我们看到虔诚与善意之间有着巨大的区别。

3 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

4 wholesome   

adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的

参考例句：

• In actual fact the things I like doing are mostly wholesome.实际上我喜欢做的事大都是有助于增进身体健康的。
• It is not wholesome to eat without washing your hands.不洗手吃饭是不卫生的。

5 sketch   

n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述

参考例句：

• My sister often goes into the country to sketch. 我姐姐常到乡间去写生。
• I will send you a slight sketch of the house.我将给你寄去房屋的草图。

6 grumbles   

抱怨( grumble的第三人称单数 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声

参考例句：

• He grumbles at his lot instead of resolutely facing his difficulties. 他不是果敢地去面对困难，而是抱怨自己运气不佳。
• I'm sick of your unending grumbles. 我对你的不断埋怨感到厌烦。

7 humdrum   

adj.单调的，乏味的

参考例句：

• Their lives consist of the humdrum activities of everyday existence.他们的生活由日常生存的平凡活动所构成。
• The accountant said it was the most humdrum day that she had ever passed.会计师说这是她所度过的最无聊的一天。

8 bourgeois   

adj./n.追求物质享受的(人)；中产阶级分子

参考例句：

• He's accusing them of having a bourgeois and limited vision.他指责他们像中产阶级一样目光狭隘。
• The French Revolution was inspired by the bourgeois.法国革命受到中产阶级的鼓励。

9 archers   

n.弓箭手，射箭运动员( archer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The next evening old Mr. Sillerton Jackson came to dine with the Archers. 第二天晚上，西勒顿？杰克逊老先生来和阿切尔家人一起吃饭。 来自辞典例句
• Week of Archer: Double growth for Archers and Marksmen. 射手周：弓箭手与弩手（人类）产量加倍。 来自互联网

10 insomnia   

n.失眠，失眠症

参考例句：

• Worries and tenseness can lead to insomnia.忧虑和紧张会导致失眠。
• He is suffering from insomnia.他患失眠症。

11 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

12 unintelligible   

adj.无法了解的，难解的，莫明其妙的

参考例句：

• If a computer is given unintelligible data, it returns unintelligible results.如果计算机得到的是难以理解的数据，它给出的也将是难以理解的结果。
• The terms were unintelligible to ordinary folk.这些术语一般人是不懂的。

13 communal   

adj.公有的，公共的，公社的，公社制的

参考例句：

• There was a communal toilet on the landing for the four flats.在楼梯平台上有一处公共卫生间供4套公寓使用。
• The toilets and other communal facilities were in a shocking state.厕所及其他公共设施的状况极其糟糕。

14 serendipity   

n.偶然发现物品之才能；意外新发现

参考例句：

• "It was serendipity all the way,"he says.用他的话说是“一直都很走运”。
• Some of the best effects in my garden have been the result of serendipity.我园子里最珍贵的几件物品是机缘巧合之下意外所得。

15 boredom   

n.厌烦，厌倦，乏味，无聊

参考例句：

• Unemployment can drive you mad with boredom.失业会让你无聊得发疯。
• A walkman can relieve the boredom of running.跑步时带着随身听就不那么乏味了。

16 triumphant   

adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的

参考例句：

• The army made a triumphant entry into the enemy's capital.部队胜利地进入了敌方首都。
• There was a positively triumphant note in her voice.她的声音里带有一种极为得意的语气。

17 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

18 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

19 irrelevant   

adj.不恰当的，无关系的，不相干的

参考例句：

• That is completely irrelevant to the subject under discussion.这跟讨论的主题完全不相关。
• A question about arithmetic is irrelevant in a music lesson.在音乐课上，一个数学的问题是风马牛不相及的。

20 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。