Slow London

BBC¹ Learning² EnglishLondon LifeSlow LondonJackie:  Hello you're listening to BBC LearningEnglish, with me Jackie Dalton,and this is London Life.
　　(sfx)Many people love the excitement of living in a big citysuch as London. But for others, things happen a bit toofast – people seem busy and stressed³ all the time. A groupcalled 'Slow London' wants everyone to slow down and takesome time to relax. Perhaps you could walk to work one dayinstead of driving. Or when you buy a newspaper, take thetime to have a friendly chat with the newsagent. But whatdo people living in London think about all this? Is life inthe capital really too fast?
　　ClipLondon Life probably is a bit fast, yeah, walking down thestreet, rushing to work, getting on the tube⁴, constantlybeing busy…yeah, I would say it's too fast compared toother cities.
　　Jackie:  She thinks it is a bit fast. She talkedabout people rushing to work. To'rush' somewhere is to go there very quickly.
　　Clip…rushing to workJackie:  Rushing to work – something I do everymorning. Maybe I should stop and have a coffee on the wayin… I'm sure my boss won't mind if I'm a bit late. Whatdoes this girl think about the speed of life in London?
　　ClipIf you can't cut it in this city, you should leave!
　　Jackie:  Ooh, harsh⁵ words! 'If you can't cut it, youshould leave!' 'You can't cut it'
　　means⁶ you can't handle it, you're not strong enough to copewith it.
　　ClipI don't think London Life is too fast. If you can't cut itin this city, you should leave!
　　Jackie:  So, perhaps a rather typically Londonmessage from that girl – if you can't cut it in this city,you should leave! Does this man think life in the city istoo fast?
　　ClipSometimes it is, yeah, yes of course it is.
　　Do you ever find yourself trying to slow down?
　　Oh I do, absolutely. I make it a part of my daily scheduleto have a moment of slowing down – I go for a swim.
　　Jackie:  Life in London does sometimes seem too fastfor him. And he makes it part of his daily schedule to slowdown - every day he takes some time to go swimming.
　　ClipI make it a part of my daily schedule to have a moment ofslowing down – I go for a swim.
　　Jackie:  This next person works⁷ in London, but livesin a small village in the countryside. Does she notice abig difference between the two?
　　ClipWell, I find London Life quite fast because I don'tactually live in London – I work in London, I live out inKent, in the countryside so I really notice how differentthe pace is from out in the countryside.
　　Jackie:  She says there's a difference in the pace– 'the pace', the speed of things.
　　The pace in London is faster than in the countryside.
　　ClipI really notice how different the pace is from out in thecountryside.
　　Jackie:  Our next person is originally⁸ from Walesand she also notices the difference in pace.
　　ClipYes, being originally from Wales⁹, it is a lot faster thanlife down there, when I go back it's at a snail's pace. ButI'm young, so I enjoy it here.
　　Jackie:  She says in Wales things seem to go 'at asnail's pace' – very slowly, at about the speed of asnail. She enjoys the faster pace of London.
　　Clip…when I go back it's at a snail's pace. But I'm young, soI enjoy it here.
　　Jackie:  But does she ever feel the need to try andslow down when she's inLondon?
　　ClipYes, I've taken more 'me time' this year – it was one ofmy New Year's resolutions¹⁰ to have more 'me time' becauseyou could do something every night if you wanted to and itwas getting all too much for me.
　　Jackie:  Did you get the answer? Yes. She does tryto slow down. She talks abouttaking more 'me time'. To take 'me time' is an expressionmeaning to spend more time on yourself and relax or dosomething you enjoy – instead of putting all your energyinto work or family or other things you feel you have todo. She says she decided¹¹ she needed more 'me time' becauseit was getting all to much for her – she couldn't copewith it.
　　ClipYes, I've taken more 'me time' this year – it was one ofmy New Year's resolutions to have more 'me time' becauseyou could do something every night if you wanted to and itwas getting all too much for me.
　　Jackie:  This last person has perhaps the mostsimple comment, but to me it rings very true.
　　ClipWell, yes, but once you get used to it, you just think it'snormal.
　　Jackie:  I came from a small mountain village inSwitzerland to live in London about three years ago. Atfirst, the fast pace was all a bit much for me, with peoplerushing around everywhere. But now, I hardly notice it andget very annoyed¹² if my train is more than two minutes late.
　　I've got used to it. That must be a sign I'm turning into areal Londoner.

1 BBC   

abbr.（=British Broadcasting Corporation）英国广播公司

参考例句：

• She works for the BBC.她为英国广播公司工作。
• The BBC was founded in 1922.英国广播公司建于1922年。

2 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

3 stressed   

adj.紧张的，有压力的

参考例句：

• Loud music makes me stressed out.大声的音乐让我很紧张。
• He stressed that we should always be honest.他强调我们应该永远诚实。

4 tube   

n.（英）地铁；管，软管，隧道；vt.把…装管，使通过管子

参考例句：

• You may get to the railway station by tube.你可以乘地铁到火车站。
• Take care not to break the test tube!当心别把试管打碎了！

5 harsh   

adj.严厉（酷）的，刺耳的，刺目的，毛糙的

参考例句：

• The sunlight is very harsh.太阳光很刺眼。
• Although his words are harsh,there is positiveness in them.虽然他的话很苛刻，但有建设性。

6 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

7 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

8 originally   

adv.本来，原来，最初，就起源而论，独创地

参考例句：

• Originally I didn't want to go.我本意不想去。
• After much discussion they settled on the plan originally proposed.他们讨论了很久，然后确定了原来提出的那个计划。

9 Wales   

n.威尔士(在大不列颠岛西南部)

参考例句：

• The company are opening up a new factory in Wales.公司将在威尔士开一家新工厂。
• She teaches English at the University of Wales.她在威尔士大学教英语。

10 resolutions   

n.决心( resolution的名词复数 )；解决；坚决；分解

参考例句：

• He's always making good resolutions but he never carries them out. 他决心经常下得很大，但从不实行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• If she did all these things, maybe-maybe-Elizabeth's resolutions merged into fantasies. 她如果真按照这些做了，也许--也许--伊丽莎白的决心都溶在幻想之中。 来自辞典例句

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

12 annoyed   

adj.烦恼的，恼怒的，生气的，恼火的

参考例句：

• I imagine she was pretty annoyed when she found out.我想她发现此事后一定很生气。
• He was annoyed with complaints made from outside.他因外界的种种怨言而感到烦恼。