The real James Bonds

BBC Learning EnglishLondon LifeThe real James BondsCallum: Hello, I'm Callum Robertson and this is LondonLife.
　　On the banks for the River Thames at a place calledVauxhall there's a verydistinctive building. In the movies this building is thehome of James Bond. In real life? It's also the home ofBritain's Secret Intelligence Service.
　　The new James Bond film Casino Royale is proving verysuccessful at the box office. James Bond is an agent, a spyfor the British Secret service. He famously has a licenseto kill – official permission to kill people. But what isthe job of a real secret service agent? Do they live asexciting and glamorous² a life as James Bond does and dothey have a license¹ to kill?
　　Recently the BBC's Colin Murray had the opportunity tointerview two real secret service officers as they areknown. Because of the job that they do their identitiesremain secret and their voices were electronically changed.
　　Listen to one of the officers now, Officer A, and try tocatch the following information. What is the name of theorganisation they work for, and what is the role of thatorganisation?
　　Officer AWe⁴'re both officers of the secret intelligence servicewhich most people know as MI6 and is indeed theorganisation that James Bond is supposed to work for andit's the organisation³ that collects secret intelligenceoverseas for the British Government which is unlike thesecurityservice, MI5, which is responsible for domestic security inthe UK.
　　London Life  ? BBC Learning EnglishPage 1 of 3bbclearningenglish.comCallum: Did you catch the information? They work for theSecret Intelligence Service,which most commonly known as MI6. Their job is to collectsecret intelligence overseas. In other words they have toget secret information from foreign countries.
　　Officer A and B are operational officers and their job isto recruit sources, to recruit sources, which means theyget people to work for them and give them information. Theofficers explain a little more about their roles.
　　Officers A & BWhat we do is identify individuals who've got, can provide,the intelligence that we need and our job is to establish arelationship with them and then to develop thatrelationship to the point where they are motivated to workwith us and help us.
　　It's basically about finding people and talking to them,communicating with them and encouraging them to help us, tohelp the British government understand and mitigate⁵ thethreats that we all face.
　　Callum: Their jobs are to encourage people to talk to themand give them information. For what reason? To help thegovernment understand and mitigate threats, to understandand mitigate threats. This means they try to getinformation which will help the government stop attacksagainst the country.
　　We've heard what the real officers do, but what about howthey go about it doing it. Do real MI6 officers have, likeJames Bond, a license to kill? Here's Officer AOfficer ANo, it's a complete myth.
　　Callum: No, they don't, it's a complete myth, he says. Acomplete myth, there's no truth in it at all. Officer Agoes on to explain more.
　　Officer ANo, it's a complete myth. I'm sorry, it's good to be ableto say that. The job of the service is to obtainintelligence to inform government policy and to helpprevent, for example, terrorist attacks.
　　In doing that we work under UK law and the work of theservice is overseen⁶ both politically and legally. Sothere's absolutely no room in that for killing⁷ people.
　　Callum: Their work, he says, is overseen politically andlegally. Politicians and lawyers make sure that what theydo is within the law and the law does not allow for killingpeople.
　　So is there anything about the job that is like the filmcharacter James Bond? What about other things like gadgetsand people with letters for their job position. In the Bondfilms the head of the service is known as 'M' and the manwho provides all the gadgets⁸ is 'Q'. Do they exist inreality?
　　Officer AWe don't have an 'M' but we do have a 'C' He is 'C' That'swhat the chief of the service has been called since it wasestablished back in 1909. And we also have a 'Q' figurewhose team is responsible innovative⁹ technology andgimmicks and gadgets and things like that. We do usetechnology and some of it is pretty coolCallum: So 'M' is actually 'C' but 'Q' does exist and isresponsible for gadgets, some of which, he says are prettycool!
　　Well that's all from our short look into the lives of thereal James Bonds. And why did MI6 allow two of theirofficers to be interviewed? Well, they are trying torecruit new members of the service. They even have awebsite if you are interested.

1 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

2 glamorous   

adj.富有魅力的；美丽动人的；令人向往的

参考例句：

• The south coast is less glamorous but full of clean and attractive hotels.南海岸魅力稍逊，但却有很多干净漂亮的宾馆。
• It is hard work and not a glamorous job as portrayed by the media.这是份苦差，并非像媒体描绘的那般令人向往。

3 organisation   

n.组织，安排，团体，有机休

参考例句：

• The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
• His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。

4 awe   

n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧

参考例句：

• The sight filled us with awe.这景色使我们大为惊叹。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

5 mitigate   

vt.（使）减轻，（使）缓和

参考例句：

• The government is trying to mitigate the effects of inflation.政府正试图缓和通货膨胀的影响。
• Governments should endeavour to mitigate distress.政府应努力缓解贫困问题。

6 overseen   

v.监督，监视( oversee的过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was overseen stealing the letters. 他被人撞见在偷信件。 来自辞典例句
• It will be overseen by ThomasLi, director of IBM China Research Laboratory. 该实验室由IBM中国研究院院长李实恭(ThomasLi)引导。 来自互联网

7 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

8 gadgets   

n.小机械，小器具（ gadget的名词复数 ）

参考例句：

• Certainly. The idea is not to have a house full of gadgets. 当然。设想是房屋不再充满小配件。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• This meant more gadgets and more experiments. 这意味着要设计出更多的装置，做更多的实验。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史

9 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。