双语有声阅读：英国人的保守

Conservatism refers to the acceptance of anything familiar and refusal of anything strange or foreign.There are numerous facts that tell the conservatism of the Englishmen.

 

The monarchy¹ as nominal² head of the state still exists in the highly developed capitalist country.

 

The national anthem³ was, is and will be in the near 1000 years the old “God Save the King (or Queen)”.

 

English judges as usual wear long wigs⁴ in law courts, as shown in many films shot in Hong Kong.(As a colony of the British Empire, Hong Kong was once forced to adopt the British legal system.)

 

Despite the fact that the feudal⁵ class is a term of only history significance,

noble titles are conferred on distinguished⁶ persons, who would accept the titles as something of the greatest honor.

 

Many Englishmen still spend lots of money keeping dummy⁷ fireplaces that are of no value at all,although their rooms are heated by gas or electric fire. They find it difficult to say goodbye to the past.

 

As the first country to complete the industrial revolution, Britain refused to introduce decimal system until 1971.Pence, shilling, pound and inch, foot, yard... all these are hard to be forgotten.

 

English people are always suspicious of any new plans of the government.Today they are still doubtful of the Europe integration⁸ plan,thus they are reluctant to allow pound to be integrated into Euro Dollars.

 

Never talk about any kind of reform to an Englishman, he would surely be silent and keep away from you!

 

保守是指一种乐于接受熟悉的东西、而拒绝陌生或新奇亊物的心态。有很多的事实可以证明英国人是多么的保守：在这样一个高度发达的资本主义国家，君主作为国家名义上的统治者而仍然存在。

 

英国的国歌过去是、现在是、也许再过1000年还是那首古老的“上帝拯救国王（或女王）”。

 

正如在香港拍摄的许多电影里所看到的那样，英国的法官在法庭上依然戴着长长的假发。（香港曾经作为英国的殖民地 而被迫采用英国的法律制度。）

 

虽然在亊实上，封建阶级早已成为历史意义上的专用名词，但是英国仍绐声名显赫的人授予贵族封号，而他们也把这种封号视作莫大的荣黉。

 

虽然许多英国人的房子早就用暖气或者电暖器取暖了，但是他们还在大把大把地花费金钱去保养毫无价值的仿制壁炉。对他们而言，和过去吿别难上加难。

 

作为世界上第一个完成工业革命的国家，英国直到1971年还柜绝采用十进制。便士、先令、英镑，英寸、英尺、码……这些实在让他们难以忘怀。

 

英国人对政府制定的任何新政策总是持怀疑态度。直到今天,他们对欧洲的统一计划仍然心存疑虑。因而,他们不愿意把 英镑纳入欧元计划之中。

 

千万别跟英国人谈论任何种类的改革——对此他们必定会沉默不语，并对你避而远之！

1 monarchy   

n.君主，最高统治者；君主政体，君主国

参考例句：

• The monarchy in England plays an important role in British culture.英格兰的君主政体在英国文化中起重要作用。
• The power of the monarchy in Britain today is more symbolical than real.今日英国君主的权力多为象徵性的，无甚实际意义。

2 nominal   

adj.名义上的；(金额、租金)微不足道的

参考例句：

• The king was only the nominal head of the state. 国王只是这个国家名义上的元首。
• The charge of the box lunch was nominal.午餐盒饭收费很少。

3 anthem   

n.圣歌，赞美诗，颂歌

参考例句：

• All those present were standing solemnly when the national anthem was played.奏国歌时全场肃立。
• As he stood on the winner's rostrum,he sang the words of the national anthem.他站在冠军领奖台上，唱起了国歌。

4 wigs   

n.假发，法官帽( wig的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They say that wigs will be coming in again this year. 据说今年又要流行戴假发了。 来自辞典例句
• Frank, we needed more wigs than we thought, and we have to do some advertising. 弗兰克，因为我们需要更多的假发，而且我们还要做点广告。 来自电影对白

5 feudal   

adj.封建的，封地的，领地的

参考例句：

• Feudal rulers ruled over the country several thousand years.封建统治者统治这个国家几千年。
• The feudal system lasted for two thousand years in China.封建制度在中国延续了两千年之久。

6 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

7 dummy   

n.假的东西；(哄婴儿的)橡皮奶头

参考例句：

• The police suspect that the device is not a real bomb but a dummy.警方怀疑那个装置不是真炸弹，只是一个假货。
• The boys played soldier with dummy swords made of wood.男孩们用木头做的假木剑玩打仗游戏。

8 integration   

n.一体化，联合，结合

参考例句：

• We are working to bring about closer political integration in the EU.我们正在努力实现欧盟內部更加紧密的政治一体化。
• This was the greatest event in the annals of European integration.这是欧洲统一史上最重大的事件。