听播客学英语 33 我不想在海边

 　　It is September. The summer holidays are over. People have gone back to work. The children have gone back to school. And, when we meet people, often they ask us, “What sort of summer did you have? Did you go anywhere nice?”

　　How do we reply? Perhaps we say, “Oh, we went to Spain for a fortnight.”

　　Or, “We went climbing in Scotland.”

　　Or, “We didn’t go anywhere. We just stayed at home and enjoyed the garden.”

　　Nowdays, many English people go abroad for their holidays. They go to the Mediterranean¹, or even to America. More adventurous² people go walking in the Andes, or sunbathing³ in Thailand, or travelling across India by train, or photographing the wild animals in South Africa.

　　A generation or two ago, it was quite different. Summer holidays meant a week at an English seaside resort (or, if you were unlucky, two weeks at an English seaside resort). Seaside resorts had cheap hotels and boarding-houses where people could stay. They had pubs and cafes and restaurants. They had a promenade⁴ (a “prom”) – a broad road or path beside the sea where you could walk and enjoy the views and the sea air. They had cinemas and theatres, too, to provide amusement in the evenings or when the weather was bad. They had a beach, of course, where you could swim and build sand castles, and there were donkeys on the beach for the children to ride. And many seaside resorts had a pier⁵, which ran out into the sea. The piers⁶ had cafes, and amusement arcades⁷, and shops where you could buy postcards and souvenirs, and a place where small boys could fish for crabs⁸.

　　But then things changed. People had more money. And the cost of travelling by air fell dramatically. So English people started to travel further afield for their holidays. They found that they preferred places where it was always hot and sunny in the summer. Instead of eating fish and chips in the cold and rain in England, they decided⁹ that it was better to eat fish and chips in the sunshine in Spain.

　　The old English seaside resorts declined. They became seedy and run-down. Many of the hotels and boarding houses closed, or became homes for people on social security benefits. The lidos (the open-air swimming pools) where the children used to swim became filled with empty beer cans and crisp packets. And, worst of all, in several resorts, the piers were destroyed by the sea or by fire.

　　Today there are some signs that things are changing. Because of the economic recession, more people are taking their holidays at home instead of travelling abroad. The newspapers have invented a new word – “staycation” – for staying at home for your holiday, or your “vacation” as they call it in America. Some of the old seaside resorts have tried hard to make themselves more attractive to modern visitors. In the old days, people arrived at a seaside resort by train and stayed for a week. Modern visitors arrive by car, and many of them stay only for a day. However, people still want to sit on the beach and enjoy the sea, and small girls with pink bicycles still want to cycle up and down the promenade. So local authorities have repaired some of the crumbling¹⁰ facilities, and cleared away the litter and cleaned the beaches. New restaurants and cafes have opened. In Weston-super-mare, which is Birmingham’s favourite seaside resort, they have even built a new pier.

　　To finish, here is a song about the seaside which was very popular a hundred years ago. It is sung by Florrie Ford¹¹, who was a famous music hall singer. She made this recording¹² in 1909. You can find the words on the website, and you will see that the songwriter wanted to use the word “beside” as many times as possible!

　　Oh! I do like to be beside the seaside

　　I do like to be beside the sea!

　　I do like to be upon the Prom, Prom, Prom!

　　Where the brass¹³ bands play:

　　“Tiddely-om-pom-pom!”

　　So just let me be beside the seaside

　　I’ll be beside myself with glee

　　And there’s lots of girls beside,

　　I should like to be beside

　　Beside the seaside!

　　Beside the sea!

1 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

2 adventurous   

adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的　

参考例句：

• I was filled with envy at their adventurous lifestyle.我很羨慕他们敢于冒险的生活方式。
• He was predestined to lead an adventurous life.他注定要过冒险的生活。

3 sunbathing   

n.日光浴

参考例句：

• tourists sunbathing on the beach 在海滩上沐浴着阳光的游客
• We've been sunbathing on the beach. 我们一直在海滩上晒日光浴。

4 promenade   

n./v.散步

参考例句：

• People came out in smarter clothes to promenade along the front.人们穿上更加时髦漂亮的衣服，沿着海滨散步。
• We took a promenade along the canal after Sunday dinner.星期天晚饭后我们沿着运河散步。

5 pier   

n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱

参考例句：

• The pier of the bridge has been so badly damaged that experts worry it is unable to bear weight.这座桥的桥桩破损厉害，专家担心它已不能负重。
• The ship was making towards the pier.船正驶向码头。

6 piers   

n.水上平台( pier的名词复数 )；（常设有娱乐场所的）突堤；柱子；墙墩

参考例句：

• Most road bridges have piers rising out of the vally. 很多公路桥的桥墩是从河谷里建造起来的。 来自辞典例句
• At these piers coasters and landing-craft would be able to discharge at all states of tide. 沿岸航行的海船和登陆艇，不论潮汐如何涨落，都能在这种码头上卸载。 来自辞典例句

7 arcades   

n.商场( arcade的名词复数 )；拱形走道（两旁有商店或娱乐设施）；连拱廊；拱形建筑物

参考例句：

• Clothes are on sale in several shopping arcades these days. 近日一些服装店的服装正在大减价。 来自轻松英语会话---联想4000词(下)
• The Plaza Mayor, with its galleries and arcades, is particularly impressive. 市长大厦以其别具风格的走廊和拱廊给人留下十分深刻的印象。 来自互联网

8 crabs   

n.蟹( crab的名词复数 )；阴虱寄生病；蟹肉v.捕蟹( crab的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• As we walked along the seashore we saw lots of tiny crabs. 我们在海岸上散步时看到很多小蟹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The fish and crabs scavenge for decaying tissue. 鱼和蟹搜寻腐烂的组织为食。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 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。

10 crumbling   

adj.摇摇欲坠的

参考例句：

• an old house with crumbling plaster and a leaking roof 一所灰泥剥落、屋顶漏水的老房子
• The boat was tied up alongside a crumbling limestone jetty. 这条船停泊在一个摇摇欲坠的石灰岩码头边。

11 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

12 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

13 brass   

n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器

参考例句：

• Many of the workers play in the factory's brass band.许多工人都在工厂铜管乐队中演奏。
• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。