英语访谈对话 268 The Prize

 　　Ian: Hey, Ian, have you ever met anyone famous?

　　Todd: Anyone famous? Ah, yes, I have. I met the Duke of Edinburgh.

　　Ian: Mm, who's that?

　　Todd: He is the Queen's husband and I met him at Buckingham Palace.

　　Ian: How did that happen?

　　Todd: Well, it was because I received an award.

　　Ian: What kind of an award?

　　Todd: The award was called the Duke of Edinburgh Award and I completed the bronze award, the silveraward, and the gold award, and if you complete all three, then you can go to Buckingham Palace and he gives you your award.

　　Ian: The award is for what kind of job?

　　Todd: OK, well it's for young people between the ages of, I think it's 14 to 21, but I'm not quite sure,and you have to do different challenges for each award. Now, for the gold award you had to do community service, and I visited an old man. I had to do a sport and I played badminton. You had to do an expedition, and we went hiking in the Breton Beacons¹ in Wales for five days and you had to do a skill and I did driving and you had to do each one for a year.

　　Ian: So what was it like getting the award?

　　Todd: Um, it was exciting and disappointing at the same time because my friends and I, we were waiting at Buckingham Palace for quite a long time and we had all our best clothes on: our ties, our shirts, ourtrousers. We had very clean shoes. It was quite hot and we were waiting and we were waiting and in camethe Duke of Edinburgh. and he gave us our award. He asked us maybe one question each and then he went, so we only actually met him for about five minutes.

　　Ian: So it wasn't the most exciting time, meeting him a famous person.

　　Todd: No, he was a very busy man, but you know, I shook his hand, and that was it, but it was nice to seeBuckingham Palace and it was a good day out in London.

　　Ian: Sounds like it.

1 beacons   

灯塔( beacon的名词复数 )； 烽火； 指路明灯； 无线电台或发射台

参考例句：

• A chain of beacons was lit across the region. 整个地区点起了一系列灯塔。
• Lighthouse and beacons flash at night. 晚上灯塔与信号台闪着光。