【英语听和读】明星

 Amber¹: Hello, I’m Amber and you’re listening to bbclearningenglish.com

In Entertainment today, we find out why pop stars are the new fashion

designers – in other words, why there’s a trend for pop stars to start their own

clothing labels or brands. For example, the drummer with the chart-topping

band The Arctic Monkeys has just launched a line of leisure wear, and this

follows designs launched by Madonna a short while ago.

Here’s the first part of an interview with Lisa Armstrong, the fashion editor of

the Times newspaper. She says this trend is an obvious, ‘a blatant²’, move by

pop stars to make money! But it’s also an attempt, ‘a stab’, at staying famous

for longer! ‘To get a bit of longevity³’ – ‘longevity’ here means the length of

someone’s career. And for the model Kate Moss⁴, launching her own clothing

label is a sensible next move, it’s ‘a logical step’.

As you listen, try to catch the expression Lisa uses to describe how the stars of

today are smarter than pop musicians in the 90s - when it comes to making

money from fashion - because they are marketing⁵ their own designs, not those

of big, established designers.

Lisa Armstrong

‘Yeah, I mean, it’s clearly a blatant attempt to make money – why not?! But I think also, for

some of them, it’s a stab to get a bit of longevity, you know, careers are very short, and for

someone like Kate Moss, in particular, it’s a logical step. I think also in the ‘90s, musicians

traditionally got friendly with Versace or Armani – got free clothes, sat in the front row – now

they’re just cutting out the middle-man!’

Amber: Did you catch it? Lisa says that pop stars today are ‘cutting out the middleman’

– they are marketing their clothes directly to their audiences. To cut out

the middle-man. Listen again. 

Entertainment © BBC Learning English 2007

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bbclearningenglish.com

Lisa Armstrong

‘Yeah, I mean, it’s clearly a blatant attempt to make money – why not?! But I think also, for

some of them, it’s a stab to get a bit of longevity, you know, careers are very short, and for

someone like Kate Moss, in particular, it’s a logical step. I think also in the ‘90s, musicians

traditionally got friendly with Versace or Armani – got free clothes, sat in the front row – now

they’re just cutting out the middle-man!’

Amber: Next, Lisa talks about Madonna’s range of clothes for the high-street store H &

M. She isn’t impressed – she says the range was ‘a bit of a flop⁶’, a bit of a

failure. She says what fans wanted was the outrageous⁷, the ‘camp’, kind of

clothes that Madonna wore on stage – ‘conical bras’, for example, bras shaped

like ice-cream cones⁸! But according to Lisa, the clothes were ‘period’, a polite

way of saying old-fashioned! They were ‘mum-sy’, they were like the kind of

safe, frumpy clothes a mother, who was not fashion-conscious, would wear.

Listen.

Lisa Armstrong

‘I think when it doesn’t work … I mean, Madonna’s line for H & M was a bit of a flop

because we wanted conical bras, we wanted all that camp, fabulous⁹ Madonna, and what we

actually got was late, period, mum-sy Madonna, and that doesn’t tie in with the H & M

customer.’

Amber: Did you catch the expression ‘to tie in with’ – meaning to match? According to

Lisa, Madonna’s ‘line’ of clothes was not the kind of clothes the young women

who shop at H & M wanted to buy.

Lisa Armstrong

‘I think when it doesn’t work … I mean, Madonna’s line for H & M was a bit of a flop

because we wanted conical bras, we wanted all that camp, fabulous Madonna, and what we

actually got was late, period, mum-sy Madonna, and that doesn’t tie in with the H & M

customer.’

Amber: Now here’s a list of the language we focussed on in the programme today.

 

Entertainment © BBC Learning English 2007

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bbclearningenglish.com

a blatant attempt to make money – an obvious attempt to make money

a stab to get a bit of longevity – an attempt to make your career last longer

to cut out the middle-man – to sell directly to your customers

a bit of a flop – a bit of a failure

camp – outrageous

mum-sy – old-fashioned, safe, frumpy

to tie in with – to match 

1 amber   

n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的

参考例句：

• Would you like an amber necklace for your birthday?你过生日想要一条琥珀项链吗？
• This is a piece of little amber stones.这是一块小小的琥珀化石。

2 blatant   

adj.厚颜无耻的；显眼的；炫耀的

参考例句：

• I cannot believe that so blatant a comedy can hoodwink anybody.我无法相信这么显眼的一出喜剧能够欺骗谁。
• His treatment of his secretary was a blatant example of managerial arrogance.他管理的傲慢作风在他对待秘书的态度上表露无遗。

3 longevity   

n.长命；长寿

参考例句：

• Good habits promote longevity.良好的习惯能增长寿命。
• Human longevity runs in families.人类的长寿具有家族遗传性。

4 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

5 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

6 flop   

n.失败(者)，扑通一声；vi.笨重地行动，沉重地落下

参考例句：

• The fish gave a flop and landed back in the water.鱼扑通一声又跳回水里。
• The marketing campaign was a flop.The product didn't sell.市场宣传彻底失败，产品卖不出去。

7 outrageous   

adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的

参考例句：

• Her outrageous behaviour at the party offended everyone.她在聚会上的无礼行为触怒了每一个人。
• Charges for local telephone calls are particularly outrageous.本地电话资费贵得出奇。

8 cones   

n.（人眼）圆锥细胞；圆锥体( cone的名词复数 )；球果；圆锥形东西；（盛冰淇淋的）锥形蛋卷筒

参考例句：

• In the pines squirrels commonly chew off and drop entire cones. 松树上的松鼠通常咬掉和弄落整个球果。 来自辞典例句
• Many children would rather eat ice cream from cones than from dishes. 许多小孩喜欢吃蛋卷冰淇淋胜过盘装冰淇淋。 来自辞典例句

9 fabulous   

adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的

参考例句：

• We had a fabulous time at the party.我们在晚会上玩得很痛快。
• This is a fabulous sum of money.这是一笔巨款。