【英语听和读】詹姆斯邦德

 Callum: Hello, I'm Callum Robertson and this is Entertainment.

This week sees the release of the 21st Bond film, Casino Royale and it's the

first film to star actor Daniel Craig as the British Secret Service spy 007.

James Bond was the creation of author Ian Fleming who wrote 13 Bond novels

as well as a number of short stories featuring Bond between 1953 and 1964, the

year in which he died. Fleming had worked in intelligence during the Second

World War and this was the background and experience he called upon in his

books.

Ian Fleming was also a keen ornithologist¹, an ornithologist is someone whose

hobby is watching birds, and he wrote most of his books in his house in the

West Indian island of Jamaica. He took the name of the character James Bond,

from the real name of a writer of a book called 'Birds of the West Indies'.

It's one of the many pieces of Bond trivia that in the film Die Another Day the

actor Pierce Brosnan, playing Bond, is seen holding a copy of the book while

pretending to be an ornithologist.

Pierce Brosnan was the fifth actor to play the role of the super spy and as the

actors have had to change over the years, so have the plot lines and stories. 

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The world is a very different place to what is was in 1962 when the first Bond

film Dr. No was released and the films have reflected that and evolved and

reflected contemporary events. Here's writer and critic Kim Newman. How

does he describe the way the Bond movies have dealt with issues from the real

world?

 

Kim Newman

Over the years Bond's dealt with whatever we've dealt with in the real world but in a slightly

inflated², exaggerated way. I'm going back into the books in the 50s, they start dealing³ with

communism, that's the big trouble. In the 1960s it's out of control technological⁴ maniacs⁵ and

we've had a few attempts to do mercenaries, drug dealers⁶, arms dealers, sort of more realistic

villains⁷ and now I suppose we're going to have to look forward to Bond going up against

terrorists.

Callum: He said that the issues of the real world have been dealt with in a slightly

inflated and exaggerated way. An inflated and exaggerated way which means

larger than life, more dramatic than reality. A few of the things mentioned are

communism, technological maniacs – people with advanced technology who

have mad plans to take over the world, technological maniacs. There have also

been attempts in the films to deal with more realistic issues such as drug

dealers, arms dealers, people who sell weapons and mercenaries. A mercenary

is a soldier who works not for a country but for whoever pays him, a hired

soldier – a mercenary. He says that now Bond will have to face the threat of

terrorism. He will have to 'go up against' terrorists. To 'go up against' is a

multi-word verb which means to confront, to challenge and fight, to go up

against. Listen again

Kim Newman

Over the years Bond's dealt with whatever we've dealt with in the real world but in a slightly

inflated, exaggerated way. I'm going back into the books in the 50s, they start dealing with 

Entertainment © BBC Learning English

Page 3 of 3

bbclearningenglish.com

communism, that's the big trouble. In the 1960s it's out of control technological maniacs and

we've had a few attempts to do mercenaries, drug dealers, arms dealers, sort of more realistic

villains and now I suppose we're going to have to look forward to Bond going up against

terrorists.

Callum: Over the years Bond has covered the cold war, the space race, nuclear threats

and dangers connected with the rise of information technology. The films have

become well-known for special effects and special gadgets⁸ – gadgets, tools and

devices that Bond uses like the watch with a laser built in, the invisible car and

exploding toothpaste.

What about the new Bond and the new film? Well I don't know, I haven't had

the chance to see it yet, but from what I've heard it's tougher, more realistic and

there are fewer gadgets. I'm certainly looking forward to catching⁹ it and

hearing a new actor say the immortal¹⁰ line, the name's Bond, James Bond. 

1 ornithologist   

n.鸟类学家

参考例句：

• That area is an ornithologist's paradise.那个地区是鸟类学家的天堂。
• Now I know how an ornithologist feels.现在我知道做为一个鸟类学家的感受了。

2 inflated   

adj.（价格）飞涨的；（通货）膨胀的；言过其实的；充了气的v.使充气（于轮胎、气球等）( inflate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）膨胀；（使）通货膨胀；物价上涨

参考例句：

• He has an inflated sense of his own importance. 他自视过高。
• They all seem to take an inflated view of their collective identity. 他们对自己的集体身份似乎都持有一种夸大的看法。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

4 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

5 maniacs   

n.疯子（maniac的复数形式）

参考例句：

• Hollywood films misrepresented us as drunks, maniacs and murderers. 好莱坞电影把我们歪曲成酒鬼、疯子和杀人凶手。 来自辞典例句
• They're not irrational, potentially homicidal maniacs, to start! 他们不是非理性的，或者有杀人倾向的什么人！ 来自电影对白

6 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

7 villains   

n.恶棍( villain的名词复数 )；罪犯；（小说、戏剧等中的）反面人物；淘气鬼

参考例句：

• The impression of villains was inescapable. 留下恶棍的印象是不可避免的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some villains robbed the widow of the savings. 有几个歹徒将寡妇的积蓄劫走了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

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 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

10 immortal   

adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的

参考例句：

• The wild cocoa tree is effectively immortal.野生可可树实际上是不会死的。
• The heroes of the people are immortal!人民英雄永垂不朽！