英语听力精选进阶版 7812

Diarmuid: Hello and welcome to On the Town from BBC Learning English. I’m Diarmuid.

Yang Li: 大家好，欢迎收听今天的都市掠影节目，我是杨莉。

Diarmuid: Li you have heard about Winston Churchill, haven’t you?

Yang Li: Of course! And I love his speeches, "We shall fight on the landing grounds…we shall fight in the hills and we shall never surrender…"

Diarmuid: Hold on, hold on. But how much do you know about other aspects of Churchill?

Yang Li: Well… But that’s why we are visiting the very museum dedicated¹ to this great man.

Diarmuid: We were warmly received by the director of the museum, Phil Read:

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People either know or sometimes just think they know about Churchill, but what they know about is almost exclusively about his period during his prime minister-ship from 1940-45. The other parts of his life are generally less well known and in some cases totally unknown. For instance it’s not widely known that Churchill won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1953. There are so many other aspects of Churchill’s life which are very prominent, very interesting which people don't know, and in a sense need to know to be able to understand the person who became as a historical figure.

Diarmuid: Phil Read is an expert on Churchill. He was awarded an OBE for his pioneering work in the creation of the Churchill Museum.

Yang Li: OBE. Order of the British Empire 不列颠帝国勋章。

Diarmuid: He said that there are so many other aspects of Churchill’s life which are very prominent, very interesting and which people don't know about.

Yang Li: 是的，人们需要更多了解邱吉尔一生中那些显著和有意思的侧面。比如邱吉尔曾于1953年获得世界诺贝尔文学奖这件事就不是众所周知的。So what would be the best way to let the public know more about this great man?

Diarmuid: Well, with this in mind a museum was created:

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It was opened in February 2005 so it’s three years now. And it’s a prize winning museum. It won the Council of Europe Prize in 2006. (How big is it?) The museum itself is about 1000 square metres and the historic site is about another 2000 square metres.

Yang Li: 虽然地盘不很大，但是整个博物馆都在地下，是二战时期内阁作战室的地下掩体。位于唐宁街 10 号附近。

Diarmuid: Within a year of opening, the museum had already won the Council of Europe Prize.

Yang Li: 欧洲议会奖。那么这个博物馆的最大特色是什么？

Diarmuid: Here is Mr. Read again:

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There are two things; it is actually a combination of museum and historic site. As an historic site it’s unique because it’s a perfectly² preserved site from the Second World War which is a period most people would not expect to find anything kept because it’s so relatively³ recent history. But you walk through it you see these rooms kept exactly the same as when Churchill held court with his cabinet and essentially⁴ ran the war for Great Britain. And then alongside that you now have this ultra-modern museum with, just a very clever way of presenting information to you, because we present a huge amount of information, and the cleverness lies in the design which enables us to engage the visitor and to keep the visitor thoroughly⁵ engaged and interested throughout.

Diarmuid: It’s a unique historical site as it’s perfectly preserved from the Second World War.

Yang Li: Perfectly preserved 保存完好的。Unique historical site 独特的历史遗址。

Diarmuid: Here in the museum, visitors can see these rooms kept exactly the same as when Churchill held court with his cabinet and essentially ran the war for Great Britain.

Yang Li: To hold court with his cabinet 召集内阁会议。

Diarmuid: But at the same time it’s an ultra-modern museum with a huge amount of information being presented in a clever way.

Yang Li: 与此同时它又是一个超现代的博物馆 Ultra-modern museum.

Diarmuid: Because of the clever design, visitors are engaged and kept interested throughout.

Yang Li: Engaged and interested throughout. 让参观者从始至终感到兴趣盎然。I hope that our listeners are engaged so far?

Diarmuid: Well, as we say, the last but not least, our final question for Mr Read:

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Now what is the attraction in terms of learning English and learning about British life and culture?

Listening to Churchill’s speaking is an absolute revelation to anybody, English speaking or otherwise. I think when you listen to Churchill’s speeches you get a sense of what Churchill at least thought of as the primary ingredient of Englishness which is grit⁶ and determination which he conveyed to the nation in 1940, in a way that nobody has done since, and for which, of course, he was admired by world leaders today right across the planet.

Yang Li: 邱吉尔是一位高超的演说家。李德认为学英语的人可以从丘吉尔的演讲中获得启迪. Revelation.

Diarmuid: The primary ingredient of Englishness which is grit and determination.

Yang Li: 大家能从中感受到典型英国人的必备质素，那就是勇气和信念。Grit and determination.

Diarmuid: He is admired by world leaders today right across the planet.

Yang Li: 如今，这些演说赢得了全球各国领导人的钦佩。I must say that I can’t help admiring his choice of words whenever I listen to his speeches.

Diarmuid: Me too.

Yang Li: Hope you have enjoyed the visit to the Churchill museum and see you next time.

Diarmuid: Bye.

1 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

2 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

3 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

4 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

5 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

6 grit   

n.沙粒，决心，勇气；v.下定决心，咬紧牙关

参考例句：

• The soldiers showed that they had plenty of grit. 士兵们表现得很有勇气。
• I've got some grit in my shoe.我的鞋子里弄进了一些砂子。