英语听力精选进阶版 7851

Wang Fei: 大家好，欢迎收听《都市掠影》节目，我是王飞。威风凛凛的高头大马还有英俊威武的骑士，这里就是伦敦著名的 Horse Guards Parade 皇家骑兵卫队阅兵场。每天这里的游人都是络绎不绝，今天我就带大家一起揭开皇家骑兵卫队的神秘面纱。

[Bugle sound and horse guards bellowing]

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Mr Westwood: Horse Guards (Parade) is still the official entrance to the royal residences, because beyond us, around St James’s Park, you’ll find Buckingham Palace, Clarence House and St James’s Palace. These are the royal residences, so this is still the official entrance, this is why it’s guarded, and has been guarded for 350 years.

Wang Fei: 刚才说话的是 Martin Westwood from Household Cavalry¹ Museum, 他是英国皇家骑兵卫队博物馆的部门主任。Westwood 先生解释说 Horse Guards Parade is still the official entrance to the royal residences. 皇家骑兵卫队阅兵场仍然是通向英国皇室居住区的大门。皇家骑兵卫队 Household Cavalry 已经镇守这座大门350多年了。每天上午在这里举行的换岗仪式让世界各地的游客都能目睹到骑兵卫队的风采。我们听一听游客们的感受。

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Girl: They look really well-groomed, and look like they’re well-trained!

Woman: They’re very well-behaved, it’s amazing how they stand still for so long, and they’re just very well-groomed.

Wang Fei: 她们说 they're very well-groomed. 这里的 well-groomed 是指马匹梳洗得非常干净漂亮。They're also well-trained and well-behaved. 这些高头骏马也都经过了严格的训练，非常听话。但是每个队列中只有一匹白马，其余的都是黑马。这是怎么回事呢？我们有请 Westwood 先生来解释一下。

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Mr Westwood: Currently there are I think 257 horses in the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment². They’re all black horses apart from the trumpeter’s horse or the bugler³’s horse. And that’s a battlefield convention from, I think the 18th, 19th century, when they were unarmed. And they were used for giving orders across the battlefield, and so therefore they were very distinctive⁴ with their grey horses. So there was a gentleman’s agreement that they wouldn’t be hurt.

Wang Fei: I thought that they were white.

Mr Westwood: Well, they are white – we call them greys, though. That’s just a…

Wang Fei: Why?

Man: A British idiosyncrasy I think!

Wang Fei: 原来骑白马是军号手 trumpeter 或者 bugler. 军号手骑白马很容易和其他士兵区分，但是英文中称军号手的白马为 grey horses. 在18、19 世纪的战争中，交战双方有君子协议，gentleman's agreement, 战争中不许伤害军号手。除了马匹有不同的颜色以外，骑兵队成员的服装颜色也不同，我们听一听下面这位观众的疑惑。

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Woman: I think they’re from different regiments⁵ but I don’t know fully⁶.

Girl: They’ve got different hats!

Woman: They’ve got different hats and different coats, yes. One set has got red coats and all very highly polished boots, and the other set has got blue coats and red collars.

Wang Fei: 这位观众发现 one group of horse guards wear red coats and the other group wear blue coats. And they also found the horse guards were wearing different hats. 下面我们请 Mr Westwood 让他来解释一下骑兵们为什么穿不同的服装？听的时候注意两个词：tunic⁷ 紧身的短上衣制服，plume⁸ 是指头盔上的羽毛、缨子。

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Mr Westwood: And the Household Cavalry is actually made up of two regiments, the Life Guards – they’re the ones with the red tunics⁹ and the white plumes¹⁰ - and the Blues¹¹ and Royals, which are the ones with the very dark blue tunics and the red plumes. So they’re the two regiments that form the Household Cavalry.

Wang Fei: 原来穿 red tunic 红上衣制服，头盔上有白色缨子 white plume 的骑兵来自 Life Guards Regiment 皇家近卫骑兵团； 而穿 blue tunic 深蓝色上衣制服，头盔上有红色缨子 red plume 的骑兵来自 Blues and Royals Regiment 蓝军皇家骑兵团。他们每天在广场上举行换岗仪式，场面非常壮观。在节目的最后，我们听一下两个观众的感受。我们下次节目再会！

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Teenager: It was really… really cool, and they’re really smart. You don’t see this every single day of your life, you can only see it, like, once a year or something like that.

Man: Yeah, it’s fantastic, there’s nothing like it. Absolutely brilliant! I mean, I’ve never seen this before. I’m 42 now, so I’ve never seen it and it is – it’s fantastic to watch. You know, I like the red uniforms, the blue uniforms, and it’s, you know, it’s so colourful to see.

1 cavalry   

n.骑兵；轻装甲部队

参考例句：

• We were taken in flank by a troop of cavalry. 我们翼侧受到一队骑兵的袭击。
• The enemy cavalry rode our men down. 敌人的骑兵撞倒了我们的人。

2 regiment   

n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制

参考例句：

• As he hated army life,he decide to desert his regiment.因为他嫌恶军队生活，所以他决心背弃自己所在的那个团。
• They reformed a division into a regiment.他们将一个师整编成为一个团。

3 bugler   

喇叭手； 号兵； 吹鼓手； 司号员

参考例句：

• The general ordered the bugler to sound the retreat. 将军命令号手吹号收兵。
• There was nothing faded about the bugler under the cap. 帽子下面那个号手可一点也不是褪色的。

4 distinctive   

adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的

参考例句：

• She has a very distinctive way of walking.她走路的样子与别人很不相同。
• This bird has several distinctive features.这个鸟具有几种突出的特征。

5 regiments   

（军队的）团( regiment的名词复数 )； 大量的人或物

参考例句：

• The three regiments are all under the command of you. 这三个团全归你节制。
• The town was garrisoned with two regiments. 该镇有两团士兵驻守。

6 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

7 tunic   

n.束腰外衣

参考例句：

• The light loose mantle was thrown over his tunic.一件轻质宽大的斗蓬披在上衣外面。
• Your tunic and hose match ill with that jewel,young man.你的外套和裤子跟你那首饰可不相称呢，年轻人。

8 plume   

n.羽毛；v.整理羽毛，骚首弄姿，用羽毛装饰

参考例句：

• Her hat was adorned with a plume.她帽子上饰着羽毛。
• He does not plume himself on these achievements.他并不因这些成就而自夸。

9 tunics   

n.（动植物的）膜皮( tunic的名词复数 )；束腰宽松外衣；一套制服的短上衣；（天主教主教等穿的）短祭袍

参考例句：

• After work colourful clothes replace the blue tunics. 下班后，蓝制服都换成了色彩鲜艳的衣服。 来自辞典例句
• The ancient Greeks fastened their tunics with Buttons and loops. 古希腊人在肩部用钮扣与环圈将束腰外衣扣紧。 来自互联网

10 plumes   

羽毛( plume的名词复数 )； 羽毛饰； 羽毛状物； 升上空中的羽状物

参考例句：

• The dancer wore a headdress of pink ostrich plumes. 那位舞蹈演员戴着粉色鸵鸟毛制作的头饰。
• The plumes on her bonnet barely moved as she nodded. 她点点头，那帽子的羽毛在一个劲儿颤动。

11 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。