英语听力精选进阶版 11240

 

Cell 

Professor David Crystal 

When mobile phone technology came in a few years ago, 

the term was immediately shortened. Mobile phones 

became 'mobiles'. 'I've got my mobile.' 'Have you got your 

mobile on?' But that was in the UK. In the United States, a 

different term emerged, 'cell phone', short for cellular 

phone.  

Now, cell phone was tricky¹ because some people spelled it 

as one word and some people spelled it as two. I did a 

search on Google the other day, and the one-word spelling 

got eighteen million hits, and the two-word spelling got a 

hundred and thirty-five million hits. So it seems you can 

use both spellings at the moment. But either way, people 

shortened the phrase to 'cell'. And this usage is growing in 

the UK.  

Somebody the other day said to me, 'Have you got your cell?' 'Call me on 

your cell!' 'Sync your cell with your company!' - that's synchronise² - 

synchronise your cell with your company - that's the sort of phrase you 

get these days.  

I saw an advertisement, 'Cells have just got coloured!' In other words, 

mobile phones are now in different colours. It's a new sense of the word 

'cell'. So, if somebody invites you to 'use my cell', it doesn't mean that 

they're asking you to go into their monastery³, or indeed, asking you to 

visit them in prison! 

1 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

2 synchronise   

n.同步器；v.使同时发生；使同步

参考例句：

• As they fly, they synchronise their wing beats. 飞行时，它们翅膀的拍打是同步的。
• The apps will synchronise with your ipad and download the latest content automatically.这些程序会与你的ipad同步，并自动下载最新的内容。

3 monastery   

n.修道院，僧院，寺院

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• She was appointed the superior of the monastery two years ago.两年前她被任命为这个修道院的院长。