英语听力精选进阶版 13881

BBC Learning English 

Words in the News  

25 July 2012 

Who wants a lift? 

Transcript: 

London is gearing¹ up for the Olympics. 

And this includes many people's typical ride around the city.   

Here the bus is at work.    And this is the bus working  out …  

Czech artist David Cerny is The London Booster's creator. The sturdy 

double-decker seems to be doing well for a 1957 model. 

This is a routine exercise for athletes but push-ups can be exhausting. 

Especially for a 6-tonne vehicle. 

Vocabulary: 

gearing  up for 

preparing for 

ride 

means of transport 

working  out 

performing strenuous² physical exercise 

double-decker 

two-level bus 

exhausting 

very tiring 

Exercise: 

Use one of the words or phrases below to complete each of these sentences from 

BBC news reports.  

Note that you may have to change the form of a word to complete the sentence 

correctly. 

gearing  up for / ride / working  out / double-decker / exhausting 

1. "The latest product to launch is the green energy gym," says Tarrant. "People 

create electricity by ________ so as they pedal³ away on the bike, they can see 

the energy they are creating and  it's used to light up the fitness⁴ zone at night 

and can even power local buildings." 

2. A failing  heart struggles to pump blood around the body, meaning even trivial 

tasks become____________.  

3. "I travel into the city centre by car at the moment but the traffic adds time 

onto my journey," she said. "I am going to try the park and ______ service from 

Leckwith as it will be cheaper and hopefully save me time. I think it is a really 

good idea." 

4. 4. "The Banqueting House hall is big enough to be a bus garage, you could get 

eight __________ London buses into it and that was less than 5% of what Jones 

wanted to build." 

5. Astronomers⁵ are __________one of the rarest events in the Solar System.  

On Tuesday, Venus will pass directly between the Sun and the Earth. 

Answers: 

1. "The latest product to launch is the green energy gym," says Tarrant. "People 

create electricity by working  out so as they pedal away on the bike, they can 

see the energy they are creating and it's used to light up the fitness zone at 

night and can even power local buildings." 

Source:   The rise of the adult playground 

2. A failing  heart struggles to pump blood around the body, meaning even trivial 

tasks become exhausting.  

Source:   Aspirin⁶  is as 'good as warfarin' for most heart failure  patients 

3. "I travel into the city centre by car at the moment but the traffic adds time 

onto my journey," she said. "I am going to try the park and ride service from 

Leckwith as it will be cheaper and hopefully save me time. I think it is a really 

good idea."  

Source:   City gridlock challenge is 'vast' 

4. "The Banqueting House hall  is big enough to be a bus garage, you could get 

eight double-decker London buses into it and that was less than 5% of what 

Jones wanted to build." 

Source:   The landmark⁷ buildings  that never were 

5. Astronomers are gearing up for one of the rarest events in the Solar System.  

On Tuesday, Venus will pass directly between the Sun and the Earth. 

Source:   Once in a lifetime chance to see the transit of Venus 

1 gearing   

n.传动装置

参考例句：

• The Department is gearing up for increased intake of students. 这个系正在为扩大招生做好准备。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• However perhaps the biggest change is to gearing. 当然最大的改动也许是生产效率模式(gearing)。 来自互联网

2 strenuous   

adj.奋发的，使劲的；紧张的；热烈的，狂热的

参考例句：

• He made strenuous efforts to improve his reading. 他奋发努力提高阅读能力。
• You may run yourself down in this strenuous week.你可能会在这紧张的一周透支掉自己。

3 pedal   

n.踏板；adj.脚的，踏脚的；v.用脚踏动，踩踏板

参考例句：

• He pressed down the accelerator pedal of his car.他踩下汽车的加速器踏板。
• I saw him pedal to school every morning.我看到他每天早晨骑自行车上学。

4 fitness   

n.适合，适当，健康，健身

参考例句：

• They're doing exercises to improve their fitness.他们为增强体质而做体操。
• No one questions her fitness for the job.没人怀疑她能胜任这项工作。

5 astronomers   

n.天文学者，天文学家( astronomer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Astronomers can accurately foretell the date,time,and length of future eclipses. 天文学家能精确地预告未来日食月食的日期、时刻和时长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings. 天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪，为什么只有土星有光环。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 aspirin   

n.阿司匹林

参考例句：

• The aspirin seems to quiet the headache.阿司匹林似乎使头痛减轻了。
• She went into a chemist's and bought some aspirin.她进了一家药店，买了些阿司匹林。

7 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。