英语听力精选进阶版 14171

BBC Learning English 

Words in the News  

13  February  2013 

Ugly masks 

Transcript: 

They may not be the most  aesthetically¹ pleasing group of people you've ever met, but these revellers  at the Lucerne Carnival² in Switzerland hope their ugly masks will scare off  the evil spirits of winter and  pave the way for  spring. 

The festiv al also features lanterns, costumes and music, and is part of a tradition which can be  traced back to the 15th Century. 

Vocabulary: 

aesthetically pleasing 

beautiful to look at 

revellers  

people who party in a noisy way 

scare off  

to make someone or somethin g worried about something so they decide not to 

do it 

pave the way for  

make it possible for ( something to happen )  

traced back to 

identified  as having started in  

Exercise: 

Use one of the words or phrases below to complete e ach of these sentences from news report s.   

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

aesthetically pleasing/  revellers /  scare off /  pave the way/    

traced back to 

1.  Fire purified things. The popularity of setting off fireworks at new year can be ______ __ that idea of fire purifying. 

2.  Creatures that achieve world fame for being under threat - the panda, the mountain gorilla³, the tiger - tend to  be conventionally _________, even cute.  

3.  As Rio de Janeiro's carnival gets under way, its oldest street parade has drawn⁴ an estimated 1.5m ________. 

4.  Puffing Billy was one of the first steam locomotives to transport coal from Wylam Colliery to Lemington Staithes on the River Tyne. 

Developed by Newburn-born engineer William Hedley in 1813, it _______ for the development of the rail industry. 

5.  Eugene Cousins, a manager at Chimp⁵ Eden, said that he fired warning shots to ________ the animals but then one o f the chimps⁶ attacked his vehicle, smashing the bonnet⁷ and windshield.  

Answers: 

1.  Fire purified things. The popularity of setting off fireworks at new year can be traced back to  that idea of fire purifying.    

2.  Creatures that achieve world fame for being under threat - the panda, the mountain gorilla, the tiger - tend to be conventionally aesthetically pleasing, even cute. 

3.  As Rio de Janeiro's carnival gets under way, its oldest street parade has drawn an estimated 1.5m  revellers . 

4.  Puffing Billy was one of the first steam locomotives to transport coal from Wylam Colliery to Lemington Staithes on the River Tyne. 

Developed by Newburn-born engineer William Hedley in 1813, it  paved the way for the development of the rail industry. 

5.  Eugene Cousins, a manager at Chimp Eden, said that he fired warning shots to scare off  the animals but then one of the chimps attacked his vehicle, smashing the bonnet and windshield.  

1 aesthetically   

adv.美地，艺术地

参考例句：

• Segmental construction contributes toward aesthetically pleasing structures in many different sites. 对于许多不同的现场条件，分段施工都能提供美观，颇有魄力的桥型结构。
• All isolation techniques may be aesthetically unacceptable or even dirty. 所有的隔离方法都有可能在美观方面使人难以接受，或甚至是肮脏的。

2 carnival   

n.嘉年华会，狂欢，狂欢节，巡回表演

参考例句：

• I got some good shots of the carnival.我有几个狂欢节的精彩镜头。
• Our street puts on a carnival every year.我们街的居民每年举行一次嘉年华会。

3 gorilla   

n.大猩猩，暴徒，打手

参考例句：

• I was awed by the huge gorilla.那只大猩猩使我惊惧。
• A gorilla is just a speechless animal.猩猩只不过是一种不会说话的动物。

4 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

5 chimp   

n.黑猩猩

参考例句：

• In fact,the color of gorilla and chimp are light-color.其实大猩猩和黑猩猩的肤色是较为浅的。
• The chimp is the champ.猩猩是冠军。

6 chimps   

（非洲）黑猩猩( chimp的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Chimps are too scarce, and too nearly human, to be routinely slaughtered for spare parts. 黑猩猩又太少，也太接近于人类，不可以作为人器官备用件说杀就杀。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 医学的第四次革命
• And as nonprimates, they provoke fewer ethical and safety-related concerns than chimps or baboons. 而且作为非灵长类，就不会产生像用黑猩猩或狒狒那样的伦理和安全方面的顾虑。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 医学的第四次革命

7 bonnet   

n.无边女帽；童帽

参考例句：

• The baby's bonnet keeps the sun out of her eyes.婴孩的帽子遮住阳光，使之不刺眼。
• She wore a faded black bonnet garnished with faded artificial flowers.她戴着一顶褪了色的黑色无边帽，帽上缀着褪了色的假花。