英语听力精选进阶版 14513

BBC Learning English

Video Words in the News

27 August 2014

Dirt fighter

Transcript¹:

Cape², tights – this is a superhero in action.

Meet Mr Full Moon, always ready to keep the streets of Tokyo clean.

His weapons are the broom and the dustpan. The lonely dirt fighter is becoming a celebrity³ in the area.

Like many superheroes, Mr Full Moon keeps his true identity a secret and lets his smartphone do the talking. He wants others to follow his example.

This area is clean now. Mission accomplished⁴. Time to sweep off.

Vocabulary:

broom

brush attached to a long handle, used for sweeping⁵ dirt from floors

dustpan

flat shovel-shaped container that rubbish from the floor is swept into

celebrity

well-known person

do the talking

explain his actions

sweep off

disappear quickly

Exercise:

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

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

broom / dustpan / celebrity / do the talking / sweep off

1. Grace Darling was aged⁶ 22 when she rowed out in a storm with her father to help survivors⁷ of the SS Forfarshire, wrecked⁸ off the Farne Islands. Her role in the rescue, on 7 September 1838, was picked up by the press, and she became a national __________.

2. "When I moved back here, my youngest daughter was only four. Now she is eight years old," says Gulhumor, 33, as she binds⁹ dry twigs¹⁰ to make a __________ for sweeping the courtyard of her parents' house.

3. So that's why we both found ourselves on TV, sitting opposite two interpreters, signing instead of speaking, letting our hands instead of our voice boxes __________. We believe sign language is a more reliable way of getting our message out to an audience of millions on a topic so sensitive and freighted with meaning, that any misunderstanding would have been disastrous¹¹, especially with live subtitles¹².

4. Food left in a fridge used by patients was found to be so mouldy it was unrecognisable and a __________ and brush was needed to clean dirt from a window ledge¹³ in an operating theatre.

5. Having just __________ the densely-packed Arena¹⁴ Stage at V Festival 2014, Metro¹⁵ found Ella Eyre in a surprisingly energetic mood.

Answers:

1. Grace Darling was aged 22 when she rowed out in a storm with her father to help survivors of the SS Forfarshire, wrecked off the Farne Islands. Her role in the rescue, on 7 September 1838, was picked up by the press, and she became a national celebrity.

2. "When I moved back here, my youngest daughter was only four. Now she is eight years old," says Gulhumor, 33, as she binds dry twigs to make a broom for sweeping the courtyard of her parents' house.

3. So that's why we both found ourselves on TV, sitting opposite two interpreters, signing instead of speaking, letting our hands instead of our voice boxes do the talking. We believe sign language is a more reliable way of getting our message out to an audience of millions on a topic so sensitive and freighted with meaning, that any misunderstanding would have been disastrous, especially with live subtitles.

4. Food left in a fridge used by patients was found to be so mouldy it was unrecognisable and a dustpan and brush was needed to clean dirt from a window ledge in an operating theatre.

5. Having just swept off the densely-packed Arena Stage at V Festival 2014, Metro found Ella Eyre in a surprisingly energetic mood.

Source: Exclusive: Ella Eyre on songwriting and maturing: ‘I use writing music as a counselling session’ (by London’s Metro online - The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites)

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

3 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

4 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

5 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

6 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

7 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

8 wrecked   

adj.失事的，遇难的

参考例句：

• the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
• the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞

9 binds   

v.约束( bind的第三人称单数 )；装订；捆绑；（用长布条）缠绕

参考例句：

• Frost binds the soil. 霜使土壤凝结。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Stones and cement binds strongly. 石头和水泥凝固得很牢。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 twigs   

细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some birds build nests of twigs. 一些鸟用树枝筑巢。
• Willow twigs are pliable. 柳条很软。

11 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

12 subtitles   

n.说明字幕，印在外国影片上的对白翻译字幕，译文对白字幕；小标题，副标题( subtitle的名词复数 )；（电影的）字幕

参考例句：

• subtitles for the deaf and the hard of hearing 为耳聋和听力不佳者打出的字幕
• a Polish film with English subtitles 附有英语字幕的波兰影片

13 ledge   

n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁

参考例句：

• They paid out the line to lower him to the ledge.他们放出绳子使他降到那块岩石的突出部分。
• Suddenly he struck his toe on a rocky ledge and fell.突然他的脚趾绊在一块突出的岩石上，摔倒了。

14 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

15 metro   

n.地铁；adj.大都市的；(METRO)麦德隆(财富500强公司之一总部所在地德国，主要经营零售)

参考例句：

• Can you reach the park by metro?你可以乘地铁到达那个公园吗？
• The metro flood gate system is a disaster prevention equipment.地铁防淹门系统是一种防灾设备。