英语听力精选进阶版 6199（在线收听）

London’s Most Famous Detective 伦敦最著名的侦探

Fans of the world’s most popular detective took to the streets of London on Tuesday for the world premiere of the latest cinematic take on the pipe-smoking sleuth.

British director Guy Ritchie presented his version of the Victorian detective at a red-carpet ceremony attended by the film’s stars Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law, as well as many other top-notch celebrities.

Ritchie will be hoping that his latest film will find favour with the viewing public following the failure of recent ‘turkeys’ such as Rocknrolla or Swept Away, which featured a much-derided performance from ex-wife Madonna.

The new film sees the character of Sherlock Holmes re-imagined as a bullet-dodging action hero rather than the more cerebral protagonist of the short stories and novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Indeed some critics have suggested that the ‘Hollywood-isation’ of Holmes extends even to the film’s storyline.

Holmes’ cases usually focus on particular crimes, such as murder or blackmail, committed by individuals; however, Ritchie’s Holmes must face a supernatural enemy who plans to return from the dead, infiltrate parliament, and take over the world.

The Hound of the Baskervilles must seem like a harmless pooch after that.

The American actor who plays Sherlock Holmes has done a remarkable job in adopting a refined English accent for the role and has spoken of his experience of handling the complexities of Holmes’ character.

"He [Holmes] is tortured by anything that is mundane," said Downey Jr.

"Then again Holmes says there is nothing more stimulating than a case where nothing goes your way, so he’s a bit of a weirdo," Downey Jr added.

So if you are a fan of the greatest fictional detective, you can track him down to a cinema soon.

Glossary 词汇表

cinematic take on 电影版的 

sleuth 侦探 

Victorian 维多利亚的 

top-notch 一流的 

turkeys 失败之作 

much-derided 大受讽刺的 

bullet-dodging 枪战 

cerebral protagonist 善于思考的戏剧主角 

Hollywood-isation 好莱坞化 

storyline 故事情节 

blackmail 敲诈，勒索 

supernatural 超自然界的 

infiltrate parliament 秘密潜入议会 

Hound of the Baskervilles 巴斯克维尔的猎犬 

harmless pooch 无恶意的狗 

handling the complexities 处理（某事）复杂性 

mundane 世俗的，单调无味的 

stimulating 刺激的 

weirdo 奇怪的人 

track him down 追捕到