英语听力精选进阶版 6255（在线收听）

Reading 1: Can a Tweet Ever Be a Grand Romantic Gesture? 一条推特信息能否成为一个经典的浪漫之举？

Picture the scene. It is dark except for the dim yellow candlelight; it is silent except for the scratching of a pen. A young lover pours out his heart in a letter to his loved one, who, days later, tears it open with a beating heart and in the strictest privacy.

The love letter has an important place in our cultural imagination, but does it have a place on social networking sites and microblogs? What is the shape of 21st century courtship?

Shane Warne and Liz Hurley

How tweet: Shane Warne and Liz Hurley

The end of 2010 saw the kindling of a romance between the Australian cricketing star Shane Warne and the British model Elizabeth Hurley on the social networking site Twitter.

Hurley and Warne didn't just update their relationship status. The celebrities exchanged flirtatious messages in public, before Hurley had announced the end of her marriage to Arun Nayar.

So can a tweet ever count as a grand romantic gesture? Judge for yourself, with this recent message from Hurley to Warne about her parrot Ping Pong:

"Baby Ping now says 'Hello Darling' and 'Hello Little Girl'. Sweet!"

But although the pair have flirted openly online, in real life they still enjoy their privacy. Special screens around Warne's home prevented photographers from snapping the couple during Hurley's visit to Australia last week.

Glossary 词汇表 

dim

昏暗的

candlelight

烛光

scratching

划或刮东西的声音

to pour out one's heart

倾诉衷肠

loved one

喜爱的人

social networking sites

社交网站

microblog

微博

courtship

求爱期、追求爱人的阶段

the kindling of a romance

点燃爱情之火

flirtatious

调情的

tweet

微博信息

grand romantic gesture

经典的浪漫之举

screen

屏风、遮蔽隔板

snapping

拍摄、拍照片