London Eye 伦敦巨眼摩天轮（在线收听）
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| The London Eye on the south bank of the River Thames. |
Jean: 大家好，我是董征。欢迎收听 BBC Learning English 为您特别制作的“On the Town” 节目。
Vicki: And today we’re talking about one of London’s most popular tourist attractions.
Jean: 在伦敦最吸引游客的一个景点，是哪里呢？
Vicki: See if you can guess…..
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It’s a big wheel.
It’s a modern structure.
Really big.
It’s made of steel… glass or maybe plastic.
It’s huge.
It’s a big wheel and it looks like an eye ‘cos it’s got a black thing in the middle.
Jean: 嗯，原来是个又大又圆，看上去像个轮子似的东西，不过是用钢筋和塑胶铸造的。
Vicki: But where is it and what does it do?
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It goes round… slowly. It’s on the river bank, opposite the Houses of Parliament.
It gives visitors to London a good view of the city.
As you go round it’s really fun because you can see everything.
It’s on the embankment of the Thames.
It moves in a circular motion, very slowly
Jean: 而这个建筑就坐落在伦敦泰晤士河畔。“河畔”这个词在英语里有两个不同的说法。
Vicki: River bank….and embankment.
Jean: 这个大轮子每天都在缓慢的转动，坐在上面你会看到伦敦很多的景色…
Vicki: You get a good view
Jean: Well Vicki, I think it must be the London Eye!
Vicki: Well done Jean! That’s right, it’s the London Eye.
Jean: 那Vicki，你给我们介绍一下这个London Eye 伦敦巨眼摩天轮好吗?
Vicki: Well, it’s the 6th tallest structure in London.
Jean: Structure – 建筑物。不光包括房屋大楼，也指像伦敦巨眼摩天轮这样独特的建筑设计。
Vicki: The top of the London Eye is 135 metres above the river Thames. So you get a great view from the top.
Jean: 天气好的时候，站在摩天轮上可以看到伦敦的市区全景，包括这里很多著名的景点景区。
Vicki: Yes, you can see many famous London landmarks, like Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, St Paul’s Cathedral and so on.
Jean: 其实这个巨眼摩天轮看上去很像游乐场里的大转盘，只不过要巨型很多倍了。
Vicki: Yes, it’s like a Ferris wheel at a fairground, but there are some differences.
Jean: 那都有什么不同呢？
Vicki: Well for a start it moves much more slowly than a Ferris wheel. Another difference is that the pods, or capsules are on the outside of the wheel, not hanging underneath.
Jean: OK原来摩天轮上的缆车包厢，英语叫做 pods，或者 capsules，是安装在轮盘外部的。
Vicki: Well there are 32 capsules, and each one can have up to 25 people in it. In one day up to 15,000 people can go on the big wheel.
Jean: 每天有一万五千人，这么多！
YOU'RE LISTENING TO BBC LEARNING ENGLISH
Jean: 大家现在收听的是 BBC Learning English 的节目。今天的话题就是 London Eye – 坐落在泰晤士河畔的伦敦巨眼摩天轮。
Vicki: So why is it so popular? I went to talk to some people who had just been on the London Eye to ask them what they thought about it.
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It’s a wonderful experience.
I think it’s a great attraction.
The view was absolutely spectacular.
I liked when we went up high.
We thought it was fantastic.
It was OK, a bit slow – you get a bit bored when you get to the top. You want to come down again then.
It was really good.
Jean: 看来大部分人还是比较喜欢这个 London Eye。他们用到了好几个不同的形容词。
Vicki: Wonderful…. Great…. Spectacular…..Fantastic.
Jean: 不过转得那么高，不害怕吗？
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I got a bit scared so I sat in the middle
Was it scary? No! No! No!
The little one found it scary.
Vicki: The London Eye is very modern compared to many of the ancient London buildings nearby, like the Houses of Parliament.
Jean: 那大家对这样的一个比较又有什么看法呢？
Vicki: We asked some people if they think the London Eye enhances the London skyline, or detracts from the historical buildings.
Jean: to enhance – 增色。To detract from – 减损。The skyline – 天际线。请大家留心听下面的几个评论，看看能不能捕捉到他们形容“难看”的时候，用到了那两个词？
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I wouldn’t say it’s an eyesore… maybe it does look a bit out of place but I think that’s perfectly alright for London.
I’m not sure that it enhances it … no not really.
It looks like a big white monstrosity on the side of the river – you’ve got all the nice old buildings like the Houses of Parliament, you’ve got the nice old bridges and things like that. I don’t think it looks too good.
I think it fits in really well.
Vicki: So some mixed opinions there… the two words which are used to describe something ugly were…. A monstrosity
Jean: 一个畸形的、怪兽般的东西。
Vicki: and an eyesore
Jean: An eyesore. 难看的东西，眼中钉。Well that’s all we have time for today.