Youling: Hello. You're listening to On the Town from BBC Learning English. 大家好, 我是幼玲。我現(xiàn)在在演播間,和大家一起看看我們的 Jo 又在哪里流覽。 Hi Jo – where are you today?
Jo: Hi Youling. Yes I am on the streets of London with Matt Jonas who is going to tell us all about where we are today. He works for londontown.com which is an online guide to London; so he knows lots of things about the city. So Matt where are we - and can you describe it for our listeners?
Matt: Ok, we're standing in the middle of Piccadilly Circus which is a traffic junction in the middle of London. We are surrounded by huge grand Victorian buildings. On some of the buildings there are huge neon signs advertising everything from tapes to electrical equipment to beer.
Youling: Circus 有兩個(gè)意思, 一個(gè)是指馬戲團(tuán), 或是馬戲團(tuán)用的那種圓形的馬戲場(chǎng), 另外一個(gè)意思是指有眾多道路交匯的圓形廣場(chǎng)。 在這里, Matt 指的就是第二個(gè)意思, 也就是皮卡迪里廣場(chǎng)。為了助于我們理解, Matt 稱它為 a traffic junction, 交叉路口- A junction. 他用了 to be surrounded by 被環(huán)繞著的這個(gè)表達(dá)方式。 在提及周邊建筑時(shí),他用了 huge 和 grand 來(lái)形容建筑物的宏大和雄偉。 Victorian buildings, 維多利亞式建筑,指的是維多利亞女王在位時(shí)也就是 1837-1901 這個(gè)年代的建筑。 Matt 還提到了巨大的霓虹燈廣告牌, neon signs 霓虹燈廣告, advertising 廣告, to advertise.
Jo You're listening to On the Town from BBC Learning English and I'm here in Piccadilly Circus with Matt Jonas who is telling us all about this famous place in London. So what do you know about the history of Piccadilly Circus Matt?
Matt: Well, Piccadilly Circus was built in 1819 when the architect John Nash designed Regent Street and it was originally a roundabout joining the roads with a fountain in the middle. It's not a roundabout anymore but it's still a very big junction.
Youling: 它是由建筑師 John Nash 在 1819 年設(shè)計(jì)興建的。 To design 設(shè)計(jì), an architect 建筑師。 當(dāng)初興建的原因是想把攝政街和皮卡迪里 這兩條著名的大街連接起來(lái)。 皮卡迪里廣場(chǎng)一度曾是個(gè)環(huán)島轉(zhuǎn)盤 a roundabout. 既然如此, 那為什么皮卡迪里廣場(chǎng)會(huì)成了當(dāng)今這么熱門的旅游景點(diǎn)呢? Why is it such a famous place in London?
Matt: Well, it's right in the middle of the West End, there's great shops and everything near here; and you've got the famous statue of Eros in the middle, which is what most people come to see.
Youling: West End 就是著名的倫敦西區(qū)。它地處倫敦市中心,聚集了眾多的影劇院,商店,餐飲業(yè)和商業(yè)。
Jo: Matt, what can you tell us about the statue here, on the fountain, of the angel?
Matt: Well, it's a memorial to Lord Shaftesbury who in the 19th century helped abolish child labour in London and it's actually of Anteros who is the Greek god of brotherly love but people in London have shortened it to Eros which is in fact the Greek God of sexual love.
Youling: 原來(lái)它還是為紀(jì)念沙夫茨伯里伯爵而設(shè)的紀(jì)念碑。這位伯爵在19世紀(jì)為取消倫敦的童工制作出了極大貢獻(xiàn)。 Matt 說(shuō)這位天使叫 Eros. 這位 Eros 是在希臘神話里一個(gè)神。他是神話里的性愛(ài)神,但這里的雕像實(shí)際上是另外一個(gè)叫 Anteros 的神,他是代表兄長(zhǎng)間的那種愛(ài)的愛(ài)神。 Anteros 就被短稱為 Eros.
Jo: Well, thank you Matt for all your help today and for introducing Piccadilly Circus to us. And thank you Youling for explaining the language to us.
Youling: You're welcome Jo. 我們?cè)僦匦聹亓?xí)一下所學(xué)的新詞。 See you next time.
Jo: Yes from all of us here at BBC Learning English On the Town, bye!
Jo: A junction.
Youling: 交叉路口。
Jo: To be surrounded by.
Youling: 被圍繞著的。
Jo: Grand.
Youling: 雄偉的。
Jo: A fountain.
Youling: 噴泉。
Jo: Neon signs.
Youling: 霓虹燈廣告。
Jo: To advertise.
Youling: 做廣告。
Jo: An architect.
Youling: 建筑師。
Jo: To design.
Youling: 設(shè)計(jì)。
Jo: A roundabout.
Youling: 環(huán)島轉(zhuǎn)盤。
Jo: A memorial.
Youling: 紀(jì)念物,紀(jì)念館。
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