听播客学英语 129 特朗普先生的高尔夫球场-英语课

时间：2019-02-19 作者：英语课 分类：听播客学英语

英语课

　　We go to Scotland again today for our podcast. But first I must introduce you to an English expression – to turn something into something else. What does “turn into” mean? The easiest way of explaining is to give you an example. Do you remember the fairy story about a handsome prince who had an argument with a wicked witch? The wicked witch turned the prince into a frog – that means, she waved her magic wand, and muttered 1 some magic words, and the handsome prince became something completely different, a frog. Later in the story, a beautiful princess finds the frog, and when she kisses the frog, it turns back into the handsome prince. Naturally the handsome prince and the beautiful princess get married and they live happily ever after, because that is what always happens in fairy stories. So, girls, if you are looking for a husband, and you don’t fancy online dating, try kissing a few frogs. One of them may turn into a handsome prince. Maybe.

　　Now that you know what “turn into” means, we can get back to our podcast story. You may have heard of Mr Donald Trump 2. He is American and he is very, very rich. He is a property developer – that means, he buys land and builds new buildings, like flats and offices, on it. Generally, they are grand and expensive buildings, for rich people. Mr Trump is very intersted in golf. He owns several golf courses in the United States. They are, naturally, the biggest, the best and the most beautiful golf courses in the world.
　　A few years ago, he decided 3 that Scotland – a country which is already full of golf courses – needed a Trump golf course. So he bought land beside the sea near the city of Aberdeen, to turn into a golf course. In fact, he planned two golf courses, a golf academy, a luxury hotel, 1000 holiday homes and 500 houses. And all of these things would, of course, be the best in the world.
　　Mr Trump and his people then spent several months persuading people in Aberdeen that this would be a wonderful thing. And they were very successful – lots of people agreed that what Aberdeen needed was Mr Trump and his money. But there were two problems. The first was that the land contained a Site of Special Scientific Interest – that means, it contained plants, birds or animals that need to be protected. If Mr Trump turned this land into a golf course, it would damage the environment. So many conservation groups decided to oppose Mr Trump’s plans.
　　The second problem was called Michael Forbes. Mr Forbes has a small farm in the middle of the area which Mr Trump wants to turn into a golf course. He lives there with his mother, who is 83. It is not a pretty farm. There are lots of old tractors and bits of rusting 4 farm machinery 5. But it is Mr Forbes farm, and he does not want to sell. Mr Trump’s lawyers have offered him money, and more money. But Mr Forbes has said no; and his mother has said that she will leave her home in her coffin 6, but not before.
　　And last week something very surprising happened. The local authority – in a very close vote – rejected Mr Trump’s plans. The conservation lobby 7 cheered. The golf course lobby are dismayed 8. Mr Trump is very annoyed. But he will not give up. The newspapers report that he has just bought a large area of land in Northern Ireland, and wants to turn it into a golf course.