时间:2019-02-19 作者:英语课 分类:听播客学英语


英语课

   Britain has a new Poet Laureate. Already, I hear you asking, “What is he talking about? We know what a poet is – it is someone who writes poetry. But what is this ‘laureate’ thing?”


  You may know that the ancient Greeks used to place a crown made of laurel leaves on the head of someone as a very special honour. Laurel is a type of bush, with sweet-smelling leaves. Normally nowdays we call it ‘bay’, and we use bay leaves as a flavouring in cooking. So, that is the literal meaning of ‘laureate’ – ‘crowned with laurel leaves, as a sign of special honour’.
  Since about the 17th century, English kings and queens have appointed a poet as their own, special, private poet. The king paid the poet a small salary, and the poet wrote poems for special royal occasions, like births or marriages in the royal family. The poet appointed by the king became known as the poet laureate. Over the years, some very famous English poets have been appointed as poets laureate – William Wordsworth, for example, and Alfred Lord Tennyson. The latest poet laureate has recently retired 2, and the Queen, advised by the Prime Minister, has just appointed a new one. Neither our Queen nor our Prime Minister know very much about poetry. But they have made a very good and popular choice for the new poet laureate.
  Her name is Carol Ann Duffy and she is the first woman to hold the position of poet laureate. Her poetry is simple and direct, and easy to understand. Perhaps for that reason, pupils in many English schools study her poems. Recently, indeed, there was controversy 3 about one of her poems – it is a poem about the feelings of an angry young man who wants to kill and destroy things. The first few lines are:
  ???Today I am going to kill something. Anything. I have had enough of being ignored and today I am going to play God.
  Some people argued that reading the poem would make some young people pick up a knife and go and kill someone. One of the organisations which runs school exams in England even asked schools to destroy copies of the poem. This is ridiculous, of course. People kill because they are very angry inside, not because they have read a poem. Also, as Carol Ann Duffy herself pointed 1 out, Shakespeare’s plays are full of angry young men who murder other people. Should we ban Shakespeare’s plays in schools?
  Here is one of Carol Ann Duffy’s poems. It is a love poem – but a rather unusual one. She is going to give her love a present – a present that represents love. And what is the present? An onion! Listen.
  ???
  Not a red rose or a satin heart.
  I give you an onion.
  It is a moon wrapped in brown paper.
  It promises light
  like the careful undressing of love.
  Here.
  It will blind you with tears
  like a lover.
  It will make your reflection
  a wobbling photo of grief.
  I am trying to be truthful 4.
  Not a cute card or kissogram.
  I give you an onion.
  Its fierce kiss will stay on your lips,
  possessive and faithful
  as we are,
  for as long as we are.
  Take it.
  Its platinum 5 loops shrink to a wedding ring,
  if you like.
  Lethal 6.
  Its scent 7 will cling to your fingers,
  cling to your knife.

adj.尖的,直截了当的
  • He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
  • She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
adj.隐退的,退休的,退役的
  • The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
  • Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。
n.争论,辩论,争吵
  • That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
  • We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。
adj.真实的,说实话的,诚实的
  • You can count on him for a truthful report of the accident.你放心,他会对事故作出如实的报告的。
  • I don't think you are being entirely truthful.我认为你并没全讲真话。
n.白金
  • I'll give her a platinum ring.我打算送给她一枚白金戒指。
  • Platinum exceeds gold in value.白金的价值高于黄金。
adj.致死的;毁灭性的
  • A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
  • She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。
n.气味,香味,香水,线索,嗅觉;v.嗅,发觉
  • The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
  • The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。
标签: 英语播客
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actual flow of resources
adjacent property
agonizing reappraisal
air blast atomizer
asset backing
atomic number 5
Aubrey holes
bianchite
block action
brekil
C(A-V)O2
closing-down
Clostridium alcaligenes
co-editors
common-mode input capacitance
composite waste sampling
concurrent PASCAL
cool-box
crackups
critiquing
cytoarchitectonicss
day range
debt-waivers
direct drive valve
ditrochees
drivethrough
dynamic dark space
dynamic information value
e.f.l
earthgro
Epilobium speciosum
fission energy spectrum
Fissura tympanomastoidea
flying bond
forisomes
frame buffer display
hardship index
have time
heat-clearing and damp-clearing prescription
horizontal rudder coupling
hot-pressure welding
hymnlike
imperfect contact detector
indicator gauge
insulation recovery
ischnurids
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large scale integration circuit
mansbridge capacitor
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social security card
spherically symmetric distribution
staple fibre
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Sudip
terrestrial environment
thermo-migration
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tunneling method
uniform load(ing)
us and them
venae tracheales
wardaine
wellhead restriction
wire comparison
wood joint
Yushania rugosa
zone of recessive basal margin