时间:2019-02-24 作者:英语课 分类:英语听力文摘 English Digest


英语课

  Where Does The Term'Limelight'Originate

You're in the limelight now on this moment of science.

If someone loves being in the limelight, that means they enjoy being the center of attention. We use the word now to mean social prominence 1, but have you ever wondered what limelight actually is, or how it came to be synonymous with fame?

Where Did The Word Come From?


  Originally a limelight was a bright, incandescent 2 lamp invented by the Englishman Thomas Drummond in 1816. At that time, the British government was trying to survey Ireland. To do this, surveyors used tall Irish mountains as reference points. Their problem was that the weather was often bad, making it impossible to see the mountain tops directly.

However, when Drummond lit his newly invented limelights on the tops of these mountains, surveyors could see them from over fifty miles away.

Burned Limestone 3

The “lime” in limelight refers to burned limestone, not the fruit. Burned limestone gives off great quantities of brilliant, white light when heated. To make a limelight, a small piece of lime is heated by burning a mixture of oxygen and hydrogen gasses. The white light from the glowing lime is then focused with a lens or a mirror.

Theaters And Limelight

Although it started its life as a surveying tool, it was its use in theater that made limelight famous. At that time, theaters were commonly lit by dangerous gas lights.

These were jets of burning gas, like the flame on a gas stove. Gas lights were dim, so it often took hundreds of them to light a scene on the stage, causing a great fire risk.

Limelight is much brighter than gas light, and its pure whiteness made it ideal for simulating sunlight and moonlight.

Front And Center

Its widespread use in nineteenth century theater is where the associations with fame came from. To be in the limelight was to be front and center, on the brightest part of the stage.



n.突出;显著;杰出;重要
  • He came to prominence during the World Cup in Italy.他在意大利的世界杯赛中声名鹊起。
  • This young fashion designer is rising to prominence.这位年轻的时装设计师的声望越来越高。
adj.遇热发光的, 白炽的,感情强烈的
  • The incandescent lamp we use in daily life was invented by Edison.我们日常生活中用的白炽灯,是爱迪生发明的。
  • The incandescent quality of his words illuminated the courage of his countrymen.他炽热的语言点燃了他本国同胞的勇气。
n.石灰石
  • Limestone is often used in building construction.石灰岩常用于建筑。
  • Cement is made from limestone.水泥是由石灰石制成的。
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anterior tentorial arms
anti-Semite
antimony compounds
Aponogeton
apple dumplings
Arab League
assia
belimbings
Bertram Brockhouse
bioeffect
Bombyliidae
borsal
carries point
circumscriptible
co-uned
collegiate panel
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coupled thermal-nuclear model
custodial sentence
cybervillages
diffraction grating
Dymnamic Host Configuation Protocol
echiodon coheni
electronic typhonic equipment
ergochrysin
extension of a group
Ficus ischnopoda
flory
frontfired
GALEASPIDIFORMES
gastrointestinal forceps
Gayer tests
general instruction to tenders
hand mower
have a sale
hydraulic mill
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ion ray
iterative computing
killex
LAN card
laography
literary genre
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LQ problem
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marmor serpertinatum
metzlers
MIME encoding
mixed wet feed
morus alba l. var. skeletoniana schneid.
multi-processing
multifossil range zone
multitasks
Naantali(Nantali)
non-whites
onthophagus (onthophagus) terminatus
Ophthetic
Orion Aggregate
osteoglossids
parapsoriasis maculata enplaques
personal decision analysis
Pilgrim Festivals
power-limitings
prestigiatory
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quickmunch
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red-legged partridges
repliest
return block
revolving-screen washer
roll turning shop
ruffsides
safebreakers
Schumm's test
scour resistance
self-induced magnetic flux
septation
sheet-pile breakwater
shmendrik
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single prism spectrograph
sinker plate
slap print
sparra
srta
step to the fore
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Townville
track shim
trichechidaes
Trifluvians
us jibe
visitours
wauf
wing bay
Withington, Mt.