Elle Macpherson
时间:2018-12-19 作者:英语课 分类:Entertainment
Amber 1: Hello, I'm Amber, and you're listening to bbclearningenglish.com.
In Entertainment today, we listen to an interview with a woman who - in the
1980s and 90s - put the word 'supermodel' in the dictionary! She's Elle
Macpherson.
Elle began her brilliant modelling career at the age of 17 in Australia, where
she was born. Time magazine later called her 'the body' - a nick name Elle has
turned into a global brand. She's now a powerful business woman, and has an
extremely successful underwear company.
Elle talks to us about how one of her early business ventures, or enterprises,
used fashion as entertainment. But first she talks about the origins of the word
supermodel, or as she puts it, how the 'term' 'came about'. She explains that
after a period in the early 80s when women in the movie industry did not want
to be seen as 'sex symbols' – as sexually attractive and nothing else – there
was a hunger for glamour 2. Try to catch the word Elle uses to describe the
desire or hunger for glamour and beauty.
Elle Macpherson
'I think that the term supermodel was a very 80s kind of phrase, and it came about because
there was a movement where movie industry women in the early 80s they didn't want to be
perceived as sex symbols, and there was a huge craving 3 for sort of glamour and sex in the 80s,
with all that influx 4 of money and the fashion industry kind of supported it through great
designers like Versace. So we had this kind of craving for people to have beauty and glamour
in their lives and that's where models of that time kind of grew.'
Amber: Did you catch it? Elle says there was a 'craving' for glamour and beauty in the
early 80s when there was an 'influx of money' – the 80s were a period of
Listen again to Elle Macpherson describing the circumstances which she thinks
led to the rise of the supermodel!
Elle Macpherson
'I think that the term supermodel was a very 80s kind of phrase, and it came about because
there was a movement where movie industry women in the early 80s they didn't want to be
perceived as sex symbols, and there was a huge craving for sort of glamour and sex in the 80s, with all that influx of money and the fashion industry kind of supported it through great
designers like Versace. So we had this kind of craving for people to have beauty and glamour
in their lives and that's where models of that time kind of grew.'
Amber: Six foot Elle was an extremely successful model in the 80s – she was
frequently on the cover of magazines all over the world. People began to put
Elle's name and body together and this gave her a lot of power in terms of
creating a business 'brand' – a name for products she could sell.
Elle now talks about the Fashion Café which was not a particularly successful
venture, but she does not see it as a failure. Why not? Oh, and notice that Elle
uses the noun 'icon 6' as a verb – to iconize, meaning to celebrate. Elle Macpherson
'It was a fantastic stepping stone for me and it was actually before its time. The idea of using
the fashion industry as entertainment was way before its time. Now, today, we have fashion
TV, we have all those television programmes that kind of iconize the fashion industry, like the
film industry and like the music industry. When we did Fashion Café, it was taking from the
business model of the music industry and the film industry and we put it into fashion - it was
just before its time.'
Amber: Elle describes the Fashion Café as a 'fantastic stepping stone'. A stepping
stone is an experience that helps you achieve something else. Elle says the
Fashion Café was 'before its time', 'way before its time' – meaning it was a
clever idea that has only recently become appreciated. Listen again.
Elle Macpherson
'It was a fantastic stepping stone for me and it was actually before its time. The idea of using
the fashion industry as entertainment was way before its time. Now, today, we have fashion
TV, we have all those television programmes that kind of iconize the fashion industry, like the
film industry and like the music industry. When we did Fashion Café, it was taking from the
business model of the music industry and the film industry and we put it into fashion - it was just before its time.'
Amber: Now here's a list of the language we focussed on in the programme today.
supermodel
business ventures
sex symbols
craving
stepping stone
before its time
iconize
business model
- Would you like an amber necklace for your birthday?你过生日想要一条琥珀项链吗?
- This is a piece of little amber stones.这是一块小小的琥珀化石。
- Foreign travel has lost its glamour for her.到国外旅行对她已失去吸引力了。
- The moonlight cast a glamour over the scene.月光给景色增添了魅力。
- a craving for chocolate 非常想吃巧克力
- She skipped normal meals to satisfy her craving for chocolate and crisps. 她不吃正餐,以便满足自己吃巧克力和炸薯片的渴望。
- The country simply cannot absorb this influx of refugees.这个国家实在不能接纳这么多涌入的难民。
- Textile workers favoured protection because they feared an influx of cheap cloth.纺织工人拥护贸易保护措施,因为他们担心涌入廉价纺织品。