时间:2018-12-27 作者:英语课 分类:一起听英语


英语课

 想知道世上最长久的婚姻是多少年吗?


Yvonne: I'm Yvonne Archer 1, this is 6 Minute English and Rob has joined me for today's


programme. Hello, Rob!


Rob: Hello, Yvonne, good to be here!


 


Yvonne: So, with the royal wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton just a


few days away, I thought we'd talk about weddings – but weddings of a


different kind. Any ideas, Rob?


Rob: Hmm. Is it your wedding?


Yvonne: Well, before I reveal all – you'd better answer today's question!


Rob: OK then – fire away.


Yvonne: OK. How long was the world’s longest-lasting 2 marriage?


a) 79 years


b) 82 years or


c) 86 years


Rob: Hmm. I’ll have a guess at 79 years – I think 86 and 82 years is just a little bit


too long. 


6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2011


Page 2 of 6


Yvonne: Mm. As usual, I'll tell you the correct answer at the end of today's "6 Minute


English! Now, back to weddings, and today, we're talking about 'sham 3


weddings'. Rob, would you explain what 'a sham wedding' is for us, please?


Rob: Yes, of course. Well, something that's 'a sham' isn't genuine – it's not real. So,


for example, in a sham wedding, one of the people getting married may be


doing it for money.


Yvonne: And you've got two more examples there for us haven’t you, Rob - adjectives


that describe something that isn't real or genuine.


Rob: Yes, we can say 'fake' or 'phoney' - which is an American English word. So, 'a


fake wedding', 'a phoney wedding'.


Yvonne: Thanks. Now, it's not just the people who are actually marrying each other who


are guilty in the event of a sham wedding. Alex Brown, a Church of England


minister was found guilty of conducting sham marriages at his church. Here's


June Kelly, the BBC's Home Affairs Correspondent, on what happened to him:


Insert 1: June Kelly


He was jailed for joining together 360 bogus brides and grooms 4 over a four year period.


Now, if a couple want a C of E service and one of them is a non-European, they'd have


to apply for a common licence first; greater scrutiny 5 for them and more controls on the


clergy 6.


Yvonne: Alex Brown was actually jailed. The BBC's June Kelly describes what he did


over a four year period as: 'joining together 360 bogus brides and grooms'. Of


course, 'brides and grooms' are women and men who are about to be joined 


6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2011


Page 3 of 6


together in marriage. But can you explain what 'bogus' brides and grooms are


for us please, Rob?


Rob: Well, 'bogus' is another adjective we can use to describe something that's not


genuine. For example, false information might be described as 'bogus'; 'I was


given a bogus address and phone number' for example.


Yvonne: Yes, that's a good example. As we heard, if a couple wants to have a C of E


wedding - that's short for 'a Church of England wedding' - and one of them is


non-European, they now have to apply for a common licence. Why, Rob?


Rob: Well, applying for a common licence means greater controls on the clergy -


that’s the vicars and ministers - so they can avoid conducting sham marriages.


And there will be greater scrutiny for couples - more thorough background


checks on them - to make sure they're not bogus brides and grooms.


Yvonne: The Church of England, together with the UK Border Agency, has developed


guidance to help stop vicars being exploited - or unfairly used - by people who


want them to carry out sham marriages. The British Immigration Minister,


Damian Green MP, explains more about what he thinks the guidance will


achieve.


Insert 2: Damian Green MP, British Immigration Minister


There's been more freedom for vicars to act in the past. So what this does is make it


necessary for them to take action, which will mean that anyone trying to marry in


church - which the criminal gangs that lie behind sham marriages have often exploited


as a fairly easy loophole - that loophole will now be gone. 


6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2011


Page 4 of 6


Yvonne: Damian Green believes that a loophole will now be gone, making it much


more difficult for bogus couples, vicars and criminal gangs to carry out sham


weddings. So, how would you describe 'a loophole', Rob?


Rob: A loophole. Well, that’s something that allows people to escape punishment


even if they're doing something wrong, because the law doesn't specifically say


that it's illegal. For example, people sometimes escape paying taxes because of


a loophole in the law.


Yvonne: And it's a loophole that has lead to an increase - a rise - in the number of sham


weddings taking place here in the UK. So, we’ve mentioned a Royal Wedding,


a sham wedding and now for the world's longest marriage! Rob, how many


years did you say the longest lasting marriage went on for?


Rob And I said 79 years. Was I right?


Yvonne: No, it was actually 86 years!


Rob: Wow, that’s a long time!


Yvonne: It’s an American couple that’s been married for 86 years and eleven months.


Rob: Congratulations!


Yvonne: Now, as your reward, Rob, you get to remind us of some of the language we've


heard today!


Rob: Certainly, OK! We heard:


a sham wedding 


6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2011


Page 5 of 6


phoney


bogus


scrutiny


a loophole


Yvonne: Beautifully read, Rob! Now, that's all we’ve got time for on today's "6 Minute


English" - but we hope you'll join us again soon.


Both: Goodbye! 



1 archer
n.射手,弓箭手
  • The archer strung his bow and aimed an arrow at the target.弓箭手拉紧弓弦将箭瞄准靶子。
  • The archer's shot was a perfect bull's-eye.射手的那一箭正中靶心。
2 lasting
adj.永久的,永恒的;vbl.持续,维持
  • The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
  • We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。
3 sham
n./adj.假冒(的),虚伪(的)
  • They cunningly played the game of sham peace.他们狡滑地玩弄假和平的把戏。
  • His love was a mere sham.他的爱情是虚假的。
4 grooms
n.新郎( groom的名词复数 );马夫v.照料或梳洗(马等)( groom的第三人称单数 );使做好准备;训练;(给动物)擦洗
  • Plender end Wilcox became joint grooms of the chambers. 普伦德和威尔科克斯成为共同的贴身侍从。 来自辞典例句
  • Egypt: Families, rather than grooms, propose to the bride. 埃及:在埃及,由新郎的家人,而不是新郎本人,向新娘求婚。 来自互联网
5 scrutiny
n.详细检查,仔细观察
  • His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好,但是经不起仔细检查。
  • Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。
6 clergy
n.[总称]牧师,神职人员
  • I could heartily wish that more of our country clergy would follow this example.我衷心希望,我国有更多的牧师效法这个榜样。
  • All the local clergy attended the ceremony.当地所有的牧师出席了仪式。
学英语单词
2-(4'-morpholinodithio)-benzothiazole
Aberdeen terriers
AHES
all interests
Anthophyllite-asbestos
ashcan
atrolactamide
bats an eye
bioelectrical integrator
caeruleus
carbunule on scapular area
clearwell
coffs
cogradient matrix
counseller
countach
cutting logging
density fluids
destructive plate margin
detect idle time
different in a thousand and one ways
Dingalan B.
dioxygenase
doppler correction
double electric conductor seal
electromagnetic cam group
electroneutrqlity principle
Empire of the West
enanthema
engine synchroscope
Eupheterochlorina
flosser
free piercing
gastro-
graphical integral
Groszowiec
hardness ratio
hemicraniectomy
hot rolled steel
human agancy
index of import volume
inflectional ending
internal phasing
invisible stock
iron lead matte
Kodaira
loadsa
macebearers
map direction
methoxyaspidofractinine
Miss Nancy
monstered
motorjets
mousse
multiday
multiforous
multiple microprocessor system
N-ethylpyrrole
Namkyo
non-ionogenic linkage
non-productive thinning
nonmetallic sheathed cable
nonrecurrent apomixis
nothing to write home about
output file collation control
pagehood
peterbaylissite
place-brick
Polaris
polite behaviour
polymethyl aromatic
porcelain paper
projection screen
reduce weight
reflection efficiency
resmooth
rip one
ruds
sandification
sentence length
separation manoeuver
Siderocalcite
sleeveful
solely
spanner double ends
standard instruction memonic
structural skin panel
surface scratch
testing with Seleroscope
the female sex
thematic overprint
thickness by reflection
trading service product
travelling down tilter
trendoids
Tridin
tubular magnet
uncommon
up convert
variable argument
welken
x-ray diffraction powder camera