【一起听英语】情书
你写过情书吗，你收到过情书吗？小小的一封信，包含了多少情义在里面？
Yvonne: Hello, I'm Yvonne Archer 1 and Rob has joined me for today's 6 Minute English.
Now Rob, put your romantic hat on and tell us, have you ever sent or received
a love letter?
Rob: Mm – both actually. I have sent one and I've received one as well.
Yvonne: And why don't you write love letters any more?
Rob: Because there's not enough time.
Yvonne: Well, today we're going to make time for love, because we're talking about
‘Wives and Sweethearts’. It’s an exhibition at London's National Army
Museum. The exhibition includes letters from soldiers on the front line to their
loved ones which date back over the last 200 years. But before we find out
more – here's today's question, Rob.
Rob: OK!
Yvonne: In which year was The Royal Mail – Britain's postal 2 service – founded?
a) 1516
b) 1710 or
c) 1780
Rob: I would say, quite a long time ago – probably 1710.
6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2010
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Yvonne: OK, we'll find out whether you're right or wrong later on! Now, back to "Wives
and Sweethearts" – the collection of letters at the National Army Museum. It
aims to show us how army life affected 3 personal relationships between soldiers
and their wives, sweethearts and families. But Rob – what would you say is 'a
sweetheart'?
Rob: It's a nice word, isn't it? And 'sweetheart' is quite an old-fashioned noun – so
now, we usually say 'girlfriend' or 'boyfriend'. But basically, a sweetheart is
someone we're sweet on – someone we like a lot and hold dear to our heart.
We're very fond of them.
Yvonne: So we might call a child 'a sweetheart' - or even a colleague who we really
appreciate. So, thanks for that explanation Rob - you're a sweetheart!
Rob: And so are you!
Yvonne: Now, the letters in the exhibition were sent during the Napoleonic War, the
Crimean War, World Wars I and II and even during the conflicts we're
experiencing today. So they go back as far as 200 years. Let's listen to some
excerpts…
.
Insert 1: Excerpt 4 from love letters
1. I do miss you so very much…
2. Shall we become engaged in a sort of distant way?
6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2010
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Yvonne: The number of words used in the first excerpt gives the impression that the
letter was written a long time ago, doesn't it, Rob?
Rob: Yes, it does. And today, we'd probably be more direct and simply say: "I miss
you very much", but instead, we heard "I do miss you so very much".
Yvonne: Now the second writer seems quite shy or unsure of how the young lady feels,
because instead of simply asking his sweetheart to marry him, he suggests that
they become engaged while he's still away.
Rob: He suggests that they get engaged 'in a sort of distant way' because he's far
from home and can't propose marriage in person.
Yvonne: OK, well let's hope she accepted his proposal and that they got married after
the war. But of course, not all the letter writers were reunited, as Dr Frances
Parton, organiser of the exhibition, explains:
Insert 2: Dr Frances Parton, Exhibit Organiser
Some of them are very moving and quite distressing 5. Obviously, we've looked at all the
aspects of a soldier's relationship and sometimes that can be very, very difficult when it
involves separation and obviously, in worst case scenarios 6, bereavement 7.
Yvonne: Rob, Dr Parton describes some of the letters as 'very moving'. What does she
mean by that?
Rob: Well basically, when we read them, they make us feel very emotional –
perhaps even tearful.
6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2010
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Yvonne: And some aspects – areas – of a soldier's relationship can involve 'worst case
scenarios'.
Rob: 'Worst case scenarios' are situations that couldn't possibly be sadder or more
dangerous, for example. And here, Dr Parton is talking about the fact that in
some cases, soldiers and their loved ones died.
Yvonne: Mm - well luckily, Caroline Flynn-MacCloud's husband recently returned
safely from a seven month deployment 8 in Afghanistan. They have a wonderful
collection of love letters as a result, which are included in the exhibition at the
National Army Museum.
Rob: Wow – they must be very different from the love letters written by soldiers
hundreds of years ago.
Yvonne: Well funnily enough, Caroline says that they're not!
Insert 3: Caroline Flynn-MacCloud, wife of a soldier
Letters begin with the declaration 9 of love and how much one is missing someone and end
pretty much the same way, and also saying not to worry. And in the middle, you have a
whole sort of section about quite banal 10 things. When I wrote to him, sort of everyday
things to show life was going on as normal without him. And he wrote a bit about what
he was doing, but frustratingly 11, very little about what he was doing.
Yvonne: So letters start by saying how much people love and miss each other and they
end by asking each other not to worry. But the middle of the letters are quite
interesting, aren't they?
Rob: Yes, they are. That's where the banal things are written – the most ordinary or
even boring information about everyday life. But Caroline's husband didn't tell
her much about what he was doing out in Afghanistan.
6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2010
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Yvonne: No, perhaps soldiers aren't allowed to send too many details home because of
security issues and of course, they don't want to worry their loved ones at
home, do they?
Rob: No.
Yvonne: Well I don't know about you Rob, but I think I'm going to try to get to that
exhibition – and perhaps write a few more love letters of my own!
Rob: A good idea, actually. It'll be good to get pen to paper again and not rely on email.
Yvonne: Exactly. Right Rob, earlier, I asked: in which year was the Royal Mail founded?
And you said…
Rob: I said 1710.
Yvonne: And you were….wrong!
Rob: Oh dear!
Yvonne: It was in 1516.
Rob: I am surprised. That is a long time ago so think of how many letters have been
sent since then.
Yvonne: Especially love letters.
Rob: Yes.
6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2010
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Yvonne: Do join us again soon for more "6 Minute English".
Both: Goodbye!
- 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。
- A postal network now covers the whole country.邮路遍及全国。
- Remember to use postal code.勿忘使用邮政编码。
- She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
- His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。
- This is an excerpt from a novel.这是一部小说的摘录。
- Can you excerpt something from the newspaper? 你能从报纸上选录些东西吗？
- All who saw the distressing scene revolted against it. 所有看到这种悲惨景象的人都对此感到难过。
- It is distressing to see food being wasted like this. 这样浪费粮食令人痛心。
- Further, graphite cores may be safer than non-graphite cores under some accident scenarios. 再者，根据一些事故解说，石墨堆芯可比非石墨堆芯更安全一些。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
- Again, scenarios should make it clear which modes are acceptable to users in various contexts. 同样，我们可以运用场景剧本来搞清楚在不同情境下哪些模式可被用户接受。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
- the pain of an emotional crisis such as divorce or bereavement 诸如离婚或痛失亲人等情感危机的痛苦
- I sympathize with you in your bereavement. 我对你痛失亲人表示同情。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
- Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。
- We read the declaration posted on the bulletin board.我们读了贴在布告板上的声明。
- At the recent convention a declaration was adopted.在最近举行的大会上通过了一项宣言。
- Making banal remarks was one of his bad habits.他的坏习惯之一就是喜欢说些陈词滥调。
- The allegations ranged from the banal to the bizarre.从平淡无奇到离奇百怪的各种说法都有。
- Some programs set this limit too close, resulting in frustratingly temperamental scroll behavior. 一些程序将这种限制设置得太窄，导致滚屏的行为变幻无常，令人沮丧。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
- But the process is frustratingly slow. 但这过程慢得让人郁闷。 来自互联网