John: Greenwich is a well-known tourist spot in London. It’s also the home of a historically important ship the Cutty Sark.
Oliver: 卡蒂萨克号帆船,停泊在伦敦的格林尼治区。是伦敦的标致性文物景点,an ancient landmark. 这是一艘远古的商船,a historic merchant ship, 建造于十九世纪,the nineteenth century.
The Cutty Sark in flames
John: Now, a terrible fire has destroyed the Cutty Sark.
Oliver: Sad news. 一场可怕的大火烧毁了卡蒂萨克号,a terrible fire.
John: The Cutty Sark has been a major tourist attraction since the 1950s and was being restored when fire broke out in May.
Oliver: A real tragedy. 让我们听听BBC伦敦电台是怎么报道这件事的。
Well I’m joined in the studio by our new supremo Tom Bateman. Tom, there’s some breaking news come through. Yes, well you mentioned this a second ago, but the Cutty Sark ship, down in Greenwich, which of course is moored permanently at Cutty Sark is actually on fire this morning. We've just had word through from the fire brigade. They’ve got eight fire engines down there, that’s about 40 or so firefighters. And they say the entire ship is ablaze at the moment. There’s also gas cylinders involved, so they’re going to have to put an exclusion zone around this so, it's a pretty major event taking place.
BBC reporters
Oliver: 我们听到了电台是怎么告诉听众的,关于伦敦的著名标志性景点之一的卡蒂萨克号商船失火了。
John: Yes, the reporter Tom Bateman said that he had just had word from the fire brigade. If you have just ‘had word’ from somewhere, you have just received information about something.
Oliver: 也就是说电台“刚刚收到的消息”,they had just had word, 他们刚刚收到消息说,卡蒂萨克号帆船失火了,Tom 说在失火现场已经有8辆消防车。Eight fire engines were there.
John: And the people who were tackling the fire are called firefighters.
Oliver: Not firemen John?
John: Well we used to call people who put fires out firemen, but there are also a lot of women who put out fires as well, so collectively we call people who put fires out for a profession ‘firefighters’.
Oliver: Firefighters, 这是一个表示集体的词儿,指专业扑救火灾的人,既包括男性,也包括女性。
John: There was one other word used to describe the fire on the Cutty Sark. What was it Oliver, do you remember?
Oliver: Yes, I think it was ‘ablaze’.
John: Yes, it's a dramatic word used to describe something which is usually large, which is on fire.
Oliver: Ablaze, 着火的。
John: As the reporter said, this was a pretty major event taking place. He means a very major event.
Oliver: A useful phrase, 相当重要的事件,a pretty major event. 在这里的意思是相当重要的事件。大家好,您正在收听的是BBC英语教学节目《城市掠影》,我是 Oliver, 节目中还有我的搭档 John. 我们谈论的话题是刚刚发生的惨剧,英国著名的标志性景点、著名远古帆船卡蒂萨克号被烧毁了。
John: The Cutty Sark used to sail from Britain to the South China Seas. It was an impressive boat and was first preserved in the 1920s. It wasn't long before tourists became interested in the ship.
Oliver: 节目前,我们采访了卡蒂萨管理机构的首席执行官理查德·道蒂,一起来听:
Oh it’s just unbelievable. This is original fabric. This is the ship that sailed to the South China Seas. It has the touch of the craftsman on it. If we are losing original fabric, we’re losing history. This ship is unique in so many ways, principally because it’s ‘as built’. She’s just an extraordinary ship, she’s bound up in the journeys she used to make to China for tea, and to Australia for wool. She is without doubt not just an important part of maritime heritage for this country, she’s part of our national identity.
Richard Doughty, Chief Executive of the Cutty Sark Trust
John: You could hear how upset Richard was in that clip.
Oliver: Yes you could. Richard said they were losing the original fabric of the ship, 原始的结构和材料,他还提到帆船是工匠手工建造而成。他说,这艘船有工匠的灵魂, the touch of the craftsman.
John: He also said the ship was without doubt an important part of the British maritime heritage. Well, we’ll let you know if the boat can be restored in another On the Town. Bye for now. See you next time.
Oliver: 再见。