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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
BBC Learning English6 Minute EnglishSt George's Day6 Minute English ?
Kate: Hello, this is 6 Minute English. I'm Kate Colin and today I'm joined by JackieDalton. Hello again Jackie.
Jackie: Hi Kate.
Kate: Today is the 23rd of April and is St George's Day. Saint George is the patronsaint of England and all over the country people are proudly celebrating beingEnglish.
Jackie: Yes, that's right. All kinds of things are happening; here in London, the mayorhas organised musical concerts, dancing and theatrical1 events. Elsewhere in thecountry there'll be lots of historical activities and re-enactments such as swordfighting and archery.
Kate: Sounds like fun. As I said, St George is a patron saint – can you explain whatthis means?
Jackie: Well, a saint is a person who has received official honour for having lived inan extremely good or holy way. And a patron saint is believed to have givenspecial help to a particular place or activity or even to a particular person ortype of object, for example Saint Anthony is the patron saint of lost things.
Now interestingly, St George isn't patron saint of England but also of many other countries and cities including Lithuania, Portugal, Germany, Moscowand Venice.
Kate: Well, before we go any further, here's my question for this week. According tothe legend, which mythical2 creature did Saint George kill?
a) a unicornb) a dragonc) a griffinJackie: AnswersKate: We'll check your answer in a few minutes.
St George's Day is great fun and an ideal opportunity for people to celebrate(庆祝) their nationality and being English. It reminds us that we are proud of ournational identity, where we come from and who we are. However it isimportant to make the distinction that Britain is made up of England, Walesand Scotland and each country has its own patron saint with its own special day.
St Andrew is patron saint for Scotland and Saint David is for Wales.
Jackie: Yes, and what's interesting is that Britain is an extremely diverse society which means there are many different cultures and nationalities living herewho all consider themselves to be all or at least, part British. Let's hear a bitmore about this in our first extract from the BBC's Mathew D'Aconna. He usesthe expression multiple identities. What does this mean Kate?
Kate: multiple identities refers to people from lots of different backgrounds.
Can you hear 2 reasons why Britain has such a variety of people living here?
Clip 1The United Kingdom has always been a map of multiple identities. How much truer that istoday in an era of mass immigration and labour mobility3. More and more of us are hybrids4.
Jackie: Mathew D'Aconna said we're living in an era of mass immigration andlabour mobility. This means many people have come into Britain to live andwork. Labour mobility means that people are moving around a lot to work.
Kate: And hybrids is a word we use to describe people, animals or plants which aremade up of a mixture of two different things. When people live in these multicultural5 societies, there are methods we use to define our national identity(身份).
We're going to hear from a social psychologist Steve Reicher, talking abouttwo forms of identity, both Ethnic6 and Civil:
Clip 2An Ethnic definition is one based upon descent – 'why am I Scottish? I'm Scottish because Icome of Scottish parents who themselves were born of Scottish parents' so it's backwardlooking in that it roots our identity in the past. The Civic7 definition is much more about 'I amhere now, I am committed in the future to this country, I devote myself to this country'.
Jackie: Steve Reicher said that people often make a distinction between those twodifferent types of national identity. One is Ethnic and is based on looking intoour past and where our families are from. The other is Civic and is more aboutwhere we live now and where we chose to spend our lives in the foreseeablefuture.
Kate: So we've established we have a wide range of people from all over the worldliving in the UK. But how do they define themselves and refer to their nationalidentity? Have a listen to some people from the streets of London and see ifyou can hear the different ways in which they define themselves.
Clip 3- I'm from England so I'm English rather than British- I'm an Asian but British- I would say I'm Northern Irish- I'm a Muslim living in Britain- Definitely British, but definitely Irish- I suppose I see myself as British but I've got a lot of Jewish in me as well- Well I was born over here so you're classed English and British aren't you.
Jackie: Lots of very different answers there and most people seem to be a bit of a mix.
Interestingly many people consider themselves to be British and somethingelse….Britain really is a melting pot of cultures. A melting pot: this is anexpression we sometimes use to describe a society of people from lots ofdifferent backgrounds who all live together.
Kate: So let's go over some of the words and expressions we've come across today.
We had:
patron saints which are saints who are believed to give special help to aparticular place, activity, person or type of objectdiverse society – a place where people from many different cultures andnationalities livemultiple identities – refers to people from lots of different backgroundsmass immigration – the movement of many people coming into a country to liveand worklabour mobility – refers to people who move around a lot to workhybrids - a word we can use to describe people, animals or plants which are madeup of a mixture of two different thingsmelting pot – an expression we sometimes use to describe a society with peoplefrom lots of different backgroundsKate: And finally to the question I asked you earlier. I asked you which mythicalcreature is St George most famous for killing8?
Jackie: And I said…Kate: You were absolutely correct. According to the story, the brave St George killedthe dragon and managed to save the princess at the same time. That's all we havetime for. Have a good St George's Day and thanks for listening. Bye!(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)
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theatrical
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adj.剧场的,演戏的;做戏似的,做作的 | |
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mythical
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adj.神话的;虚构的;想像的 | |
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mobility
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n.可动性,变动性,情感不定 | |
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hybrids
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n.杂交生成的生物体( hybrid的名词复数 );杂交植物(或动物);杂种;(不同事物的)混合物 | |
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multicultural
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adj.融合多种文化的,多种文化的 | |
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ethnic
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adj.人种的,种族的,异教徒的 | |
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civic
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adj.城市的,都市的,市民的,公民的 | |
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killing
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n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财 | |
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