英语单词大师：George Carlin, 1937-2008: He

 AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on WORDMASTER: remembering a comedian¹ who took a serious interest in language. George Carlin died of heart failure at a hospital in Santa Monica, California, on June twenty-second.

RS: The stand-up comedian, author and actor was seventy-one years old. He was known for his irreverent humor and was a counterculture figure of the nineteen seventies. Now, in memory of George Carlin, we play a WORDMASTER segment from July of nineteen ninety-nine. AA: George Carlin can say some outrageous² things -- years ago the U.S. Supreme³ Court found his "seven filthy⁴ words" monolgue indecent.

RS: But when he stopped at the National Press Club in Washington not long ago, George Carlin had other words to say.

GEORGE CARLIN: "I'm not here to advance any political, social or environmental cause. I am, in fact, blessedly agenda-free. I don't want to save the river. I don't want to save the bay. I don't want to save the canyon⁵, the whale, the wetlands, the rain forest, or the flying, spotted⁶ dwarf⁷ something-or-other. I don't want to save the children, above all [laughter and applause]. Frankly⁸, I don't care about many of those things. Between you and me, those battles were lost a long time ago."RS: Dressed in black with his hair in a pony⁹ tail, George Carlin kept the Washington press corps¹⁰ laughing with his observations on how the politicians and lawyers in Washington speak.

AA: He says they use a lot of obscure terms and phrases to avoid saying anything substantive¹¹.

GEORGE CARLIN: "They don't actually say things. They indicate them: 'As I indicated yesterday, and as the president indicated to me.' But sometimes they don't indicate; they suggest: 'Let me suggest, that as I indicated yesterday ... I haven't determined¹² that yet.' See, they don't decide; they determine. If it's a really serious matter, they make a judgment¹³: 'I haven't made a judgment on that yet. When the hearings are concluded, I will make a judgment or I might make an assessment¹⁴. I'm not sure; I haven't determined that yet. But when I do, I'll advise you.'

"They don't tell, they advise: 'I advised him that I had made a judgment. Thus far, he hasn't responded.' They don't answer; they respond: 'He hasn't responded to my initiative.' An initiative is an idea that isn't going anywhere [laughter]."RS: George Carlin added that when legislation is delayed or a project is taking too long, some more terms come into use.

GEORGE CARLIN: "That's a big activity here in Washington: proceeding¹⁵. They're always 'proceeding' or 'moving forward.' A lot of that goes on: 'Senator, have you solved that problem?' 'Well, we're moving forward on that.'

"And when they're not moving forward, they're moving something else forward, such as the process: 'We have to move the process forward so we can implement¹⁶ the provisions of the initiative in order to meet these challenges.' No one has problems anymore -- 'challenges.' That's why we need people who can make the tough decisions. Tough decisions like, 'How much soft money can I expect to collect in exchange for my core values?'" AA: George Carlin says political scandal or wrongdoing calls for yet another set of euphemisms¹⁷.

GEORGE CARLIN: "When they're in trouble, their explanations usually begin simply with words like miscommunication: 'What did you do wrong, senator?' 'Well, it was a miscommunication.' Or, 'I was quoted out of context.' Better yet, and more ironic¹⁸, 'They twisted my words.' Such a nice touch. A person who routinely spends his days torturing the language complains 'they twisted my words [laughter].'

"Then, as the controversy¹⁹ continues to heat up, he moves to his next level of complaint: 'The whole thing has been blown out of proportion.' It's always the whole thing. Apparently²⁰ no one has ever claimed that only a small portion of something was blown out of proportion. It has to be the whole thing."AA: That was a WORDMASTER segment from July of nineteen ninety-nine. George Carlin died last week, just days after the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announced that it would award him the eleventh annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

RS: The Kennedy Center, in Washington, plans to go ahead with the award ceremony this November, now as a tribute. And that's WORDMASTER for this week. Archives of our segments are at voanews.com/wordmaster. With Avi Arditti, I'm Rosanne Skirble.

1 comedian   

n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员

参考例句：

• The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
• The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。

2 outrageous   

adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的

参考例句：

• Her outrageous behaviour at the party offended everyone.她在聚会上的无礼行为触怒了每一个人。
• Charges for local telephone calls are particularly outrageous.本地电话资费贵得出奇。

3 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

4 filthy   

adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的

参考例句：

• The whole river has been fouled up with filthy waste from factories.整条河都被工厂的污秽废物污染了。
• You really should throw out that filthy old sofa and get a new one.你真的应该扔掉那张肮脏的旧沙发，然后再去买张新的。

5 canyon   

n.峡谷，溪谷

参考例句：

• The Grand Canyon in the USA is 1900 metres deep.美国的大峡谷1900米深。
• The canyon is famous for producing echoes.这个峡谷以回声而闻名。

6 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

7 dwarf   

n.矮子，侏儒，矮小的动植物；vt.使…矮小

参考例句：

• The dwarf's long arms were not proportional to his height.那侏儒的长臂与他的身高不成比例。
• The dwarf shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. 矮子耸耸肩膀，摇摇头。

8 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

9 pony   

adj.小型的；n.小马

参考例句：

• His father gave him a pony as a Christmas present.他父亲给了他一匹小马驹作为圣诞礼物。
• They made him pony up the money he owed.他们逼他还债。

10 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

11 substantive   

adj.表示实在的；本质的、实质性的；独立的；n.实词，实名词；独立存在的实体

参考例句：

• They plan to meet again in Rome very soon to begin substantive negotiations.他们计划不久在罗马再次会晤以开始实质性的谈判。
• A president needs substantive advice,but he also requires emotional succor. 一个总统需要实质性的建议，但也需要感情上的支持。

12 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

13 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

14 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

15 proceeding   

n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报

参考例句：

• This train is now proceeding from Paris to London.这次列车从巴黎开往伦敦。
• The work is proceeding briskly.工作很有生气地进展着。

16 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

17 euphemisms   

n.委婉语，委婉说法( euphemism的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• No point is in mincing words or hiding behind euphemisms. 没有必要闪烁其词或者羞羞答答。 来自辞典例句
• No point in mincing words or hiding behind euphemisms. 没必要闪烁其词或者羞羞答答。 来自辞典例句

18 ironic   

adj.讽刺的，有讽刺意味的，出乎意料的

参考例句：

• That is a summary and ironic end.那是一个具有概括性和讽刺意味的结局。
• People used to call me Mr Popularity at high school,but they were being ironic.人们中学时常把我称作“万人迷先生”，但他们是在挖苦我。

19 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

20 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。