听播客学英语 143 袜子和饼干的故事

 　　As you know, we English are sensible¹ people. We do not get excited about little things. We do not make a fuss². Most of the time, at least. It is different where children or animals are involved. Then, we do some very peculiar³ things, as my story today will show.

　　In a podcast in March, I told you about a programme on BBC television called Blue Peter. It is a popular and high-quality programme for children. It has been running for many years, since the early 1960s in fact.

　　Children like pet animals, so Blue Peter has a whole zoo of pets which appear on the programme. At present there are three dogs, a cat and a tortoise⁴. The cat first appeared on the programme last January. At that time, it had no name. So Blue Peter asked the children who watch the programme to choose a name. The children voted on the Blue Peter web site. And a few weeks later, Blue Peter announced the name which the children had chosen – the cat would be called Socks.

　　However, Socks was not in fact the name which the children had chosen. The most popular name for the new cat had been Cookie. But the people who make Blue Peter decided⁵ that Cookie was not a suitable name for the cat. Why? I do not know. But Socks became the official name of the Blue Peter cat.

　　In the last few months, we in Britain have become worried about TV and radio programmes which mislead⁶ their viewers and listeners. There have been stories about phone-in competitions which no-one could win; and about “live” programmes which had actually been recorded. The radio and TV companies have promised that these things will stop. They have even sacked some of the staff responsible.

　　So the top people in the BBC were very embarrassed when they found out about Socks. At the beginning of the Blue Peter programme today, the presenters⁷ apologised to the children. They said that the BBC was very, very sorry about what had happened. They introduced a little kitten, who will be Socks’ friend on the programme. The kitten is called Cookie.

　　The children watching Blue Peter today probably wondered what the fuss was about. January was a long time ago. Most of the children have probably forgotten whether they voted for “Socks” or “Cookie” or some other name. They probably don’t care what the cat is called. I don’t care what the cat is called. Do you?

　　This is not the first time there has been a problem about the animals on Blue Peter. Over 40 years ago, there was a Blue Peter dog called Petra. But Petra became ill and died. What could the BBC do? It feared that the children would be upset if the BBC told them that Petra was dead. So they found another dog which looked exactly the same, and called the dog Petra, and the new Petra appeared on Blue Peter instead. No-one knew. Everyone was happy. And it was 30 years before the BBC revealed⁸ what had happened.

1 sensible   

adj.可察觉的，意识到的，实用的；n.可感知物

参考例句：

• Are you sensible of the dangers of your position? 你觉察到你处境中的危险了吗？
• He was sensible enough to mind his own business.他颇有见识，不去管闲事。

2 fuss   

n.过分关心，过分体贴，大惊小怪，小题大作

参考例句：

• My mother makes a fuss of me every time I come home.我每次回家，母亲总对我体贴备至。
• Stop all this fuss and do your homework.别大惊小怪了，去做你的家庭作业吧。

3 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

4 tortoise   

n.龟，乌龟

参考例句：

• The tortoise wins the race while the hare is sleeping.兔子正睡觉时，乌龟赢得了比赛。
• A tortoise has a shell on his back.乌龟背上有硬壳。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 mislead   

vt.误导，使产生错误印象，欺骗，使误入歧途

参考例句：

• Don't let his friendly words mislead you.别让他那友好的言词把你蒙混住。
• I understand,sir.You didn't willfully mislead the police.我了解，先生。你并非有意误导警察。

7 presenters   

n.节目主持人，演播员( presenter的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Each week presenters would put the case for their favourite candidate. 每个星期主持人推出他们最喜欢的候选人。 来自互联网
• Karaoke was set up to allowed presenters to sing on the stage. 宴会设有歌唱舞台，可让出席者大演唱功。 来自互联网

8 revealed   

v.显示( reveal的过去式和过去分词 )；揭示；泄露；[神学]启示

参考例句：

• They revealed to me that the experiment had failed. 他们向我透露试验失败了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His insincerity is revealed by the quick goggle of his eyes. 他眼睛的快速转动泄露了他的不诚。 来自《简明英汉词典》