【一起听英语】尼斯湖水怪

今天这篇讲的是与水怪有关的故事.....

Callum: Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English, I'm Callum Robertson and joining me

today is Kate, hello Kate.

Kate: Hello Callum.

Callum: Now Kate, something which we both have in common is that we are both

Scottish, though you couldn't tell from my accent and today's programme is all

about what is perhaps the most famous mystery associated with Scotland¹. What

do you think that is?

Kate: Mmm, let me think. Is it perhaps Nessie? The Loch Ness Monster?

Callum: Yes, it is, indeed. What is Loch Ness, Kate?

Kate: Well Loch Ness is a lake, called Ness, Loch Ness. And loch is the Scottish

word for lake.

Callum: We'll hear more about the loch and the monster shortly, but first, our question,

which should be an easy one for you Kate, I think. Loch is the Scottish word

for Lake, but what is the Scottish word 'dreich' used to describe:

a: cold wet weather

b: deep dark water

c: deep soft snow

Kate: Ah, well I know this one. I love this word 'dreich'. It means a: cold wet weather. 

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Callum: We'll find out if you're right at the end of the programme. Now back to Loch

Ness. Could you tell us a bit more about it?

Kate: Well Loch Ness is a very big loch; it's about 37 km long and holds the largest

amount of water of any lake in UK. The water is very deep and very dark.

And it's also known as the home of the Loch Ness Monster.

Callum: When did all this talk of a monster in the loch begin? Let's listen now to part of

a report about new information which has been revealed² regarding³ the monster.

Listen out for this information. When did the legend start and when did it

become world famous? Here's the BBC's Colin Blane:

Colin Blane

The legend of the Loch Ness Monster goes back more than a thousand years but the story

attracted world-wide attention in the 1930s after a Scottish newspaper reported the beast had

been seen crossing the road.

Callum: So Kate, when did the legend begin and when did it become known around the

world.

Kate: Well apparently⁴ the legend began over 1000 years ago. But it's really been

since the 1930s that the modern legend has developed.

Callum: Let's listen again to Colin Blane. And what other word does he use to describe

the creature apart from monster, and what happened in the 1930s to make the

legend internationally known?

Colin Blane

The legend of the Loch Ness Monster goes back more than a thousand years but the story

attracted world-wide attention in the 1930s after a Scottish newspaper reported the beast had

been seen crossing the road. 

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Callum: So Kate, what word did he use for the monster.

Kate: He called it 'the beast'

Callum: And how did the modern legend start back in the 30s?

Kate: Well he said that there was a report in a newspaper that 'the beast' had been

seen crossing the road.

Callum: It seems such a bizarre⁵ thing for the monster to be crossing the road like a

pedestrian⁶, doesn't it?

Kate: I know, I always though it was a bit bigger than that.

Callum: Now have you ever been to Loch Ness and if you have, have you seen the

monster.

Kate: I have been to Loch Ness, but unfortunately I've never seen the monster. I think

I stood looking for it for about half-an-hour once, but that was it, no luck.

Callum: I've been there a couple of times and I've looked across the water. Again,

nothing. My feeling is that it's a bit of a myth⁷ and I think these days it's

considered by many people really just to be a legend, something for the tourists.

But back in the 1930s even the police thought it was real. Here's more of the

report from Colin Blane talking about new information that's been revealed.

What was the police chief worried about and we alsohear another word to refer

to the monster. Not beast - what is it?

Colin Blane

Even the local police chief took the monster seriously. He expressed concern about a hunting

party - led by Peter Kent from London - who planned to tackle⁸ the monster with a harpoon⁹ 

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gun. In an official letter from 1938, Chief Constable¹⁰ William Fraser said the creature should

be preserved.

Callum: So what was the police chief worried about Kate?

Kate: The report said that he 'expressed concern about', which means he was worried

about, a hunting party. That's A group of people from London were coming to

hunt for the monster.

Callum: And what other word did we hear for the monster?

Kate: Colin Blane used the word 'creature'. He reported that Chief Constable William

Fraser said the creature should be preserved – which means it should be

protected.

Callum: So we've got 'monster' and we've got beast and we've got 'creture'. All referring

to the same thing, there. Let's listen again.

Colin Blane

Even the local police chief took the monster seriously. He expressed concern about a hunting

party - led by Peter Kent from London - who planned to tackle the monster with a harpoon

gun. In an official letter from 1938, Chief Constable William Fraser said the creature should

be preserved.

Callum: Well the monster has been preserved; at least it's never been caught! Could that

be because it doesn't exist? Or because the waters of Loch Ness are so deep and

dark that Nessie remains¹¹ hidden? ….. perhaps, we'll never know.

Anyway, that's about all we have time for in this week's programme. Time

though to give the answer to this week's question which was - what is the

Scottish word 'dreich' used to describe: 

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Kate you said:

Kate: I said a: cold wet weather

Callum: And indeed that of course is the right answer. It is a great word, a lovely word.

Kate: And it perfectly¹² describes the weather in Scotland for most of the year, I'd say.

Callum: Well that's all from today's programme, but do join us next time for another 6

Minute English. Goodbye.

Kate: Goodbye 

1 Scotland   

n.苏格兰

参考例句：

• He has been hiking round Scotland for a month.他围着苏格兰徒步旅行了一个月。
• Scotland is to the north of England.苏格兰在英格兰之北。

2 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》

3 regarding   

prep.关于，至于；就…而论，在…方面

参考例句：

• Regarding John,I will write to him at once.至于约翰，我将立即给他写信。
• Regarding these facts,a special committee is to be appointed.鉴于这些事实，必须成立一个专门委员会。

4 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。

5 bizarre   

adj.奇形怪状的，怪诞的

参考例句：

• They saw a bizarre animal in the lake.他们在湖中看见一个奇怪的动物。
• The building was of bizarre construction.这建筑构造奇异。

6 pedestrian   

n.行人，步行者；adj.徒步的，呆板的，通俗的

参考例句：

• The criminal pushed a pedestrian down and ran away.罪犯推倒了一个行人逃跑了。
• The city built a pedestrian overpass over the highway.城里在公路上建了一座过街天桥。

7 myth   

n.神话，神话故事

参考例句：

• The story has points of resemblance to a Hebrew myth.这个故事与某个希伯来神话有相似之处。
• The story is a pure myth.这故事纯属虚构。

8 tackle   

n.工具，复滑车，扭倒；v.处理，抓住

参考例句：

• Don't forget to bring your sports tackle with you tomorrow.别忘了明天带上你的体育用具。
• We have gained sufficient experience to tackle this problem.我们已经有了足够的经验来处理这个问题。

9 harpoon   

n.鱼叉；vt.用鱼叉叉，用鱼叉捕获

参考例句：

• The harpoon drove deep into the body of the whale.渔叉深深地扎进鲸鱼体内。
• The fisherman transfixed the shark with a harpoon.渔夫用鱼叉刺住鲨鱼。

10 constable   

n.(英国)警察，警官

参考例句：

• The constable conducted the suspect to the police station.警官把嫌疑犯带到派出所。
• The constable kept his temper,and would not be provoked.那警察压制着自己的怒气，不肯冒起火来。

11 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

12 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。