【一起听英语】澳洲小镇

 Dima: Hello and welcome to this edition of 6 Minute English with me, Dima

Kostenko

 

Rebecca: and me, Rebecca Byrne.

Dima: Rebecca is here to help us with the language today. Today we'll focus on

words and phrases people use when talking about business and money as we

hear about one small town's rather unusual attempt to protect itself from the

global financial crisis. But first, a question for you Rebecca. Our key word for

today is - currency. How would you describe what a currency actually is?

Rebecca: Responds (money used in a particular country at a particular time; usually

country-specific but there are exceptions, e.g. euro - and Hong Kong dollar…)

Dima: Right, thanks Rebecca for this explanation. I am sure it will be useful to

anyone who is travelling abroad, and in particular, those who might be

planning a visit to Maleny, an old dairy farming town in Queensland, Australia.

Rebecca: Responds/asks what's special about Maleny

Dima: Maleny Rebecca is about to make history by introducing its own community

currency. The so called Baroon Dollar, named after a nearby lake, will be sold

to both residents and tourists at local shops, and despite the fact that the

scheme won't come into force until August, over 100 companies have already

signed up for it.

 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2009

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Rebecca: Responds (another gimmick… Why? What for? What can it do that the official

currency, Australian dollar, cannot do?)

Dima: Well, if you listen to the scheme organisers, the idea is to counter the global

economic downturn by supporting local businesses.

Rebecca: Hmm, a kind of stimulus¹ package on a local scale?

Dima: Exactly, well put Rebecca. A stimulus package.

Rebecca: I suppose I could have simply said 'a measure, or a number of measures to help

revive the economy'. Actually, I've got a couple of other things to gloss². The

verb 'to counterfeit³' meaning to make forged, illegal banknotes that look like

real ones. And the phrase 'to build into', in other words to design and make

something in such a way that a certain feature is included.

Dima: In a moment we'll hear from Darren Mitchell, a chief organiser behind the

scheme. He says, like any proper currency, the Baroon Dollar will have a

number of security features, and here comes your challenge for this week

Rebecca. What do you think those security features are for?

a) to make the new banknotes look prettier

b) to make the Baroon Dollar a freely convertible⁴ international currency, or

c) to stop counterfeiting⁵?

What do you think Rebecca?

 

Rebecca: Answers

Dima: We'll check your answer later but first let's hear from Darren Mitchell. See if

you can spot 'to build into' and 'to counterfeit' in his words: 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2009

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Clip 1 0'10"

We have built into the currency, the community currency, a number of security features that

stop counterfeiting. So, we think we have done a fairly good job there.

Rebecca: Darren Mitchell says the community currency has been designed in such a way

as to include a number of security features.

Dima: And did you manage to hear what those security features are for?

Rebecca: They are to stop people from attempting to make forged, illegal notes - in short,

to stop counterfeiting. Which means I was right/not quite right when I made my

guess earlier.

Dima: Listen to Darren Mitchell again and this time try to catch a commonly used

verb which means to deal with, to act in response to (usually something

unpleasant).

Rebecca: And just to keep you on full alert, here are two more things to listen out for.

First, the word 'hinterland' meaning land just beyond the coastal⁶ areas. And

second, the expression 'to give an extra boost', which means to give more

support, to stimulate⁷ new activities. Let's listen:

Clip 2 0'13"

We are, sort of, addressing the global financial crisis. We are creating a community currency -

the first in Australia - across the Sunshine Coast hinterland region. It really gives businesses

an extra boost.

Dima: That was Darren Mitchell, the man behind Australia's first community

currency. Rebecca, did you spot the verb which means to deal with, to act in

response to?

Rebecca: I think it was 'to address'. 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2009

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Dima: That's absolutely right, Darren said, ' We are addressing the global financial

crisis'. Well, what can I say, good luck to him and to everyone who'll be using

the currency. And I'm afraid all we have time for in this programme is another

quick look at some of today's vocabulary. Rebecca?

Rebecca: Responds. We began by defining currency - that is the money used in a

particular country at a particular time. We discovered what an economic

stimulus package is - a number of measures to help revive the economy. Then

we had the verb to counterfeit meaning to make forged, illegal banknotes that

look like real ones; and the phrase to build into, in other words to design and

make something in such a way that a certain feature is included. In the second

clip we heard the noun hinterland meaning land just beyond the coastal areas.

Also, we challenged you to try and catch the verb to address which means to

deal with, to act in response to something bad or urgent, and the expression to

give an extra boost, which means to provide more support, to stimulate new

activity.

Dima: Thanks Rebecca. Well, that's about all for today. Until next week.

Both: Goodbye! 

1 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

2 gloss   

n.光泽，光滑；虚饰；注释；vt.加光泽于；掩饰

参考例句：

• John tried in vain to gloss over his faults.约翰极力想掩饰自己的缺点，但是没有用。
• She rubbed up the silver plates to a high gloss.她把银盘擦得很亮。

3 counterfeit   

vt.伪造，仿造；adj.伪造的，假冒的

参考例句：

• It is a crime to counterfeit money.伪造货币是犯罪行为。
• The painting looked old but was a recent counterfeit.这幅画看上去年代久远，实际是最近的一幅赝品。

4 convertible   

adj.可改变的，可交换，同意义的；n.有活动摺篷的汽车

参考例句：

• The convertible sofa means that the apartment can sleep four.有了这张折叠沙发，公寓里可以睡下4个人。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了。

5 counterfeiting   

n.伪造v.仿制，造假( counterfeit的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was sent to prison for counterfeiting five-dollar bills. 他因伪造5美元的钞票被捕入狱。 来自辞典例句
• National bureau released securities, certificates with security anti-counterfeiting paper technical standards. 国家质量技术监督局发布了证券、证件用安全性防伪纸张技术标准。 来自互联网

6 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

7 stimulate   

vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋

参考例句：

• Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
• Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。