【英语听和读】特纳奖

 William: Hello and welcome to Entertainment, I’m William Kremer.

Now, if I said the name ‘Turner’, would it mean anything to you? Well, you

may have heard of JMW Turner, a famous English painter from the 19th

Century. But if you read a British newspaper, you’re more likely to read about

The Turner Prize, which is an art prize named after the painter. Every year a

British-based artist under the age of fifty wins The Turner Prize, which this

year is £25,000.

Well, despite the fact that the prize is named after JMW Turner, there are no

painters on this year’s shortlist.

We're going to hear a clip of Rachel Campbell-Johnston, the Chief Art critic at

The Times newspaper. She’s describing the work of one of the short-listed

artists, Zarina Bhimji. Don’t worry if you can’t understand the clip, because

it’s fast and there are a lot of hard words in there. I just want you to try to hear

what kind of objects Zarina Bhimji has made.

Rachel

CampbellJohnston

 

(RCJ):

Very lyrical, very evocative photographs of lost things, of memories, ordinary

things drenched¹ in light which suddenly take on overtones of loss and

displacement² and presences that have vanished.

 

Entertainment © BBC Learning English

Page 2 of 4

bbclearningenglish.com

William: Listen again and remember, Zarina Bhimji is not a painter, so what is it that

she’s created?

RCJ: Very lyrical, very evocative photographs of lost things, of memories, ordinary

things drenched in light which suddenly take on overtones of loss and

displacement and presences that have vanished.

William: Well there was a lot of description in that clip, but Zarina Bhimji has made

photographs, ‘Very lyrical, very evocative photographs of lost things’.

‘Evocative’ is an adjective describing something that makes you remember

other things. For example, you might be in a restaurant and suddenly hear very

evocative music, which reminds you of an old friend. There’s a verb form too -

we can say, ‘the music evokes⁴ memories’.

Rachel Campbell-Johnston used another adjective: ‘lyrical’. This word is used

to describe works of art which express emotion very beautifully.

These very lyrical, very evocative photographs, Rachel Campbell-Johnston

says, are of ‘ordinary things’ which take on overtones of loss and displacement.

An overtone is a meaning that is not openly stated, but suggested or hinted at.

So the photographs are of things that hint at loss and displacement, that evoke³

memories of loss and displacement.

RCJ: Very lyrical, very evocative photographs of lost things, of memories, ordinary

things drenched in light which suddenly take on overtones of loss and

displacement and presences that have vanished.

STING 

Entertainment © BBC Learning English

Page 3 of 4

bbclearningenglish.com

William: Now let’s listen to Rachel Campbell-Johnston’s description of the work of

another short-listed artist, Nathan Coley. Do you know the word ‘camouflage⁵’?

Camouflage is a way of hiding soldiers or equipment by making them look like

the things around them. So forest camouflage is very green and has leafy

patterns. But what’s ‘dazzle camouflage?’ Listen carefully.

RCJ: He’s done a series of pieces which he uses the dazzle camouflage that the ships

used during the war to disguise themselves against the ocean so huge bulks

could be disguised…

William: She said that ships used dazzle camouflage during the war to disguise

themselves against the ocean. When British people say ‘the war’ they often

mean the Second World War – and I think that’s what Rachel CampbellJohnston

is talking about here.

So – dazzle camouflage is a special kind of camouflage for ships. Next, see if

you can hear what the artist, Nathan Coley, has done with dazzle camouflage:

RCJ: He’s done a series of pieces which he uses the dazzle camouflage that the ships

used during the war to disguise themselves against the ocean so huge bulks

could be disguised, he’s dazzle camouflaged⁶ synagogues and mosques⁷, with a

fairly obvious metaphorical⁸ meaning, this is a spiritual or religious present

which is half camouflaged but the dazzle camouflage actually makes it more

obvious.

William: She says Nathan Coley has dazzle camouflaged synagogues and mosques. Why

has he done this? Well, Rachel Campbell-Johnston thinks that the meaning is

that we live in a religious time, but this fact is half-hidden. Ironically, the

camouflage looks so strange on religious buildings that it becomes more

obvious. Listen again: 

Entertainment © BBC Learning English

Page 4 of 4

bbclearningenglish.com

RCJ: He’s dazzle camouflaged synagogues and mosques, with a fairly obvious

metaphorical meaning, this is a spiritual or religious present which is half

camouflaged but the dazzle camouflage actually makes it more obvious.

William: Now if this sounds unbelievable, you can see a picture of a camouflaged

model of a church by Nathan Coley by following a link on the

Entertainment website on BBC Learning English dot com. Just ask yourself:

What would JMW Turner think of that? 

1 drenched   

adj.湿透的；充满的v.使湿透( drench的过去式和过去分词 )；在某人（某物）上大量使用（某液体）

参考例句：

• We were caught in the storm and got drenched to the skin. 我们遇上了暴雨，淋得浑身透湿。
• The rain drenched us. 雨把我们淋得湿透。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 displacement   

n.移置，取代，位移，排水量

参考例句：

• They said that time is the feeling of spatial displacement.他们说时间是空间位移的感觉。
• The displacement of all my energy into caring for the baby.我所有精力都放在了照顾宝宝上。

3 evoke   

vt.唤起，引起，使人想起

参考例句：

• These images are likely to evoke a strong response in the viewer.这些图像可能会在观众中产生强烈反响。
• Her only resource was the sympathy she could evoke.她以凭借的唯一力量就是她能从人们心底里激起的同情。

4 evokes   

产生，引起，唤起( evoke的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The film evokes chilling reminders of the war. 这部电影使人们回忆起战争的可怕场景。
• Each type evokes antibodies which protect against the homologous. 每一种类型都能产生抗同种病毒的抗体。

5 camouflage   

n./v.掩饰，伪装

参考例句：

• The white fur of the polar bear is a natural camouflage.北极熊身上的白色的浓密软毛是一种天然的伪装。
• The animal's markings provide effective camouflage.这种动物身上的斑纹是很有效的伪装。

6 camouflaged   

v.隐蔽( camouflage的过去式和过去分词 )；掩盖；伪装，掩饰

参考例句：

• We camouflaged in the bushes and no one saw us. 我们隐藏在灌木丛中没有被人发现。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• They camouflaged in bushes. 他们隐蔽在灌木丛中。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 mosques   

清真寺； 伊斯兰教寺院，清真寺； 清真寺，伊斯兰教寺院( mosque的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Why make us believe that this tunnel runs underneath the mosques? 为什么要让我们相信这条隧洞是在清真寺下？
• The city's three biggest mosques, long fallen into disrepair, have been renovated. 城里最大的三座清真寺，过去年久失修，现在已经修复。

8 metaphorical   

a.隐喻的，比喻的

参考例句：

• Here, then, we have a metaphorical substitution on a metonymic axis. 这样，我们在换喻（者翻译为转喻，一种以部分代替整体的修辞方法）上就有了一个隐喻的替代。
• So, in a metaphorical sense, entropy is arrow of time. 所以说，我们可以这样作个比喻：熵像是时间之矢。