英语听力文摘 English Digest 144、恐惧症

　　It could be spiders. It could be mice.  It could even be people.What are you scared of? Today we’re looking at phobias. The things that people are scared of.  And I can’t stand mice. They just make me want to scream.
Snakes. I have a fear of snakes. I just don’t like them. I know they’re not particularly dangerous but I just don’t like the way they move and I know they’re not slimy but just do not like them at all. I’ve always hated them. That’s the only thing I’m really afraid of.
So this lady doesn’t like snakes. I have to say I’m not that keen on them. I don’t really like them. I guess there are some snakes that are safe to hold. But I wouldn’t want to hold one.
I’m afraid of heights. This is my secret. I really, really can’t stand being in tall buildings and I lived in the eighth floor of a building for many years and I just couldn’t go into the window and just look at the view or anything. It’s kind of weird¹ but this is my phobia.
A fear of heights.  The medical word used for this is vertigo². How awful to live so high up and always feel so scared. I hope he lives on the ground floor now! Some people believe that phobias are irrational³. They aren’t based on anything. But lots of people, even celebrities⁴ have phobias.And footballer, David Beckham has a phobia about things being untidy. And if you think that’s a strange phobia, Johnny Depp, who was in the film ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’, he’s afraid of clowns.

1 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

2 vertigo   

n.眩晕

参考例句：

• He had a dreadful attack of vertigo.他忽然头晕得厉害。
• If you have vertigo it seems as if the whole room is spinning round you.如果你头晕，就会觉得整个房间都旋转起来

3 irrational   

adj.无理性的，失去理性的

参考例句：

• After taking the drug she became completely irrational.她在吸毒后变得完全失去了理性。
• There are also signs of irrational exuberance among some investors.在某些投资者中是存在非理性繁荣的征象的。

4 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目