Take Away English-A British Icon 英国偶像级演播员

Looking an icon1 in the eye

The broadcaster Sir David Attenborough has won the title of "Top British Icon" by the audience of The Culture Show, a British TV programme which bills itself as "a fast-paced weekly arts programme".

But how exactly do you decide who's an icon and who's not? The show gave its audience some guidance to help them vote for their favourite artists.

The icons² must be alive, have been born in or be living in the United Kingdom and they have to have made an impact on British cultural life. Other questions the audience were asked to consider before nominating an artist were: If the person died tomorrow, would their death make front-page news? Will their name be recognised by young and old alike? And will we still be talking about them in ten years' time?

Sir David Attenborough certainly ticks all those boxes. He was born in London 1926, has been commentating on TV and radio for more than 50 years and his nature and wildlife programmes have reached massive worldwide audiences. It's been estimated that 500 million people around the globe watched his series Life On Earth.

With his signature hushed tones he has described almost every corner of the earth and ocean. With mounting excitement, yet still whispering, he has helped explore and explain the world, its plants and animals to armchair naturalists³.

Long before environmental issues were big news, he was a passionate⁴ eco-campaigner, both on and off screen.

He said "I just wish the world was twice as big and half of it was still unexplored."

So, for this famous explorer, things really have turned around. Many years ago he was discouraged from being on TV because his BBC boss thought his teeth were too big. Yet he's just won the title of Living Icon - the greatest cultural artist in Britain today.

 

GLOSSARY 词汇表
broadcaster 演播员 culture 文化 guidance 引导 impact 影响 front-page news 头版新闻 ticks all those boxes 样样俱全 nature and wildlife 自然和野生动物 signature hushed tones 具有他独特风格的沉稳的语调 armchair naturalists 座在家中不 走进大自然的自然主义者 eco-campaigner 生态平衡倡导者	icon 偶像 fast-paced 快节奏的 artists 艺术家 nominating 提名 still be talking about 仍在谈论 commentating 评论 the globe 地球 mounting excitement 愈来愈激烈 environmental 环境的 discouraged 不鼓励

 

1 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

2 icons   

n.偶像( icon的名词复数 )；（计算机屏幕上表示命令、程序的）符号，图像

参考例句：

• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons. 用图标来区分重要的文本项。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Daemonic icons should only be employed persistently if they provide continuous, useful status information. 只有会连续地提供有用状态信息的情况下，后台应用程序才应该一直使用图标。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

3 naturalists   

n.博物学家( naturalist的名词复数 )；（文学艺术的）自然主义者

参考例句：

• Naturalists differ much in determining what characters are of generic value. 自然学者对于不同性状决定生物的属的含义上，各有各的见解。 来自辞典例句
• This fact has led naturalists to believe that the Isthmus was formerly open. 使许多自然学者相信这个地蛱在以前原是开通的。 来自辞典例句

4 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。