英语听力精选进阶版 6198

The UK’s Business Secretary Wins an Embarrassing Award 英国商务大臣获一尴尬奖项

When did you last look around a corner? Did you do it thoroughly¹?

If you think that question is a little odd, you’re not alone. Every year the Plain English Campaign collects perplexing examples of English usage as part of a drive for language that everyone can understand.

In an annual awards ceremony, the Campaign highlights jargon² and gobbledegook used by official bodies in their literature. They also give someone in the public eye a "Foot in Mouth" award for making the most baffling remark of the year.

This year that dubious³ honour goes to one of the most powerful people in Britain: Lord Mandelson, the government’s Business Secretary. He earned the black mark for these comments, which he made in May:

"Perhaps we need not more people looking round more corners, but the same people looking round more corners more thoroughly to avoid the small things detracting from the big things the Prime Minister is getting right."

Although his meaning is unclear, Mandelson’s remarks appear to be a classic example of a metaphor⁴ being stretched that little bit too far.

The Campaign also awarded the Department of Health a Golden Bull Award for describing an initiative as "refocusing upstream to stop people falling in the waters of disease". Eh?

American Airlines were also rapped for sending a passenger a "property irregularity receipt". "Property irregularity" is code for lost luggage. The Plain English Campaign described this as "an acknowledgement sent to a passenger that avoids the real problem of lost luggage".

For many Brits, Peter Mandelson’s accolade⁵ has an especially sweet irony⁶. For years he was the government’s top spin doctor. People including Tony Blair and Gordon Brown have turned to Mandelson when looking for the right way to phrase things.

What hope is there for English language learners when even renowned⁷ masters of communication make a mess of things?

Glossary 词汇表

perplexing 令人困惑的 

jargon 术语 

gobbledegook 难解的语言 

official bodies 官方机构 

literature 文献 

in the public eye 在公众眼中 

baffling 令人困惑的 

dubious honour 令人尴尬的荣誉 

black mark 污点 

detracting 贬低 

a metaphor … too far 比喻过分 

initiative 倡议 

upstream 上游 

rapped 批评 

acknowledgement 确认 

Brits 英国人 

accolade 嘉奖 

spin doctor 政治顾问，为丑闻辩解的公关人员 

turned to 求助 

renowned 享有盛誉的

1 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

2 jargon   

n.术语，行话

参考例句：

• They will not hear critics with their horrible jargon.他们不愿意听到评论家们那些可怕的行话。
• It is important not to be overawed by the mathematical jargon.要紧的是不要被数学的术语所吓倒.

3 dubious   

adj.怀疑的，无把握的；有问题的，靠不住的

参考例句：

• What he said yesterday was dubious.他昨天说的话很含糊。
• He uses some dubious shifts to get money.他用一些可疑的手段去赚钱。

4 metaphor   

n.隐喻，暗喻

参考例句：

• Using metaphor,we say that computers have senses and a memory.打个比方，我们可以说计算机有感觉和记忆力。
• In poetry the rose is often a metaphor for love.玫瑰在诗中通常作为爱的象征。

5 accolade   

n.推崇备至，赞扬

参考例句：

• Four restaurants have been awarded the highest accolade of a three-star rating.四家餐馆获授予三星级餐馆的最高荣誉称号。
• The Nobel prize has become the ultimate accolade in the sciences.诺贝尔奖已成为科学界的最高荣誉。

6 irony   

n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄

参考例句：

• She said to him with slight irony.她略带嘲讽地对他说。
• In her voice we could sense a certain tinge of irony.从她的声音里我们可以感到某种讥讽的意味。

7 renowned   

adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的

参考例句：

• He is one of the world's renowned writers.他是世界上知名的作家之一。
• She is renowned for her advocacy of human rights.她以提倡人权而闻名。