英语听力精选进阶版 7881

Callum: Hello – I'm Callum and welcome to my garden.

I don't live in the bustling¹ busy centre of London. I live about 32 kilometres south of the BBC World Service's Bush House home in the county of Surrey.

Surrey is known for being very green. Beautiful countryside, hills and lanes – with typical English villages.

It sounds very peaceful and calm. Relaxing and idyllic².

But there is a noise here, something in the distance, persistent³, never-ending. Perhaps you can just hear it in the background. No?

Let's get a little closer.

How about... now?

That noise is the steady drone of traffic as one of the busiest roads in Europe cuts its way through the Surrey countryside. It's the London orbital motorway⁴ - known as the M25 - and the M25 celebrates its 25th birthday this month. Work began on it in the 1970s and the final section was opened on October 29th 1986 by the then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher⁵.

Margaret Thatcher

Now you've got the message. This is a great engineering achievement.

Helen: 刚才你听到的是 1986 年 M25 最后一段道路竣工时，英国首相撒切尔夫人在通车典礼上的讲话。

大家好，我是 Helen。可怜的 Callum 站在横跨高速公路的一座桥上看着交通，而我却在录音室里舒舒服服的坐着。那么让我们回到 Callum 那里，学点伦敦的公路知识吧。请留意他提到的一些数据和经常用这段公路的司机们的反应。

Callum: Well, I've come away from the bridge now to somewhere a little quieter. Today's programme isn't so much On the Town as Around the Town because the M25 encircles the capital in a 188km loop. It makes getting around the south-east of Britain easier but it can also be incredibly frustrating⁶ as it's well known for its traffic jams, particularly during peak hours. I drive on it regularly and when the traffic is flowing, it's great. But it can be a real nightmare if you're stuck in a jam.

This kind of road has different names in different countries - in some places they are called highways, in others freeways - but in Britain they are called motorways⁷. High speed routes to enable you to get places fast. At least, that's the theory.

The maximum legal speed on Britain's motorways is 70 miles per hour, which is a little over 110 kilometres per hour. Though at many times of day you'll be lucky to get anywhere near that speed. The Highways Agency, which is the organisation⁸ that oversees⁹ the motorways, estimates that the busiest sections are used by over 200,000 vehicles a day and that there are a million trips on the road as a whole each day.

So what's it like to use it and how do people feel about driving on it?

So what do you think of the M25?

I try to avoid it personally, taking any other route possible because there's always traffic or accidents on there. Apart from that, if it is clear it is quite handy.

I do actually tend to avoid it, even though I've never really had any issues with it. Whenever I'm on it, seems fine. Everyone seems to complain about it but I haven't had any problems myself.

It's a road, it's horrible, it's full of traffic, I don't like driving on it.

Yep I've been on the M25 and I think London is a lot better for it than it would be without it.

It's the biggest car parking lot I've ever seen. But it is a way of getting around, it's the only way of getting up North I have. End up spending half my time on it most weekends really.

I've thought about it a lot recently and there's two ways I look at it. One, in the morning when I'm going to work I use it as a time to reflect on what I've got coming and to start thinking about my day. I've got my coffee, my radio. And then in the afternoon I just want to get back home and I just feel like by the time I've had half an hour on the M25 I just feel like I've got nothing left when I get back home and it's the most depressing place to be.

Helen: 看来大家的反应都不一样。大家认为虽然环城高速是必须的，有时候也很方便，但是往往让人们觉得精神紧张。不过M25 环城高速带来了一些出乎意料的效果，请听 Callum 的讲解。

Callum: Wraysbury is a small village, just off the M25. It has a number of lakes and this one, where I am now, is a dedicated¹⁰ site for scuba¹¹ diving. It owes its existence to the M25. It used to be a gravel¹² pit which was used during the construction of the motorway and when it was completed the pit was flooded and converted to a lake.

Helen: 环城高速带来了水上运动的设施，这一点大家可能都没有预料到。看来M25并不完全是司机们的噩梦。不管怎样，M25已经是25岁了，让我们一起祝愿它生日快乐。好了，该我在播音室里和大家说再见了，那么 Callum，你呢?

Callum: That's all from me from the hills, lanes and lakes that border the M25.

1 bustling   

adj.喧闹的

参考例句：

• The market was bustling with life. 市场上生机勃勃。
• This district is getting more and more prosperous and bustling. 这一带越来越繁华了。

2 idyllic   

adj.质朴宜人的，田园风光的

参考例句：

• These scenes had an idyllic air.这种情景多少有点田园气氛。
• Many people living in big cities yearn for an idyllic country life.现在的很多都市人向往那种田园化的生活。

3 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。

4 motorway   

n.高速公路，快车道

参考例句：

• Our car had a breakdown on the motorway.我们的汽车在高速公路上抛锚了。
• A maniac driver sped 35 miles along the wrong side of a motorway at 110 mph.一个疯狂的司机以每小时110英里的速度在高速公路上逆行飙车35英里。

5 thatcher   

n.茅屋匠

参考例句：

• Tom Sawyer was in the skiff that bore Judge Thatcher. 汤姆 - 索亚和撒切尔法官同乘一条小艇。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险
• Mrs. Thatcher was almost crazed; and Aunt Polly, also. 撒切尔夫人几乎神经失常，还有波莉姨妈也是。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

6 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 motorways   

n.高速公路( motorway的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Most of Britain's motorways radiated from London. 英国的大多数公路从伦敦向四方延伸。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Cuba is well served by motorways. 古巴的高速公路四通八达。 来自辞典例句

8 organisation   

n.组织，安排，团体，有机休

参考例句：

• The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
• His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。

9 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

10 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

11 scuba   

n.水中呼吸器

参考例句：

• I first got hooked on scuba diving when I was twelve.12岁时我开始迷上了带水中呼吸器潜水。
• While on honeymoon in Bali,she learned to scuba dive.她在巴厘岛度蜜月时学会了带水肺潜水。

12 gravel   

n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石

参考例句：

• We bought six bags of gravel for the garden path.我们购买了六袋碎石用来铺花园的小路。
• More gravel is needed to fill the hollow in the drive.需要更多的砾石来填平车道上的坑洼。