英语听力精选进阶版 7192（在线收听）

背景：一位英国设计师因出色设计出一种低能耗灯泡而获得一项设计大奖。布鲁门灯泡获得了由伦敦设计博物馆颁发的年度设计大赛的大奖。这种灯泡可以省电80%，并且比传统灯泡的寿命长八倍。

Will Gompertz: Now here is a bright idea - a designer, low-energy light bulb. So now, if you want to illuminate your home in an eco-friendly fashion, you have this curvaceous choice. The designers spent a great deal of time worrying about what might turn people on, and what might turn them off.

Their quest was to marry practicality, something that actually works, with a sense of style and beauty, to create an object of desire. Something that you not only wanted to own, but hopefully also wanted to keep.

Nicolas Roope: And that's really the role of the designer, I think, is to make objects that people really connect with and really cherish, you know. I think that's one of our roles, and obviously in this case this isn't just about prettifying. This is about, you know, obviously, the underlying problem of getting people to adopt this stuff, because obviously that's in everybody's interests.

Will Gompertz: That is if money is not too much of an issue - funky costs. Each one is nearly ￡20. That's up to twenty times the price of some other low-energy bulbs. It's too early to judge if this product has a dazzling future, but its creators will be reassured to know that at least one major household goods retailer said its customers did not consider light bulbs dull. In fact, to them, design matters.

Will Gompertz, BBC News

Glossary 词汇表

a bright idea 聪明的主意 

an eco-friendly fashion 对生态环境友好的方式 

curvaceous 优美曲线的 

to turn people on 让人感兴趣 

to marry 与… 结缘、结婚 

to cherish 珍惜 

the underlying problem 潜在的问题 

to adopt 采纳、采用 

dazzling 灿烂的 

dull 枯燥、无趣的

Questions and Answers

1. What word does the reporter use to describe the shape of the light bulb? 

Curvaceous.

2. True or false - the designer says his role as an artistic person is to shock and offend people with his creations? 

False. He says a designer should create something people cherish.

3. What institution awards the Design of the Year? 

It's awarded by the Design Museum in London.

4. What does the reporter mean when he says "Funky costs"? 

He's explaining that fashionable or trendy light bulbs are more expensive than ordinary ones.