英語(yǔ)六級(jí)閱讀精煉
piccadilly circus
it is difficult to say what is the real center of england, but many people would choose piccadilly circus. this is because it is not only central but also the heart of london’s entertainment world. within a few hundred yards of it we find most of london’s best-known theatres and cinemas, the most famous restaurants and the most luxurious night-clubs.
in the middle of piccadilly circus there is a statue said to be of eros, the god of love. few people know that it really represents the angel of christian charity. this statue is the first that was ever cast in aluminum2 . on cup final3 night and new year’s eve it is boarded up to prevent over-enthusiastic revelers from climbing onto it.
the buildings around the circus are rather nondescript, though some of them are large and quite imposing. 4 many of them are decorated with bright neon signs advertising goods and entertainments; piccadilly circus at night is a colourful sight.
underneath piccadilly circus there is an important tube station with escalators leading down to two different lines. the ticket-hall, which is just below street-level, is a vast circular hall with showcases, hired by various stores, let into the walls. there are entrances from all the main streets that converge at the circus. 5
it is particularly in the evening that piccadilly circus is thronged with people going to the theatre or the cinema, or perhaps to a restaurant. many others have come for an evening stroll6 ; they will probably have a cup of coffee or a glass of beer before they go home . the crowd is a motley7 one , for it is composed of people of many nationalities. the peoples of the british commonwealth are well represented, as there are many indians, pakistanis, west indians and africans in london; they are either working here or studying. some of them wear their national dress. many foreign visitors mingle with the crowd, some from the continent, some from more distant places. it is interesting to try to identify different nationalities by their style and type of clothing. this is no longer as easy as it used to be. the atmosphere is distinctly cosmopolitan, and one hears a great variety of languages. it has been said that if you listen carefully, you may even hear english8 !
閱讀自測(cè)
�、�. according to the passage , fill in th e bla nks with proper words:
1. in the middle of piccadilly circus, there is a statue, which represents the of christian charity. on cup final night and new year’s eve it is up to prevent over-enthusiastic fans from climbing onto it.
2. the buildings around the circus are large and quite .
3. underneath the circus there is a station with leading down to two different lines.
4. on the circus, many foreign visitors with the crowd. it is really a one.
�、�. questions :
1. why is piccadilly circus called the center of london?
2. what is the interesting thing in piccadilly circus?
參考答案
Ⅰ. 1. angel / boarded 2. imposing 3. tube / escalators 4 . mingle / motley
�、�. 1. because it is not only central but also the heart of london’s entertainment world. 2. ( 略)
參考譯文
皮卡迪利廣場(chǎng)
很 難說(shuō)哪里是倫敦真正的中心, 但許多人都會(huì)認(rèn)定是皮卡迪利廣場(chǎng), 這是因?yàn)樗粌H 地處市中心而且是倫敦娛樂(lè)世界的中心。倫敦最有名的劇場(chǎng)和影院, 最著名的餐館和最豪 華的夜總會(huì)都在距離廣場(chǎng)幾百碼的地方。
皮卡迪利廣場(chǎng)的中央有一座愛(ài)神厄洛斯的雕像。幾乎沒(méi)人知道這座雕像真正代表的 是基督教博愛(ài)天使。這是有史以來(lái)第一座由鋁鑄成的雕像。足協(xié)杯錦標(biāo)賽決賽的當(dāng)晚和 新年前夜, 為防止狂熱的狂歡者爬上去, 人們會(huì)用木板圍住雕像。
廣 場(chǎng)周圍的建筑的確難以描述, 但有些大樓還是非常宏偉壯觀。許多大樓都飾有明亮 的霓虹燈。那是在為各種商品和娛樂(lè)節(jié)目做廣告。皮卡迪利廣場(chǎng)的夜晚是絢麗多彩的。
皮卡迪利廣場(chǎng)的地下有個(gè)重要的地鐵站。地鐵站內(nèi)的自動(dòng)扶梯通向兩條不同的地鐵 線。地下售票廳是個(gè)寬敞的帶有各種展品陳列窗的`圓形大廳, 這些陳列窗嵌入墻內(nèi), 由各 店家租用。廣場(chǎng)的各主要大街都有通往地鐵的入口。
特別是在晚上, 廣場(chǎng)上人頭攢動(dòng), 有人去看戲或看電影, 有人去餐館, 還有很多人來(lái)散 步, 回家前可能還會(huì)喝上一杯咖啡或啤酒。倫敦有來(lái)自五湖四海的人, 所以比較混雜。這 里有許多印度人、巴基斯坦人、西印度群島的人以及非洲人, 幾乎英聯(lián)邦成員國(guó)各民族的代 表都有, 他們有的是在這里工作, 有的是來(lái)上學(xué)。他們中有些人穿著本國(guó)的民族服裝。許 多外國(guó)游客夾雜在人群中, 有的來(lái)自歐洲大陸, 有的來(lái)自更遠(yuǎn)的地方。通過(guò)衣著打扮來(lái)識(shí) 別他們的國(guó)籍是挺有意思的事情。但這點(diǎn)不再像過(guò)去那么容易了。這里的一切都具有明 顯的世界性, 人們可以聽(tīng)到許多種語(yǔ)言。據(jù)說(shuō), 如果仔細(xì)聽(tīng), 你還會(huì)聽(tīng)到英語(yǔ)呢!
閱讀導(dǎo)評(píng)
在英國(guó)的首都倫敦的正中心———皮卡迪利廣場(chǎng)上, 要聽(tīng)英語(yǔ)竟得豎起耳朵才能聽(tīng)到! 只此一句話, 便將廣場(chǎng)的現(xiàn)狀描繪得活靈活現(xiàn)。
閱讀導(dǎo)釋
1. 皮卡迪利廣場(chǎng)。自1819 年建成起, 皮卡迪利廣場(chǎng)就是集會(huì)場(chǎng)所。它曾是英國(guó)的中心。皮卡迪利廣場(chǎng)是個(gè)充滿矛盾的地方。廣場(chǎng)附近美麗的建筑物被霓虹燈廣告所覆蓋, 交通 的嘈雜聲盤旋在厄洛斯像———基督教博愛(ài)大使的雕像周圍。這個(gè)雕像是獻(xiàn)給樂(lè)善好施 的沙夫茨伯里伯爵的禮物。piccadilly, 是指“ 英國(guó)倫敦的皮卡迪利大街”, 它以時(shí)髦的商 店、俱樂(lè)部、旅館和住宅著稱。circus 意為“環(huán)行廣場(chǎng), 環(huán)行交叉口, 環(huán)行建筑群”。
2. 鋁。cast in aluminum 表示“ 用鋁澆鑄”。
3. cup final 指“足協(xié)杯錦標(biāo)賽決賽”, 由英國(guó)足協(xié)每年在倫敦西北郊溫布利體育場(chǎng)舉行。
4. 這句話中有兩個(gè)詞語(yǔ)需要注意一下: nondescript 的意思是“因無(wú)特征而難以歸類的, 難以 形容的”, 如: a nondescript mixture of feelings ( 難以名狀的交織感情) 。imposing 的意思是 “ 壯觀的, 氣勢(shì)雄偉的, 莊嚴(yán)的, 不凡的, 給人印象深刻的”, 如: an imposing building ( 一座 氣勢(shì)宏偉的建筑物) ; she made an imposing display of knowledge. ( 她顯示出令人嘆服的博 識(shí)多聞
5. 整個(gè)段落描寫的是倫敦地鐵站的情況, 現(xiàn)在上海地鐵站內(nèi)的布局也有許多和倫敦相似之 處。tube 是“地下鐵道, 地鐵列車”的意思, 美語(yǔ)用subway 表示, 法國(guó)巴黎和加拿大蒙特 利爾則用metro 指“地鐵”。escalator 是“ 自動(dòng)扶梯”�！吧惦娞荨庇⒄Z(yǔ)中用lift 表示, 美 語(yǔ)是elevator。showcase 是指“商店里的玻璃陳列窗”。entrance 這里指“ 進(jìn)地鐵站的入 口”,“出口”則是exit。converge 的意思是“ 聚集, 集中, 匯合”, 如: thousands of spectators converged on the city for the horse race. ( 數(shù)以千計(jì)的觀眾從四面八方涌到這座城市觀看 賽馬。) converge 的反義詞是diverge ( 分叉, 叉開(kāi)) 。
6. 這里用作名詞, 意思是“ 散步, 溜達(dá), 閑逛”。該詞用作動(dòng)詞, 作“ 沿??散步, 在??溜 達(dá)”解, 如: stroll the streets ( 逛大街) 。還可作“ 為求職或謀生而四處流浪, 輾轉(zhuǎn)各地”解, 如: strolling gypsies ( 四處流浪的吉普賽人) 。
7. 這個(gè)詞語(yǔ)的意思是“ 混雜的, 成分雜亂的”, 如: a motley collection of shells ( 一堆各色貝 殼) ; the crew of the ships were a motley one. ( 那幾條船上的水手各色人都有。)
8. 幽默的說(shuō)法, 以示廣場(chǎng)的國(guó)際性。
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