Youling: Hello. You're listening to On the Town from BBC Learning English. 大家好, 我是幼玲。我現在在演播間,和大家一起看看我們的 Jo 又在哪里流覽。 Hi Jo – where are you today?
Jo: Hi Youling. Yes I am on the streets of London with Matt Jonas who is going to tell us all about where we are today. He works for londontown.com which is an online guide to London; so he knows lots of things about the city. So Matt where are we - and can you describe it for our listeners?
Matt: Ok, we're standing in the middle of Piccadilly Circus which is a traffic junction in the middle of London. We are surrounded by huge grand Victorian buildings. On some of the buildings there are huge neon signs advertising everything from tapes to electrical equipment to beer.
Youling: Circus 有兩個意思, 一個是指馬戲團, 或是馬戲團用的那種圓形的馬戲場, 另外一個意思是指有眾多道路交匯的圓形廣場。 在這里, Matt 指的就是第二個意思, 也就是皮卡迪里廣場。為了助于我們理解, Matt 稱它為 a traffic junction, 交叉路口- A junction. 他用了 to be surrounded by 被環繞著的這個表達方式。 在提及周邊建筑時,他用了 huge 和 grand 來形容建筑物的宏大和雄偉。 Victorian buildings, 維多利亞式建筑,指的是維多利亞女王在位時也就是 1837-1901 這個年代的建筑。 Matt 還提到了巨大的霓虹燈廣告牌, neon signs 霓虹燈廣告, advertising 廣告, to advertise.
Jo You're listening to On the Town from BBC Learning English and I'm here in Piccadilly Circus with Matt Jonas who is telling us all about this famous place in London. So what do you know about the history of Piccadilly Circus Matt?
Matt: Well, Piccadilly Circus was built in 1819 when the architect John Nash designed Regent Street and it was originally a roundabout joining the roads with a fountain in the middle. It's not a roundabout anymore but it's still a very big junction.
Youling: 它是由建筑師 John Nash 在 1819 年設計興建的。 To design 設計, an architect 建筑師。 當初興建的原因是想把攝政街和皮卡迪里 這兩條著名的大街連接起來。 皮卡迪里廣場一度曾是個環島轉盤 a roundabout. 既然如此, 那為什么皮卡迪里廣場會成了當今這么熱門的旅游景點呢? Why is it such a famous place in London?
Matt: Well, it's right in the middle of the West End, there's great shops and everything near here; and you've got the famous statue of Eros in the middle, which is what most people come to see.
Youling: West End 就是著名的倫敦西區。它地處倫敦市中心,聚集了眾多的影劇院,商店,餐飲業和商業。
Jo: Matt, what can you tell us about the statue here, on the fountain, of the angel?
Matt: Well, it's a memorial to Lord Shaftesbury who in the 19th century helped abolish child labour in London and it's actually of Anteros who is the Greek god of brotherly love but people in London have shortened it to Eros which is in fact the Greek God of sexual love.
Youling: 原來它還是為紀念沙夫茨伯里伯爵而設的紀念碑。這位伯爵在19世紀為取消倫敦的童工制作出了極大貢獻。 Matt 說這位天使叫 Eros. 這位 Eros 是在希臘神話里一個神。他是神話里的性愛神,但這里的雕像實際上是另外一個叫 Anteros 的神,他是代表兄長間的那種愛的愛神。 Anteros 就被短稱為 Eros.
Jo: Well, thank you Matt for all your help today and for introducing Piccadilly Circus to us. And thank you Youling for explaining the language to us.
Youling: You're welcome Jo. 我們再重新溫習一下所學的新詞。 See you next time.
Jo: Yes from all of us here at BBC Learning English On the Town, bye!
Jo: A junction.
Youling: 交叉路口。
Jo: To be surrounded by.
Youling: 被圍繞著的。
Jo: Grand.
Youling: 雄偉的。
Jo: A fountain.
Youling: 噴泉。
Jo: Neon signs.
Youling: 霓虹燈廣告。
Jo: To advertise.
Youling: 做廣告。
Jo: An architect.
Youling: 建筑師。
Jo: To design.
Youling: 設計。
Jo: A roundabout.
Youling: 環島轉盤。
Jo: A memorial.
Youling: 紀念物,紀念館。