英语听力—环球英语 1276 The Houses of Parliament

 Voice 1

 

　　Welcome to Spotlight¹. I’m Nick Page.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　And I’m Colin Lowther. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand - no matter where in the world they live.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　A beautiful building stands on the north bank of the river Thames in London. People everywhere in the world would recognise it. Most people call it The Houses of Parliament². It is where the elected members of the British government meet. Today’s Spotlight is on this building.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　There are two parts to Parliament. One part is called the House of Commons. The other part is called The House of Lords³. Because of this people often call the whole building the Houses of Parliament. But the correct name for this building is, The Palace of Westminster.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　Hundreds of years ago, the Palace of Westminster was the main home of the kings of England. They lived there from the middle of the eleventh century until the beginning of the sixteenth century. But the Kings of England also travelled a lot. In those days, members of the government were expected to visit the king. They had to travel to him when they wanted to discuss matters of state. But in the year 1512, King Henry the eighth changed this situation. He decided⁴ to use the Palace of Westminster as the permanent⁵ meeting place for the government. King Henry then moved to a new home built especially for him - the Palace of St. James.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　The Palace of Westminster is a huge building - nearly 300 metres long. The Palace contains more than one thousand rooms. There are one hundred staircases⁶ to climb. More than three kilometres of passages connect the different parts of the building together. There are also many small offices for the members of Parliament to do their work.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　At the north end is a Clock Tower. People all over the world call the clock in this tower ‘Big Ben’. But this is really just the name of the clock’s bell. Big Ben weighs fourteen tonnes. It has been striking⁷ the hours of the day and night since 1858. People all around the world can hear the sound of this bell by radio when they listen to the BBC⁸.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　The clock itself has four faces. People can read the time on the clock from the north, south, and east or west. The clock tower that holds Big Ben is one of the most famous things to see in London.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　The present Palace of Westminster dates from the nineteenth century. Two famous builders designed the new Palace. They were Charles Barry and Augustus Pugin. Most of the old building that King Henry the eighth used was destroyed in a fire. But the present design does include some of the surviving parts of the ancient Palace of Westminster.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　One of these ancient parts is a huge room called Westminster Hall. The Hall was built in 1099 by King William the second. People have used it constantly⁹ since that time. Many different kinds of events have happened in this great hall. In 1649, Parliament sentenced King Charles the first to death in this room.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　In modern times the government uses Westminster Hall for great public ceremonies. Sometimes a foreign head of state visits Britain. When this happens the members of both Houses of Parliament meet together in Westminster Hall. Nelson Mandela and other famous leaders have made speeches in this great historic¹⁰ place.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　Westminster Hall is also the place where a king or queen who has died will ‘lie in state’. It is a last chance for the people to honour that king or queen. In the year 2002, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother lay in state at Westminster Hall. Hundreds of thousands of people walked quietly past the Queen Mother’s body. They were showing their respect for her and for the Royal Family.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　Probably the most important event that has ever happened in Westminster Hall was the meeting of the first English parliament. In the year 1265, King Henry the third called a meeting to discuss his policies¹¹. He met with the important men of the time. But King Henry also requested some other people to be present. He asked each town to send two soldiers and two businessmen to Westminster Hall. This group represented¹² the common citizens of the nation. They were not rich people. They were not important or royal people. They were not members of the ruling families. These citizens met with the King. They met with the other important men. The King listened to their ideas. He treated them with respect. It was the first time that the common citizens of Britain had a chance to be heard. This was the start of the first real parliament.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　Britain’s current¹³ democracy¹⁴ developed from that first meeting. Queen Elizabeth the second mainly has a ceremonial position. After an election¹⁵, she invites the leader of the largest political¹⁶ party to form a government. This person becomes the Prime¹⁷ Minister. After that, she meets with the Prime Minister every week, and offers advice and ideas. But she is not actively¹⁸ involved in politics¹⁹.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　Most ‘Spotlight’ listeners²⁰ do not live in Britain. So what possible interest has the British parliament to them? Well, one answer could be that all or part of the British system has been copied by many countries around the world. Some people have called it ‘the Mother of Parliaments’. It is an example of a kind of government called ‘Parliamentary Democracy’. Democracy is a form of ‘government for the people and by the people’.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　The great British Prime Minister Winston Churchill once said, “People have tried many forms of Government. And they will try many forms in the future.  No one can say that democracy is perfect or all-wise.  Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those others that have been tried from time to time.”

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　Churchill was saying that no kind of government is perfect. All governments have problems. But he thought that democracy worked better than any other kind. It was the best of the worst! What do you think? Do you think democracy is the best kind of government? Share your ideas on our website: www.radioenglish.net.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　The writers of today’s programme were Joy Smith and Mike Procter. The producer was Michio Ozaki. The voices you heard were from the United²¹ Kingdom. All quotes²² were adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight. You can listen to this program again, and read it, on the internet at www.radioenglish.net. This program is called, ‘The Houses of Parliament’.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　You can also find us on Facebook - just search for spotlightradio. We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye.

 

1 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

2 Parliament   

n.议会，国会

参考例句：

• She won a seat in Parliament at the election.她在选举中赢得了议会中的席位。
• The drug was banned by an act of parliament.议会的法案明令禁止该药品。

3 lords   

n.主( lord的名词复数 )；领主；上帝；（英国用以称呼法官、主教或某些男性贵族成员，表示尊敬）大人

参考例句：

• The powerful lords were guilty of grinding the villagers under their heels. 那些大领主的罪过是以权势欺压村民。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The President elevated him to the House of Lords. 总统提拔他为上院议员。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 permanent   

adj.永久的，不变的，固定的

参考例句：

• The coat gives permanent protection against heavy rain.这种防雨衣经久耐用。
• It's difficult to find a permanent cure for this disease.这病很难除根。

6 staircases   

n.楼梯( staircase的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We have fully functional smoke alarms on all staircases. 我们在各层楼梯都安装有完全可用的烟雾警报器。 来自辞典例句
• A slender superstructure was dictated with gently sloping approaches rather than staircases. 细长的上部结构，带有微缓斜坡接坡，比布置阶梯为优。 来自辞典例句

7 striking   

adj.显著的，惹人注目的，容貌出众的

参考例句：

• There is a striking difference between Jane and Mary.简和玛丽之间有显著的差异。
• What is immediately striking is how resourceful the children are.最令人注目的是孩子们的机智聪明。

8 BBC   

abbr.（=British Broadcasting Corporation）英国广播公司

参考例句：

• She works for the BBC.她为英国广播公司工作。
• The BBC was founded in 1922.英国广播公司建于1922年。

9 constantly   

adv.不变地，不断地，时常地

参考例句：

• The two countries have been warring constantly for years.这两国多年来一直交战。
• We should constantly urge ourselves on to study hard.我们要经常鞭策自己努力学习。

10 historic   

adj.历史上著名的，具有历史意义的

参考例句：

• This is a historic occasion.这是具有重大历史意义的时刻。
• We are living in a great historic era.我们正处在一个伟大的历史时代。

11 policies   

n.政策( policy的名词复数 )；策略；政府；策略性

参考例句：

• The Chancellor was forced into a humiliating climbdown on his economic policies. 财政大臣被迫狼狈地承认他的经济政策存在失误。
• an angry denunciation of the government's policies 愤怒谴责政府的政策

12 represented   

v.表现( represent的过去式和过去分词 )；代表；体现；作为…的代表

参考例句：

• The number 107 is represented in hexadecimal as 6B. 107这个数用十六进制表示为6B。
• Women are under-represented at senior levels in business. 商界高层的女性代表不足。

13 current   

n.涌流，趋势，电流，水流，气流；adj.当前的，通用的，流通的，现在的，草写的，最近的

参考例句：

• Electric current is often powerful enough to kill a man.电流常强得足以致命。
• There is a story about her in the current number.最近一期上有关于她的故事。

14 democracy   

n.民主政治，民主制度；民主精神，民主作风

参考例句：

• Democracy is based on good will and mutual understanding.民主建立在善意和相互理解的基础上。
• Did democracy have its beginnings in Athens? 民主制度是创始于雅典吗？

15 election   

n.选举，选择权；当选

参考例句：

• There is no doubt but that he will win the election.毫无疑问，他将在竞选中获胜。
• The government will probably fall at the coming election.在即将到来的大选中，该政府很可能要垮台。

16 political   

adj.政治上的，政党的，政略性的，政治的

参考例句：

• He was forced to leave his homeland for political reasons.因为政治原因他被迫离开自己的祖国。
• In ideas those two political parties are worlds apart.那两个政党在思想上有巨大分歧。

17 prime   

adj.首要的，主要的；最好的，第一流的

参考例句：

• The prime minister spoke of the general insecurity in the country.总理谈到了全国普遍存在的不安全。
• He met with the Prime Minister of Japan for an hour.他和日本首相会见了一个小时。

18 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

19 politics   

n.政治，政治学；政纲，政见，策略

参考例句：

• They seldom talk on politics in those days.那时人们很少谈论政治。
• The two brothers differed about politics.这兄弟俩政见不同。

20 listeners   

n.倾听者，收听者( listener的名词复数 )；听众

参考例句：

• the demographics of radio listeners 电台听众统计数据
• The singer's high notes jarred on the ears of her listeners. 那位歌手的高音让听众们觉得刺耳。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 united   

adj.和谐的；团结的；联合的，统一的

参考例句：

• The whole nation is closely united.全国人民紧密团结。
• The two men were united by community of interests.共同的利益使两个人结合在一起。

22 quotes   

v.引用，援引( quote的第三人称单数 )；报价；引述；为（股票、黄金或外汇）报价

参考例句：

• He quotes a few verses from Tennyson in his paper. 他在论文中引用了英国诗人丁尼生的几行诗句。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He quotes (from) the Bible to support his beliefs. 他引用圣经来支持自己的信念。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》