听播客学英语 173 彼得兔

 　　Today’s podcast is about a woman called Beatrix Potter. She was born in London in 1866, and grew up there. But her family used to go to the Lake District in north-west England for holidays, and she came to love the Lake District and to know it well. As a girl, she enjoyed drawing pictures, particularly pictures of animals. Her drawings were very good. If she had been a man, perhaps she would have become a serious scientific artist – drawing pictures of plants and animals for scientific journals¹ and museums. But in England at the end of the 19th century, scientists were almost all men.

　　So, instead of a career in science, Beatrix Potter wrote books for chidren, and illustrated² them herself. (“To illustrate” a book means to draw pictures or take photographs for it.) You probably know some of these books, because they have been translated into many other languages. The English names for some of them are:

　　The Tale of Peter Rabbit

　　The Tale of Tom Kitten

　　The Tale of Mrs Tiggiwinkle.

　　The pictures in these books show how carefully Beatrix Potter observed animals – what they look like, what they do, how they move. If real rabbits wore little blue jackets, they would look just like her pictures of Peter Rabbit. But she was not sentimental³ about animals. People kill and eat animals. In the natural world, animals hunt and kill other animals. Farmers keep animals for food, not because they look pretty. So, in her books, Peter Rabbit’s father is put in a pie by Mrs McGregor. Mr Jeremy Fisher (a frog) is swallowed by a fish. Pigs are sent to market to be sold and slaughtered⁴. Some people today do not like this side of Beatrix Potter’s stories. They say that children who read the stories will be frightened or upset. I think children prefer to be told the truth about the world.

　　By the time she was in her 40s, Beatrix Potter was beginning to earn money from her books. She bought a farm in the Lake District, and then another and another. She worked hard as a farmer, and kept pigs and sheep. In fact she became an expert on Herdwick sheep – a special, very ugly breed⁵ of sheep that is found in the Lake District and nowhere else. She cared passionately⁶ about the Lake District and the need to preserve its natural beauty.

　　When she died, in 1943, she left all her properties in the Lake District to the National Trust. The National Trust is an organisation⁷ which tries to preserve special landscapes and buildings all over England and Wales. It owns a lot of land in the Lake District, and makes sure that the traditional character of the area is maintained⁸. And that is how, thanks to Peter Rabbit, the Lake District is still a beautiful and unspoilt part of England.

　　Incidentally⁹, people tell me that schools in Japan use Beatrix Potter’s books to teach children English. Is this really true? Can my Japanese listeners please leave comments on the website, or send me an e-mail?

1 journals   

n.（某学科或专业的）杂志( journal的名词复数 )；期刊；日志；（用于报纸名）…报

参考例句：

• Which journals does the library subscribe to? 图书馆订有哪些报刊？
• This short story was published by two journals of repute. 这篇短篇小说由两种著名的杂志刊出。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 illustrated   

adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• His lecture was illustrated with slides taken during the expedition. 他在讲演中使用了探险时拍摄到的幻灯片。
• The manufacturing Methods: Will be illustrated in the next chapter. 制作方法将在下一章说明。

3 sentimental   

adj.多愁善感的，感伤的

参考例句：

• She's a sentimental woman who believes marriage comes by destiny.她是多愁善感的人，她相信姻缘命中注定。
• We were deeply touched by the sentimental movie.我们深深被那感伤的电影所感动。

4 slaughtered   

v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The invading army slaughtered a lot of people. 侵略军杀了许多人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Hundreds of innocent civilians were cruelly slaughtered. 数百名无辜平民遭残杀。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 breed   

n.品种，种类；vi.繁殖，产仔；vt.养殖，产生

参考例句：

• The parents are trying to breed their son a musician.这对父母尽力要把儿子培养成为音乐家。
• This breed of horses is both tall and heavily grown.这种马既高且大。

6 passionately   

ad.热烈地，激烈地

参考例句：

• She could hate as passionately as she could love. 她能恨得咬牙切齿，也能爱得一往情深。
• He was passionately addicted to pop music. 他酷爱流行音乐。

7 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。

8 maintained   

保持( maintain的过去式和过去分词 )； 保养； 坚持； 保卫

参考例句：

• He maintained a professional demeanour throughout. 他始终保持着专业人才的风度。
• Throughout his trial he maintained a dignified silence. 在整个审讯过程中，他始终沉默以保持尊严。

9 incidentally   

adv.附带地，顺便提及

参考例句：

• Incidentally,I think you still owe me some money.顺便说一句，我想你还欠我一些钱。
• Incidentally,here's a good piece of news.附带告诉你一个好消息。