Big Ben 大本鐘
The script of this programme 本節目臺詞
John: Welcome to On the Town with me, John.
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Chen Li: And me, Chen Li.
John: Today we’re going to investigate one of the most famous London landmarks.
Chen Li: What is it John?
John: Big Ben.
Chen Li: 這顯然是一個不錯的選擇，要知道它可是倫敦最著名的景點之一，吸引了大量的游客。大本鐘, Big Ben.
John: The BBC spoke with author and London expert Philip Arlor about Big Ben, and he’s gone out to investigate.
Chen Li: 菲利浦是個作家, he’s an author, BBC派他前往大本鐘去探個究竟。
John: Here’s his report.
If I tell you that I’m standing in front of Big Ben, most of you will know at once that I’m outside the Houses of Parliament in London. Of course there’ll be a handful of listeners who think Big Ben is a wrestler or a grizzly bear, but you’re the ones who don’t get out much. Just about everyone knows that Big Ben is the Houses of Parliament’s clock tower, which means just about everyone is wrong. Because if truth be told, and I do like a bit of truth once in a while, Big Ben is actually the name of the bell, which through the magic of radio and a piece of good timing on my part, should start bonging away shortly!
Philip Arlor, London expert
John: Ok, we’ll be going back to Philip in a moment. First though, he used some interesting phrases there. Let’s have a closer look at them shall we Li?
Chen Li: Sure! 菲利普使用了一個術語 at once. 當談論很快就完成的一個動作時，你就需要用到at once, 立刻，立即。
John: And Philip was standing outside Big Ben, which is next to the Houses of Parliament.
Chen Li: Ah, yes, the Houses of Parliament, 議會大廈，英國政府的很多大事都是在這里決策下來的。
John: Now Li, you do know what Big Ben is, don’t you?
Chen Li: I do indeed!
John: Well, Philip explained that for those people who do not know what Big Ben is, they might mistake it for the name of a wrestler!
Chen Li: A wrestler，摔跤選手。
John: Or a grizzly bear.
Chen Li: 可怕的熊。
John: But for those who don’t know what Big Ben is, Philip also says they “don’t get out much”, meaning they don’t leave their homes very much, so they wouldn’t know what Big Ben is!
Big Ben is one of the most striking landmarks of London
Chen Li: They don’t get out much! 他們不經常出門。或者我們可以說他們孤陋寡聞。
John: So Li, is Big Ben the Houses of Parliament’s clock tower?
Chen Li: Of course it is! 大多數人都會以為它是個鐘樓。
John: You’re wrong!
Chen Li: Oh!
John: As Philip says, Big Ben is the name of the bell that you hear inside the clock tower.
Chen Li: Ah, so Big Ben is a big bell! 原來是一口鐘，一口大鐘 。所以，看來，最早將他翻譯成大本鐘的中國人還是非常正確地，對它非常了解。
John: And the word that Philip used to describe the ringing of the bell, is bonging!
Chen Li: Bonging, 當當的鐘聲! Bonging 是一個很有表現力的詞，用來描述鐘聲。
John: We could say it’s an onomatopoeic word.
Chen Li: What?
John: It’s onomatopoeic! A word that is onomatopoeic is a word that, when spoken, resembles the sound that something makes.
Chen Li: Onomatopoeic, 象聲詞， 顯然，就是字的發音和事物本身的發出的聲音類似。
John: And that’s certainly what the word bonging is. A bell bongs. Bong! Bong!
Chen Li: 我們來聽聽菲利普還說了些什么？What else did Philip discover John?
John: Listen out for these phrases: for obvious reasons…
Chen Li: 因為一些顯而易見的原因。
John: As flat as a pancake – a phrase we use in English to describe something very flat indeed.
Chen Li: 象煎餅一樣平，一個很常用的英文表達，描述一樣東西特別的平整。
John: A cliché…
Chen Li: 陳詞濫調。
John: Gothic and medieval styles…
Chen Li: 哥特式的中世紀風格，這是特殊的建筑風格。起源于法國，哥特式建筑主要用于教堂，又稱為尖頂風格。
What a great sound! It was called big for obvious reasons. The bell weighs in at around 13,700 kilograms, over 13.5 tonnes. Which means that if it landed on you, the phrase “as flat as a pancake”, wouldn’t be a cliché, but an accurate description. It’s called Ben rather than Dave or Nancy because it got its nick name from a chap called Sir Benjamin Hall, who was in charge of maintaining The Houses of Parliament at the time.
Philip Arlor, London expert
Chen Li: 很有意思的歷史，謝謝 John 和菲利普的解釋。
John: Join us next time for more, but from this edition of On the Town, it’s goodbye.
Chen Li: Bye.
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