都市掠影:皮卡迪里广场

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Youling: Hello. You're listening to On the Town from BBC Learning English. 大家好， 我是幼玲。我现在在演播间，和大家一起看看我们的 Jo 又在哪里流览。 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 有两个意思， 一个是指马戏团， 或是马戏团用的那种圆形的马戏场， 另外一个意思是指有众多道路交汇的圆形广场。 在这里， Matt 指的就是第二个意思， 也就是皮卡迪里广场。为了助于我们理解， Matt 称它为 a traffic junction, 交叉路口- A junction. 他用了 to be surrounded by 被环绕着的这个表达方式。 在提及周边建筑时，他用了 huge 和 grand 来形容建筑物的宏大和雄伟。 Victorian buildings, 维多利亚式建筑，指的是维多利亚女王在位时也就是 1837-1901 这个年代的建筑。 Matt 还提到了巨大的霓虹灯广告牌， neon signs 霓虹灯广告， advertising 广告， 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: 它是由建筑师 John Nash 在 1819 年设计兴建的。 To design 设计， an architect 建筑师。 当初兴建的原因是想把摄政街和皮卡迪里 这两条著名的大街连接起来。 皮卡迪里广场一度曾是个环岛转盘 a roundabout. 既然如此， 那为什么皮卡迪里广场会成了当今这么热门的旅游景点呢? 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 就是著名的伦敦西区。它地处伦敦市中心，聚集了众多的影剧院，商店，餐饮业和商业。

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: 原来它还是为纪念沙夫茨伯里伯爵而设的纪念碑。这位伯爵在19世纪为取消伦敦的童工制作出了极大贡献。 Matt 说这位天使叫 Eros. 这位 Eros 是在希腊神话里一个神。他是神话里的性爱神，但这里的雕像实际上是另外一个叫 Anteros 的神，他是代表兄长间的那种爱的爱神。 Anteros 就被短称为 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. 我们再重新温习一下所学的新词。 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: 被围绕着的。

Jo: Grand.

Youling: 雄伟的。

Jo: A fountain.

Youling: 喷泉。

Jo: Neon signs.

Youling: 霓虹灯广告。

Jo: To advertise.

Youling: 做广告。

Jo: An architect.

Youling: 建筑师。

Jo: To design.

Youling: 设计。

Jo: A roundabout.

Youling: 环岛转盘。

Jo: A memorial.

Youling: 纪念物，纪念馆。