George Bush gets pipped to "Foot in Mouth" award
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Former England soccer manager Steve McClaren fought off toughcompetition from US President George W. Bush to win a dreaded "Foot inMouth" award on Tuesday from the Plain English campaign.% ~; i5 n: i5 ]3 c
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Hewas hailed for a supreme example of in talking about star player WayneRooney: "He is inexperienced but he』s experienced in terms of what he』sbeen through."1 R0 y/ p5 D2 a& G" v, x+ o. y8 Y
6 {5 u, [* C9 a+ L* X3 g: R George W. Bush came second for "All I can tell you is that when the governor calls, I answer his phone."
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9 @/ f/ ~. x# ]# ]" l( A6 q+ S5 C* g Plain English Campaign spokesman Ben Beer said: "We thought it was abit obvious to honor Bush as he comes up with them every day."
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9 K% F' ?$ z+ K0 ]5 l Every year, the pressure group hands out a raft of awards mockingincomprehensible jargon in a battle to clear the linguistic fog that sooften envelops the English language.
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! A4 ?! j7 j# c9 e Past winners include model Naomi Campbell, actor Richard Gere and former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. l* u* J V5 p) W( Y
# k5 C5 N& w1 L4 ?" K3 \$ t There is never a shortage of entrants sent in by people baffled by bureaucratic language and befuddled legalese.- z/ b4 e5 d& j( `7 f4 V4 `8 A
$ B9 T$ f! M& Z. J/ k; v) V "We get 40 to 50 examples a week, mostly from British documents. Themedia, including advertising and marketing, is riddled with insiderjargon," Beer said.1 L5 p/ S r, [* I9 l: W U/ \) S
- d& s% S* k% G Offering the best way to obliteratemeaningless verbosity, Beer said: "Thinking before you write is themain thing and then re-reading what you have written."
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/ C2 Q9 F0 j7 ~; { o9 V8 \5 n A That message clearly fell on deaf ears at Coleraine railway station in Northern Ireland.# d q2 `8 |' d- ?# _
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The station sign read: "Every autumn a combination of leaves on theline, atmospheric conditions and prevailing damp conditions lead to alow adhesion between the rail head and the wheel which causes servicesto be delayed or even cancelled."4 n3 V9 w5 x, b2 r W \' I
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London』s Gatwick Airportgot 10 out of 10 for brevity but came bottom of the class for clarityfor one of its signs: "Passenger shoe repatriation area only.": h* W! T1 J+ e) C5 S3 Z
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The campaign was founded in 1979 by Chrissie Maher who only learned to read and write at the age of 14.
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% I" J0 _! x, X/ c, r) { 本週二,「簡明英語運動組織」年度「不知所云」大獎揭曉,前英格蘭國家足球隊主教練史蒂夫‧麥克拉倫力挫美國總統布什,贏得這一「殊榮」。* ~$ J* \4 }/ O: ^, q
0 T o: Z4 }4 \' b5 P/ Y/ _ 麥克拉倫對球星韋恩‧魯尼的評價是最為經典的例子,令人「讚歎」。他說:「魯尼經驗不足,不過他對自己做過的事情還是很有經驗的。」% Q( Y' [2 z" j* ~; Z) A( }
1 s R0 o$ x4 `" d& b% z' u$ M0 \/ r 布什總統「屈居」亞軍。他的「獲獎名言」是:「我想告訴你們,如果州長打來電話,我一定會接。」(譯者註:布什訪問發生火災的南加州,在回答有關應急救援的問題時說了這句話。)7 ~: y4 y; `0 i$ X6 d5 w
& T. }# i* S2 A v" d4 `( W6 }" b 「簡明英語運動組織」的發言人本‧比爾說:「我們原以為布什總統奪冠的可能性比較大,因為他說錯話可是家常便飯。」
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為了消滅英語中經常出現的「雲山霧罩」的語言,該「施壓組織」每年都頒發一系列獎項,嘲諷各種讓人摸不著頭腦的晦澀言論。
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: |, u( p$ X4 I8 Y4 M# _8 C5 Q 歷屆「不知所云獎」得主包括名模納歐米‧坎貝爾、影星理查德‧基爾和美國前國防部長唐納德‧拉姆斯菲爾德。- B0 E$ s2 C q) q8 H
% k9 m" g1 V: |4 P! C' w9 T 該組織經常收到人們「舉報」的一些令人費解的「官話」和法律用語。/ ]% r' g6 u+ t0 ]
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比爾說:「我們每週能收集到四、五十個這樣的例子,其中大多數來自英國的官方文件。此外,廣告、營銷等傳媒中也充斥著大量的行業術語。」
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2 N. \' b2 w& ~( I! g8 J- m 針對這個問題,比爾提出,最好的解決辦法就是「提筆前慎重思考,寫完後再三通讀」。
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# } W# ~" v" G4 V B 而北愛爾蘭的科勒雷恩火車站顯然沒有做到這一點。$ u) W9 o% }8 T; }& m7 R
$ J: J- ?. }; Z 該火車站的一個告示牌上寫道:「每到秋天,鐵道上的落葉、大氣狀況和潮濕的天氣使火車頭和車輪間的粘附力減小,導致火車延誤或取消。」+ x) f0 X2 Q1 V4 V
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而倫敦加特維克機場是做到了百分百的「簡要,但是在「清楚」方面卻是最差的了。該機場的一個告示牌是這樣寫的:「乘客鞋遣送專用區」。
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5 l' o0 n+ T" s5 ]* ^' _) f* t# l8 E# f! W 「簡明英語運動」組織成立於1979年,其創始人克裡西‧馬赫在他14歲時才開始識字。% ]2 O9 }6 Z( K; U7 j
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《音樂之聲》當選「史上最偉大音樂劇」
6 m+ q1 O3 N& v' s, i 『The Sound of Music』 named the 『Greatest Musical of All Time』
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% L6 X! M9 w+ h1 x 1960』s classic The Sound of Music has been named the 『Greatest Musical of All Time』 in a new poll.
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8 s! q: t( q' }5 @ \ The 1965 film, starring Julie Andrews, got 15 per cent of the vote in the Twentieth Century Fox poll.6 P# O: q3 Q2 z! Z1 m
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In the film, Andrews plays nun Maria who leaves an Austrian convent totake up a job of a governess to a Navy captain and his seven kids.+ A4 X' W: z3 c* d Y
3 T+ p8 c( u | Speaking at the launch of the Sound Of Music DVD at London』sPalladium, Charmian Carr, who played Liesl von Trapp said: "It』s such agood feeling to be a part of something that changed so many lives forthe better./ V6 W# Z) |1 O, Z" I& |
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"To love each other and to stay together is sucha wonderful message and I think probably nowadays more than ever peopleneed to hear that message again.") p- e$ R& a1 D
9 j) A# V0 O; X Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta starred, 1978 musical Grease, bagged the second place, reports The Sun." D# O) A( ~: w0 D- D( I
: O. Z- a0 z- z: A1 Q0 v( H Musical comedy The Rocky Horror Show landed the third, while MaryPoppins, a Disney musical starring Julie Andrews stood fourth.2 T2 y' B& o3 U% i, a2 O
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Nicole Kidman starred Moulin Rouge came fifth, while Phantom of theOpera and The Wizard of Oz stood sixth and seventh respectively.
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5 a7 p8 m, C5 X2 z0 D ]- N4 W& P Oliver, West Side Story and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang rounded off the top ten 『Greatest Musicals of All Time.』
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# [6 J8 N6 `2 f- A The top ten 『Greatest Musicals of All Time』 are:
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1.The Sound of Music- z3 _/ n C1 `/ _! ?
% w5 F$ m2 q- u( Y7 y% [ g 2.Grease6 n% K2 b! L, B# j! e, D
$ X/ M6 {& `( G+ r 3.The Rocky Horror Show
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4.Mary Poppins2 n9 A v* k8 \4 t% q0 x, r$ ^# {
# w1 G7 U2 {- L% z3 y 5.Moulin Rouge
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; B" [6 l0 [3 t/ |' ` 6.Phantom of the Opera, n& l8 E8 G# r& f
+ R: n* D8 k1 r. m# C 7.The Wizard of Oz
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5 }* ~, j- O/ Y, r4 _ 8.Oliver. \: u( S g& U* Z% X4 b2 h
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9.West Side Story: _: B) l$ g9 N* o2 T+ D; I
' b* T1 A; A, N$ n/ p) I 10.Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
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' \( G0 R7 z! }$ [! c2 S 上世紀60年代名噪一時的經典音樂劇《音樂之聲》在近媽養我一項調查中被評為「歷史上最偉大的音樂劇」。
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在「20世紀福克斯」電影公司開展的調查中,《音樂之聲》以15%的得票率名列榜首。這部音樂劇於1965年上映、由茱麗葉‧安德魯斯主演。; g7 B8 O3 \+ P8 C2 |; S9 j3 P7 m
% q) c7 w. m. h. g' T. l# R 安德魯斯在劇中飾演修女瑪莉婭,她離開了奧地利的修道院,到一位海軍上校家給他的七個孩子當家庭教師。: Z7 _7 B7 T$ D/ Q8 \
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在倫敦帕裡蒂亞劇院舉行的《音樂之聲》原聲大碟發佈儀式上,在劇中飾演(大女兒) 麗莎‧馮‧崔普的查爾米恩‧卡爾說:「這部音樂劇讓很多人的生活變得更加美好。能夠參演這部偉大的作品,我感到非常自豪。」' R# V* S* \; Z" N
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「互相關愛、相依相伴是人世間最美好的東西,我想如今的人們可能比以往更需要它。」1 q+ a3 ]* g' U( N7 d0 I7 ?
5 @7 y2 w5 x$ i0 p* c8 ^( I 據《太陽報》報道,由奧立瓦‧牛頓-約翰和約翰‧特拉沃爾塔主演的音樂劇《油脂》位居第二。該劇於1978年上映。6 h a" k' E8 L0 \3 P
% x. Y5 i4 w1 g- A: u 音樂喜劇《洛基恐怖秀》名列第三,茱麗葉‧安德魯斯主演的另一部迪斯尼音樂劇《瑪麗‧波平斯阿姨》排在第四。
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, Y: v& U# P6 u) |8 q# u 妮可‧基德曼主演的歌舞劇《紅磨坊》名列第五;《歌劇魅影》和《綠野仙蹤》分別位列第六和第七。1 p y6 T+ Q6 s& D0 G% e
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《奧立弗》、《西區故事》和《飛天萬能車》也躋身「史上最偉大的十大音樂劇」排行榜。" v, Z# Q: a: U1 s2 T
8 l7 f7 B5 g2 e$ _ 「史上最偉大的十大音樂劇」如下:5 ?9 C9 R3 x ^* t& F
/ t& W5 _, {3 ~9 P 1、《音樂之聲》
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2、《油脂》0 ]" S$ L9 \" C' k. o0 W
4 j- t& g, F% ^# k 3、《洛基恐怖秀》
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/ X' d; a2 y& u4 G# p 4、《瑪麗‧波平斯阿姨》
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+ I' S# N! x; v# i) v7 Q0 p5 W$ h 5、《紅磨坊》
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$ `( k) \4 K2 d6 q/ ^8 t! ] 6、《歌劇魅影》
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/ W3 D9 {3 V0 ]; l# h/ h0 h 7、《綠野仙蹤》
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8、《奧立弗》
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7 n% t4 x9 r1 r d0 z h" L 9、《西區故事》
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10、《飛天萬能車》 |
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