雅思听力丨女王圣诞演讲竟然都是套路？

话说还有十几天就是圣诞节了，这也意味着一年一度的最美英音——英国女王圣诞演讲又要给我们提供雅思听力听力素材了~

（什么？圣诞礼物？新航道小编问问你雅思考过了么？……咳咳，要啥自行车）

说回演讲，每年圣诞节发表演讲是英国女王的老传统了，在演讲中，她会对全世界阐述自己对今年世界大事的见解。

称得上是“最适中的语速，皇室范的英音”~何况，在位64年，每年的圣诞致辞都是女王老人家亲自动笔写的~

所以，这位超长待机的女王奶奶一直被网友视为演讲界德高望重的“老司机”~

然而，对于全英国最受关注的女王大人的演讲，有一帮人却跳出来表示“我们不服”！

《每日邮报》网站最近就po了一篇新闻，说是伦敦大学学院做了一项研究，结果发现“女王的演讲”全是套路啊↓↓↓

64年只说了3991个不同词语?研究称女王的圣诞演讲是史上重复率的电视节日节目……

这篇文章里说，根据研究发现，女王的圣诞电视演讲不仅说的话总是爱重复，而且内容也很好预测毫无悬念啊~

The Queen’s speech is one of the most predictable and repetitive television programmes of Christmas, according to an analysis.

女王在位64年，发表了63次演讲。伦敦大学学院的数学家们表示，这么多年的演讲，总共说了4万2千左右的词汇，其中只有3991个是新词啊喂！

Her Majesty has delivered 63 broadcasts to the nation since taking the throne in 1952. But of the 42,000 words she has spoken, only 3,991 are distinct words which have never been repeated, according to mathematicians at University College London (UCL).

等等~小编数学不太好，掰着手指头各种算啊算……照这个说法，女王奶奶的演讲90%以上的词汇都是重复的！

原来女王跟我们一样“考试背范文啊！”（摊手~）

That makes her festive musings as limited in their vocabulary as songs by rappers Snoop Dog, Kanye West and Jay Z, the analysis found.

换个我们好理解的比较的话，女王的词汇量...大概类似于...汪峰？

说到这里歪个楼。话说心细的小伙伴可能发现了：等等，在位64年，63个演讲？空出的那一年难道是因为稿子重复了不好意思播了么……

其实你想多了……

1969年那一年，因为觉得电视播放了太多皇室相关内容，就取消了那一年的演讲，转而以书面形式代替。

Since she came to the throne in 1952, the Queen has given 63 Christmas broadcasts, only failing to appear once in 1969 when she issued a written message.

The Queen’s first televised broadcast wasin 1957. She has delivered one very year since then, except in 1969, when it was decided the royals had been on television enough that year following a documentary about their life.

所以呢，“年度最美英音”、“听力教材”、“英语演讲范文”也都是套路啊套路……

Focusing on nouns and phrases, and ignoring common words like ‘of’ and ‘the’, they found the speeches frequently use words such as ‘families’, ‘Commonwealth, ‘children’ and ‘peoples’. Other oft-repeated phrases included ‘tragic example’, ‘shining example’, and ‘weak and innocent’.

Word天！照这么说，岂不是女王大人这60多年，说的都差不多？！

其实，本君觉得，不论每年的演讲内容是否都是一个套路，对于我们吃瓜群众来说，就单凭磨耳朵练听力这一点，都算是全世界最美的英音素材了~

话说今年的圣诞讲话咱们也可以预测起来了呢~ 目测卡梅伦是逃不掉了吧……

附上英国女王2015年圣诞致辞

At this time of year, few sights evoke more feelings of cheer and goodwill than the twinkling lights of a Christmas tree.

The popularity of a tree at Christmas is due in part to my great-great grandparents, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. After this touching picture was published, many families wanted a Christmas tree of their own, and the custom soon spread.

In 1949, I spent Christmas in Malta as a newly-married naval wife. We have returned to that island over the years, including last month for a meeting of Commonwealth leaders; and this year I met another group of leaders: The Queen's Young Leaders, an inspirational group, each of them a symbol of hope in their own Commonwealth communities.

Gathering round the tree gives us a chance to think about the year ahead -- I am looking forward to a busy 2016, though I have been warned I may have Happy Birthday sung to me more than once or twice.

It also allows us to reflect on the year that has passed, as we think of those who are far away or no longer with us. Many people say the first Christmas after losing a loved one is particularly hard. But it's also a time to remember all that we have to be thankful for.

It is true that the world has had to confront moments of darkness this year, but the Gospel of John contains a verse of great hope, often read at Christmas carol services: "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it".

One cause for thankfulness this summer was marking 70 years since the end of the Second World War. On VJ Day, we honoured the remaining veterans of that terrible conflict in the Far East, as well as remembering the thousands who never returned.

The procession from Horse Guards Parade to Westminster Abbey must have been one of the slowest ever, because so many people wanted to say "thank you" to them.

At the end of that war, the people of Oslo began sending an annual gift of a Christmas tree for Trafalgar Square. It has 500 light bulbs and is enjoyed not just by Christians but by people of all faiths, and of none. At the very top sits a bright star, to represent the Star of Bethlehem.

The custom of topping a tree also goes back to Prince Albert's time. For his family's tree, he chose an angel, helping to remind us that the focus of the Christmas story is on one particular family.

For Joseph and Mary, the circumstances of Jesus's birth - in a stable - were far from ideal, but worse was to come as the family was forced to flee the country. It's no surprise that such a human story still captures our imagination and continues to inspire all of us who are Christians, the world over.

Despite being displaced and persecuted throughout his short life, Christ's unchanging message was not one of revenge or violence but simply that we should love one another.

Although it is not an easy message to follow, we shouldn't be discouraged; rather, it inspires us to try harder: to be thankful for the people who bring love and happiness into our own lives, and to look for ways of spreading that love to others, whenever and wherever we can.

One of the joys of living a long life is watching one's children, then grandchildren, then great-grandchildren, help decorate the Christmas tree. And this year my family has a new member to join in the fun.

The customary decorations have changed little in the years since that picture of Victoria and Albert's tree first appeared, although of course electric lights have replaced the candles.

There's an old saying that "it is better to light a candle than curse the darkness".

There are millions of people lighting candles of hope in our world today.

Christmas is a good time to be thankful for them, and for all that brings light to our lives.

I wish you a very happy Christmas.

每年此时，没有什么情景比一棵圣诞树上闪烁的灯光更让人感到欢乐祥和。

人们对圣诞树的喜爱要部分归功于我的曾曾曾祖父母——维多利亚女王和阿尔伯特亲王。这张温馨的图片公布后，很多家庭都想要一棵自己的圣诞树，这一习俗也很快普及开来。

1949年，初为军嫂的我在马耳他度过圣诞节。多年以来，我们多次回到马耳他岛，上个月还在那里召开英联邦领导人会议。今年我会晤了另一批领导人，“女王青年”是一个鼓舞人心的团体，每个人都是各自英联邦社区的希望。

聚在圣诞树旁，让我们有机会展望来年。我盼望着2016年忙忙碌碌，尽管有人说，我可能不止一次甚至两次听到生日歌。

（注：2016年是伊丽莎白女王九十岁生日，届时将展开多场庆祝活动。）

圣诞树让我们回首过去的一年，于是我们想到了那些远离和已经离开我们的人。很多人说失去平生所爱后的个圣诞节是最艰难的，可此时也该想想我们要感恩的人。

今年，世界不得不面对诸多黑暗时刻，这是事实。可《约翰福音》有一句充满希望的话这样说，圣诞赞歌中常常朗诵，“光明照亮了黑暗，黑暗却无法蒙蔽光明。”

今年夏天纪念二战结束七十周年是一件值得感恩的事。在对日作战胜利日，我们给在远东那场可怕战役中的在世老兵们授勋，缅怀数千名没有回到祖国的牺牲者。

从骑兵卫队场到威斯敏斯特宫的队伍大抵是行进最慢的一次，太多的人想对他们说一声“谢谢”。

战争结束后，奥斯陆人民每年向特拉法加广场赠送一棵圣诞树。树上挂着500个灯泡，不仅基督徒喜爱它，无论何种信仰或有无信仰的人们都喜爱它。在树顶有一颗明星，它代表着“伯利恒之星”。

（注：所谓“伯利恒之星”是《圣经》中记载的一颗奇特天体。据说，在耶稣诞生时，有三个博士在东方观察到一颗属于“犹太人”的星，前来耶路撒冷拜见，就在博士们前往附近的伯利恒寻找时，先前看见的那颗星，又忽然出现在前方，引领他们来到耶稣降生之处。后世科学家推测这可能是金星和木星交汇。）

这一风俗也可追溯到阿尔伯特亲王时代。他把一个天使放在家里的圣诞树顶，提醒我们圣诞节纪念了一个家庭的故事。

对于约瑟和玛丽而言，耶稣出生在马厩，这样的环境远非理想，可更糟糕的是这家人还被迫逃离故土。这个人伦故事依旧捕捉着我们的想象力，继续激励着全世界所有的基督徒，这并不令人惊讶。

基督短暂的一生中颠沛流离、饱受迫害，可他一如既往倡导的不是复仇和暴力，而是人人相爱。

尽管践行不易，我们也不要灰心。这鼓励着我们要加倍努力，感谢那些给我们生命带来爱和幸福的人，并想方设法将那份爱传递给他人——无论何时，无论何处。

长寿的喜悦之一是儿孙绕膝。先是儿女，然后是孙辈，现在有重孙辈帮我装扮圣诞树。今年，我家又有一位新成员共享天伦。

自维多利亚和阿尔伯特的圣诞树出现以来，传统的圣诞装饰变化甚微，当然，电灯取代了蜡烛。

老话说，“点燃烛火胜过咒骂黑暗”。

今天，我们的世界，成百上千万的人点燃希望的烛火。

值此圣诞佳节，向他们表示感谢，对所有给我们生活带来光明的人表示感谢。

愿诸君圣诞快乐。

 来源：21世纪英文报

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