【英语听和读】朋克风的兴起

 Amber¹: Hello, I’m Amber and this is bbclearningenglish.com.

In Entertainment today, we go back to the mid-1970s when punk rock and the

British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood ruled the day! ‘Punk’ was a

popular style among young people and it involved shocking the establishment

with rebellious² music, shocking behaviour and outrageous³ clothes!

We hear a description of the ‘punk look’, the punk style of clothes and hair.

And we hear how those clothes made the designer Vivienne Westwood famous.

But the story doesn’t end there – ‘these days’ (that’s a handy expression for

talking about the present time, in comparison with the past) – these days –

Vivienne Westwood is a ‘Dame⁴’ – she’s been honoured by the Queen and

given the title ‘Dame’, and her fashion designs are museum pieces!

Here’s BBC presenter⁵ Mark Coles describing punk culture and Vivienne

Westwood’s part in that trend. As you listen, try to catch the verb (it’s US

slang) that Mark uses to explain that punk rockers were disrespectful and

critical of the Queen.

Mark Coles

‘Spiky-haired youngsters running around in tartan bondage⁶ trousers, safety pins and spiked⁷

dog collars, dissing the Queen and calling for revolution on the streets! Well, that punk look,

its anarchy⁸ symbols and torn clothes, was all Vivienne Westwood. It helped turn her into a

household name – one of the world’s most influential⁹, not to mention, notorious, fashion

designers. These days, more than 30 years on, you’re more likely to find her designs hanging

in prestigious¹⁰ museums like the National Gallery of Australia. She’s also Dame Vivienne

Westwood – honoured by the very Queen that the Sex Pistols savaged¹¹ back in punk’s

heyday¹².’ 

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Amber: Did you catch it? Mark says punk rockers were ‘dissing’ the Queen. But that

was in ‘punk’s heyday’ (in the 1970s) – the heyday of something is the time of

its greatest popularity.

Listen again and try to catch what the punk rockers looked like!

Mark Coles

‘Spiky-haired youngsters running around in tartan bondage trousers, safety pins and spiked

dog collars, dissing the Queen and calling for revolution on the streets! Well, that punk look,

its anarchy symbols and torn clothes, was all Vivienne Westwood. It helped turn her into a

household name – one of the world’s most influential, not to mention, notorious, fashion

designers. These days, more than 30 years on, you’re more likely to find her designs hanging

in prestigious museums like the National Gallery of Australia. She’s also Dame Vivienne

Westwood – honoured by the very Queen that the Sex Pistols savaged back in punk’s

heyday.’

Amber: So punk rockers wore their hair in ‘spiky’ styles – stuck into sharp points,

sticking upwards¹³! They often wore safety pins and even ‘spiked dog collars’ –

just to shock! Oh, and rather colourful trousers – ‘tartan bondage trousers’.

Tartan is kind of wool fabric¹⁴ with straight patterns, often with a lot of red and

black lines in it. Bondage trousers have lots of zips and rips (they’re often

‘torn’)!

But now, Vivienne Westwood is speaking out again – this time she’s criticising

some forms of popular culture, like the cinema and magazines, and saying

people should go to the theatre and read books instead. She’s launched a

cultural manifesto¹⁵ called ‘Active Resistance To Propaganda’, in which she asks

people to forget commerce, celebrity¹⁶ and conceptual art and immerse

themselves instead in great culture. Here she is. Try to catch why she’s

encouraging people to rebel.

Vivienne Westwood

‘Every time you go to the theatre instead of the cinema, you are active in the theatre, you are

thinking, you are using your imagination. I’m not saying that cinema sometimes maybe can

not be artistic¹⁷, but usually it’s not. Magazines are mostly for the – not only the illiterate¹⁸ – but 

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the visually illiterate. A magazine is something you just wet your finger, and just go through

the pages – flick¹⁹, flick, flick – there’s not even anything particularly to see in there!’

Amber: So Vivienne Westwood says we should experience forms of art which make

us think and use our imaginations. She says we should be ‘active’ in the arts!

Vivienne Westwood

‘Every time you go to the theatre instead of the cinema, you are active in the theatre, you are

thinking, you are using your imagination. I’m not saying that cinema sometimes maybe can

not be artistic, but usually it’s not. Magazines are mostly for the – not only the illiterate – but

the visually illiterate. A magazine is something you just wet your finger, and just go through

the pages – flick, flick, flick – there’s not even anything particularly to see in there!’

Amber: Now let’s recap the language we focussed on.

‘that punk look’ - the rebellious style of clothes and hair fashionable in the

1970s

to dis – that’s US slang, meaning to be disrespectful, to criticise²⁰

‘punk’s heyday’ – the heyday of something is the time of its greatest

popularity. 

1 amber   

n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的

参考例句：

• Would you like an amber necklace for your birthday?你过生日想要一条琥珀项链吗？
• This is a piece of little amber stones.这是一块小小的琥珀化石。

2 rebellious   

adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的

参考例句：

• They will be in danger if they are rebellious.如果他们造反，他们就要发生危险。
• Her reply was mild enough,but her thoughts were rebellious.她的回答虽然很温和，但她的心里十分反感。

3 outrageous   

adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的

参考例句：

• Her outrageous behaviour at the party offended everyone.她在聚会上的无礼行为触怒了每一个人。
• Charges for local telephone calls are particularly outrageous.本地电话资费贵得出奇。

4 dame   

n.女士

参考例句：

• The dame tell of her experience as a wife and mother.这位年长妇女讲了她作妻子和母亲的经验。
• If you stick around,you'll have to marry that dame.如果再逗留多一会，你就要跟那个夫人结婚。

5 presenter   

n.（电视、广播的）主持人，赠与者

参考例句：

• Most people think being a television presenter is exciting.很多人认为当电视节目主持人是一件刺激的事情。
• The programme dispensed with its most popular presenter.这个节目最受欢迎的主持人被换掉了。

6 bondage   

n.奴役，束缚

参考例句：

• Masters sometimes allowed their slaves to buy their way out of bondage.奴隶主们有时允许奴隶为自己赎身。
• They aim to deliver the people who are in bondage to superstitious belief.他们的目的在于解脱那些受迷信束缚的人。

7 spiked   

adj.有穗的；成锥形的；有尖顶的

参考例句：

• The editor spiked the story. 编辑删去了这篇报道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They wondered whether their drinks had been spiked. 他们有些疑惑自己的饮料里是否被偷偷搀了烈性酒。 来自辞典例句

8 anarchy   

n.无政府状态；社会秩序混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• There would be anarchy if we had no police.要是没有警察，社会就会无法无天。
• The country was thrown into a state of anarchy.这国家那时一下子陷入无政府状态。

9 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

10 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。

11 savaged   

（动物）凶狠地攻击（或伤害）( savage的过去式和过去分词 )； 残害； 猛烈批评； 激烈抨击

参考例句：

• The horse threw its rider to the ground and savaged him. 那马将骑马者摔在地上，乱踢他。
• The drink had savaged him. 酒使他变得野蛮。

12 heyday   

n.全盛时期，青春期

参考例句：

• The 19th century was the heyday of steam railways.19世纪是蒸汽机车鼎盛的时代。
• She was a great singer in her heyday.她在自己的黄金时代是个了不起的歌唱家。

13 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

14 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

15 manifesto   

n.宣言，声明

参考例句：

• I was involved in the preparation of Labour's manifesto.我参与了工党宣言的起草工作。
• His manifesto promised measures to protect them.他在宣言里保证要为他们采取保护措施。

16 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

17 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

18 illiterate   

adj.文盲的；无知的；n.文盲

参考例句：

• There are still many illiterate people in our country.在我国还有许多文盲。
• I was an illiterate in the old society,but now I can read.我这个旧社会的文盲，今天也认字了。

19 flick   

n.快速的轻打，轻打声，弹开；v.轻弹，轻轻拂去，忽然摇动

参考例句：

• He gave a flick of the whip.他轻抽一下鞭子。
• By a flick of his whip,he drove the fly from the horse's head.他用鞭子轻抽了一下，将马头上的苍蝇驱走。

20 criticise   

v.批评，评论；非难

参考例句：

• Right and left have much cause to criticise government.左翼和右翼有很多理由批评政府。
• It is not your place to criticise or suggest improvements!提出批评或给予改进建议并不是你的责任！