【英语听和读】声音的描述

 Callum: Hello, I'm Callum Robertson and this is entertainment. In the programme today

I'm going to be looking at sounds and talking about sounds we like.

Sounds and noises are all around us – from the sounds of nature such as the

wind in the trees to man made sounds like traffic. Often we don't notice sounds,

they are just there but we all have sounds we love to hear – like Carrie, what

sound does she like?

Carrie

My really really favourite sound is the sound of waves. I just love the sound of waves

crashing on the beach because it just reminds me of being on holiday, being at the seaside,

relaxing. I just find waves really really relaxing and the sound of crashing waves is just really

soothing¹.

Callum: Carrie likes the sound of waves, she loves the sound of waves crashing on the

beach.

Describing sounds like this is very easy – you can say the phrase 'the sound of'

followed by a noun.

Carrie

the sound of waves, the sound of waves

Callum: Instead of using a single noun, like the word 'waves' you can also use a group

of words together which make what we call a noun phrase. With a single noun 

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you describe the sound of something. With a noun phrase you describe the

sound of something happening, which is usually more descriptive. These

phrases will often use -ing forms of verbs.

Carrie

the sound of waves crashing on the beach, the sound of waves crashing on the beach

Callum: Here now are some other people describing the sounds they like, listen

carefully and you will hear that they use the same structure.

FAVOURITE SOUNDS

I’ve always liked the sound of champagne² corks³ popping and the sound of laughter and also

very recently the sound of my little baby boy cooing I find particularly nice.

A sound that I like is the sound of a cat purring.

My favourite sound at the moment is the sounds coming from my garden. There’s a lot of

birdsong out there and particularly in the mornings I find that a really peaceful and nice and

pleasant way to wake up, birds singing and even children playing out there.

A sound that I really love is the sound of traditional Scottish or Irish music and the thing I

really love is the sound of a really bass⁴ drum beating away and you can feel it in your heart.

That’s a sound that I love.

Callum: The sounds we heard described using a noun phrase were: champagne corks

popping, a little baby cooing, a cat purring, birds singing, children playing and

a bass drum beating. Listen again

FAVOURITE SOUNDS REPEAT

I’ve always liked the sound of champagne corks popping and the sound of laughter and also

very recently the sound of my little baby boy cooing I find particularly nice.

A sound that I like is the sound of a cat purring. 

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My favourite sound at the moment is the sounds coming from my garden. There’s a lot of

birdsong out there and particularly in the mornings I find that a really peaceful and nice and

pleasant way to wake up, birds singing and even children playing out there.

A sound that I really love is the sound of traditional Scottish or Irish music and the thing I

really love is the sound of a really bass drum beating away and you can feel it in your heart.

That’s a sound that I love.

Callum: That's all from this edition of entertainment, don't forget to try the quiz on this

topic on the web page where you can also download the script and an audio

version of this programme. 

1 soothing   

adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的

参考例句：

• Put on some nice soothing music.播放一些柔和舒缓的音乐。
• His casual, relaxed manner was very soothing.他随意而放松的举动让人很快便平静下来。

2 champagne   

n.香槟酒；微黄色

参考例句：

• There were two glasses of champagne on the tray.托盘里有两杯香槟酒。
• They sat there swilling champagne.他们坐在那里大喝香槟酒。

3 corks   

n.脐梅衣；软木( cork的名词复数 )；软木塞

参考例句：

• Champagne corks were popping throughout the celebrations. 庆祝会上开香槟酒瓶塞的砰砰声不绝於耳。 来自辞典例句
• Champagne corks popped, and on lace tablecloths seven-course dinners were laid. 桌上铺着带装饰图案的网织的桌布，上面是七道菜的晚餐。 来自飘（部分）

4 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。