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Lesson 4 What's in the Papers? A According to a research published by Leeds University yesterday,people don't mind bad language on television as long as it is not used in programmes watched by children. The study found there was "amazing agreement" about when bad language was serious and when it was not. Even a group of mothers agreed that a certain amount of bad language in the well-known film Pulp Fiction was "OK" because the dialogue and situation made it "funny". Some people said they found the use of drugs in the film more worrying than the bad language. People were asked to comment on scenes from films like Pulp Fiction,TV series like Channel 4's Brookside and cartoons like South Park. Leeds University concluded that people made a distinction between bad language used in programmes for adults, and those meant for children. Peter Moore, a writer at the BBC, said, "The result does not surprise us at all. We have always tried to keep bad language away from innocent ears and this is a very important consideration when deciding at what times of day certain programmes are shown." Susan Bold, director of programmes at ITV, said, "The report gives interesting information about attitudes to bad language on screen.But it doesn't mean that we can increase the amount of bad language used on television." B More than 30 astronomers on a sightseeing trip to the museum of science had an amazing escape,after their trolleybus crashed into a greengrocer's truck on Park Avenue. The accident, which took place in Kingston, a town southwest of London, happened because of the fog. The 60-year-old driver of the truck did not know that he was parked in the way of the trolleybus. When the driver finally discovered the trolleybus coming towards him through the fog,he tried to move but his tyres got stuck in the muddy ground. At the last minute, he jumped out of the truck, hurting his ankle,before the trolleybus crashed into the truck, pushing it 20 yards. "I would have been killed if I'd stayed in the truck," he said afterwards. A spokesman for the police said, "It's amazing that no one was badly hurt. When we arrived at the scene, we called an ambulance as we saw blood everywhere. We soon realised, however, that the blood was really strawberry juice! The greengrocer's truck had been carrying a load of fresh strawberries." He praised the bravery of the astronomers who were helped out of the windows of the trolleybus by firemen. C Mum Lillian Derbyshire is going to see her four daughters again - after a 31-year holiday! Shonda (now 38), Shelley (37), Sherri (36) and Shirin (34) went on holiday to America with Lillian's ex-husband - and never came back. Sherri wrote a letter to a local paper asking her mother to contact her. Now Lillian, of West Gorton, Manchester, is making the 3,000-mile journey to California to see her daughters. 'I can't stop crying with happiness,' she said. 第4课 报纸报道了什么？ A 根据昨天利兹大学发表的一项研究报告，人们不在乎电视中的不良语言，只要它不涉及儿童观看的节目。 这项研究发现，人们对不良语言何时是严重的，何时是不严重的有惊人的一致看法。 甚至一群母亲们也一致认为，著名电影《低俗小说》中使用一定量的不良语言是可以的，因为电影中的对话和情景使这些语言"有趣"。 一些人说，电影中使用毒品比不良语言更使人担心。 人们被要求对电影《低俗小说》、第4频道的电视连续剧《小河边》以及动画片《南方公园》之类的场景进行评论。 利兹大学做出结论，人们对成年人节目和儿童节目中使用的不良语言是有区分的。 BBC的作者彼得o摩尔说："这个结果一点也没有让我们吃惊。 我们一直努力使天真的儿童远离不良语言，在决定每天什么时段播放某些节目时，这是一个非常重要的考虑。" ITV的节目总监苏珊o博德说："这份报告提供了人们对屏幕上不良语言的态度的有趣信息。但这并不表示我们可以增加电视中不良语言的使用量。" B 三十多名到科学博物馆观光的宇航员奇迹般地得以逃脱，在他们乘坐的有轨电车与一辆蔬菜水果商的卡车在公园大道相撞之后。 事故发生在肯斯顿，伦敦西南部的一个小城，起因是有雾。 60多岁的卡车驾驶员不知道他停放的车挡住了电车的路。 当他最后透过雾发现电车向他驶来时，想移动车，但车轮已陷在泥中。 最后一刻，他跳离了卡车，伤了脚踝，在电车撞上卡车并把它撞到20码以外之前。 司机后来说，"如果我呆在卡车里，我就没命了。" 一位警察发言人说："没有一个人严重受伤真是一个奇迹。 当我们到达现场看到到处是血时，就叫来一辆救护车。 可是我们很快就发现那血其实是草莓汁！ 蔬菜水果商的卡车装了一车新鲜草莓。" 发言人赞扬了宇航员的勇敢，他们被消防员从电车的窗户救了出来。 C 莉莉安o德比希尔妈妈在经历31年的假期后将重见她的4个女儿。 肖恩达（38岁），谢利（37岁），谢瑞（36岁）和舍瑞（34岁） 与莉莉安的前夫到美国度假，从此未归。 谢瑞给当地的报纸写了一封信，让妈妈与她联系。 现住在曼彻斯特西高顿的莉莉安，正远行3千英里前往加利福尼亚去看望她的女儿们。 "我真的无法抑制这幸福的泪水，"她说。 |
