一起聽英語 24 寫日記

你是否有寫日記的習慣呢?

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2009

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Kate: Hello and welcome to this week's 6 Minute English. Joining me today for

the first time is Neil! Hi Neil.

Well, Leonardo da Vinci wrote his in mirror writing and Anne Frank's has

been read by millions throughout the world. We are of course talking

about …. diaries. So Neil - do you have or have you ever kept a diary or any

sort?

Neil: Answers…

Kate: Well, throughout history many people have kept diaries and these days some

still handwrite in a private notebook while others blog on the Internet for all

to see. In fact recently there have been an increasing number of diaries being

published - the public seem to love reading them. Why do think this is?

Neil: answers

Kate: Before we go any further, here's my question for this week: one of the

world's most famous diaries was written by Anne Frank, the thirteen year

old Jewish girl who chronicled her life while in hiding in Amsterdam during

the German occupation in World War II. How many people worldwide do

you think have read her diary since it was published in 1947?

Is it:

a) 10 million

b) 17 million

c) 31 million

Neil: answers

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2009

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Kate: Good answer - we'll check if you were correct at the end of the programme.

But first of all, could you tell me what is it do you think that makes people

want to keep a diary?

Neil: answers

Kate: Our speaker today is Gyles Brandreth – before we listen to what he has to

say, let's go over some of the vocabulary: reassure

Neil: reassure means to comfort someone and stop them from worrying about

something in particular

Kate: and the verb to rush?

Neil: To rush means to go past very quickly.

Kate: And finally the expression to pin down

Neil: This means to focus on something - if you pin something down, you

concentrate on one thing in particular and you are able see it clearly.

Kate: Thanks, so let's listen. Why does Gyles like keeping a diary?

Extract 1

It's like sort of looking in the mirror to reassure yourself that you're there. And it does make

things seem more real. If you don’t write a diary it all just rushes past you and so I

record things to sort of pin them down…

Neil: He said writing a diary makes things seem more real to him and he says that

if he doesn't write things down life just rushes by him. He likes to record

things and pin them down.

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2009

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Kate: So if he enjoys writing his diaries so much, what does he think of re-reading

them years later?

Extract 2

I've been keeping a daily diary since I was 11 years of age but before now, I've not looked

back on it and it's actually been quite a difficult experience, you know, seeing the …you

know, the missed opportunities - so it's been quite traumatic.

Kate: He said that re-reading them was a difficult and traumatic experience.

Traumatic means that something causes emotion shock and is upsetting.

Neil: I think he also mentioned missed opportunities. This is a phrase we use to

talk about situations in the past when we had the possibility of doing

something but we never did it. There is often a feeling of regret when people

talk about missed opportunities. (Neil gives and example)

Kate: In our last extract we're going to hear some more about what Gyles thinks

about diaries. You're going to hear the expression time capsule. This is a type

of container which is filled with objects considered to be typical of the present

period in history and then buried so it can be dug up and studied at some point

in the future. Let's listen:

Extract 3

It is a kind of time capsule and in a sense the best diaries I think are ones that give

you that domestic detail and not necessarily also about the great events of history.

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2009

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Neil: He said that a diary is a type of time capsule – which I suppose it is. It's like a

hidden container filled with interesting information from the past which we

can study at a future date. And I like what he said about it being the small

domestic details that make the most interesting diaries. The word domestic is

related to the home so I suppose he's talking about the daily chores we do

around the house, like making dinner, shopping, chatting to the neighbours etc.

All the things that might not seem that exciting now, but he thinks it is these

details that people enjoy reading about many years later.

Neil and Kate: We're nearly out of time today so let's go over some of the vocabulary we've

come across today. First of all the verb reassure, rush, to pin something

down, traumatic, missed opportunities, domestic detail and time capsule.

Kate: Finally to the question I asked you earlier. I asked you how many people

worldwide have read this The Diary of Anne Frank?

Neil: And I said 31 million.

Kate: And you were correct! Congratulations. Anne Frank's diary has sold more

than 31 million copies and has been published in approximately 67

languages. That's all we've got time for. Thanks Neil - until next time.

Goodbye.