一起聽英語 111 迷信的說法

生活中有很多迷信的說法。你相信這些說法嗎?

Rob: Hello, I'm Rob.

Alice: And I'm Alice.

Rob: And this is 6 Minute English from the BBC. Today we're talking about

superstitions. Superstition is the belief that certain events can bring good luck

or bad luck. For example, a lot of people think that the number 13 is unlucky,

or that you can avoid bad luck if you touch wood.

Alice: Mm, in fact people even say 'touch wood' if they're hoping for something

good to happen.

Rob: That's right. So Alice, are you superstitious?

Alice: Well I am, a bit. I don't like walking under ladders for example.

Rob: Me too. Well, today we're talking about superstitions involving birds and

animals, and I've got today's question for you. According to British folklore,

eggs from which bird are meant to improve your eyesight?

Is it:

a) ducks

b) owls

c) swans

Alice: I'm not sure. I'll guess swans.

Rob: OK, we'll see if you're right at the end of the programme.

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2011

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Now animals, birds and nature feature a lot in British superstitions. We've

already mentioned that people touch wood or knock on wood for luck. So

could you tell us a few more British superstitions involving nature Alice?

Alice: Well one that I can think of off the top of my head is a lucky rabbit's foot.

Apparently if you carry a rabbit's foot around it will bring you good luck. It's

what we call a lucky charm. A charm is an object that brings good luck. So a

rabbit's foot is a charm that brings good luck to the person carrying it.

Rob: But not to the rabbit! You used an interesting phrase there Alice: 'off the top

of my head'.

Alice: Yeah, off the top of my head. It's a helpful phrase that means something you

think of quickly, without much research.

Rob: OK, well let's hear a few more British superstitions involving nature. Dr Paul

Walton, from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, spoke to the BBC

about some superstitions surrounding birds in Scotland. Here he is talking

about seagulls and the traditions associated with them.

Alice: Seagulls or gulls – they're the large grey and white birds that you find near the

seaside.

Rob: So, according to Dr Walton, what superstitions are associated with gulls in

Scotland?

Partly it must be because Scotland's such a fantastic place for birds, I think over the years

these superstitions have developed because these are the living things that we share our

lives with. For example, there's a long tradition in Scotland among sailors and fishermen

of seeing the gulls that follow the boats as actually being the embodiment of dead sailors,

and to kill a gull is still in many places considered to be very back luck.

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Rob: He says sailors and fishermen consider it very bad luck to kill a seagull

because gulls are the embodiment of dead sailors. Could you explain

embodiment for us Alice?

Alice: Embodiment. It literally means to give something a body. So here it means that

the seagulls have given physical bodies to the spirits of dead sailors – they're

the embodiment of the dead sailors.

Rob: So it's bad luck to kill a seagull in Scotland because they're the embodiment of

dead sailors. Let's listen to another bird superstition from Scotland. This is Paul

Walton again talking about another of his favourite superstitions. Listen out for

the bird noises in this clip and see if you can identify which bird he's talking

about. What you should do when you hear its call?

One of my favourites is the cuckoo [Cuck-oo cuck-oo] If you hear a cuckoo calling and

then you start to run away from it as quickly as you can, the number of times you hear the

cuckoo calling before it fades into silence is the number of years you've got left to live.

Rob: Did you hear the sound of the cuckoo? The cuckoo is a bird with a long tail

and a very distinctive cry.

Alice: You can find cuckoo clocks in Switzerland, Germany and Austria, with the

cuckoo making a distinctive cry every hour.

Rob: But in Scotland, if you hear the cuckoo calling then you should run away from

it as quickly as you can. And the number of times you hear the cuckoo is the

number of years you've got left to live.

Alice: Oh dear. So surely you should walk away very slowly – then you'd hear more

calls and live longer? It seems like a very odd superstition to me – it's a real

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2011

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old wives' tale. An old wives' tale is what we call superstitions that are totally

untrue and ridiculous sometimes. Now I would definitely say that that sounds

like an old wives' tale to me.

Rob: You could be right – a lot of these superstitions are old wives' tales; possibly

including the one in today's question. Now, if you remember Alice, I asked you,

according to British folklore, which bird's eggs are meant to improve your

eyesight?

Is it:

a) ducks

b) owls

c) swans

Alice: And I said swans.

Rob: Well, apparently it's owl's eggs that are meant to improve your eyesight.

You're meant to cook the eggs until they're ash, and then eat them to get better

sight.

Alice: Urgh, that sounds horrible; eggs made into ashes!

Rob: Yes, I wouldn't recommend doing it. Anyway, before we go Alice, could you

please remind us of some of the vocabulary we've heard in today's programme?

Alice: Sure, we had:

Superstition

To touch wood

Knock on wood

A lucky charm

Off the top of my head

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2011

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Seagull

Embodiment

Cuckoo

Old wives' tale

Rob: Thanks Alice.

Alice: See you next time!

Both: Bye!