听力文本

Parlez-vous Fran? (continued)

THERE are two French words which I know you know, even if you don’ speak French. One is “Boulevard” and theother is “Avenue.” You have probably always thought they were English words, but they are both French words. Paris has many Boulevards and one of the finest Avenues in the World. This Avenue is lined with trees and runsdirectly toward the setting sun, and was thought beautiful enough to be a street in Paradise, so it was called the Champs-Elysées, which means “The Fields of Paradise.”

In London a square is called a Circus, but in Paris it is called a Place, as if spelled “Plass.” The most beautifulPlace in Paris is the Place de la Concorde. In the center of this Place is a monument made of one single tall stone standing on end. It is called Cleopatra’s Needle. The Place de la Concorde is at one end of the Champs-Elyséesand at the other end is a beautiful arch like a huge gateway across the avenue. It is called “L’Arc de Triomphe,” which it is easy to guess means The Arch of Triumph. No automobile nor carriage may pass through thisArch of Triumph, however, for underneath it in the pavement is the tomb of the French Unknown Soldier, and from this tomb a flame flickers day and night—a flame to be kept burning forever to the memory of the brave Frenchmenwho died in the World Wars.

The French people love beautiful things. They love beautiful pictures and beautiful sculpture and beautiful buildings,and they know how to make them; so young men and women from our country and from other countries go to Paris to learn from the French how to make beautiful things—to become painters and sculptors and architects.

But the French love beauty in everyday things as well—in such everyday things as hats and clothes and cooking andmanners. French hats and French clothes and French cooking and French manners are famous. Strange to say, the most famous French dressmakers are men. Also, strange to say, the most famous French cooks are men too. We callthem “chefs.” Our dressmakers go to Paris to study and copy the fashion in clothes and the style in hats, and we get French chefs for our finest hotels and restaurants. Perhaps you have noticed that the bill of fare inmany of our restaurants is printed in French. That is because our cooks copy not only the way the French cook but the names of the dishes they cook. The French can make delicious soup out of a piece of bread and a bone. InAmerica soup is just soup, but in France soup is called potage or consommé instead of soup—it sounds better, and anything that sounds better you expect will taste better, too, and it usually does.

参考译文

你讲法语吗？（续）

即使你不会说法语，但我知道有两个法语单词你肯定是认识的。一个是“Boulevard”（林荫大道），另一个是“Avenue”（大街）。你也许一直认为它们是英语单词，但两个都是法语单词。巴黎有很多林荫大道，还有一个世界上最优美的大街。大街两旁树木林立，直通向太阳落山的方向，人们认为这条街美丽得足以成为天堂里的街道，于是就叫它“香榭丽舍大街”，意思就是“天堂里的田园”。

在伦敦，广场叫做“Circus”（环形广场），但在巴黎它叫做“Place”（广场），念作“普拉斯”。巴黎最美丽的广场是协和广场。广场中央有一座纪念碑，由一整块高高的石头竖立而成。它叫克娄巴特拉方尖碑。协和广场位于香榭丽舍大街的一端，另一端是一个美丽的拱门，像个横跨在大街之上的巨大出入口叫做“凯旋门”，顾名思义很容易就知道它的意思是“胜利之门”。然而任何汽车或马车都不能从这个凯旋门通过，因为凯旋门下的路面下是法国无名战士的陵墓，墓地上不分昼夜燃烧着一束火焰——要让这束火焰永远燃烧下去。以此纪念在世界大战中牺牲的英勇的法国士兵。

法国人喜欢美的东西。他们喜欢美的绘画、美的雕塑和美的建筑，他们在这方面非常在行。因此美国和其他国家的年轻人都来到巴黎向法国人学习艺术创作——成为画家、雕刻家和建筑师。

但是法国人的爱美之心也表现在日常生活的各个方面——比如帽子、服装、烹调和礼仪这些方面。法国人的帽子、法国人的服装、法国人烹饪的美食和法国人的风度都闻名于世。说来很怪，法国最有名的服装设计师都是男的。同样说来奇怪的是，法国最有名的厨师也都是男的。我们称他们“大厨”。我们的服装设计师到巴黎学习和仿效他们服装的式样和帽子的风格，我们最好的酒店和餐馆也请来法国大厨。也许你已经注意到我们很多餐馆的菜单上面印的都是法语。那是因为我们的厨师不但学会法国人烹饪的方法，还照搬了他们的菜名。法国人用一块面包和一根骨头就能做出美味的汤。在美国，汤就是汤，但在法国汤叫做“浓汤”或者“清炖肉汤”，这些名字比“汤”就好听些，凡是名字更好听的食物你就会期待它味道更好，多数情况下也确实如此。