一起聽英語 189 凱特王妃

凱特王妃去哪里都是相當有氣場的，今天我們來了解一下凱特王妃.....

Finn: Hello, I'm Finn, welcome to 6 Minute English. With me in the studio today is Neil.

Neil: Hi there, Finn.

Finn: Hello Neil. Today we have a royal story about Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge – or

as she is still often known – Kate Middleton.

Neil: Yes, Prince William's wife has been in the news this week after a well-known British

novelist compared her to a "shop-window mannequin with no personality of her

own".

Finn: Now, the novelist in question is a woman called Hilary Mantel. She has won a number

of awards for her books set during the rule of Henry VIII - he's an English king from

the Tudor period.

Neil: The Tudor period – that's the 16th Century, well from 1485-1603 to be precise!

Finn: Very good, Neil, and as a history graduate I'm not surprised you knew that! But can

you tell me, how many wives Henry VIII had? Was it:

a) four

b) five

c) six

Neil: Well I took my degree a long time ago but I can still remember, I'm pretty sure, the

answer is 'c' – six.

Finn: Ok, well let's find out if you are right at the end of the programme. Going back to

Hilary Mantel, her quotes are from a long speech she made - the London Review of

Books Lecture - on the subject of royal women.

Neil: We're going to listen to three clips from the speech itself. In the first, just pay

attention to the descriptive language you hear.

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2013

Page 2 of 5

Author Hilary Mantel

Kate Middleton, as she was, appeared to have been designed by a committee, and built by

craftsmen, with the perfect, plastic smile, and the spindles of her limbs hand-turned and glossvarnished.

Finn: We hear a number of interesting phrases here: Kate is "designed by a committee" –

which means designed by a group of people who all have an interest in the outcome.

Neil: Yes, it's a negative phrase. She is then "built by craftsmen" with the "perfect, plastic

smile".

Finn: And it goes on to say that the "spindles of her limbs are hand-turned and gloss

varnished". A spindle is a thin, wooden rod – and so this is a description you would

expect of a beautiful doll: lovingly hand-made and then covered in shiny, protective

varnish.

Neil: Indeed – the language used is quite imaginative, as we'd expect from an awardwinning

novelist, and it uses the vocabulary of craft or craftsmanship. It is what we

might call an extended metaphor, we might say, – a long comparison.

Finn: But when the long comparison is to a doll – to an object – you can see why it has

caused controversy.

Neil: That's right, which is the interesting point: by comparing Kate Middleton to an

object, Hilary Mantel is really describing how she is portrayed by the media.

Finn: We call this process objectification – becoming an object.

Neil: Let's listen to a bit more of the speech.

Author Hilary Mantel:

Machine-made, precision-made: so different from Diana, whose human awkwardness and emotional

incontinence showed in every gesture.

Neil: Again we hear the language of manufacture – Kate is "precision-made", "machinemade"

– made according to precise plans, as if by machine.

Finn: Unlike Diana who was very human. She talks about Diana's "emotional

incontinence". Incontinence is when you can't control yourself when you need the

toilet.

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2013

Page 3 of 5

Neil: So emotional incontinence is when you can't stop your emotions from showing – they

showed "in her every gesture" – in each gesture or movement of her body.

Finn: Although Mantel says she may have had more personality, as we know, things ended

badly for Diana:

Author Hilary Mantel:

We don't cut off the heads of royal ladies these days but we do sacrifice them, and we did

memorably drive one to destruction a scant generation ago.

Finn: Hilary Mantel suggests that the media and public drove Diana to destruction – the

constant attention on her private life was what caused Diana's death.

Neil: And this happened "a scant generation ago" - which means "barely a generation

ago" – not long at all.

Finn: Now, as I'm sure many people will know Diana died in a car crash, but many royals

in history died by one particular means – as Mantel says – they had their heads cut

off.

Neil: Which brings us back to the question at the beginning of the programme. I know that

two of Henry VIII's wives had their heads cut off, or were beheaded, but you asked

how many he had in total.

Finn: Yes, was it:

a) four

b) five

c) six

Neil: And I said 'c' – six.

Finn: And you were absolutely right so well done there.

Neil: My memory is good.

Finn: Very good. Before we go, Neil, could you remind us of some of the words we learned

today?

Neil: Yes. We heard:

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2013

Page 4 of 5

shop-window mannequin

objectification

machine-made

emotional incontinence

gesture

scant

beheaded

Finn: Thanks Neil. Well, that's it for today, let's behead the programme. Please join us

again soon for 6 Minute English from bbclearningenglish.

Both: Bye