1、,Text,Urban myths or Urban legends? 1 London has the most extensive network of underground tunnels in the world. But for some inhabitants, the tunnels are more than just convenient they live in them. The London Subterraneans are a race of people who live beneath the streets. Theyre human, but they d

2、ont speak English, and they have their own customs. Occasionally, a few of them come to the surface. They only appear at night through the drains in a dark backstreet, and if they hear footsteps, they hide in a dark alleyway and only come out when its quiet again. And before sunrise, they go back un

3、der ground. Very few Londoners have seen them, but the friend of a friend has seen them several times.,Text,2 True story? Probably not. Its a classic example of whats called in many languages an urban myth. An urban myth is a story you hear by word of mouth. It usually describes something which migh

4、t have happened, an apocryphal, second-hand story told as if it were true, just about plausible enough to be credible, about some event which has supposedly happened to a real person. Factual or not, its likely to rely on expert storytelling and on a trustworthy source, such as It happened to my bro

5、thers friends mother.,Text,3 However, some academics claim that urban myths are not really myths. According to them, a myth is a story which held some religious or spiritual significance for those who told it or listened in the past to it, and which contributed to the expression of shared beliefs an

6、d values. However improbable a myth might be, its always true for those who belong to that culture from which the myth comes.,Text,4 So should we use the term urban myths? Lets look at one of the most durable of urban myths, The Vanishing Hitchhiker. The basic story is that of a driver alone at nigh

7、t on a dark, country road, who sees a young woman hitchhiking. The driver stops and offers her a lift. Soon the driver drops the hitchhiker off at her destination, and they say goodbye. But its only when the driver stops later that he realizes the young woman has left behind a coat with her wallet,

8、or sometimes an old envelope in the pocket. He then goes to the address to return the coat.,Text,An old woman opens the door of the house, and the driver explains what has happened. It turns out that the coat does belong to the old womans daughter, but she was killed several years before on the same

9、 stretch of road where the driver picked her up. That day was the anniversary of the accident.,Text,5 In fact, like many myths, this story can be traced back to some time before the cars and roads of the 20th or 21st centuries, and to other countries or regions such as Sweden or East Africa. It also

10、 has other features common to the myth in its traditional sense. As we have already seen, its a story for those people who want to believe in it, and who share the same cultural values. It has been told and retold many times over the years, gathering embellishments which are specific to the culture

11、in which its set. Finally, its enjoyable, exciting and captivating to the listeners.,Text,6 Another well-known urban myth is about the baby alligators which parents on their return from Florida bring home to their children in New York. As the alligators grow in size, they are no longer cute and the

12、parents have to dispose of them down the toilet. But some of them survive, and as a result there are full-grown alligators living under the streets of Manhattan.,Text,7 This is also a myth in that it describes something of the geography of a city or a region, warning of possible dangers. In Greek my

13、thology, Odysseus sails between Scylla and Charybdis, the narrow and dangerous channel between mainland Italy and the island of Sicily. In the same way, the story of the alligators warns New Yorkers of the dangers which they may face when they use the subway.,Text,8 Urban myths can also be a moralit

14、y or “cautionary” tale. One of the best-known is the story of the man sitting in a hotel bar. Another person offers to buy him a drink. The next thing the man knows is that hes sitting in his hotel bath, with his body submerged in ice. On the wall is a note telling him not to move, but to call 911.,

15、Text,The operator, who is familiar with the situation, tells him to move very slowly, and to feel his lower back. If theres a tube protruding from it, it means that the mans kidney has been removed and sold to be transplanted. The moral of the story is: Be careful of anyone who offers to buy you a d

16、rink!,Text,9 Similarly, traditional myths show people how to behave appropriately in their societies. Gods act in such a way as to set the people a good example. Human beings behave nobly and courageously. Sometimes a human hero may be based on a real person, but may become a god because of his nobl

17、e actions.,Text,10 In recent years, we have seen the rise of the urban myths which are not circulated orally, but by email, in the form of messages, usually about a virus which can wipe out your hard drive. Its usually recognizable by the warnings of dire consequences if you dont pass on the message

18、 to others, and by the use of CAPITAL LETTERS and exclamation marks! There are also web rumours which are based on the merest minor fact or speculation, and which passed around the Web, gathering further fictitious evidence to support them.,Text,11 But is this a myth? No, not in the traditional sens

19、e. In fact, a more accurate word for it would be a hoax, something which appears true but turns out to be false and deliberately misleading. True myths are always benign in their intentions.,Text,12 Urban myths have the characteristics common to all myths: They often record events, people believe in

20、 them, they have been passed on by word of mouth and exaggerated, they often contain a moral or warn of possible dangers in particular situations or contexts, and they advise people what to do or how to behave. In their way, for listeners in the 21st century, they are just as real as the myths of th

21、e Greeks, Romans, Celts, Vikings, Mesopotamians and Chinese from years gone by.,Text,13 But the one difference is that true myths always feature gods or heroic near-gods, or stories about the creation of the world and its natural phenomena, such as lightning or sacred mountains. 14 In contrast, urba

22、n myths are more mundane. The London Subterraneans are far from god-like, neither the hitchhiker nor the driver is heroic, the New York alligators dont symbolize natural phenomena, and while the story of the hapless businessman may be a cautionary tale, it hardly acts as a model for heroic behaviour

23、.,Text,15 So in conclusion, the urban myth is not a myth at all, but a legend, which is a story about the more recent past, and is based on historical events and human heroes, or fairies, witches or other fictitious characters. The urban myth is only a myth in the secondary sense of the word: someth

24、ing which turns out to be untrue.,Text,都市神話還是都市傳奇？ 1 倫敦有著世界上最為龐大的地下隧道網(wǎng)絡(luò)。但是對(duì)某些倫敦居民來說，隧道不僅僅給他們的生活提供了便利他們還以此為家。倫敦地下人是生活在街道下面的一族。 他們屬于人類，卻不會(huì)說英語(yǔ)，他們有自己的風(fēng)俗習(xí)慣。他們中的個(gè)別人偶爾也會(huì)到地面上來。他們只有在晚上才會(huì)從一條黑魆魆的偏僻街道的下水道里鉆出來，到地面上活動(dòng)，而且一聽到腳步聲，他們就會(huì)躲到黑暗的小巷子里藏身，直到?jīng)]有了動(dòng)靜才出來。日出之前，他們又會(huì)回到地下。沒有幾個(gè)倫敦人真正見過他們，但是某人的朋友的朋友曾經(jīng)見過他們好幾次。,Text,2 這是真事

25、嗎？很可能不是。這是在很多語(yǔ)言中被稱為都市神話的一個(gè)典型例子。都市神話是你通過口口相傳聽來的故事，講述的是一些可能發(fā)生過的事情，一個(gè)杜撰的，從別處聽來的故事，卻被當(dāng)作真事來講，聽起來像真的似的。不論是真是假，都市神話依賴的是講故事的技巧以及來源的可靠性，比如“這件事發(fā)生在我弟弟的朋友的母親的身上?！?Text,3 但是，有一些學(xué)者認(rèn)為都市神話并非真正的神話。在他們看來，神話故事對(duì)于講故事和過去聽故事的人來說都有某種宗教或精神層面的意義，而且神話幫助人們表達(dá)共同的信仰和價(jià)值觀。不管一個(gè)神話看上去是多么匪夷所思，對(duì)于那些從屬于這些文化的人來說，它們永遠(yuǎn)是真實(shí)可信的。,Text,4 那么我們?cè)摬辉撚?/p>

26、“都市神話”這個(gè)術(shù)語(yǔ)呢？ 讓我們來看一下經(jīng)久不衰的都市神話之一：“消失的搭車客”。故事的大概是：一個(gè)司機(jī)獨(dú)自開車行駛在漆黑的鄉(xiāng)村公路上，他看到一位年輕女子在路邊要搭車。司機(jī)停下來，讓她上了車。很快司機(jī)就把她送到了目的地，他們相互道別?？芍钡胶髞硗＼嚂r(shí)司機(jī)才發(fā)現(xiàn)，這個(gè)年輕女子落了一件外套在車上，兜里還裝著一個(gè)錢包，有的故事是兜里裝著個(gè)舊信封。于是他按照錢包里或信封上的地址把外套送回去。,Text,一位老婦人開了門，司機(jī)向她講述了事情的經(jīng)過。原來，這件外套是老婦人女兒的，而她的女兒已經(jīng)在幾年前的車禍中去世了，車禍的地點(diǎn)正是司機(jī)讓她上車的那個(gè)地方。那一天也正是車禍的周年紀(jì)念日。,Text,5 事實(shí)上

27、，和許多別的神話一樣，這個(gè)故事可以追溯到20世紀(jì)或是21世紀(jì)的汽車和公路出現(xiàn)之前的其他國(guó)家和地區(qū)，比如瑞典和東非。這個(gè)故事還具有傳統(tǒng)神話所共有的其他一些特征。正如我們所看到的，這個(gè)故事是講給那些愿意相信它并持有相同的文化價(jià)值觀的人聽的。多年以來，這個(gè)故事被人們講了又講，在不同的地方還被添加了專屬于各地文化的一些元素。最后，這個(gè)故事變得好玩、刺激，引人入勝。,Text,6 另外一個(gè)很出名的都市神話是關(guān)于佛羅里達(dá)小短吻鱷魚的故事，大人們?nèi)シ鹆_里達(dá)度假，回紐約的時(shí)候會(huì)給孩子們帶幾條小鱷魚。后來短吻鱷越長(zhǎng)越大，不像小時(shí)候那么可愛了。大人們只好把它們?nèi)舆M(jìn)抽水馬桶里沖掉。但是其中一些短吻鱷活了下來，所以現(xiàn)

28、在有一些成年短吻鱷在紐約曼哈頓街區(qū)下面游蕩。,Text,7 這也是一個(gè)神話，因?yàn)樗枥L了一個(gè)城市或地區(qū)的地理狀況，提醒人們注意某些潛在的危險(xiǎn)。在希臘神話中，奧德修斯在意大利大陸和西西里島之間狹窄而危險(xiǎn)的海峽里航行，前有女海妖斯庫(kù)拉，后有海妖卡律布狄斯。短吻鱷的故事也同樣是要提醒紐約人，坐地鐵的時(shí)候要注意安全。,Text,8 都市神話也可以是道德故事或是“警示”故事。這其中最有名的是，一個(gè)男子坐在旅館的酒吧間喝酒，有一個(gè)人請(qǐng)他喝了一杯。等他醒來的時(shí)候，發(fā)現(xiàn)自己躺在房間的浴缸里，身子被埋在冰塊下面。墻上貼了一張紙條告訴他不要亂動(dòng)，立刻打911。,Text,接線員遇到過很多這樣的情況，讓他去摸一下后

29、背下部，動(dòng)作一定要緩慢。如果脊部插著一根管子，那就說明他的腎被人摘走了，賣掉供人移植了。這個(gè)故事的寓意是：如果有人請(qǐng)你喝酒，你一定要提高警惕。,Text,9 同樣，傳統(tǒng)神話也告訴人們?cè)诟髯缘纳鐣?huì)中應(yīng)該如何恰當(dāng)?shù)貫槿颂幨?。在神話中，神之所以如此行事，是要為人類樹立一個(gè)好榜樣。神話中人的行為高尚且勇敢。有時(shí)候神話中的人類英雄在歷史上可能確有其人，可能正因?yàn)樗麄兊母呱行袨槎兂闪松瘛?Text,10 近年來， 越來越多的都市神話不是通過口口相傳，而是通過電子郵件的形式廣為流傳的，這些郵件通常是告訴大家要小心某一種病毒，它會(huì)刪除你硬盤里的文件。通常只要看到那種“如果不把這封信轉(zhuǎn)發(fā)給別人，就會(huì)有災(zāi)難性的

30、后果”的警告，而且用了很多大寫字母和驚嘆號(hào)，你就知道這是一個(gè)都市神話。還有很多網(wǎng)絡(luò)傳言，它們對(duì)一些微不足道的小細(xì)節(jié)添油加醋，或者是捕風(fēng)捉影，在流傳過程中加入了越來越多的虛假證據(jù)，以證明它們的真實(shí)性。,Text,11 但這是神話嗎？不是，不是傳統(tǒng)意義上的神話。事實(shí)上，有一個(gè)更為準(zhǔn)確的詞“騙局”，就是一些看上去是真的，而最終發(fā)現(xiàn)是假的，并且是用來故意誤導(dǎo)人的東西。真正的神話其動(dòng)機(jī)總是善意的。,Text,12 都市神話具有所有神話所共有的一些特征：它們通常記錄了一些事件，人們相信它們的真實(shí)性，它們以口頭形式代代相傳，并且被逐漸夸大，它們通常包含一個(gè)道德寓意，或是警示某種特定情形或情況下可能存在的危險(xiǎn)

31、，它們告訴人們應(yīng)該做什么、怎么做。從形式上看，對(duì)于21世紀(jì)的聽眾來說，它們和希臘、羅馬、凱爾特、維京、美索不達(dá)米亞以及中國(guó)的神話一樣真實(shí)可信。,Text,13 但不同的是，真正的神話里總是有神或者接近神的英雄人物，有的神話講述了創(chuàng)造世界和世界上的一些自然現(xiàn)象，如雷電、圣山之類的。 14 與之相反，都市神話更為世俗化。倫敦的地下人和神靈沒有半點(diǎn)關(guān)系，那個(gè)搭車客和司機(jī)也不是什么英雄，紐約的短吻鱷不代表什么自然現(xiàn)象，那個(gè)倒霉的商人的故事雖然是警示性的，但也絕對(duì)說不上是為英雄行為樹立了榜樣。,Text,15 總之，都市神話根本就不是神話，它是一種傳奇，講述一些新近發(fā)生的事情，故事是依據(jù)歷史事件和人類英

32、雄，或者仙女、女巫及其他的虛構(gòu)人物來編排的。都市神話中的神話這個(gè)詞我們只能從它的次要意項(xiàng)去理解：一些并非真實(shí)的東西。,Text,Words a minor street away from the main roads 偏僻街道；小巷；后街 e.g. 1. We took a short cut through the backstreets of Kings Cross. 我們從金斯路口的后街抄了近道。 2. The Backstreet Boys is a very famous American band. 后街男孩是美國(guó)著名的樂隊(duì)。,Words the art of telling a

33、 story 講故事；說書；講故事（或說書）的技藝 e.g. Storytelling is one of the earliest forms of folk art. 說書是民間藝術(shù)最早的一種形式。,Words destroy 殺死；毀掉 e.g. Her lover came up with hundreds of schemes for disposing of her husband. 她的情人想出了許多干掉她丈夫的計(jì)劃。 4) defeat someone in a game, competition etc. 戰(zhàn)勝；打敗 e.g. The league champions qui

34、ckly disposed of the opposition. 聯(lián)賽冠軍很快打敗了對(duì)手。 Word family: disposal n.,Words a particular system of values and principles of conduct, especially one held by a specified person or society 道德；（尤指特定社會(huì)或人的）道德觀 e.g. 1. We should strengthen professional morality study. 我們應(yīng)該加強(qiáng)職業(yè)道德研究。 2. Behind all the argum

35、ents lies the issue of the morality of the possession of nuclear weapons. 引起所有這些爭(zhēng)論的問題是擁有核武器是否道德。 Word family: moral a. be considered as a typical or perfect example of sth. 象征（某事物）；作為（某事物）的象征 e.g. 1. What does the Statue of Liberty symbolize? 自由女神像象征什么？ 2. For many people, cars symbolize personal fr

36、eedom. 對(duì)很多人而言，汽車象征著個(gè)人的自由。,Words less important than sth. else 第二的；次要的；間接的 e.g. 1. All other considerations are secondary to his safety. 現(xiàn)在首先要考慮的是他的安全，其他事均是次要的。 2. This is a secondary source of information. 這是資料的第二手來源。,Words get rid of sth. completely (the meaning originated from the act of wiping a

37、mark off a surface) 徹底摧毀；徹底消滅 e.g. 1. The government is trying to wipe out drug trafficking. 政府正設(shè)法做到徹底消滅毒品交易。 2. The earthquake wiped out the whole town. 地震毀掉了整個(gè)城鎮(zhèn)。 3. Your bravery has wiped out your earlier disgrace. 你這次的勇敢行為徹底洗刷了你以前的恥辱。 4. The tribe has been wiped out by disease and violence. 這個(gè)部落

38、已經(jīng)被疾病和暴行徹底摧毀。,Words & Phrases,Londoner someone who was born in or who lives in London, England 倫敦人 e.g. She married a Londoner when she was 20. 她20歲的時(shí)候嫁給了一個(gè)倫敦人。,Words & Phrases,Odysseus a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homers epic poem 奧德修斯（希臘神話傳說中的人物；荷馬史詩(shī)奧德賽中的主人公）,Words & Phrases,In

39、 the tenth year of the Trojan War, the Greeks tricked the enemy into bringing a huge wooden horse within the walls of Troy. The Trojans had no idea that Greek soldiers were hidden inside, under the command of Odysseus. That night they emerged and opened the city gates to the Greek army. Troy was des

40、troyed.,Scylla （意大利西西里島東北海岸外墨西拿海峽上的）錫拉巖礁 In Greek mythology, Scylla was a monster that lived on one side of a narrow channel of water, opposite its counterpart Charybdis. The two sides of the strait were within an arrows range of each otherso close that sailors attempting to avoid Charybdis would pa

41、ss too close to Scylla and vice versa. Scylla was a horrible sea monster with four eyes, six long necks equipped with grisly heads, each of which contained three rows of sharp teeth. Her body consisted of twelve tentacle-like legs and a cats tail and with four to six dog-heads ringing her waist.,Wor

42、ds & Phrases,Words & Phrases,Scylla,Charybdis 卡律布狄斯漩渦（位于錫拉巖礁的對(duì)面） In Greek mythology, Charybdis was a sea monster, once a beautiful naiad. She takes form as a huge bladder of a creature whose face was all mouth and whose arms and legs were flippers and who swallows huge amounts of water three times a

43、 day before belching them back out again, creating whirlpools. The myth has Charybdis lying on one side of a blue, narrow channel of water. On the other side of the strait was Scylla, another sea-monster. The two sides of the strait are within an arrows range of each other, so close that sailors att

44、empting to avoid Charybdis will pass too close to Scylla and vice versa.,Words & Phrases,Words & Phrases,Traditionally the strait has been associated with the Strait of Messina between Italy and Sicily.,Sicily the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, comprising an autonomous region of Italy 西西里島

45、,Words & Phrases,New Yorker: someone who was born in or who lives in New York, USA 紐約人 e.g. 1. He thanked heaven that he was a New Yorker, and about to ally himself with one of his own kind. 他暗自慶幸自己是紐約人，并將與一個(gè)自己同類人結(jié)成眷屬。 2. The man is a native New Yorker. 那個(gè)男人是土生土長(zhǎng)的紐約人。,Words & Phrases,Celt a member o

46、f a group of peoples inhabiting much of Europe and Asia Minor in pre-Roman times 凱爾特人 e.g. You have the paradox of a Celt Being the smooth Oxonian 作為一個(gè)圓滑的牛津人，你具有凱爾特人自相矛盾的特點(diǎn)。,Words & Phrases,Mesopotamian someone who was born in or who lives in Mesopotamia 美索不達(dá)米亞人 Mesopotamia is an ancient region of S

47、W Asia in present-day Iraq, lying between the Rivers Tigris and Euphrates. Its alluvial plains were the site of the civilizations of Akkad, Sumer, Babylonia, and Assyria.,Words & Phrases,A ziggurat to build on a raised area is a temple tower of the ancient Mesopotamian valley and Iran, having the fo

48、rm of a terraced pyramid of successively receding stories.,Very few Londoners have seen them, but the friend of a friend has seen them several times. People who believe in the Subterraneans do not claim to have seen them but to have been told the story. Such information is referred to as “second-han

49、d”. Here the story is third-hand, from a friends friend. In other words, it is highly unreliable. 翻譯： 沒有幾個(gè)倫敦人真正見過他們，但是某人的朋友的朋友曾經(jīng)見過他們好幾次。,Language Points,It usually describes something which might have happened, an apocryphal, second-hand story told as if it were true, just about plausible enough to

50、be credible, about some event which has supposedly happened to a real person. The word apocryphal means doubtfully true, probably untrue. The books of the Bible were chosen from a large number of texts. The rejected ones are to be found in a collection called the Apocrypha, the books which do not contain reliable information and are not sacred. As a metaphor, the adjective might be used in