新概念雙語：美國超愛的五大英倫文化 你喜歡嗎？

DOWNTON ABBEY (AND OTHER TV SHOWS)：

唐頓莊園(和其他的電視劇)：

From Doctor Who to Sherlock Holmes, British TV shows are doing well among American audience. Although the success of Game of Thrones shows the appreciation among American viewers for violence and sexuality, Downton Abbey has nonetheless succeeded as a period drama with a completely different appeal. There is just something so quaint and refreshing about these stereotypically British shows, and we Americans love it.

從神秘博士到夏洛克，英劇在美國一直廣受歡迎。盡管權(quán)力的游戲大熱暗示了美國觀眾們對于色情和暴力的癖好，唐頓莊園作為一部口味截然不同的歷史劇依然大獲成功。這些代表性的英劇總是有幾分讓人耳目一新的精巧，美國人也是愛不釋手。

THE ROYAL FAMILY:

皇室家族：

Americans have been following the royal family for centuries, from Queen Victoria’s coronation in 1838 to Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer’s marriage in 1981. More recently, we obsessed over the marriage between Prince William and Kate Middleton, following stories and tweeting about the royal engagement, the wedding, her clothes, and the royal baby. Part of this might just be indulging that childhood fascination with castles and royalty, the pomp associated with these royal affairs, and the romance of an ordinary woman becoming royal through the power of love.

美國人關(guān)注英國皇室的動態(tài)已經(jīng)數(shù)個世紀(jì)，從1838年維多利亞女王的加冕禮到查爾斯王子和戴安娜王妃1981年的婚禮。最近，我們對于威廉王子和凱特的婚禮頗為著迷，時刻關(guān)注著故事發(fā)展，發(fā)推特談?wù)摶适业挠喕?、婚禮、王妃的服裝和小王子。這其中的部分原因可能是我們沉醉于兒時對于城堡和皇室的迷戀中，還有和皇家事物相關(guān)聯(lián)的種種壯麗浮華，當(dāng)然，還有灰姑娘嫁王子這種童話般的浪漫劇情，讓我們仿佛感受到了真愛的力量。

ONE DIRECTION (AND OTHER BOY BANDS)：

單方向樂隊(和其他的男團(tuán))：

In the 1960s The Beatles and other pop and rock groups became popular in the United States in a cultural takeover known as the British Invasion. Today we have One Direction, which became the first band to have all four of its releases debut at number one on the American album chart, and fellow boy band The Wanted reached number three on America’s Billboard Hot 100 after the TV show Glee featured one of its songs. And it is not just the boy bands: Coldplay, Adele, and Sam Smith have all dominated America’s Billboard Top 100, and 12 percent of album sales in the US consisted of British artists in 2014.

上世紀(jì)60年代，披頭士和其他流行搖滾樂隊在美國風(fēng)靡一時，被稱作英國的文化入侵。如今我們也有One Direction，這是第一支連續(xù)四張專輯首發(fā)就占領(lǐng)美國各大專輯榜單第一位的樂隊!其他類似的男團(tuán)還有The Wanted，在歡樂合唱團(tuán)翻唱了他們的一首歌之后，一躍成為Billboard百首熱歌的第三名。2014年，英國歌手的專輯銷量占到了美國唱片市場的12%。

(SOME) BRITISH HUMOR (OR AS MUCH AS OUR EGOS CAN TAKE)：

(某些)英式幽默(只要我們的自尊心能承受)：

Something about the irony and sarcasm of British humor is finally catching on in the United States. Most of us can appreciate the nice, unoffensive humor of Friends and other crowd-pleasing favorites, but the dry, “too real” feel of British humor can elicit more cringing than giggles. But irony has also crept into our favorites, from Curb Your Enthusiasm and Arrested Development to Family Guy. And while Monty Python always had its cult following, we also made our own version of The Office, mocking the daily lives of office workers.

英式幽默中的諷刺和挖苦終于在美國火起來了!大多數(shù)美國人都能接受老友記中友好溫和地幽默，還有其他娛樂大眾的梗。但是那句干巴巴的“too real”類型的英式幽默更容易引來低聲下氣的諂媚，而不是歡快的笑聲。不過，諷刺也在逐漸變?yōu)槲覀兊淖類郏簭摹兑种茻崆椤泛汀栋l(fā)展受阻》到《惡搞之家》。英國喜劇團(tuán)體蒙提·派森也一直有一批狂熱的粉絲，與此同時我們也有了美國版本的《辦公室》，調(diào)侃辦公室白領(lǐng)的日常生活。

Americans have plenty of options to get their news, from local papers to national outlets like The Washington Post and ABC News. However, when it comes to international news, Americans often turn to British outlets for an alternative view. After the Iraq war, US traffic to BBC increased by 47% and to the Guardian by 83%. According to a 2014 study from the Pew Research Center, the most trusted news outlets in the United States were the UK’s The Economist and BBC across all ideological groups, while news outlets like The New York Times and Fox News were only trusted by certain ideological groups.

美國人有多樣的渠道可以獲取新聞，從當(dāng)?shù)貓蠹埖饺珖悦襟w，比如華盛頓郵報和ABC新聞。然而，當(dāng)我們想看國際新聞時，一般會選擇英國媒體作為不同意見的參考。在伊拉克戰(zhàn)爭之后，收看BBC的美國觀眾增加了47%，衛(wèi)報則增加了83%。皮尤研究中心一項2014年的調(diào)查顯示，在各種思想群體中，最受美國人信賴的新聞媒體是英國的經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人和BBC，而紐約時報和福克斯新聞僅僅只被某些思想群體信任。