英文欣赏之人生感悟 （78）肥皂剧 Soap Operas
Soap Operas
肥皂剧
Watching TV is a very popular pastime in the UK but what kind of programmes do British people like to watch?
在英国，看电视是一种非常流行的消遣方式，但英国人喜欢看哪种类型的节目呢？
Well, the most-watched TV programmes every week are very popular dramas that are usually on at least four times every week.
每周收视率最高的电视节目都是那些颇受欢迎的电视剧，通常每周至少要播放4次，
They are dramas based in one neighbourhood that try to depict ordinary life in the UK—we call these dramas soap operas or soaps.
这些电视剧主要描述英国邻里之间的普通生活—我们称这些电视剧为肥皂剧。
In the early days of TV,there were often dramas on during the day.
在电视节目的早期，经常在白天播放电视剧。
Back in those days,it was traditional for the husband to go out to work and for the wife to stay at home and look after the house and the children.
以前，按传统，丈夫外出工作，妻子则在家照看家庭和孩子。
Most of these daytime dramas were aimed at entertaining the housewives who would traditionally be at home,probably doing the washing.
大多数白天播放的电视剧都是为了娱乐家庭主妇，她们通常都呆在家里，很可能会干一些洗洗涮涮的活。
Companies selling washing powder would advertise their products at times when these dramas were on,and sometimes those companies would even sponsor the drama.
卖洗衣粉的公司会时不时地在放电视剧时为他们的产品做广告，有时这些公司会赞助该电视剧。
Hence the word soap.
肥皂一词就由此而来。
So what about the word opera?
那肥皂剧一词中的剧是怎么来的呢？
Well, that’s because these dramas are often an exaggeration of real life.
那是因为这些电视剧经常夸张了现实生活。
They are supposed to represent ordinary lives but to make them entertaining, lots of dramatic events like murders, divorces, affairs etc. all happen probably much more regularly than they would in a normal neighbourhood.
它们本应反映平常的生活，很多电视剧事件，如谋杀，离婚和风流韵事等发生的概率远远高于其在正常邻里生活中发生的概率。
Most soap operas these days are shown in the evening.
现在大多数肥皂剧都是晚上播放。
Each show will have several different storylines happening at once that continue over several shows.
每场戏同时有机构不同的剧情，这些剧情贯穿于接下来的几场戏当中。
The same cast members will appear in every show too.
同样的演员阵容也会出现在每场戏里。
There are lots of different soaps on in the UK on different channels but there are 3 main popular ones.
在英国，虽然有很多种不同的肥皂剧在不同的频道里开播，但最受欢迎的只有3部。
Coronation Street has been on since 1960.It is set in a suburb of Manchester and it’s supposed to represent working class life in the north of England.
《加冕街》自1960年开播以来，至今仍未结束，它以曼彻斯特郊区为场景，并被认为是一部能代表英国北部工人阶级生活的剧集。
Then there’s Eastenders which started in 1985,set in the East End of London and Emmerdale, which is set on a farm in Yorkshire,in the north of England.
《东伦敦人》1985年开播，以伦敦东区为背景。《爱默戴尔农场》则以英格兰北部约克郡的农场为背景。
肥皂剧于20世纪20年代在美国的收音机广播节目中兴起，40年代转战电视屏幕。当时最主要的广告赞助商就是P&G（宝洁公司），由于洗涤产品广告总是在这类连续剧间隔时段播放，于是慢慢出现肥皂剧这个词，意为播放肥皂等洗涤产品广告的情节剧。