NB: This is not an accurate word-for-word transcript. Группа Learning English. Продолжение текста здесь: http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/6minute/090716_6min_sunbathing_pdf.pdf
Kate: Hello, I’m Kate Colin and this is 6 minute English and today I'm joined by Rebecca Byrne. Hi Rebecca. Rebecca: Hi Kate. Kate: Well, I'm happy to say that summer is finally here and the sun is shining (although in the UK we can never be sure for how long ….). But, for the moment anyway, everyone seems to be sunning themselves outside in parks and gardens while they try to build up their tans. Rebecca: Yes, the practice of 'tanning' or making your skin go brown is very popular with some people here in the UK. It's probably because the weather is not so good for most of the year and people associate being tanned with feeling and looking healthy. Kate: Tanning is so popular that often you can see very dark, tanned people in the middle of winter which is always rather surprising… Rebecca: Well yes, but I'm sorry to tell you in most cases it's unlikely that their tan will be real. Most of the time, it's fake and comes from a special cream or from going on a sunbed. A sunbed is a machine which produces light similar to sunlight. You can lie down on it and it gives you a tan similar to one you would get if you sunbathed on a beach. So you can see why sunbeds are they popular in colder countries! Kate: But being tanned or brown hasn't always been desirable in our society. Here's my question for this week. Which designer first made it fashionable to have tanned skin? a) Yves Saint Laurent b) Coco Channel c) Gianni Versace Rebecca: answers Kate: We'll find out the correct answer at the end of the programme. Having a tan is regarded differently all over the world. In some countries it's seen as attractive and in other parts of the world, people want to be as pale as possible. What about you Rebecca, are you trying to get a tan this summer? Rebecca: answers Kate: I'm afraid I'm the same – I never really try to get a tan. Rebecca: I know, I think we're both living in the wrong era in history as before the 20th century, the fashion was for pale skin. Only the poor were tanned as they often had to work outside and the upper classes covered their bodies, and hid behind wide brimmed hats (hats which provide lots of shade) and parasols (a type of sunshade which looks a bit like an umbrella designed to provide shade from the sun) or they even used cosmetics to make their skin look lighter. Kate: But by the 1920s, being outdoors had become fashionable and having a tan was suddenly in vogue or fashionable and since then many women have aspired to have brown skin. Now we're going to hear from a lady called Ilda De Vico. She mentions a sun lounger – this is a type of long chair which people lie down on to sunbathe. Have a listen…does she like tanning or does she prefer to stay pale? Extract 1 When we go on holiday, I do not move from my sun lounger and all I do is turn while my husband bastes me so I can get the maximum amount of sun I can, to get as brown as I can, to relax and do absolutely nothing. Rebecca: Wow – she sounds like a professional sun worshipper (this is when someone likes sunbathing very much). She said her husband 'bastes' her – a very strange choice of word as baste means to grease a piece of meat while it is cooking. Kate: Hmm…..Have another listen – see if you can hear exactly what her views are on being brown. She mentions 'fake tan' – what's this? Rebecca: Fake tan refers to a type of body cream which essentially dyes your skin brown. Extract 2 Everyone thinks they look better brown. You see everyone out there and it's either their makeup, their foundation, the fake tan. You see the celebs on TV, they're all sprayed up. Being tanned is pop