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地球公民请注意，西方民主存在新的威胁。在短期内，它正在影响美国的年轻一代。从长远来看，后果很严重。
测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
overbearing [ˌəʊvəˈbeərɪŋ] adj.霸道
snuggles [ˈsnʌɡlz] v.挨近，依偎
bemused [bɪˈmjuːzd] adj.困惑的
appalled [əˈpɔːld] adj.震惊
wannabes [ˈwɒnəˌbiːz] n.崇拜者
cameo [ˈkæmiəʊ] n.宝石
阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。
Beware, citizens of Earth, for there is a new menace to western democracy. In the short term it is affecting future generations in the US. In the long term, who knows where it could lead?
Set aside the news this week from political action group Hope Not Hate that Britain dominates their international list of far-right influencers. Focus instead on the true threat posed by the UK to global security: the British TV cartoon Peppa Pig — and its official YouTube channel, with 7.3m subscribers — is making American children speak with British accents.
Parents have been reporting on social media that Peppa Pig, an animated TV series that features the adventures of a happy-go-lucky pig and her overbearing parents, Daddy Pig and Mummy Pig, is influencing their pre-schoolers’ language development. Regular American kids who once said “Mommy” and asked for hugs and cookies now insist on asking “Mummy” for “snuggles” and “biscuits”. There is, it seems, more than one way to revive the British empire.
The reaction of parents on social media has been both bemused and appalled. Film critic Clayton Davis complained on Twitter that his toddler son had said to him in the most British way possible: “Daddy, I want to sit on your lap and use the computer.” California-based literary agent Jen Rofe tweeted: “I’d like to thank Peppa Pig for the slight yet adorable British accent my toddler is acquiring.” And Minnesotan mother of three Jess Steinbrenner reported: “The most entertaining aspect of my life right now is that my toddler has been watching Peppa Pig and now speaks with a British accent.”
The accent these tiny Brit wannabes are mimicking belong to a revolving cast of British voice talent. The series features Morwenna Banks (the voice of Mummy Pig) with occasional contributions from Alexander Armstrong, Andy Hamilton and the finest British voice of empire, Brian Blessed (the ultimate Grampy Rabbit).
This phenomenon may seem odd for a British cartoon with a fraction of the name recognition of Disney’s famous mouse. But Peppa Pig’s numbers help to explain. The series was devised in the late 1990s by British production company Astley Baker Davies and first aired in 2004, on Channel 5 and Nick Jr.
Since then it has sold in more than 180 territories, has spawned Peppa Pig World in Hampshire and is hugely popular in China, where two theme parks are set to open this year. This being the Year of the Pig, a movie entitled Peppa Pig Celebrates Chinese New Year recently opened to great fanfare. The five-minute trailer for the movie went viral on social media, scoring more than 1bn views, and was shared by state media outlets.
Most significantly, Peppa Pig has a massive global following in English on YouTube, where sticky-fingered toddlers who can use an iPad get their fix from thousands of hours of content in perfect Received Pronunciation, refreshed weekly. The latest episode, “Peppa Pig’s Sleepover”, is two hours long, focuses on a rabbit in love with a carrot and features a rare cameo from the little-seen Zebra family.
Peppa Pig’s reach has mushroomed since 2015 when the Canadian media groupEntertainment One acquired a 70 per cent stake in the series, worth $212m. Giles Willits, Entertainment One’s chief financial officer, announced that Peppa Pig sales were set to reach $2bn in three to five years.
Have we reached Peak Peppa? Or is this just the start? It’s heartening to think that as Britain’s reputation on the international stage plummets, at least every child on the planet with access to YouTube can grow up speaking with a British accent.
I mean, who doesn’t want their kid to grow up talking like Brian Blessed? Altogether now, as loud as you can: “Mummy Pig, please may I have a biscuit?”
The writer is author of ‘How to Own the Room: Women and the Art of Brilliant Speaking’
请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：
A.Physical health
B.Language development
C.World view
答案 (1)
A.Hysterical and irrational
B.Bemused and appalled
C.Indifferent and calm
答案 (2)
A.Amused and supportive
B.Alarmed
C.Sarcastic
答案 (3)
(1) 答案：B. Language development解释：The reaction of parents on social media has been both bemused and appalled.
(2) 答案：B. Bemused and appalled解释：The reaction of parents on social media has been both bemused and appalled.
(3) 答案：A. Amused and supportive解释：I mean, who doesn’t want their kid to grow up talking like Brian Blessed? Altogether now, as loud as you can: “Mummy Pig, please may I have a biscuit?”