15篇文章贯通六级词汇Unit10-Part2

[00:00.00]Sitting in this old church in China

[00:04.03]led me to contemplate 1

[00:05.46]about the lives of men and their spouses 2

[00:07.86]who lived decades ago,

[00:09.73]when they traveled to this distant land

[00:12.24]in the Eastern Hemisphere.

[00:14.21]Many of these Christian 3 ministers and laymen 4

[00:17.78]left their comfortable churches,

[00:19.97]even cathedrals to preach their ideology 5 to foreigners.

[00:24.34]They established small chapels 6

[00:26.86]where people could join in Christian fellowship

[00:29.49]and where some Chinese people

[00:31.46]accepted conversion 7 to a new faith.

[00:34.74]They came to a land

[00:37.03]where the predominate faith was Buddhism 8.

[00:39.22]Even though their words were eloquent 9

[00:42.84]the message at times

[00:44.47]must have seemed formidable and gloomy.

[00:47.10]Even the foreigners'clothing styles

[00:50.27]would have appeared queer.

[00:52.24]During this colonial time period

[00:56.51]missionaries 10 emigrated to all areas of China,

[00:59.35]visiting small villages, distributing Bibles,

[01:03.40]offering divine salvation 11

[01:05.26]and preaching the word of God.

[01:07.67]A unanimous decision was made

[01:10.73]by many faiths to attempt

[01:12.92]to enrich the lives of others

[01:14.67]and to present the eloquent message of Christianity.

[01:18.50]Some missionaries worked in the medical field

[01:22.22]as doctors, surgeons, nurses and dentists.

[01:26.16]Agriculture specialists helped the farmers

[01:29.77]elevate their crop performance

[01:31.62]to provide better nutrition for the people.

[01:34.91]Finally there were teachers

[01:37.97]who ran the mission schools.

[01:40.16]All had to be very versatile 12 at their work.

[01:44.10]These people proved to be an inspiration

[01:47.27]for others to follow in their footsteps.

[01:50.55]Earnings from all these areas

[01:53.95]would go back into further mission work

[01:56.24]to fulfill 13 their mandate 14.

[01:58.54]In retrospect 15, my fascination 16 with this historical era

[02:04.45]may have been kindled 17 in childhood.

[02:07.40]While visiting my grandparent's home

[02:10.55]every Thanksgiving, I was allowed to examine

[02:13.95]the fascinating ornaments 18 from the Orient.

[02:17.22]There were delicate elephant sculptures

[02:20.40]carved from ivory, lacy sandalwood fans

[02:23.79]and an imposing 19 brass 20 Buddha 21.

[02:26.08]Best of all, I was allowed

[02:29.33]to don an exquisite 22 silk embroidered 23 jacket

[02:32.07]and play with a blue and tan parasol

[02:35.24]which was adorned 24 with

[02:37.21]sprays of plum blossoms and tiny buds.

[02:40.16]It was then I was introduced

[02:43.23]to an exotic new world.

[02:45.41]Maybe this too,

[02:48.00]is partly what lured 25 me to this country.

[02:50.85]Under a new regime in China,

[02:53.91]government statesmen questioned

[02:56.65]what justification 26 these foreign ministers

[02:59.38]had in their country.

[03:00.69]Subsequently, the morality of the instruction was questioned.

[03:06.55]The pendulum 27 swung the other way

[03:08.52]and church people would no longer be welcome

[03:10.93]to impart their message.

[03:12.79]A plea to reconsider the decision was unsuccessful.

[03:17.49]Diplomats also would be required to leave the country.

[03:21.65]It would be a long time

[03:23.62]before visas would be issued to foreign people,

[03:26.68]to again live in China.

[03:29.09]And so here I am!

[03:31.93]The clearance 28 for my visitor's visa

[03:34.67]had been administered swiftly.

[03:36.64]My surroundings aroused in me a sense of heritage.

[03:40.79]Today, sitting here pondering,

[03:43.96]allowed me to be a participant

[03:46.70]rather than just a spectator

[03:48.67]in a new chapter of China's history.