环球英语 — 196:The Zimbabwean Food Machine
时间:2019-02-21 作者:英语课 分类:环球英语 Spotlight
- 1 环球英语 — 196:The Zimbabwean Food Machine
Voice 1
Hello. I’m Ruby 1 Jones.
Voice 2
And I’m Marina Santee. Welcome to Spotlight 2. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
Maiba presses a cool cloth to her hot head. It is a warm day for cooking! But she has much to do. She fills a large, deep pan 3 with water. Then, she puts it over the heat to boil. Next, she takes some corn meal. Corn meal is finely crushed 4 corn. She mixes it with cold water. Her strong arm moves very fast. It is hard work. The mixture starts to become thicker. Next, Maiba adds the mixture to the container of boiling water. She continues to mix it. This is important. She wants a smooth mixture! And she does not want it to stick to the pan. Slowly she adds more corn meal. This mixture becomes very thick now. She moves it to the centre of the pan, in a large ball. It is ready! She serves it on a plate for her hungry family to share. Today, she serves it with vegetables. Maiba has made sadza. As with many families in Zimbabwe, sadza is their main supply of energy food.
Voice 2
Maiba makes good sadza. But it is not an easy job. And she is only making enough for her family! Imagine if she had to feed a room full of people! More than twenty [20] litres 5 of sadza is very hard to control. It does not matter how skillful 6 the person cooking is. It is very difficult to mix the thick substance 7. And it is hard to get the measures right. Usually more than one person needs to help. They need patience, time, and strong arms!
Voice 1
However, some people are making sadza without much effort at all! They do not need much time, effort or skill! Yet the sadza is close to perfect! What is their secret? A sadza making machine - the Gwatamatic!
Voice 2
The Gwatamatic machine is easy to use. You put the right amount of water into the machine. Then, you fill another part of the machine with corn meal - adding more than you need. You set the controls of the machine. You tell it how thick you want the sadza to be. Then, the machine does the rest! It feeds the corn meal into the water. It comes through a heated tube 8. When the mixture is the right thickness, the machine stops the feed of corn. The machine operates as a closed system. So, it uses less energy because it traps 9 the steam. And a closed system also means 10 there is less chance of bacteria 11 spreading. In thirty [30] minutes, the machine can make enough sadza to feed five hundred [500] people! The Gwatamatic machine is an amazing invention. Spotlight met the machine’s inventor - William Gwata.
Voice 1
William Gwata is an expert in his field of science - biochemistry 12. He got the idea for the Gwatamatic machine from working in a chemistry laboratory 13. Doctors send blood to this laboratory. Scientists in the laboratory test the blood for sickness and disease 14. The inside of the laboratory is a little like a factory. Scientists busily mix different chemicals to test the blood. They heat chemicals, and they cool them. William said, ‘It is just like being in a cooking room - a kitchen!’
Voice 2
Later, William went to another blood testing laboratory. But this one was a public health laboratory. And the system worked very differently. There was no need for as many workers. Instead, there were machines! This was a better method. It saved time and human effort. People will always produce results that are a little different. They are not machines! But a machine does not make human mistakes! It produces exactly the same results each time. William thought this method was excellent! And then, he had an idea! The chemistry laboratory had made him think of a kitchen. He also thought of the struggles people had in making sadza. Machines could make sadza! They would save time and effort. And machines would prevent human mistakes.
Voice 1
William knew that he had a good idea. But he also knew that he was not yet ready to create the machine. He needed to study more before he could make his idea work. He said,
Voice 3
‘I needed to do a lot of work to make this idea into a business. I needed financial management. Most new business people fail in this area. So I went and joined a firm.’
Voice 2
At the firm, William worked hard to gain the business skills he needed. He was patient. He knew the time would come to make his Gwatamatic Machine. William knew it was not going to be easy. No one had ever built such a machine before. Also there were the struggles of everyday life in his country of Zimbabwe. And, as with any new idea, there were always people ready to tell him he would fail! So were there times when he felt like giving up?
Voice 3
‘There are always times when you think it will not work. This is especially true when you meet people who are negative. You doubt. And you question if you are wasting your time. But then, I said, “what is the worst that can happen? I fail.” If I do not do anything then I will fail anyway.’
Voice 1
So how did William stay encouraged in the difficult times? How did he continue believing that he would not fail? He says his faith made him strong:
Voice 3
‘I centre on the Lord 15 Jesus Christ 16, when you know HE is in charge, you know, no problem is greater than him. This knowledge keeps me going - without it I would have given up. God intervened 17 at the times when I did not expect it - and he saved the day!’
Voice 1
So what advice does William have for hopeful 18 business men and women?
Voice 3
‘You need persistence 19. Everyone gets good ideas, the difference is persistence.’
Voice 2
Persistence is the ability to keep trying and not give up! This is one thing William Gwata surely 20 has. And the other quality he has is patience! William knew he had a good idea and a good plan. But he waited until the time was right. He waited until he had completed his training. He prepared well first! In fact he waited ten years before he began to make the machine! And it was worth the wait!
- She is wearing a small ruby earring.她戴着一枚红宝石小耳环。
- On the handle of his sword sat the biggest ruby in the world.他的剑柄上镶有一颗世上最大的红宝石。
- This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
- The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。
- The water had all boiled away and the pan was burned.水煮干了,锅也烧坏了。
- The eggs were frying in the pan.鸡蛋正在锅里煎。
- The car was completely crushed under the truck. 小轿车被卡车压得完全变形了。
- The box was crushed when the car ran over it. 汽车辗过箱子时把它给压碎了。
- 3 litres of water 3升水
- The barrel would hold 100 litres. 这桶能装一百升。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
- Soon they became very skillful in answering such questions.很快他们就会很熟练地回答这种问题了。
- It was very skillful of you to repair my bicycle.你修好了我的自行车,技术真好。
- There isn't anything of real substance in her book.她的书中没有任何真正实质性的内容。
- How long will the substance take to salt out?这种物质需要多长时间来盐析?
- You may get to the railway station by tube.你可以乘地铁到火车站。
- Take care not to break the test tube!当心别把试管打碎了!
- The stock market is full of traps for the unwary. 对无风险意识的人而言,股票市场充满了陷阱。
- No. Not in regular government pay and employment, to lay traps? 没有这种想法。不是受雇于政府、接受正规津贴、陷害他人么? 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
- That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
- We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。
- Bacteria are invisible to the naked eye.细菌是肉眼看不见的。
- The biology of bacteria can be quite hard to understand.细菌生物学有时会很难理解。
- Her specialty is biochemistry.她的专业是生物化学。
- I plan to take biochemistry this semester.这学期我准备选修生物化学。
- She has donated money to establish a laboratory.她捐款成立了一个实验室。
- Our laboratory equipment isn't perfect,but we must make do.实验室设备是不够理想,但我们只好因陋就简。
- The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
- He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。
- I know the Lord will look after him.我知道上帝会眷顾他的。
- How good of the Lord not to level it beyond repair!上帝多么仁慈啊,竟没有让这所房子损毁得不可收拾!
- I regarded him as the Christ.我把他当作救世主。
- Christ preached that we should love each other.基督在布道中说人们应该互爱。
- The President intervened personally in the crisis. 总统亲自出面处理这场危机。
- We enjoyed the picnic until a thunderstorm intervened. 那次野餐我们玩得很痛快,后来一场暴风雨使它中断了。
- This is a hopeful news.这是个鼓舞人心的消息。
- We are hopeful about the future.我们对未来抱乐观态度。
- The persistence of a cough in his daughter puzzled him.他女儿持续的咳嗽把他难住了。
- He achieved success through dogged persistence.他靠着坚持不懈取得了成功。