英语听力—环球英语 1040 Rich Ideas
时间:2019-03-04 作者:英语课 分类:环球英语 Spotlight
英语课
Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight 1. I’m Marina Santee.
Voice 2
And I’m Mike Procter. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand - no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
A young woman runs through city streets. She runs for exercise, to stay healthy. She is about to have an amazing experience. The woman’s name is Jaqueline Novogratz. She is from the United 2 States. But she is in Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda.
Voice 2
Suddenly, Jaqueline stops. She sees a small boy. He is wearing a blue shirt. But this is not just any blue shirt. She recognizes the design. When she was a child, she had owned a shirt like it. But she had given it away many years before. Jaqueline runs to the boy, and looks more closely 4 at the shirt. It is the same shirt she had given away, in the United States.
Voice 1
Today’s Spotlight is on Jaqueline, and her organization, the Acumen 5 Fund 6. The blue shirt became an example for her. When she gave it away, she did not know where it would go. Now, she was connected to the boy through the blue shirt. But she was not just connected to the boy. She felt that all people are connected. And Jacqueline wanted to help other people see this connection. She believed that these connections could make a big difference to all people.
Jacqueline explains on the Acumen Fund website:
Voice 3
“I dream of a world where every human being can get the goods and services they need: health, water, homes and energy. This way they can add greater purpose to their lives.
“Imagine a life where you cannot pay the school costs required for an education for your children. Then a child gets sick or bad weather destroys your home. We need to find ways to get services at low cost so people are not always in those bad situations.”
Voice 2
Jacqueline wanted to connect rich people and poor people. She wanted to connect business people and their communities. And this is why she began the Acumen Fund. The Acumen Fund invests 8 in people who have good ideas to improve their own poor communities. They give loans 9 and other support to businesses. This method of support does not see poor people as victims 10 without hope. Instead, it sees poor people as business people of the future.
Voice 1
Jacqueline fears that people lose honour when they just receive aid. Receiving aid can also stop people from using their own skills to solve problems. They begin to depend on the people who give the aid. This is why the Acumen Fund looks for good business people, who want to improve their communities. And this is why the fund gives loans, as well as other kinds of support. She says:
Voice 3
“What makes the Acumen Fund different is that we find solutions. These solutions remove those barriers 11 from individual families. Then they have a better chance of solving their own problems.”
“We invest 7 in some of the best experiments in the world. When we find those things that work we have a model. We can share that model with the rest of the world.”
Voice 2
One example of this is in Tanzania, in East Africa. The Acumen Fund invests in a company called A to Z. A to Z employs more workers than almost any other business in that country. They produce fine cloth shelters 12. A person sleeps under this fine cloth. The cloth keeps insects away while the person sleeps. This has prevented many, many people from catching 13 the disease 14 malaria 15.
Voice 1
Another example of the Acumen Fund’s work is in the Indian state of Bihar. The population of Bihar is huge but the people are some of the poorest in India. And they have a particular problem as a result. Sasha Dichter works 16 for the Acumen Fund. In a talk to the organization TED 3, he explained:
Voice 4
“Ninety percent of the people in Bihar do have not electricity. They use oil, called kerosene 17. When kerosene is your only kind of light, you will probably be burned. Also, you will use it as little as possible. Worse, the smoke from the kerosene, and from stoves kills people. More than a million people die each year from breathing smoke in their homes. Also, they are spending ten to fifteen percent of their pay to buy these dirty fuels.”
“When we see a problem like that we do not try to solve it. Instead, we look for a person who can.”
Voice 1
The Acumen Fund found such a person. His name is Gyanesh Pundey. Gyanesh was raised in Bihar but he worked in America as an engineer. He could not stop thinking about the kerosene problem in Bihar.
Voice 2
His answer was rice. Farmers in the area grow a lot of rice. Gyanesh discovered that he could make electricity from the rice plants. With a friend, he developed a new business, using money from the Acumen Fund. Now, many villagers use the waste from rice plants as fuel. Using generator 18 machines, the waste produces low-cost electricity in many villages. Raghunath Prasad Chauhan is a farmer with four children. He explained to the Acumen Fund:
Voice 5
“It was dark. And because of that there were so many problems. People stole. And snakes and dogs would bite. My children could not study at night. Since the electricity came, my children can study at night. It is also good for business.
“I used to live in the dark. Now I live in a world full of light. It makes me feel happy from the bottom of my heart.”
Voice 2
These are just two of the many business ideas the Acumen Fund supports in Africa, India and Pakistan. Their projects include clean water projects, toilets, health care, and many more areas. And it all began with a little girl giving away her blue shirt. Now Jacqueline Novogratz uses her story to encourage big businesses and young people with money to invest in poor people with good ideas.
We leave the final words to Jacqueline Novogratz:
Voice 3
“In many ways this is the most exciting time in history. We have the tools, the resources 19, the skills and the ideas to solve the big problems of poverty 20. But it will take all of us, every one of us, to make that happen.”
Voice 1
The writer of this program was Alan Harris. The producer was Nick Mangeolles. The voices you heard were from the United Kingdom and the United States. All quotes 21 were adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight. You can listen to this program again, and read it, on the internet at http://www.radioenglish.net This .program is called, ‘Rich Ideas’.
Voice 2
You can also leave your comments on our website. Or you can email us at radio@radioenglish.net. You can also find us on Facebook - just search for spotlightradio. We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye.
n.公众注意的中心,聚光灯,探照灯,视听,注意,醒目
- 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。
adj.和谐的;团结的;联合的,统一的
- The whole nation is closely united.全国人民紧密团结。
- The two men were united by community of interests.共同的利益使两个人结合在一起。
vt.翻晒,撒,撒开
- The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
- She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。
adv.紧密地;严密地,密切地
- We shall follow closely the development of the situation.我们将密切注意形势的发展。
- The two companies are closely tied up with each other.这两家公司之间有密切联系。
n.敏锐,聪明
- She has considerable business acumen.她的经营能力绝非一般。
- His business acumen has made his very successful.他的商业头脑使他很成功。
n.基金,资金,存款,财源,贮藏;vt.提供资金,积累
- They decided to set up a fund for this purpose.他们决定为此专立一项基金。
- This fund may not be drawn on without permission.这笔钱非经批准不得动用。
v.投资;投入(时间等);授予,赋予
- I have decided to invest in a new car.我已经决定买一辆新汽车。
- The best time to invest is now.现在是投资的最佳时机。
投资,花费( invest的第三人称单数 ); 授予; (把资金)投入; 投入(时间、精力等)
- Fog invests the city. 大雾笼罩城市。
- Why is the man who invests all your a broker? 为什么帮你管理所有投资的人叫做“不名一文的人”?
n.借出物,借款( loan的名词复数 )v.借出,贷与(尤指钱)( loan的第三人称单数 );出借(贵重物品给博物馆等)
- They are offering loans at extortionate rates of interest. 他们在放高利贷。
- Government loans have been the salvation of several shaky business companies. 政府的贷款救活了几家濒临倒闭的公司。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
n.牺牲者( victim的名词复数 );牺牲品;受骗者;为祭祀杀死的动物(或人)
- Many charities sent money to help the victims of the famine. 许多慈善机构捐款赈济饥民。
- victims of child abuse 受虐待的儿童
n.障碍( barrier的名词复数 );屏障;栅栏;分界线
- The crowd had to stand behind barriers. 人群只好站在障碍物后面。
- the dissolution of barriers of class and race 阶级和种族隔阂的消除
n.居所( shelter的名词复数 );避难所;(无家可归者或受虐待者的)收容所;遮蔽
- During the blitz we spent the night in underground shelters. 空袭期间,我们在防空洞过夜。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- The wall shelters the garden from the north wind. 围墙给园子挡住了北风。 来自辞典例句
adj.易传染的,有魅力的,迷人的,接住
- There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
- Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。
n.疾病,弊端
- 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。
n.疟疾
- He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
- Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。
n.作品,著作;工厂,活动部件,机件
- We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
- The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。
n.(kerosine)煤油,火油
- It is like putting out a fire with kerosene.这就像用煤油灭火。
- Instead of electricity,there were kerosene lanterns.没有电,有煤油灯。
n.发电机,发生器
- All the while the giant generator poured out its power.巨大的发电机一刻不停地发出电力。
- This is an alternating current generator.这是一台交流发电机。
n.勇气;才智;谋略;有助于实现目标的东西;资源( resource的名词复数 );[复数]物力;办法;来源
- The world's resources are rapidly diminishing. 世界资源正在迅速减少。
- a policy to equalize the distribution of resources throughout the country 使资源在全国分布均衡的政策
n.贫穷, 贫困, 贫乏, 缺少
- We must continue to war against poverty and disease.我们一定要继续同贫穷和疾病作斗争。
- He showed his poverty in his knowledge of agriculture.他表现出缺乏对农业知识的了解。