英语听力—环球英语 1070 Reading Electronic Books
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 Ryan Geertsma.
Voice 2
And I'm Liz Waid. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 3
"The storyteller stands next to the fire dancing, acting 2, singing and repeating a story...Listening to him is a crowd of men, women, and children...In a mountain rainforest of the Congo, a village hears again the story of its favourite hero – Mwindo, the one born walking, the one born talking..."
Voice 1
These words introduce a story called "The Magic Flyswatter." The story is about a young boy who is a superhero. He has powers most humans do not have. "The Magic Flyswatter" is one of many stories told in Congolese culture. And today, it is helping 3 people learn to read. An organization named Worldreader is using stories like "The Magic Flyswatter" to encourage reading. However, they are not using printed paper books. Instead, they are using new electronic 4 books.
Voice 2
Reading is a powerful 5 skill. It can help people learn a lot of new information - information that can change their lives. For many years, organizations like "Books for Africa," and "Better World Books," have provided 6 books for communities in need. These organizations serve communities that have low reading rates or few books. They ship books to these communities, using donated 7 money.
Voice 1
This model has worked. Recently, however, a few organizations have attempted to use a new model. They are using a new technology called electronic readers. Electronic readers, or e-readers, are small computers designed just for reading.
Voice 2
Using e-readers has many benefits 9. For example, it costs a lot of money to send books internationally. E-readers cost money to buy, but they do no cost a lot of money to send. And when a community or a family has an e-reader, there are many free or low-cost electronic books they can read.
Voice 1
For a village with few books, e-readers can offer many more literature choices. Normally 10, paper books are sent in large boxes to villages. A village does not choose the particular books they receive, so these books may not interest them. With an e-reader, people can choose from over 700,000 electronic books or e-books. So they can find the books that interest them.
Voice 2
A popular e-reader, known 11 as the Kindle 12, also includes a dictionary. This means 13 if people read a word they do not understand, they can look for the meaning of the word. The organization Worldreader is one organization that uses e-readers. It recently completed an e-reader test project in the country of Ghana. The students involved in the test had previous experience using mobile 14 phones, but they had never used computers. Many students reported the e-readers were easy to use.
Voice 1
Another benefit 8 of e-readers is their mobility 15. People can put books on their e-readers and carry them around anywhere. An e-reader with ten e-books is still a light weight – much lighter 16 than carrying around ten paper books. So, students learning 17 to read can take their e-books anywhere. Books are also easy to organize on e-readers.
Voice 2
However, all of the exciting advantages of e-readers and e-books present problems as well. For example, e-readers like the Kindle were not created to help people learn to read. Instead, they were created as a way to read without using paper books. Many e-books are for advanced readers – they use words that would not be understood by people learning how to read. And, the dictionary on the Kindle can be difficult to understand for basic learners.
Voice 1
Worldreader also found another problem during their test project in Ghana. Many students did not understand the cultures they read about in the e-books. This is because most of the books are from Western writers, and about Western culture.
Voice 2
E-readers have technical problems as well. For example, people must be able to use the Internet to choose e-books. But the Internet is not available everywhere. Even in areas that have the Internet, it is not always working. E-readers also require electricity. But many of the communities that lack books also lack electricity.
Voice 1
But Worldreader is looking for solutions to these problems. With the companies that make e-readers, they want to create an e-reader just for people learning to read. In fact, they have already found solutions to many of the problems.
Voice 2
One example is electricity. E-readers may require electricity, but they do not require a lot of it. This is because they are smaller than computers and are only used for reading. For example, a one hour charge can last for two weeks! Even in very small villages, services already exist for charging mobile phones. These services could also charge e-books.
Voice 1
Another example has to do with Internet service. E-readers like the Kindle can use the Internet with mobile phone technology. This means people can search for books and put those books on their Kindle e-reader without using a traditional Internet connection.
Voice 2
Organizations like Worldreader are also trying to increase the number of e-books written in different languages and by authors from different cultures. The story from the beginning of this program was called "The Magic Flyswatter." This story was used by Worldreader in their Ghana test project. Although this is a Congolese story, it was written by an Australian named Aaron Shepard.
Voice 1
Worldreader wants to help writers from every culture to have their books offered on e-readers. Already, people can purchase books by African writers, such as, "My Brother the Footballer," by Diana McBagonluri and "The Storyteller," by Nana Ama Afoa Osae. They can also find "White Tiger," by Indian writer Aravind Adiga, "Gate of the Sun," by Lebanese writer Elias Khoury and many more.
Voice 2
People are always creating and discovering new ways to help people learn to read. Organizations like Worldreader believe e-books and e-readers are the new best way to help people learn about the power of reading. David Risher is one of the people who created Worldreader. He told the Wall Street Journal 18 newspaper,
Voice 4
"It is important that people understand that this program is not just for education. It is something that can be used for fun. The long term goal is that technology will help create a reading culture in parts of the world where that has not been possible before."
Voice 1
Do you think e-reader technology can change a community's culture of reading? Do you believe it can encourage people to read more? Tell us what you think. You can e-mail us at radio@english.net, or leave a comment on our website.
Voice 2 The writer of this program was Corrie Haluga. The producer was Mark Drenth. The voices you heard were from the United 19 States and the United Kingdom. All quotes 20 were adapted and voiced by Spotlight. You can find this program and others on our website at http://www.Radio.English.net This .program is called "Reading Electronic Books." 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。
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的
- Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她,她只是假装的。
- During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代,她的表演生涯黯然失色。
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
- The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
- By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
adj.电子的;n.[-s]电子学,电子设备
- It is an electronic device with many uses.这是一部具有多种用途的电子仪器。
- Father needs a new electronic shaver.爸爸需要一个新的电子剃须刀。
adj.有力的,有权力的,强大的
- The UN began to get more and more powerful.联合国开始变得越来越强大了。
- Such are the most powerful voices of our times!这些就是我们时代的最有力的声音!
conj.假如,若是;adj.预备好的,由...供给的
- Provided it's fine we will have a pleasant holiday.如果天气良好,我们的假日将过得非常愉快。
- I will come provided that it's not raining tomorrow.如果明天不下雨,我就来。
v.(尤指向慈善机构)捐赠( donate的过去式和过去分词 );献(血);捐(血);捐献(器官)
- The money was donated by a local businessman who wishes to remain anonymous . 这笔款子是当地一位不愿透露姓名的企业家捐赠的。
- He donated thousands of pounds to charity. 他向慈善事业捐款数千英镑。
n.好处,益处,福利;vt.有益于,对…有益;vi.受益于
- The money is to be used for the benefit of the poor.这笔钱用来为穷人谋福利。
- He thought he would benefit from going to school.他认为上学对他有好处。
n.津贴费;利益( benefit的名词复数 );(给职工的)奖金;救济金;益处
- economic benefits accruing to the country from tourism 旅游业为该国带来的经济效益
- The article enthused about the benefits that the new system would bring. 本文热情赞扬了新制度将带来的好处。
adv.正常地,通常地
- I normally do all my shopping on Saturdays.我通常在星期六买东西。
- My pulse beats normally.我脉搏正常。
adj.大家知道的;知名的,已知的
- He is a known artist.他是一个知名的艺术家。
- He is known both as a painter and as a statesman.他是知名的画家及政治家。
v.点燃,着火
- This wood is too wet to kindle.这木柴太湿点不着。
- A small spark was enough to kindle Lily's imagination.一星光花足以点燃莉丽的全部想象力。
n.方法,手段,折中点,物质财富
- 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。
adj.可移动的,易变的,机动的;n.运动物体
- The old lady sits on a mobile chair every morning.那位老妇人每天上午坐在一把可携带使用的椅子上。
- She's much more mobile now that she's bought a car.自从她买了汽车后,活动量就大多了。
n.可动性,变动性,情感不定
- The difference in regional house prices acts as an obstacle to mobility of labour.不同地区房价的差异阻碍了劳动力的流动。
- Mobility is very important in guerrilla warfare.机动性在游击战中至关重要。
n.打火机,点火器;驳船;v.用驳船运送;light的比较级
- The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色,色调明朗了一些。
- The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。
n.学问,学识,学习;动词learn的现在分词
- When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时,常会从车上掉下来。
- Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。
n.日志,日记;议事录;日记帐;杂志,定期刊物
- He kept a journal during his visit to Japan.他在访问日本期间坚持记日记。
- He got a job as editor of a trade journal.他找到了一份当商业杂志编辑的工作。
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。