英语听力—环球英语 897 The Simple Way

　　Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight¹. 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 1
Old factories stand in lines along empty streets. No one is using them. They look ruined and dirty. There are also empty houses. No one is taking care of them. The people who live in this area are very poor. Some live in the houses. But other people in the area do not even have a house to live in. They are homeless. This is Kensington – an area in the city of Philadelphia in the United² States.
Voice 2
There is a hopeful³ place in the middle of Kensington. It is a community center. It provides help for people in this area. Today, there is a clothes exchange at the community center. Some people brought clothes to give away. Other people came to get clothes. They paid one dollar. Then they filled a large container with clothes for their families.
Voice 1
A group called The Simple Way organized this clothes exchange day. These are the same people who manage the community centre. But these people were not born in Kensington. They choose to live there - even though this area is very poor. Many people do not understand why someone would choose to live in poverty⁴. Today’s Spotlight is on the Simple Way community.
Voice 3
“I wanted what my culture taught me to want. I wanted to get a job where I could make the most money... I had a lot of ideas but I did not have many relationships.”
Voice 2
These are the words of Shane Claiborne. He is talking about his life as a young man. But now his life is different. He is the leader of The Simple Way. He wears simple brown clothes that he made for himself. He has long hair past his shoulders. He talks to many people at universities and churches. Shane speaks with great energy. During a speech at Biola University, he explains how his life changed:
Voice 3
“I was a college student in 1995. I lived outside the city. There were hundreds of empty houses in Philadelphia. Yet, people were waiting a long time to get a house. There was a group of poor and homeless families in Kensington. They were mostly children and mothers. These families decided⁵ to show the struggle of homeless families. So they found an empty building to live in. It was an old, empty church. At our college, we saw this story in the newspaper. But the newspaper said the families were told to move out. The city wanted to remove the families from the building. But the families did not have anywhere else to live. So we went to the church. We found those families. We entered into their struggle. It was the first step for a student movement.”
Voice 1
Shane and his friends could not just watch other people suffer. At this time they were reading the book of Acts together. In this part of the Christian⁶ Bible⁷, they read about another group of Christians⁸:
Voice 4
“All the believers were together. They shared everything they had. They sold what they owned. They gave each other everything they needed.”
Voice 2
Shane listened to these words very closely⁹. He decided to move to the poorest part of Philadelphia. Five of his friends also moved with him. Some of them had jobs, and others did not. They shared a house. They shared all their money. This is not common in North America.
Voice 1
Today the members of The Simple Way still live like this. They do not dream of being rich or powerful¹⁰. They have a different dream. They want to follow the words of Jesus. Shane believes the world is broken. It is full of problems. So there is one main question that he thinks all people should ask:
Voice 3
“How can my skills and resources¹¹ meet the needs of the world we live in?”
Voice 2
Shane tries to improve the world by working in the poor area of Kensington. He also helps by sharing his story. In his speech at Biola University, Shane explained:
Voice 3
“We no longer try to gain more money and more things. We try to see how we can live with LESS. We use our resources and skills to help meet the needs of other people. It is an economy¹² based on loving the people around us as much as we love ourselves. This means¹³ another person’s suffering is my suffering.”
Voice 1
The main aim of The Simple Way is to share in the suffering of people living in poverty. They are friends with people who are homeless. They fixed¹⁴ some old houses to be their home and community center. They invite people to their home and share food. They organize events such as giving away many clothes for only one dollar. They made a grassy¹⁵ area in an empty lot. It is now a natural, green space for the community.
Voice 2
The work of The Simple Way is not always easy. In 2007 there was a huge fire in their area. It started in an empty factory building. The fire destroyed many homes. About one hundred MORE families were now homeless. It also burned down the Simple way house and community center. But even in this difficult time, there was something good. Shane told Dilworthtown Community church:
Voice 3
“No one was hurt in the fire. And our whole community came together. The aid organization The Red Cross set up a shelter¹⁶. But they said the strangest thing happened. Almost one hundred families had nowhere to sleep. Their houses had burned down. But no one stayed in the shelter! Everyone in the community opened up their homes to each other. I am really proud of our community.”
Voice 1
The Simple Way is not the only community of people choosing to be poor. There are groups of people around the world who live this way. But Shane and his friends know that not everyone wants to choose poverty. He says that each person has a different way to live. He wrote a book about his life. In it he explains:
Voice 3
“So not everyone acts in the same way, but we must act. We listen to the voice of God and the voices of people who are suffering. We need clear minds that are free to dream again.”
 

1 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• 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。

2 united   

adj.和谐的；团结的；联合的，统一的

参考例句：

• 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。

3 hopeful   

adj.有希望的，怀抱希望的，保持乐观的；n.有希望之人，有前途之人

参考例句：

• 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。

4 poverty   

n.贫穷， 贫困， 贫乏， 缺少

参考例句：

• 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。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

7 bible   

n.《圣经》；得到权威支持的典籍

参考例句：

• According to the Bible we are all the seed of Adam.根据《圣经》所说的，我们都是亚当的后裔。
• This dictionary should be your Bible when studying English.学习英语时，这本字典应是你的主要参考书。

8 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

9 closely   

adv.紧密地；严密地，密切地

参考例句：

• 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。

10 powerful   

adj.有力的，有权力的，强大的

参考例句：

• 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！

11 resources   

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

参考例句：

• 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

12 economy   

n.经济；节俭；秩序；机体

参考例句：

• We must do our best to develop the national economy.我们必须努力发展国民经济。
• The country's economy is not very healthy.国家的经济不很景气。

13 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• 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。

14 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

15 grassy   

adj.盖满草的；长满草的

参考例句：

• They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
• Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。

16 shelter   

n.掩蔽，掩蔽处，避身处；庇护所，避难所，庇护；vt.庇护，保护，隐匿；vi.躲避

参考例句：

• We took shelter from the rain in a cave.我们在一个山洞里避雨。
• Trees are a shelter from the sun.树木可以遮挡阳光。