英语听力—环球英语 994 Listener Mail 121

 　　Voice 1

 

　　Welcome to Spotlight¹’s Listener Mail program. 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.

 

　　In today’s program we share your thoughts and opinions about recent Spotlight programs. Join us as we talk about choosing a name, finding² an ancient city, and a very old man who goes to school for the first time! Keep listening!

 

　　Our first comments today are about a subject everyone knows something about – names! In our program “Choosing a Name”, we told about the meanings of names. Sometimes names have sad or unusual meanings. Or, sometimes, parents choose a name for their child just because they like how a name sounds. Many listeners commented on their own names. Here are some of their comments:

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　“In our country, we name our children after people from history. My name is Batool. That is one of our Prophet’s daughter’s names. It also has a good meaning. It means virgin³.”

 

　　Voice 3

 

　　“I think it is so important for parents to give their child the right name. My mother wanted to name me Aleksandra. That was my grandmother’s name. But my father said his grandmother said to name all girls Tatiana. It means sovereign⁴. It is a strong name! And so many girls in our family have the same name as me – Tatiana.”

 

　　Voice 4

 

　　“I am from Vietnam. My parents named me Xim, but I do not understand what that means. I wish they gave me another name. In my country, the names of children must be different from the names of their ancestors. I think names influence people’s lives, but they cannot decide all things.”

 

　　Voice 5

 

　　“I am from South Korea. Most people in my country have a name made up of two words. Each word has a different meaning. They are combined to make one full meaning. For example, my name is Ji-Eun. Ji means wisdom. And Eun means grace⁵. Together, it means to live wisely and full of grace.”

 

　　Voice 6

 

　　“My name, Jelena, is international. I can use Ellen or Hellen in the United Kingdom or the United States. My name comes from the Greek language. It means ‘one that shines’.”

 

　　Voice 7

 

　　“My name, Patrick, comes from the Ancient Romans. And it also comes from the television program Bob Esponja. I am from Ecuador.”

 

　　Voice 8

 

　　“I do not believe that names have an influence on a person’s life or on his or her behaviour. If it does happen, it is just chance. By the way, my name is Denis.”

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　Thanks for all your comments! Our next comments come from the program “The Lost City”. In this program we told about the ancient city of Machu Picchu. The Inca people built this city over 600 years ago. After a short time, they stopped using the city. But in 1911, Hiram Bingham found this city. Many people believe that Bingham was not the first person to find Machu Picchu. But some people say his discovery was still important. He showed the city to the rest of the world. Augusto enjoyed this program. But he also had some questions about it.

 

　　Voice 9

 

　　“It’s interesting to know about a historic⁶ and famous place in the world. Thanks to the American researcher, it came to be very famous. The Inca Empire was so big. The organization, the building skills, how did they build the big walls? How did they carry huge stones to the top of the terraces⁷? Think of how many people had to work to lift each stone and put it into place. It’s amazing! And 100 years to discover it!”

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　There are many mysteries that surround Machu Picchu. Even experts do not know how the Inca used all the buildings in Machu Picchu. They do not know how the Inca made them. Another commenter, Kris, was also sad that people may never know about this ancient city.

 

　　Voice 6

 

　　“I like the Inca civilization. I think that the European citizens destroyed a beautiful tribe⁸, a beautiful country, and beautiful life. The Inca civilization had many mysteries. But we will never understand these secrets.”

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　It is sad that we will probably never know the answers to these mysteries. But people can still enjoy wondering about the city!

 

　　Lenskiy had a simple question about the program. In our program we told about the Inca Trail. The Inca used this road to transport goods and to send messages. They walked or ran on the road. Lenskiy asked:

 

　　Voice 8

 

　　“What, the Inca did not use horses?”

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　Actually, no, they did not use horses! Traditionally, the Inca people used llamas for transportation. These animals are similar to camels. But they have a lot more hair, called wool. However, the Inca did not ride on the llamas. Instead, they walked beside them. Historians⁹ believe the Inca may have never seen people riding on animals.  When the Spanish arrived in Peru, the Inca saw them riding on horses. Some historians believe that seeing the Spanish ride on horses may have been extremely frightening to the Inca. This may have helped the Spanish defeat the Inca.

 

　　Our final comments today are about a very old man - Kimani Maruge. We told his story in the program “The Oldest First Grader”. Maruge began going to school when he was 84 years old! Some people were inspired by Maruge’s story. Julie Ppark wrote:

 

　　Voice 5

 

　　“'A person is never too old to learn'. What a great saying! My mother is still learning¹⁰ many things such as playing the piano, playing the cello¹¹, and speaking in English. I think she is really great and I would like to model myself after her.”

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　And Augusto shared a story about his own life.

 

　　Voice 9

 

　　“This is a great example for all of us. Even without comfortable conditions to study, he was excited to learn. And with kids, it was hard, but he did it. I did not finish University in business management because I did not like that career. And when I was 27 years old I wanted to begin to study a new career that I liked. My family members and office workers at the University told me it was too late to begin a new career. They told me I was too old and that students were younger than I was. They said the educational system was only for young people. But now I am studying at a University with the distance method. I am 40 years old and I continue receiving negative comments about why I am studying. But I say I deserve¹² it and it is my life.”

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　Thanks for sharing that story with us! It is wonderful that you can do what is best for your life. We hope that you find a career that makes you happy!

 

　　That is all for today’s listener mail program. If you have thoughts or opinions that you want to share with Spotlight, you can leave your comments on the script¹³ page of any program.

 

　　The writer and producer of this program was Liz Waid. The voices you heard were from the United States and the United Kingdom. All quotes have been adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight. You can find our programs on the internet at http://www.radioenglish.net This .program is called “Listener Mail 121”.

 

　　We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye.

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 finding   

n.发现，发现物；调查的结果

参考例句：

• The finding makes some sense.该发现具有一定的意义。
• That's an encouraging finding.这是一个鼓舞人心的发现。

3 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

4 sovereign   

n.元首，金镑；adj.具有主权的，至高无上的，极好的，完全的

参考例句：

• For a brief time Texas was a sovereign nation.得克萨斯一度是个主权独立的国家。
• The Queen has sovereign power.女王握有统治权。

5 grace   

n.优雅，雅致，魅力，恩惠，慈悲

参考例句：

• She is a beautiful girl with the grace and poise.她是一位仪态优雅的佳丽。
• I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。

6 historic   

adj.历史上著名的，具有历史意义的

参考例句：

• This is a historic occasion.这是具有重大历史意义的时刻。
• We are living in a great historic era.我们正处在一个伟大的历史时代。

7 terraces   

台阶( terrace的名词复数 )； 台地； （房侧的）铺砌地面； 一排并列的房屋

参考例句：

• The people here grow rice on terraces. 此地的人们在梯田里种植水稻。
• Footballers launched an unprecedented crusade against racism on the terraces. 足球运动员们对阶梯看台上的种族歧视发起了一场空前的运动。

8 tribe   

n.部落，种族，一伙人

参考例句：

• This is a subject tribe.这是个受他人统治的部落。
• Many of the tribe's customs and rituals are as old as the hills.这部落的许多风俗、仪式都极其古老。

9 historians   

n.历史学家，史学工作者( historian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Historians seem to have confused the chronology of these events. 历史学家好像把这些事件发生的年代顺序搞混了。
• Historians have concurred with each other in this view. 历史学家在这个观点上已取得一致意见。

10 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• 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。

11 cello   

n.大提琴

参考例句：

• The cello is a member of the violin family.大提琴是提琴家族的一员。
• She plays a melodious cello.她拉着一手悦耳的大提琴。

12 deserve   

vt.应受，值得；vi. 应受报答，值得受赏

参考例句：

• You really deserve a good beating,you naughty boy.你这个调皮孩子真该打。
• I do not deserve all the praises bestowed upon me.我不配得到这些赞扬。

13 script   

n.剧本，广播稿；文字体系；笔迹，手迹

参考例句：

• It's easy to identify his script.他的笔迹容易辨认。
• The script is massaged into final form.这篇稿子经过修改已定稿。