听播客学英语 260 如何在车里睡觉

 　　Earlier this week, I talked about the sandwich which Selfridges are selling for the ridiculous price of ?85. Today I want to talk about a very different side of modern Britain.

　　A few days ago I found a very interesting blog. It is written by a woman. She does not tell us her name, but says that she is homeless and unemployed¹. In her blog she tells us how she sleeps at night in a sleeping bag in her car, and how cold and uncomfortable this can be. She tells us how she tries to park the car in isolated² places, where she will not be seen. But sometimes other people walk past, or park their cars nearby; and this can be very frightening. She tells us that a local hospital has showers in the visitors’ toilets. She goes there to wash. She also secretly washes and irons her clothes in the hospital, but is always afraid that the hospital security³ guards will find her and tell her to leave. Every few days she visits a public library, where she can use a computer to post entries in her blog.

　　She tells us how she came to loose her job and her home. She is a well-educated woman, with a law degree. But now she has only her social security benefits. She tells us how difficult it is to find a job when you are homeless, or to find a place to live when you do not have enough money to pay a deposit⁴.

　　As well as telling us about what she does, she tells us how she feels. Sometimes she feels very isolated – that is, cut off from other people, including other homeless people. She says that often she feels that the world is full of dirt, hostility⁵ and aggression⁶. She wonders who she is, and what sort of person she is inside.

　　Her blog is very well written. Her story is unusual, but her feelings and experiences are probably shared by many people who have no home and no job. There is a link to her blog from the podcast website (http://www.listen-to-english.com).

1 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

2 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

3 security   

n.安全，安全感；防护措施；保证(金)，抵押(品)；债券，证券

参考例句：

• A security guard brought him down with a flying tackle.一名保安人员飞身把他抱倒。
• There was tight security at the airport when the President's plane landed.总统的专机降落时，机场的保安措施很严密。

4 deposit   

n.定金，存款，矿藏；vt.使沉淀，寄存，储蓄

参考例句：

• There is too much deposit in a bottle of wine.酒瓶里有太多的沉淀物。
• The hotel requires a deposit for all advance bookings.旅馆规定凡预订房间都要先付订金。

5 hostility   

n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争

参考例句：

• There is open hostility between the two leaders.两位领导人表现出公开的敌意。
• His hostility to your plan is well known.他对你的计划所持的敌意是众所周知的。

6 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。