六级阅读:肥皂剧也可以教化人心

 　　Soap operas: Good trash

　　肥皂剧也可以教化人心

　　Soap operas and development

　　肥皂剧与发展

　　Good trash

　　肥皂剧也可以教化人心

　　How television and radio shows can improve behaviour电视和广播怎样改进人们的行为

　　In the radio drama "Nau em Taim" ("Now is the time" in Pidgin) aired in Papua New Guinea, a widowed father takes up dynamite¹ fishing—profitable but disastrous² for the reef. Then he meets a dashing marine³ scientist who warns him off. The idea is that by the end of the drama, which debuted⁴ in February, both he—and the listeners—will renounce⁵ dynamite for sustainable fishing.

　　在巴布亚新几内亚播出的广播剧"Nautica em Taim"（用洋泾浜英语说就是"现在是时候了"）中，一个丧偶的父亲开始从事用炸药捕鱼的行当——利润可观但对珊瑚危害很大。之后他遇见一位冲劲儿十足的海洋专家，这个人警告他不要再从事这项行业。这部于二月首播的广播剧的主旨就是播到剧尾的时候，这个父亲和听众都将因炸药对捕鱼业可发展性的危害而不再使用炸药。

　　The show's producer, the Population Media Center (PMC) in Vermont, has been a pioneer of programmes with the goal of fostering development. But other groups have increasingly followed suit. In Vietnam Khat Vong Song uses radio drama to teach its listeners about domestic violence. In Kenya Mediae promotes civil rights with a television soap called "Makutano Junction⁶".

　　该广播剧的制作方式佛蒙特州的人口传媒中心（PMC）是通过电视广播节目来促进发展方面的先锋。不过其他机构也在不断效仿。在越南，Khat Vong Song使用广播剧向听众教授家庭暴力方面的知识。肯尼亚的Mediae通过电视剧《Makutano Junction》推广民权。

　　Evidence that radio and television soaps can change behaviour was first spotted⁷ in the 1970s. But solid academic research was lacking until a few years ago. In 2008 economists⁹ at the Inter-American Development Bank, for instance, found that Brazilians receiving Globo, a television network, had fewer children and got divorced more often. Another study discovered that, as cable television spread, the fertility rate in rural India dropped by as much as if women had received five additional years of education.

　　能证明广播剧和电视剧可以改变人们的行为方式的证据首次出现在上个世纪70年代。但是直到前几年才有可靠的学术研究出现。比如2008年，在美洲发展银行的经济学家们发现收看电视网络Globo的巴西人生的孩子较少、离婚更频繁。另一项研究发现，随着有线电视的普及，印度乡村地区的生育率降低的程度相当于妇女再接受五年的额外教育。

　　Some thought that this was because couch potatoes were less likely to make babies. But research in Ethiopia showed that dramas can have a direct effect. Demand for contraceptives rose by 157% among married women who listened to the soap operas "Yeken Kignet" and "Dhimbibba". Male listeners sought tests for HIV/AIDS four times as much as male non-listeners.

　　有些人认为这是因为经常看电视的人造人的可能性更小。然而，在埃塞俄比亚进行的一项研究显示肥皂剧能起直接的作用。在收听肥皂剧"Yeken Kignet" 和 "Dhimbibba "的已婚妇女中要求使用避孕手段的人数增加了157%。男性听众寻求HIV/AIDS测试的人数是不收听节目的男性中寻求测试的人数的四倍。

　　"The best results are when people identify with characters," says Betty Oala of the PMC. This is why the organisation¹⁰ does extensive research, takes on local writers and uses native languages.

　　"最好的结果出现在人们与角色产生共鸣的时候，" PMC的Betty Oala说。这就是为什么该组织要进行大规模研究、吸收当地作者、使用当地语言的原因。

　　Not only are soaps effective, but they are also cheap. Radio programmes can cost as little as three cents to reach a listener in Africa. Yet trying to influence the poor can be controversial. Although producers do not hide their agendas, Charles Kenny, an economist⁸, thinks that there could be a "quagmire¹¹ of a debate over morals and a tangle¹² of regulation". An increase in divorces, say, may seem like good news to a woman activist¹³, but bad to a Catholic priest.

　　肥皂剧不仅有效而且廉价。在非洲广播节目只需花费三分钱就能获得一位听众。但是试图影响穷人的做法可能充满争议。尽管制作方并未隐藏他们的计划，经济学家查尔斯?肯尼（Charles Kenny）认为"在道德和一堆规则之间争论的困境"可能存在。比如离婚的增加对一名女权主义者来说可能是个好消息，但对一位天主教牧师来说则是坏消息。

 

1 dynamite   

n./vt.(用)炸药(爆破)

参考例句：

• The workmen detonated the dynamite.工人们把炸药引爆了。
• The philosopher was still political dynamite.那位哲学家仍旧是政治上的爆炸性人物。

2 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

3 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

4 debuted   

初次表演，初次登台（debut的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• In late 2003 a full-size SUV, the Pathfinder Armada, debuted. 2003年末，全尺寸SUV的探路者无敌舰队，推出。
• The album debuted at number two and quickly went platinum. 专辑一亮相就荣登排行榜第二名，很快就取得了白金销量。

5 renounce   

v.放弃；拒绝承认，宣布与…断绝关系

参考例句：

• She decided to renounce the world and enter a convent.她决定弃绝尘世去当修女。
• It was painful for him to renounce his son.宣布与儿子脱离关系对他来说是很痛苦的。

6 junction   

n.连接，接合；交叉点，接合处，枢纽站

参考例句：

• There's a bridge at the junction of the two rivers.两河的汇合处有座桥。
• You must give way when you come to this junction.你到了这个路口必须让路。

7 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

8 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

9 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 organisation   

n.组织，安排，团体，有机休

参考例句：

• The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
• His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。

11 quagmire   

n.沼地

参考例句：

• On their way was a quagmire which was difficult to get over.路上他俩遇到了—个泥坑,很难过得去。
• Rain had turned the grass into a quagmire.大雨使草地变得一片泥泞。

12 tangle   

n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱

参考例句：

• I shouldn't tangle with Peter.He is bigger than me.我不应该与彼特吵架。他的块头比我大。
• If I were you, I wouldn't tangle with them.我要是你，我就不跟他们争吵。

13 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。