英语听力—环球英语 1323 Teaching Readers to Dream

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　　Welcome to Spotlight¹, I'm Ryan Geertsma.

 

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　　And I'm Robin² Basselin. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

 

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　　Have you ever had a dream? Not a dream during the night. A dream you have about your future life. Have you tried every path you can to reach your dreams? Do you still wonder what it would take to achieve your goals?

 

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　　If you feel this way, you are not alone. Many people have dreams. But often, people do not believe that they can reach these dreams. A famous writer, named Paulo Coelho, believes that people really can live their dreams. On his website, he wrote,

 

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　　"The only hidden secret is the hidden power that you have in you."

 

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　　Today's Spotlight is on the writer Paulo Coelho. His book, The Alchemist, is one of the best-selling books by a living writer. People from different religions and different cultures value his teachings⁴. This is because he encourages people to value their normal lives and to follow their dreams.

 

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　　Paulo Coelho was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on August 24th, 1947. As a young man he withdrew⁵ from his family and started taking drugs. His parents were very worried. So they sent him to a hospital for people with mental problems. When he left the hospital, he spent most of his time travelling around the world. He joined a secret religious group that experimented with drugs. Paulo had not started writing books. But he was writing very popular songs in Brazil for Brazilian musicians.

 

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　　In 1974, Coelho was arrested and kidnapped by military activists⁶. This was because of a famous song called "Sociedade Alternativa." The words to the song made some government officials angry. They were afraid he was trying to start a protest⁷ against them. After this event, Coelho gave up religion for many years.

 

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　　Over the next 12 years, Coelho worked many different television and music industry jobs. He also continued to travel. In 1986, he decided⁸ to travel down an ancient Spanish path called the Road of Santiago. This trip changed Coelho's life. He began thinking about spiritual things again. He wondered if he was living his dream.

 

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　　He describes his experiences from his trip down the Road of Santiago in his book, The Pilgrimage. Coelho writes in his book:

 

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　　"By changing the way you do everyday things you permit a new person to grow inside of you."

 

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　　Two years later, in 1988, Coelho would publish his most famous book, The Alchemist.

 

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　　The Alchemist is a book about a shepherd⁹ boy named Santiago. One night while Santiago is sleeping he has a dream. It tells him where a great treasure is hidden. He decides to leave his simple farming life. And he goes searching for the treasure from his dream.

 

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　　While travelling, Santiago is robbed and beaten. He believes it was a mistake to follow his dream and decides to go back home. Santiago works¹⁰ for a year and finally makes enough money to return home. But before he leaves for home, he decides instead to look for the treasure again. During his adventures, Santiago meets an Alchemist, a kind of teacher. He learns many things from the Alchemist. Finally Santiago finds where he thinks the treasure is hidden.

 

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　　But before Santiago finds the treasure, a group of robbers¹¹ appears. They beat him and rob him. They force him to continue digging until he finds the treasure. But the treasure is not there. One of the robbers gives Santiago an idea about where the real treasure is hidden. He returns home. Santiago needed to travel to a far land to find treasure at home. He uses his wealth and wisdom to live a fulfilling¹² life.

 

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　　Coelho wrote The Alchemist to explain his own life dream. An Alchemist is someone who tries to turn a common and unimportant¹³ material into something of great value. For example, hundreds of years ago, people tried to turn normal metals into gold. Ancient alchemists were never able to create gold from common metals. However, Coelho thinks the theory of alchemy teaches something about humans. He believes every individual life is like a normal metal. It may seem unimportant and not valuable. However, each life can be full of power and meaning when the conditions are right.

 

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　　This may be why people from different religions all over the world respect Paulo Coelho. His beliefs include parts from many different religions. Manuel da Costa Pinto, a writer for a large Brazilian publication¹⁴ says,

 

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　　"Coelho writes with a message that confirms common sense. He gives his readers a map for happiness."

 

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　　Many religious people and literature reviewers criticize¹⁵ Coelho because of what he teaches. They think he is just telling his readers what they want to hear. They do not think his ideas are reasonable.

 

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　　But everyone agrees Coelho wants to help his readers to value their lives and to reach their dreams. When asked if the choices of normal people could change the world he said,

 

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　　"I think that individual change is the very engine of progress in this world."

 

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　　Coelho believes you must accept your dream and find personal peace before helping¹⁶ other people. Coelho has found his path, as a writer. So now, he works to help the people around him.

 

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　　In 1996, Coelho founded the Paulo Coelho Institute in Brazil. His organization works with schools to help children and older people living in poverty. He has also worked with the Brazilian Academy¹⁷ of Letters, the United Nations, the European Union and many other important organizations. In these different positions, Paulo works to encourage human rights all over the world.

 

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　　Although Coelho is very involved in these organizations, he still believes that individual change matters the most. He continues to teach this through his books and even by writing and communicating with his readers on his website.

 

　　Paulo Coelho appeals to people of different religions and cultures. This may be because most people have a dream. They have something they want to do. Coelho encourages them to follow their dream.

 

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　　Is the power to reach dreams in each person already? Or do we need help from someone else? Should the most important goal in life be to reach our individual dream? Or is there a greater purpose to our lives? Coelho would say,

 

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　　"The heart never suffers when it goes in search of its dream, because every minute of the search is a step towards meeting God..."

 

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　　The writer of this program was Corrie Haluga. The producer was Robin Basselin. The voices you heard were from the United Kingdom and the United States. All quotes have been adapted and voiced by Spotlight. Computer users¹⁸ can hear our programs, read our scripts¹⁹, and see our word list on our website at radio.english.net. This program is called "Teaching³ Readers to Dream." 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 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

3 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。

4 teachings   

n.教学( teaching的名词复数 )；教学工作；教诲；学说

参考例句：

• We must never be unworthy of our teachers' untiring and sincere teachings. 我们决不要辜负老师的谆谆教导。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The Party's teachings were ringing in her ears. 党的教导在她耳边回响。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 withdrew   

v.取[收]回( withdraw的过去式 )；（使）撤退[出]；提；收回

参考例句：

• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She quickly withdrew her hand from the hot iron. 她很快地将手从火烫的熨斗上缩了回来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 protest   

v.反对，抗议；宣称；n.抗议；宣称

参考例句：

• I can't pass the matter by without a protest.我不能对此事视而不见，我要提出抗议。
• We translated his silence as a protest.我们把他的沉默解释为抗议。

8 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。

9 shepherd   

n.牧羊者，牧师，指导者；v.看守，领导，指导

参考例句：

• The shepherd boy waited for his sheep to drink.牧童等羊喝水。
• The shepherd and his dog gathered in the sheep.牧羊人和牧羊狗把羊群赶到一块。

10 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

11 robbers   

n.抢劫者，强盗，盗贼( robber的名词复数 )；盗匪

参考例句：

• The robbers fled empty-handed. 抢劫犯一无所获地逃走了。
• The policeman discharged his gun at the fleeing robbers. 警察向逃跑的强盗开了枪。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 fulfilling   

adj.使人满足的，令人愉快的v.履行（诺言等）( fulfill的现在分词 )；执行（命令等）；达到（目的）；使结束；满足( fulfil的现在分词 )；执行；尽到；应验

参考例句：

• If you expect to fail, you will fail. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy . 你如果预期失败，就会失败。这是一种自我应验的预测。
• Nursing is hard work, but it can be very fulfilling. 护士工作很艰苦；但可以使人感到满足。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 unimportant   

adj.不重要的，无意义的

参考例句：

• Let's not quarrel about such unimportant matters.我们不要为这些小事争吵了。
• Money seems unimportant when sets beside the joys of family life.与天伦之乐相比，金钱显得微不足道。

14 publication   

n.出版，发行；出版；公布，发表

参考例句：

• They don't think this article is suitable for publication.他们认为这篇文章不宜发表。
• The government has delayed publication of the trade figures.政府已将贸易统计数字延后公布。

15 criticize   

vt.批评；批判，指责；评论，评价

参考例句：

• Whenever you criticize him,he always has an excuse.你批评他，他总有说头儿。
• You are free to criticize my work.你可以随意批评我的工作。

16 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• 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。

17 academy   

n.(高等)专科院校；学术社团，协会，研究院

参考例句：

• This is an academy of music.这是一所音乐专科学院。
• I visited Chinese Academy of Sciences yesterday.我昨天去访问了中国科学院。

18 users   

用户，使用者( user的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The new software will prove a boon to Internet users. 这种新软件将会对互联网用户大有益处。
• Ramps should be provided for wheelchair users. 应该给轮椅使用者提供坡道。

19 scripts   

剧本( script的名词复数 )； 文字； 笔迹； （一种语言的）字母系统

参考例句：

• Many felt he was prostituting his talents by writing Hollywood scripts. 许多人觉得他给好莱坞写剧本是滥用自己的才华。
• The scripts had a rather tired plot. 这部陈旧的剧本的情节是非常俗套的。