英语听力—环球英语 1371 The Giving Driver

 

Voice 1

Welcome to Spotlight¹. I'm Liz Waid.

Voice 2

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

Voice 3

"Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can" [John Wesley]

Voice 4

"They who give have all things; they who do not give have nothing." [Hindu Proverb]

Voice 5

"Some people give time, some money, some their skills and connections. Some literally² give their life's blood. But everyone has something to give." [Barbara Bush]

Voice 1

These are some famous sayings about giving. Many people know it is good to give. People often say that when a person gives, he also receives. But how many of us actually follow advice like this? How many of us live these ideas? We may think that we do not have enough to give. Or we may not know how or what to give.

Voice 2

When people think of extreme giving, they may think of people like Mother Teresa. This woman gave her whole life to helping³ people. But would you think of Mr. Bai Fang⁴ Li? Today's Spotlight is on Mr Bai. He changed the lives of many poor students in Tianjin.

Voice 1

Mr. Bai was a small old man from Tianjin in China. He earned money driving a pedicab. This is a form of local transport. A pedicab looks like a bicycle with a seating area behind it. People can sit in the covered area in back. Then a driver uses his legs to peddle⁵, or move the bicycle. This work is very physically⁶ demanding.

Voice 2

Mr. Bai drove a pedicab for many years - even until he was an old man. But after 56 years he decided⁷ to retire. Mr. Bai was 74 years old. And he was ready to rest. But then, one incident changed his life.

Voice 1

Mr. Bai went back to his home to retire. He was prepared to say goodbye to his pedicab. But in his village, Mr. Bai noticed a group of children working in a field. He wondered why they were not in school. Finally, he discovered the reason. Were they badly behaved? No, they simply lacked money. They were not able to pay for school. Without money, the school could not pay teachers. Without teachers, the students could not learn. The school did not have resources to stay open for the children. After seeing these children, Mr. Bai was unable to sleep. He just kept thinking:

Voice 6

"Money is needed for students to go to school, money is needed for schools to maintain⁸ teachers and money is needed to rebuild old classrooms..."

Voice 2

Mr. Bai remembered when he was a child. He had left home because of poverty. But his home town was still poor. He wondered about the future of his town. He wondered about the future of these children who would not receive an education. How could things improve in his town if the children did not receive an education?

Voice 1

So Mr. Bai made a decision. He had received 5,000 RMB - about 750 US dollars - when he retired⁹. He gave this money to aid in education of children. Then he returned to Tianjin to go back to work driving his pedicab.

Voice 2

Mr. Bai lived in a simple room by the Eastern Tianjin Railway Station. He spent very little money on his own needs. His clothes, shoes, and hat did not match. But Mr. Bai did not care. He said:

Voice 6

"The clothes that I wear are all picked up from the clothes people threw away. Look at my shoes, they are different. Even the socks inside are different! It is the same with my hat. It was also collected from dumpsites."

Voice 1

By wearing these old clothes, all the money Mr. Bai collected could go toward¹⁰ education. And even when his clothes got more and more holes, he still would not throw them away. In fact, he got some of his food this way too. Mr. Bai did not want to waste any food. When people tried to encourage him to stop doing this, he picked up a piece of bread. He said:

Voice 6

"This bread is the product of the farmers' hard work. People throw it away. I pick it up and eat it. Is this not a way to reduce waste?"

Voice 2

No one could change Mr. Bai. His daughter described her father this way:

Voice 7

"He suffers throughout his life, saving¹¹ on food and drinks, fixing his torn trousers over and over again. When you throw away his old trousers and buy new ones for him, he does not want to wear them. But he also gets angry."

Voice 1

After Mr. Bai retired, he continued to drive a pedicab for eighteen more years. Through this time he continued to give money to several schools and other education organizations. Finally, in the year 2000 Mr. Bai had to stop driving his pedicab. He fell and injured his arm. He continued to drive pedicab, but his arm became worse. Finally his daughter persuaded him to visit the hospital. After this, he was not permitted to move his arm, so he had to stop driving the pedicab. But he did not stop earning money to give away. Instead he looked after cars near the train station.

Voice 2

Mr. Bai donated his last small amount of money in 2001. He was over 90 years old. His body was weak, and he could not drive pedicabs anymore. Finally, when he gave away this last small amount of money he said:

Voice 6

"I cannot work anymore. I can no longer donate money to others."

Voice 1

His daughter could not believe it. That was the first time she had ever heard her father say something like that. Mr. Bai had given over 350,000 RMB to aid education to poor children. This is over 52,000 US dollars! He helped over 300 students to go to school. And what did he want for the students? Mr. Bai said:

Voice 6

"I only want them to study hard, get a good job, be a good person, and to give back to the country."

Voice 2

Mr. Bai did not just give so that the children could receive. He gave so that they could continue to give to others. Mr. Bai died in 2005. But the memory of his great giving still exists.

Voice 1

Have you seen or experienced¹³ giving like this? Tell us about it. Do you think you could ever give like Mr. Bai gave? Share your thoughts with us at[email protected]. Or leave a comment on the script¹⁴ page of this program.

Voice 2

The writer and producer of this program was Liz Waid. The voices you heard were from the United States. All quotes have been adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight. Computer users¹² can hear our programs, read our scripts¹⁵, and see our word list on our website at http://www.Radio.English.net This .program is called "The Giving Driver." 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 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

3 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。

4 fang   

n.尖牙，犬牙

参考例句：

• Look how the bone sticks out of the flesh like a dog's fang.瞧瞧,这根骨头从肉里露出来，象一只犬牙似的。
• The green fairy's fang thrusting between his lips.绿妖精的尖牙从他的嘴唇里龇出来。

5 peddle   

vt.(沿街)叫卖，兜售；宣传，散播

参考例句：

• She loves to peddle gossip round the village.她喜欢在村里到处说闲话。
• Street vendors peddle their goods along the sidewalk.街头摊贩沿著人行道兜售他们的商品。

6 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

7 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。

8 maintain   

vt.支撑；赡养，抚养；维持，保有

参考例句：

• He has to maintain a large family on a small salary.他不得不依靠很少的工资养活一家人。
• We must do our best to maintain sales at their usual rate.我们要尽力使销售额保持在平日的水平上。

9 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

10 toward   

prep.对于，关于，接近，将近，向，朝

参考例句：

• Suddenly I saw a tall figure approaching toward the policeman.突然间我看到一个高大的身影朝警察靠近。
• Upon seeing her,I smiled and ran toward her. 看到她我笑了，并跑了过去。

11 saving   

n.节省，节约；[pl.]储蓄金，存款

参考例句：

• Energy saving is term strategic policy of our country.节约能源是我国长期的战略国策。
• Old-fashioned housewives were usually very saving.旧时的家庭主妇通常都很节俭。

12 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。

13 experienced   

adj.有经验的；经验丰富的，熟练的

参考例句：

• Experienced seamen will advise you about sailing in this weather.有经验的海员会告诉你在这种天气下的航行情况。
• Perhaps you and I had better change over;you are more experienced.也许我们的工作还是对换一下好，你比我更有经验。

14 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。

15 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。