英语听力—环球英语 1452 Yehia Jaber: Fighting with Words

 　　Voice 1

　　Welcome to Spotlight¹. I’m Colin Lowther.

　　Voice 2

　　And 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.

　　Voice 3

　　“Yehia Jaber is a Lebanese poet. He is well loved and very funny. When I first met him, it was his laughter that immediately drew me in. His laughter is warm. It makes other people want to laugh too. He looks like a poet. His white hair sticks up from his head. He always has a cigarette hanging from his mouth. He questions society and politics around him. He has good and funny observations of life. I immediately like his poems. They are both very funny and deeply emotional².”

　　Voice 1

　　These are the words of Roxana Vilk. She is a British Iranian filmmaker and artist. She wrote on her blog about meeting the famous Lebanese poet Yehia Jaber. Today’s Spotlight is on Yehia Jaber and his protests⁴ through poetry.

　　Voice 2

　　For centuries, poets have had a great influence in the Middle East. These artists are usually well educated. Their communities respect them highly⁵. These poets have also had an important place during times of conflict. Their poems share ideas and protests. They write to express their anger and their joy.  Yehia Jaber explains to Al Jazeera how he became one of these poets:

　　Voice 4

　　“Our war in Lebanon started in 1975. My life began as a political fighter and poet. And I was 14 years old. Israel invaded⁶ Lebanon in 1978. So the three ideas came together suddenly: first love, then war, then reading. The three combined to create the poet Yehia Jaber.”

　　Voice 1

　　Jaber grew up in a small town in Lebanon. His father was a very religious man. Jaber loved his father. But they had a difficult relationship. At age 18, Jaber rebelled⁷ against his father. He became a member of the Lebanese communist party. At that time Jaber saw injustice⁸ all around him. He wanted to change the world through revolution. So he became a fighter.

　　Voice 2

　　Jaber saw many terrible things while he was a revolutionary fighter. And soon he saw that violence was not solving the problem. So Jaber left the Lebanese Communist Party. He decided⁹ to try to change his country in a different way. He became a student and a writer. He told Roxana Vilk:

　　Voice 4

　　“I discovered that war is not a real solution to change. I believe in peace. I believe in humanity¹⁰. I believe that my place in this world is to be a poet not a fighter. I regret that I was a fighter and ask for forgiveness for what happened.”

　　Voice 1

　　Jaber had always liked to read and study. And other people encouraged him to do so. When Jaber was a young man he worked as a builder. But the other builders saw what a good student he was. They told Jaber to sit and study; they would build the house. Jaber’s co-workers and family knew that he should build up his mind.

　　Voice 2

　　Jaber studied until he had built something else. He now had a different kind of weapon. Jaber began to write poetry. He no longer fights with a gun. He now uses poetry as a form of protest³. And he is not the only poet to do this. Roxana Vilk made a film about six Middle Eastern poets. These poets have become leaders. Their poems show people what is happening. They also encourage people to work for change. In this film, Yehia Jaber says:

　　Voice 4

　　“Basically, poetry is a cry of “no”. It is a “yes” for change. The relationship between poetry and protest is a deep one. All revolutions begin as poetry. Poetry is questions. Change begins with questions. So poetry and protest cannot be separated.”

　　Voice 1

　　Jaber uses poetry to discuss politics. He writes about what he sees around him in Lebanon. His poetry is often very funny. This sense of humour has made Jaber famous. Jaber even performs his poems as if he is a comedian¹¹ - someone who tells jokes for his job. But Jaber is also saying something serious about his country. He comments on the problems of the world around him. He writes about his personal experiences.

　　Voice 2

　　One of Jaber’s poems is about a sad time in his life. His mother died of cancer. Jaber wanted to bury her body in her home town. But that town was across a bridge that was guarded by soldiers. The soldiers would not let Jaber cross with his mother’s body. Every day he took his mother’s body to the bridge in an ambulance. Every day he had to bring his mother back to the hospital morgue - where dead bodies are kept. This experience made Jaber very sad about his mother. It also made him angry about the conflict. His poem about it is both political and personal:

　　Voice 4

　　I sit under a cloud in Beirut

　　I am waiting for someone to wash her body

　　I am waiting for the soldiers to leave

　　I am waiting for the Red Cross

　　I am waiting for permission from the Israeli guard.

　　And my mother, like a frozen¹² flower

　　Is waiting in the hospital morgue

　　She is waiting for the warmth of a hand

　　And for the touch of the earth

　　And it was raining, raining,

　　It was raining.

　　Voice 1

　　Many people in conflict areas have difficult experiences like this. That is why poets like Jaber continue to write about them. Poems are a way of expressing emotion. They are also a way of showing the truth of a situation. And they demand a solution to the problem. So, Yehia Jaber will continue to make people laugh. He may also make people angry or sad. But his purpose is to help bring peaceful change for his country. He says:

　　Voice 4

　　There is a relationship between war and words.

　　There is a relationship between love and words.

　　I choose my battle in words.

　　I make fire by words.

　　I save some people in words; make victims in words

　　This is my playground. I fight by words

　　The violence inside me will come out in words

　　So that there is no blood.

　　Voice 2

　　The writer of this program was Rena Dam. The producer was Michio Ozaki. The voices you heard were from the United Kingdom and the United States. All quotes were adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight. You can listen to this program again, and read it, on the internet at http://www.radioenglish.net This .program is called, ‘Yehia Jaber: Fighting with Words’.

　　Voice 1

　　You can also leave your comments on our website. Or you can email us at radio@radioenglish. net. You can also find us on Facebook - just search for spotlightradio. We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye.

　　- See more at: http://spotlightenglish.com/listen/yehia-jaber-fighting-with-words#sthash.PrWXhKYK.dpuf

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 emotional   

adj.令人动情的；易动感情的；感情(上)的

参考例句：

• Emotional people don't stop to calculate.感情容易冲动的人做事往往不加考虑。
• This is an emotional scene in the play.这是剧中动人的一幕。

3 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。

4 protests   

n.[体]抗议；抗议，反对( protest的名词复数 )v.声明( protest的第三人称单数 )；坚决地表示；申辩

参考例句：

• The protests have forced the government to back-pedal on the new tax. 抗议活动已迫使政府撤销新的税目。
• Plans to build a new mall were deep-sixed after protests from local residents. 修建新室内购物中心的计划由于当地居民反对而搁浅。

5 highly   

adv.高度地，极，非常；非常赞许地

参考例句：

• It is highly important to provide for the future.预先做好准备非常重要。
• The teacher speaks very highly of the boy's behaviour.老师称赞这个男孩的表现。

6 invaded   

v.侵入，侵略( invade的过去式和过去分词 )；涌入；侵袭；侵犯

参考例句：

• Troops invaded on August 9th that year. 军队是在那年的8月9日入侵的。
• The diseased tissue can be easily invaded by these microorganisms. 有病的组织容易被微生物侵袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 rebelled   

v.反抗政府( rebel的过去式和过去分词 )；反抗权威

参考例句：

• When the nobles rebelled, the king battled them. 当贵族谋反时，国王便出兵攻打他们。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The tribes rebelled against the government. 各部落反叛政府。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

9 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。

10 humanity   

n.人类，[总称]人(性)，人道[pl.]人文学科

参考例句：

• Such an act is a disgrace to humanity.这种行为是人类的耻辱。
• We should treat animals with humanity.我们应该以仁慈之心对待动物。

11 comedian   

n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员

参考例句：

• The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
• The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。

12 frozen   

adj.冻结的，冰冻的

参考例句：

• He was frozen to death on a snowing night.在一个风雪的晚上，他被冻死了。
• The weather is cold and the ground is frozen.天寒地冻。