VOA慢速英语--2016新年愿望与计划

AS IT IS 2016-01-04 Wishes and Resolutions¹ for the New Year 2016新年愿望与计划

What do you wish for 2016?

At the beginning of the new year, it is common to say what we will do better in the coming year, or what we hope will happen to improve our lives.

We asked callers² on Skype about their wishes for 2016. We learned³ that they want to live in peace and improve their English. They all said it was important to set a goal and do all they could to achieve it.

Abdul Kareem in Saudi Arabia says, “The world is going on in a bad situation these days. Like war ... I pray for the world to live in in peace, to become united⁴ again. Also, I’m praying [for] my situation to become good.”

Studying online for a better job

Kareem says he plans to work on an online master’s degree in technology and improve his English in 2016. He says, “Right now I’m doing a distance learning⁵ master’s degree in IT and trying to finish it by November 2016, I’m hoping that later on I find a better job.”

Nadeem Rohani in Afghanistan says "I wish to have peace in our country, to be happy – all the people in our country. I wish just this.”

Rohani is studying and hopes to improve his vocabulary in the coming year. He studies computer science using English textbooks. “I want to read English for university, and I want to be [as good as] a native speaker.”

Keep trying to meet a goal

Ibrahim Haid is from Afghanistan. He is studying for a master’s degree in political⁶ science in India. “I would like to visit the U.S.A. Sometime⁷, I want to improve my English like an American accent and like my native language. … I want to take TOE FL exam, and one day I want to come and visit the U.S.”

He says he lives by this motto: “Try, try, try, and one day you will fly. So I’m always trying.”

Tamim Bakhshi is a secondary⁸ school student in Sweden. After he finishes school he plans to go to college. He would like to be a football player, too. “I wish to reach my goal next year. … I’m the kind of person who has a great, or high goal. I never give up about something. I will try, try to reach it.”

Words in This Story

achieve – v. to get or reach (something) by working hard

distance learning – n. a method of study where teachers and students do not meet in a classroom but use the Internet, e-mail, mail, etc., to have classes

accent – n.  a way of pronouncing words that occurs⁹ among the people in a particular region¹⁰ or country

secondary school - n. (U.S.) high school; (Brit) a school for children between the ages of 11 and 16 or 18

1 resolutions   

n.决心( resolution的名词复数 )；解决；坚决；分解

参考例句：

• He's always making good resolutions but he never carries them out. 他决心经常下得很大，但从不实行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• If she did all these things, maybe-maybe-Elizabeth's resolutions merged into fantasies. 她如果真按照这些做了，也许--也许--伊丽莎白的决心都溶在幻想之中。 来自辞典例句

2 callers   

访问者( caller的名词复数 )； 呼叫者； 鸣叫物； 打电话者

参考例句：

• He is one of the regular callers here. 他是此地的常客之一。
• A good telephone voice can do much to improve the temper of irate callers. 电话中悦耳的声音可以大大消减通话人的怒气。

3 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

4 united   

adj.和谐的；团结的；联合的，统一的

参考例句：

• The whole nation is closely united.全国人民紧密团结。
• The two men were united by community of interests.共同的利益使两个人结合在一起。

5 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

6 political   

adj.政治上的，政党的，政略性的，政治的

参考例句：

• He was forced to leave his homeland for political reasons.因为政治原因他被迫离开自己的祖国。
• In ideas those two political parties are worlds apart.那两个政党在思想上有巨大分歧。

7 sometime   

adv.将来某一时候；改天

参考例句：

• He came sometime last month.上个月某个时候他曾经来过。
• It will happen sometime and somewhere.有朝一日这总会在什么地方发生的。

8 secondary   

adj.中级的，中等的，次要的；n.次要位置，副手

参考例句：

• It's a question of secondary importance.这是个次要的问题。
• Secondary school means junior school and high school.中学是指初中和高中。

9 occurs   

v.发生( occur的第三人称单数 )；被想起；被发现；（尤指基督教节日与别的节日）适逢同日

参考例句：

• It occurs to me that example is always more efficacious than precept. 我想到身教重于言教。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• When trouble occurs at one spot, help comes from all quarters. 一方有难，八方支援。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 region   

n.地区，地带，区域；范围，幅度

参考例句：

• The students went to study the geology of that region.学生们去研究那个地区的地质情况。
• It is unusual to see snow in this region.这个地区难得见到雪。