英语听力—环球英语 1114 Preparing for Death

 　　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 1

 

　　The clock counts down – days, hours, minutes, seconds. But what is it counting? It is counting down your life. It is ... the death clock!

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　Have you ever wondered, "When am I going to die?" Well, there is a website that helps people answer that question. It is called The Death Clock. This website uses information - like your age, weight, and sex – to estimate² your death date. But it also uses information about your attitude. The website asks you whether you have a positive, negative or neutral³ view of life. Based on your answers, the website creates a clock. The clock shows the time left in the website visitor's life.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　The website is just for fun - of course it cannot really tell the length of a person's life. But it does encourage people to think about death. Today's Spotlight is about two people who prepared for death in unusual ways.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　It is not unusual for people to prepare for death. Many people prepare by making a will. This legal document explains how to share a person's possessions after their death. Other people prepare by writing letters to family and friends. They share words of encouragement and love that will last long after death. Some people also think about and plan their funeral ceremony.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　Many people think about what will happen after they die. What will happen to their possessions? How will people remember them? In 1905, Louis Mantin thought about these same questions. But he answered them in a very surprising way!

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　For more than one hundred years, Louis Mantin's house sat empty and alone. No one entered its doors. No one looked out of its windows. Everything in the house waited. Nothing changed. The people from the nearby village wondered about the house. But today, they do not have to wonder. Finally the house of Louis Mantin is open again.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　Louis Mantin is no longer alive. But his house remains⁴ in Moulins, France. Mantin was born in Moulins in 1851. When he was 42, his father died and left him a lot of money. Mantin stopped working. Instead, he began to build his house. He filled it with beautiful art. He paid workers to create wooden carvings⁵ and statues. He also built places in his home for historic⁶ collections, including old keys and locks, ancient lights and objects from the far away country of Egypt.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　Mantin never married, and he did not have children. But he wanted his great home and collections to survive. So he left directions for after his death. In his will, he gave his home, and everything in it, to the city of Moulins. He said that after one hundred years, the city should open the house as a museum. People could then visit his home. And it would show the life of a wealthy man from the eighteen hundreds.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　After Mantin's death in 1905, the city followed his directions. The house was closed. For one hundred years no-one entered. It was almost forgotten. But Mantin's family and his city remembered. After one hundred years, they carefully cleaned and restored⁷ the house. They fixed⁸ broken things and made them like new. Today, everything looks just as it did when Mantin died. Visitors can see his collections, and learn about life in the past - just as Mantin had hoped. And of course, they remember Louis Mantin and his unusual gift.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　James Bedford is another man that prepared for death in a very different way. In fact, he hoped to avoid death completely! Bedford did this by freezing his body at a very cold temperature. This process is called cryonics. There are only around two hundred people in the world who have actually done this. They hope that freezing their bodies soon after death will keep their bodies from breaking down or decaying⁹. They also hope that that in the future, medical technology will cure many diseases¹⁰ - and even cure death. Their ultimate¹¹ hope is that one day their bodies can be unfrozen. And then, doctors can bring them back to life – maybe even to live forever.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　James Bedford was the first person to be cryogenically frozen¹². During his life, he taught at the University of California in the United States. He was a very intelligent man. He published several books about his work. But he was not well known until his death in 1967.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　Bedford died from cancer that doctors could not cure. But he believed that in the future, doctors would find a cure for cancer. So, before he died, Bedford contacted a cryonics group. At that time, this group was mainly interested in developing methods for the future. They did not have a good way to freeze bodies yet, but they decided¹³ try it anyway. They believed that they were saving¹⁴ Bedford's future life.

 

　　Today, a group called Alcor continues to care for and keep Beford's body frozen. In 1991, they examined his body and claimed that it was still in very good condition.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　Bedford was the first cryonics patient. But today, there are about two hundred other people around the world, frozen like him. Will doctors be able to save them in the future? This is a difficult question to answer. There is no evidence that this will be possible. In fact, freezing bodies this way causes terrible damage to the cells and tissue¹⁵ of the body. But people who believe in cryonics believe that future scientists will be able to cure this damage.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　At this time, none of this is possible. Scientists still cannot cure many cancers. They cannot cure death. And they cannot cure the damage caused by freezing bodies. Many people think it is unlikely¹⁶ that they ever will. So the bodies of the cryonics patients continue to wait.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　Louis Mantin and James Bedford prepared for death in very extreme ways. There are few people who prepare for death like them. However, the ideas behind their preparations are common to many people. Mantin hoped that people would forever remember him and his life. Bedford hoped for a time when there would be no more death! Both men shared a common hope for something beyond death. Their preparations may have been unusual, but their lives show the reality that preparing for death is a part of life.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　What do you think about the preparations of Mantin and Bedford? How do you prepare for death? Share your ideas on our website at http://www.radioenglish.net

 

　　.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　The writer of this program was Christy VanArragon. The producer was Michio Ozaki. The voices were from the United States. This program is called "Preparing for Death."

 

　　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 estimate   

n.估计，估量；评价，看法；vt.估计，估量

参考例句：

• We estimate the cost to be five thousand dollars.我们估计费用为5000美元。
• The lowest estimate would put the worth of the jewel at ＄200.按最低的评估这块宝石也值200美元。

3 neutral   

adj.中立的，不偏不倚的；中性的

参考例句：

• Behaviour is never culturally neutral.人的行为从来都受文化的影响。
• They have maintained a consistently neutral stance.他们一直持中立态度。

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 carvings   

n.雕刻( carving的名词复数 )；雕刻术；雕刻品；雕刻物

参考例句：

• The desk was ornamented with many carvings. 这桌子装饰有很多雕刻物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Shell carvings are a specialty of the town. 贝雕是该城的特产。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 historic   

adj.历史上著名的，具有历史意义的

参考例句：

• This is a historic occasion.这是具有重大历史意义的时刻。
• We are living in a great historic era.我们正处在一个伟大的历史时代。

7 restored   

v.归还( restore的过去式和过去分词 )；交还；使恢复；修复

参考例句：

• The stolen goods were all restored to their owners. 被偷窃的东西都归还给原主了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mary was restored to health after a period of medical treatment. 经过一段时间治疗，玛丽康复了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

9 decaying   

v.（使）腐烂，腐朽( decay的现在分词 )；衰败，衰退，衰落

参考例句：

• The fish and crabs scavenge for decaying tissue. 鱼和蟹搜寻腐烂的组织为食。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Overhead, grayish-white clouds covered the sky, piling up heavily like decaying corpses. 天上罩满了灰白的薄云，同腐烂的尸体似的沉沉的盖在那里。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

10 diseases   

n.疾病( disease的名词复数 )；弊端；恶疾；痼疾

参考例句：

• Smoking is a causative factor in several major diseases. 抽烟是引起几种严重疾病的病因。
• The illness frequently coexists with other chronic diseases. 这种病往往与其他慢性病同时存在。

11 ultimate   

adj.最远的；最后的；终极的；根源的，基本的

参考例句：

• What was his ultimate goal?他的最终目标是什么？
• The sun is the ultimate store of power.太阳是能量之本。

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。

13 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。

14 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。

15 tissue   

n.组织；薄纱，薄纸，手巾纸

参考例句：

• As we age we lose muscle tissue.肌肉组织会随着我们日趋衰老而萎缩。
• Athletes have hardly any fatty tissue.运动员几乎没有什么脂肪组织。

16 unlikely   

adj.未必的，多半不可能的；不大可能发生的

参考例句：

• It was very unlikely that he would do that.他不见得会做那种事。
• It is unlikely that she will come. 她不大可能来了。