英语听力精选进阶版 7878

Neil: The founder¹ of The Big Issue talks about its global impact on its 20th anniversary!

Li: How has this magazine changed the lives of thousands of homeless people home and abroad?

Neil: What has driven the magazine to a three million pound profit-making business?

Li: 在庆祝《大问题》创刊20周年之际我们一起听听它的创始人是怎么说的。欢迎收听《都市掠影》节目。大家好，我是杨莉。

Neil: Hi I'm Neil. The magazine, The Big Issue, started in London and has been a leading voice and tool for homeless people.

Li: 是的，《大问题》杂志的为了帮助无家可归者而创立的 homeless people. But where did the idea come from?

Neil: In a BBC Television interview John Bird, the founder of The Big Issue magazine, gives the answer.

Li: 请大家注意听最初的想法是从哪里来的？另外请大家注意听两个短语，一个是 bloke 男人，第二个是 to get himself sorted 解决了自己的问题。

Well, the idea actually comes from America. Gordon Roddick, who started the Body Shop with his wife Anita Roddick, came back from America. Because he'd seen a paper there and he'd seen the way in which some bloke he'd bought the paper off of had got out of prison, got himself sorted and was not going to get back into grief and Gordon thought: "Well, wouldn't it be great to have that in the UK?"

Neil: Did you get it? The idea came from America.

Li: John Bird 说，他的朋友，Roddick 在美国看到流浪汉在街头卖报，受到启发，就把这个想法介绍给了他。Bloke 是对男人的一种非正式称呼，to get himself sorted 解决了自己的问题。

Neil: The idea is to help the homeless earn a legitimate² income.

Li: Legitimate income 意思是合法收入。Terry Gore³ 就是其中的一名受益者，在我们听他故事之前先来预习几个单词。

Neil: No self-esteem.

Li: 没有自尊心。

Neil: No structure in his life.

Li: 没有生活结构。

Neil: Drifting about committing petty crime.

Li: 整天游游逛逛干些非法活动。Here is his story:

By the time I started selling it I'd been homeless for a year, year and half and I had no self-esteem, you know, I had no structure in my life, I was just drifting about committing petty crime. But the magazine, for the 18 months I sold it, gave me structure. You have to get up, you have to get your magazines, you have to work your pitch, then you start talking to people, interacting with people and it starts to give you a bit of self-respect back.

Neil: Terry used the following expression to describe his old way of life: no self-esteem.

Li: 没有自尊心。

Neil: No structure in his life.

Li: 没有生活结构。

Neil: He was drifting about committing petty crime.

Li: 整天游游逛逛干些非法活动。

Neil: But the magazine has changed all of that. He works his pitch, he talks and interacts with people and got back some self-respect.

Li: Self respect 自尊。

Neil: The past 20 years has seen a lot of homeless people stand on their feet again. Here's John Bird.

I would say there's quite a few hundred thousand, not just in the UK but in Europe and Australia and Africa and North and South America. So it's a very very simple principle of sorting your life out. It then puts you in a position where you are under starter's orders and you can move on.

Neil: Here we heard the phrase ''under starter's orders". This comes from horse racing⁴, it simply means being prepared and waiting for imminent⁵ action.

Li: To be under starter's orders 这个来自赛马比赛的短语意思是各就各位，准备行动。In this context it means to get ready for a new life, right?

Neil: Yes. As John said, what makes The Big Issue different from other charities is the very idea of making it on your own.

But the real point about it, I think, the real magic is that idea of self-help, because so few charities and so few givers give people the chance of making it on their own.

Neil: That's why the magazine has become so successful, isn't it? The idea of helping⁶ people to help themselves.

Li: 是的。帮助无家可归者找回自尊自立，让他们重返社会。

Neil: Twenty years on The Big Issue has grown steadily⁷, from a monthly magazine to a weekly publication.

Li: With over 300,000 copies sold a week The Big Issue has certainly made its name in a big way.

Neil: Thanks for listening and see you next time.

Li: 谢谢大家收听，我们下次节目再会。

1 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

2 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

3 gore   

n.凝血，血污；v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破；缝以补裆；顶

参考例句：

• The fox lay dying in a pool of gore.狐狸倒在血泊中奄奄一息。
• Carruthers had been gored by a rhinoceros.卡拉瑟斯被犀牛顶伤了。

4 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

5 imminent   

adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的

参考例句：

• The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。
• The country is in imminent danger.国难当头。

6 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。

7 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。