VOA慢速英语2014 AS IT IS 2014-01-23 New Holy Book in Use in Sierra Leone 塞拉利昂使用新圣经

 

AS IT IS 2014-01-23 New Holy Book in Use in Sierra Leone 塞拉利昂使用新圣经

Hello, again, and welcome back to the program that helps you to learn and improve your American English.  I’m Jim Tedder¹ in Washington.  Today we travel to Sierra Leone to meet some very happy people.  A book of great importance to them has finally been translated into a local language.

Then we will have some information about agriculture.  Scientists are studying how rising temperatures are affecting crops and the diseases that affect them. 

“As It Is” is headed your way, by radio and Internet, from VOA!

The first translation of the Bible in the Sierra Leone dialect of Krio was published less than a year ago after years of work.  The new, Krio version of Christianity’s holy book is gaining widespread use.  And it is helping³ to increase attendance at religious services in Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital.

The Warren Memorial Church in Freetown is using the newly created Krio language Bible at its services. People sing in Krio, and religious messages are given in the dialect.

Ruby⁴ Pearce helps organize services at the church.  She says the Krio version of the Bible took many years to create.  She says the Bible Society of Sierra Leone had the idea to create the first ever Krio Bible in the 1970’s.

Bible translators came to Sierra Leone in 1974.  But Ruby Pearce says they worked only part of the time.  The translation of the New Testament⁵ was finished in the 1980’s.  But translation of the more ancient part of the Bible, the Old Testament, extended into the 21st Century.  The Krio Bible was finally completed in the spring of 2013. 

Ms. Pearce says it was a major step for the country because the majority of its people speak Krio.

“We need to know our God understands our language.  And there are some nuances in the English language that we cannot understand, no matter what.  But when it is in our own language we are able to approach God better.”

And church attendance has improved.  Ms. Pearce says about 10 to 20 percent more people attend services when the Krio Bible is used.

The ancestors of the Krio people were freed slaves.  Their language began in the colonial period.  At that time, Krio was developed by early settlers in the western part of Freetown.  It is a mixture of English and African languages.  Some additional words were borrowed from French and Spanish.

Desmond George Williams is the senior steward⁶ of the Warren Memorial Church.  He is pleased with the public reaction to the Krio Bible over the past few months.

“People hearing the story from a language they understand gives it a fresh outlook.  It brings the story closer to them when they hear it in the vernacular⁷.  And I think that is one great strength that the Krio Bible has had.”

Twenty-eight-year-old Cindy Williams agrees.  She performs as part of the choir⁸, or singing group, at Warren Memorial Church.  She says that having the Krio Bible available is helpful when preparing for services in the language. 

Earlier, it would take longer to put together a Krio service because of the need to put the words from English into Krio.  She says many young people have said they now feel a stronger connection to the Bible.  They have a new feeling of satisfaction about speaking their own language.

Our World is Changing

If you grow food to feed your family, or know someone who does, then you will want to listen carefully to this information.  Bob Doughty⁹ joins us with details of a study from England that examines our changing world.

Insects and diseases that attack food crops are moving as rising temperatures bring changes to the environment. Plant diseases alone destroy an estimated 10 to 16 percent of the world’s crops in the field. Experts say plant diseases destroy another six to 12 percent after harvest.

A new study examines the movement of crop pests and diseases and how it will affect agricultural production worldwide.

Dan Bebber is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Exeter in England. He says research has shown that wild plants and animals are moving toward Earth’s north and south poles as the planet warms. Mr. Bebber wanted to know if the same thing was happening with organisms that attack agricultural crops.

 He examined reports of first sightings of new insects and diseases around the world. The records came from CABI -- the Centre for Agricultural Bioscience International. He says the group began collecting information from developing and industrial countries years ago.

“That database has grown and grown and grown, and now CABI are tracking many hundreds of pests and pathogens.”

 

Dan Bebber and his research team studied 612 different organisms -- from viruses and bacteria to insects, like beetles¹⁰ and butterflies. They found that since 1960, crop pests and diseases have been moving toward the poles at an average rate of about 3 kilometers each year.

Mr. Bebber says this puts the most productive farmland in the world in danger.

“As new species of pests and diseases evolve and potentially the environment for them becomes more amenable¹¹ at higher latitudes¹², the pressure on the breadbaskets of the world is going to increase.”

Farmers face other threats. Invasive species passed through trade are also causing problems. Gene¹³ Kritsky is an entomologist at the College of Mount St. Joseph in Ohio. He specializes in the study of insects. He says climate change may improve conditions for some invasive species. 

“It means that species in other parts of the world that might do well in warmer temperatures can now do well in the breadbasket of America.”

Another entomologist, Christian² Krupke of Purdue University, says the effects of these changes will depend very much on the crop, the insect and the disease. But he says the research is a warning sign that people should care about climate change and do something about it.  I’m Bob Doughty.

And I’m Jim Tedder in Washington.  Thank you for spending some time with us on this Thursday, the 23rd day of the new year.  On this date in 1737, John Hancock was born in the northeastern state of Massachusetts.  He became a patriot¹⁴ and statesman, and was the first person to sign his name to the Declaration of Independence.  He signed the famous document in very large writing.  And that is where the expression to “put your John Hancock on,” or sign a paper, comes from.

More Learning English programs are just seconds away.  And world news follows at the beginning of the hour.

1 tedder   

n.（干草）翻晒者，翻晒机

参考例句：

• Jim Tedder has more. 吉姆？特德将给我们做更多的介绍。 来自互联网
• Jim Tedder tells us more. 吉姆？泰德给我们带来更详细的报道。 来自互联网

2 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

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 ruby   

n.红宝石，红宝石色

参考例句：

• She is wearing a small ruby earring.她戴着一枚红宝石小耳环。
• On the handle of his sword sat the biggest ruby in the world.他的剑柄上镶有一颗世上最大的红宝石。

5 testament   

n.遗嘱；证明

参考例句：

• This is his last will and testament.这是他的遗愿和遗嘱。
• It is a testament to the power of political mythology.这说明，编造政治神话可以产生多大的威力。

6 steward   

n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员

参考例句：

• He's the steward of the club.他是这家俱乐部的管理员。
• He went around the world as a ship's steward.他当客船服务员，到过世界各地。

7 vernacular   

adj.地方的，用地方语写成的；n.白话；行话；本国语；动植物的俗名

参考例句：

• The house is built in a vernacular style.这房子按当地的风格建筑。
• The traditional Chinese vernacular architecture is an epitome of Chinese traditional culture.中国传统民居建筑可谓中国传统文化的缩影。

8 choir   

n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• The church choir is singing tonight.今晚教堂歌唱队要唱诗。

9 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。

10 beetles   

n.甲虫( beetle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Beetles bury pellets of dung and lay their eggs within them. 甲壳虫把粪粒埋起来，然后在里面产卵。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This kind of beetles have hard shell. 这类甲虫有坚硬的外壳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 amenable   

adj.经得起检验的；顺从的；对负有义务的

参考例句：

• His scientific discoveries are amenable to the laws of physics.他在科学上的发现经得起物理定律的检验。
• He is amenable to counsel.他这人听劝。

12 latitudes   

纬度

参考例句：

• Latitudes are the lines that go from east to west. 纬线是从东到西的线。
• It was the brief Indian Summer of the high latitudes. 这是高纬度地方的那种短暂的晚秋。

13 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

14 patriot   

n.爱国者，爱国主义者

参考例句：

• He avowed himself a patriot.他自称自己是爱国者。
• He is a patriot who has won the admiration of the French already.他是一个已经赢得法国人敬仰的爱国者。