环球英语 — 274：Problems of Progress

　　Voice 1
Thank you for joining us for today’s Spotlight¹ program. I’m Joshua Leo.
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 1
When people talk about progress they often talk about things getting better or improving. Often, people talk about groups of people or communities developing and progressing. For many poor citizens around the world, progress is a good thing. It means education. It means more money. It means better health care. It means longer life. But for some groups of people, progress can do more harm than good. Progress can mean problems. Today’s Spotlight is on the problems of progress.
Voice 2
Tribal² communities exist all over the world. They are small communities that share a similar culture. These groups have existed for a long time. People lived in tribes⁴ before any state or government was created. Tribal communities often live off the land. Many of them still grow plants and hunt animals for food.
Voice 1
The lives of tribal peoples are very different than most people in the world today. The Yanomami tribe³ lives in the forests of northern Brazil and southern Venezuela. The community lives in one large house that can fit up to four hundred [400] people. The tribe grows, hunts, and catches all its food. The tribe grows about sixty [60] different crops. Twenty [20] of those are used for food, the rest are used for medicine.
Voice 2
But the tribe has experienced⁵ problems when meeting people from developed areas of Brazil. Gold miners⁶ invaded⁷ the tribe’s land in the 1970s and 1980s. The miners killed people from the tribe. The miners destroyed their villages. When the Yanomami tribe met people from outside their tribe, they also met with new diseases⁹. Their bodies were not used to these diseases. Many people in the tribe became infected and died.
Voice 1
But disease⁸ is just one of the problems that faces tribal communities. Other people sometimes force progress and development on tribal communities. Such people may think that tribal peoples should live like they do. They may encourage tribal people to move to big cities. But many times, the tribes do not want to change. They do not want to move from their land.
Voice 2
The tribes may not have a lot of money, but their quality of life is good. When tribal peoples are forced off their land, their health and quality of life both drop. The people are more likely to suffer from depression and drug addiction¹⁰.
Voice 1
Recently, a study measured happiness in different groups of people around the world. Tribes who still lived on their land were as happy as the world’s richest billionaires. Tribal communities enjoyed their lives. But still people continue to mistreat tribal peoples. They move tribes from their homelands. They make the lives of tribal peoples worse. People think they are helping¹¹ the tribes, but they often cause many problems.
Voice 2
The first, and most common problem tribes experience is a decrease in health. When tribes are forced from their land, their diet changes. They eat different food. Often, when tribes are moved to larger cities, the tribal people gain a lot of weight. They do not move as much as they used to. They eat processed foods that contain more fat. Tribal peoples in Australia, Canada, and the United States have serious problems with their body weight. High body weight can cause serious sicknesses such as heart disease and diabetes¹².
Voice 1
But other tribes suffer from not getting enough food. In Brazil, members of the Guarani tribe are dying¹³ from starvation. The tribe was moved onto a much smaller area of land than where they used to live. They are no longer able to grow and hunt enough food. The government has given the tribe small amounts of rice and other foods, but the tribe can no longer find wood for fires to cook this food. The tribe used to live off the land. Today, they can no longer do this.
Voice 1
Another problem tribes face is disease. When tribal peoples meet other people from outside the tribe, it is common for disease to spread. All over the world, tribal communities have been infected with sexual¹⁴ diseases such as gonorrhoea and HIV. These are diseases that did not affect the tribes until they met non-tribal peoples. Tribal communities in Indonesia have a much higher rate of AIDS then the rest of the population. And yet government AIDS prevention programs are not directed at tribal peoples. Tribal peoples also suffer from mental health problems. When tribes are moved from their land, the tribal people’s lives become very different. They can no longer live like they used to. Parents and children may be separated. And other people may act with hate against the tribe.
Voice 1
These problems can cause tribal people to suffer from depression. Tribal communities suffer from very high rates of suicide¹⁵. Tribal people kill themselves more than other groups of people. A member of the Guarani tribe in Brazil says this:
Voice 3
“The Guarani are committing suicide because we have no land. We do not have space any more. In the old days, we were free, now we are no longer free. So our young people look around them and think there is nothing left and wonder how they can live. They sit down and think, they forget, they lose themselves and then they commit suicide.”
Voice 2
Often tribe members turn to drugs to escape their problems. But this just causes more problems. These drugs damage the person’s body. They may cause brain damage. The person becomes addicted¹⁶ - he or she cannot stop using the drugs. Children do not receive good care from parents who use drugs. Even tribal children become addicted to drugs.
Voice 1
These problems are very serious. But there is hope for these tribal communities. Survival¹⁷ International is a group that is working to protect the rights of tribal communities. It helps tribes keep their own land. They educate people about the dangers facing tribes all over the world. The group wants people, businesses, and governments to understand what progress truly is. Progress makes people’s lives better. And sometimes that means allowing tribes to live their lives however they desire.
 

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 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

3 tribe   

n.部落，种族，一伙人

参考例句：

• This is a subject tribe.这是个受他人统治的部落。
• Many of the tribe's customs and rituals are as old as the hills.这部落的许多风俗、仪式都极其古老。

4 tribes   

n.部落( tribe的名词复数 )；（动、植物的）族；（一）帮；大群

参考例句：

• tribes living in remote areas of the Amazonian rainforest 居住在亚马孙河雨林偏远地区的部落
• In Africa the snake is still sacred with many tribes. 非洲许多部落仍认为蛇是不可冒犯的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 experienced   

adj.有经验的；经验丰富的，熟练的

参考例句：

• Experienced seamen will advise you about sailing in this weather.有经验的海员会告诉你在这种天气下的航行情况。
• Perhaps you and I had better change over;you are more experienced.也许我们的工作还是对换一下好，你比我更有经验。

6 miners   

矿工( miner的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The coal miners have come out for about two weeks. 煤矿工人已罢工约两周了。
• The roof of the cave dropped in on the miners, trapping them. 洞穴的顶部坍了下来，砸在矿工身上。

7 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》

8 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

9 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。

10 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

11 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。

12 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

13 dying   

adj.垂死的，临终的

参考例句：

• He was put in charge of the group by the dying leader.他被临终的领导人任命为集团负责人。
• She was shown into a small room,where there was a dying man.她被领进了一间小屋子，那里有一个垂死的人。

14 sexual   

adj.性的，两性的，性别的

参考例句：

• He was a person of gross sexual appetites.他是个性欲旺盛的人。
• It is socially irresponsible to refuse young people advice on sexual matters.拒绝向年轻人提供性方面的建议是对社会不负责任。

15 suicide   

n.自杀，自毁，自杀性行为

参考例句：

• The number of suicide has increased.自杀案件的数量增加了。
• The death was adjudged a suicide by sleeping pills.该死亡事件被判定为服用安眠药自杀。

16 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。

17 survival   

n.留住生命，生存，残存，幸存者

参考例句：

• The doctor told my wife I had a fifty-fifty chance of survival.医生告诉我的妻子，说我活下去的可能性只有50%。
• The old man was a survival of a past age.这位老人是上一代的遗老。