环球英语 — 294：Listener Mail 91

　　Voice 1
Hello and welcome to Spotlight¹. I'm Marina Santee.
Voice 2
And I'm Ruby² Jones. 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
Welcome to our listener mail programme. Today we will hear from listeners in Vietnam, Mongolia and Slovakia. But we begin with a letter from Carlos in Ecuador. He tells us that he enjoys Spotlight programmes. He enjoys learning³ about different cultures and ways of life around the world. He likes the stories of people's lives. And he hopes that people follow good examples to share a better world. Carlos also tells us about his interesting work. He writes:
Voice 3
‘In my city, Guayaquil, we have a group of volunteers. We give some of our time freely⁴. We make friends with foreign visitors in the city. Our goal is to make sure tourists are safe and have a good time in Guayaquil. Then, he or she can come back. They can tell others about our friendship and love for our city. There are only two programs like this in Latin⁵ America - this one and one in Argentina. Here, our group is called ‘Los Dukers.' In Argentina it is called ‘Los Cicerones.'
Voice 1
Los Dukers and Los Cicerones sound like great projects, Carlos! Thanks for telling us about them.
Voice 2
Our next letter is from Urjinkhand in Mongolia. He has translated one of his poems for us to read! It is about two brothers separating. Adam Navis reads us part of his poem:
Voice 3
Inside my heart from a long time ago
There is our childhood just like a dream.
Our memory of younger years was kept forever in my mind.
It exists at the bottom of our hearts like a beautiful picture.
We grew in the same house and played together.
We played with the same toys in our home.
But, destiny⁶ took us far away from each other, to different ways of life.
No need to be sad my brother.
Every bird should fly from its home.
It is the law of the universe.
If you have any difficulty call my sister anytime. If you have any sadness, remember parents' teaching⁷.
I wish you a good life under the sun.
We will never forget our brotherhood⁸.
We are always together, united by our blood...'
‘...Life will make new memories for us.'
Voice 2
You are a very skilled⁹ writer Urjee! Your poems have deep meaning and are powerful. What influences your writing?
Voice 1
Our next letter comes from Dung in Vietnam. Dung writes:
Voice 3
‘I am a high school student in Vietnam. After this school year, I am going to take the test to enter university. English is very important to me. I will need it for my life and future jobs. Your radio programmes have helped me a lot in learning English. I got mark nine for my first term English test. (Nine is equal to an A!) Thank you very much.
Please make some programmes about Asian countries, like Vietnam. And football is an interesting subject too. Our national football team has just won the AFF cup, that was amazing!'
Voice 1
Congratulations on your country's football success! And congratulations to you for your English results! Keep up the good work! We wish you all the best with your studies.
Voice 2
And now it is time for our Spotlight language Hodgepodge. Today we look at our new website!
Voice 1
In December, we redesigned our website. We hope that many of you have already used it. You may even be listening to this programme through the website. We know that more and more people are doing this.
Voice 2
The new web site still has the same address as the old one - http://www.radio.english.net. Thousands of people from all around the world visit the website each month. So a special hello to you if you are listening to Spotlight on your computer.
Voice 1
The Spotlight team has been planning the new website for a while. We asked our web designer, Marc Miller¹⁰, to create it for us. He started working on it last year. Marc explains why Spotlight wanted a new website.
Voice 4
‘The Spotlight website had not changed in many years. It needed a fresh look. Also we wanted it to be able to do new things. For example, letting listeners comment on scripts¹¹.'
Voice 2
The new website looks very different. But it contains everything the old website did. You can still listen to all our recent Spotlight programmes. You can also save the programs and scripts to your computer. But there are also new parts of the website. Listeners can comment on the scripts they read. You can also play programmes through the website without downloading them.
Voice 1
Soon the website will also have a message board. Spotlight listeners from all over the world will be able to meet here. They will be able to discuss ideas and improve their English together. Marc says that the new website should let listeners do more things.
Voice 4
‘We hope to hear from our listeners. We want to get their opinion on different scripts and issues. We also hope the new site will be easier for listeners to use. We hope that listeners will talk directly to each other on the message boards.'
Voice 2
One person who has already used the new website is Jozef. He lives in Slovakia. He wrote to us through the website. He said,
Voice 3
‘When I started to listen to your programs it was because I was looking for a way to improve my English. Now I like to listen because I learn new things. I like to listen to the listener mail programs. It is interesting to hear ideas from different sides of the world. Now I download scripts to my phone. I wish you plenty of ideas in 2009.'
Voice 2
Thank you Jozef. We are planning on having plenty of new and interesting Spotlight programmes in 2009. We also hope that you enjoy hearing your own words in this Listener Mail program.
 

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 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。

3 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。

4 freely   

adv.自由地，随便地，无拘无束地

参考例句：

• She was unable to keep back her tears,and wept freely.她抑制不住泪水，痛痛快快地哭了起来。
• A liquid flows freely and has no fixed shape.液体能自由流动，无固定形态。

5 Latin   

adj.拉丁的，拉丁语的，拉丁人的；n.拉丁语

参考例句：

• She learned Latin without a master.她无师自通学会了拉丁语。
• Please use only Latin characters.请仅使用拉丁文字符。

6 destiny   

n.命运，定数，天命

参考例句：

• Nobody knows his own destiny.没有人知道自己的命运。
• It was her destiny to become famous.她命里注定出名。

7 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。

8 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

9 skilled   

adj.(in)熟练的，有技能的；需要技能的

参考例句：

• Unskilled workers usually earn less money than skilled workers.无技能的工人通常比有技能的工人挣钱少。
• She was skilled enough in French to translate a novel.她法语娴熟，足以翻译小说。

10 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

11 scripts   

剧本( script的名词复数 )； 文字； 笔迹； （一种语言的）字母系统

参考例句：

• Many felt he was prostituting his talents by writing Hollywood scripts. 许多人觉得他给好莱坞写剧本是滥用自己的才华。
• The scripts had a rather tired plot. 这部陈旧的剧本的情节是非常俗套的。