环球英语 — 296：Life Lists

　　Voice 1
Thank you for joining us for today’s Spotlight¹. I’m Ryan Geertsma.
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
Michael Ogden loved his grandfather. His grandfather was not an emotional³ man. But Michael clearly remembers the last day he saw his grandfather.
Voice 3
“The last day I saw him before he died, he told my sister and me the story of his life. He talked for two hours. He told stories about his successes and his regrets.”
Voice 2
Michael had not heard many of these stories. When he and his sister left their grandfather, they began to talk. Together they wondered about their own lives. What would they think about before they died? What would they remember? What would they regret not trying? His sister told Michael that she had recently made a list. This list contained all the things she wanted to do before she died. The next day, Michael made his own list.
Voice 3
“I thought, one day I will be dead, so I asked myself, what experiences do I want to explore?”
Voice 1
Michael discovered that there was more he dreamed of doing in his life. For example, he was a writer. But he loved music. He had even written some songs. He could play them on one instrument - a guitar. But when he played them he imagined parts for many instruments. One of his dreams was to record the music. He wanted to make the songs sound the way he heard them in his head. So he decided⁴ to do it!
Voice 3
“I had a wonderful time recording⁵ the songs! I knew that if I lived five or fifty years after that, I would always remember that experience.”
Voice 2
Michael became very excited about life goals. He talked about them with family and friends. One of these friends was Chris Day. Together, Chris and Michael made another new life goal. They decided to write a book about life goals! They wanted this book to be different. So they included stories from many people. Each story is about a person doing one of his life goals. They recorded 70 stories total.
Voice 1
Many adults find that they ask the same question Michael did. They may start to wonder about their lives. They wonder what things they will regret. And they wonder what things they will consider good experiences.
Voice 2
Caroline Miller⁶ is a performance and life coach. She helps people set goals. And then she helps them achieve these goals. She encourages the people she works⁷ with to create a life list. This list is simply a list of goals. The list causes a person to think about what things or events would make them happy with their whole life: in the present and the future. Life lists help people establish what is important to them. It helps every-day goals lead to the larger goal. Caroline says,
Voice 4
“Having a life list helps make your beliefs clear. You have a road map. That is one of the things that is so important.”
Voice 1
One woman came to Caroline because she wanted her life to have more meaning. This woman’s job was to manage money and other resources⁸. After meeting with Caroline she discovered she wanted to be a doctor. So Caroline helped this woman create a plan to achieve her dream. Now she is in medical school.
Voice 2
Caroline has her own life list too! She shares it on her website. Keeping a list helps her to concentrate⁹ on her goals. Caroline says that her father is one of the reasons she created her own life list.
Voice 1
Her father loved studying the travels of Odysseus, a well-known character from ancient Greek¹⁰ stories.
Voice 4
“My whole life I heard my father discuss his excitement for following Odysseus’ travels around the Greek islands...I thought this would be the first thing my father would do as his children went to college and started their adult lives.”
Voice 2
But Caroline’s father never did travel to the places Odysseus went. He died at age 69 from a terrible disease¹¹. On the night he died, Caroline and her family sat in his hospital room. They wondered why he never went after his dream.
Voice 4
“As I looked at my father’s body, all I could ask myself helplessly¹² was, ‘Why did you not do it Father?’ This thought made me sad.”
Voice 1
Caroline decided she did not want her children to have the same question when she died.
Voice 2
Ashley Andrews has also made a life list. She is a college student. She says that making a life list makes her feel good.
Voice 5
“It gives you something to look forward to. It gives a person something to work for. Something to finish. And finishing something on your life list gives you a feeling of achievement.
Voice 1
Creating a life list has become a popular idea. There are many books to help a person decide what should be on their own life list. These books offer ideas like the best places to see or the best foods to try. And there are films about people trying to achieve their life goals. A recent one is about two men who find out they have cancer. Together they decide to try and do as many things on their life list as possible - before they die.
Voice 2
Many people are choosing to share their life lists on the internet too. Some people put their lists on their own website, like Caroline Miller does. And others join internet communities to share their life lists. Anyone can join these communities. And usually they do not cost any money.
Voice 1
One of these communities is 43things.com. On this website, people can create their life list and share it with other people. Other people can also ask questions. They can encourage each other to reach particular goals. This helps some individuals put more effort into reaching their goals.
Voice 2
What about you? Do you think creating a life list is a good idea? What kinds of things would be on your life list? Email us with your comments at radio @ english . net.
 

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 emotional   

adj.令人动情的；易动感情的；感情(上)的

参考例句：

• Emotional people don't stop to calculate.感情容易冲动的人做事往往不加考虑。
• This is an emotional scene in the play.这是剧中动人的一幕。

4 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。

5 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

6 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。

7 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

8 resources   

n.勇气；才智；谋略；有助于实现目标的东西；资源( resource的名词复数 )；[复数]物力；办法；来源

参考例句：

• The world's resources are rapidly diminishing. 世界资源正在迅速减少。
• a policy to equalize the distribution of resources throughout the country 使资源在全国分布均衡的政策

9 concentrate   

vt.集中；聚集；浓缩；vi.集中；全神贯注

参考例句：

• You should concentrate on the road when you're driving.开车时注意力应集中在路上。
• Concentrate your mind on study,Don't look around.专心学习，别东张西望的。

10 Greek   

adj.希腊(人)的，希腊语的；n.希腊人；希腊语

参考例句：

• The Greek seaman went to the hospital five times.这位希腊海员到该医院去过五次。
• Delta is the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet.δ是希腊字母中的第四个字母。

11 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。

12 helplessly   

adv.无力地，无助地；无可奈何地；眼睁睁

参考例句：

• His abrupt change of subject left her floundering helplessly. 他突然改变话题，使她茫然不知所措。
• She watched helplessly as her husband was dragged away. 她眼睁睁地看着丈夫被拉走了。 来自《简明英汉词典》