环球英语 — 447：The Last Soldier

　　Voice 1
Hello, I’m Tony Ford¹.
Voice 2
And I’m Rachel Hobson. Welcome to Spotlight². This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
A crowd of people stand quietly. Light rain drops on their faces. A strong wind blows around their coats and hats. A young man steps out of the crowd. He turns and faces the people. He starts to read out loud. It is a poem about some young soldiers who died fighting. He says:
Voice 3
“They will not grow old as we who are left grow old ...
At the going down of the sun and in the morning – we will remember them.”
Voice 1
The people bow their heads. They are thinking about members of their own families. These family members were brave men. They died here, in these fields, all those years ago. Now, all that is left here are thousands of white stones. They are all the same size and shape. These stones stand like soldiers – tall and straight. On each stone there are some words – names, dates. On many there are no names, just the words: “A soldier of the Great War, known to God.” Later, the people in the crowd will walk among these stones. They will find the stone for the person related³ to them. And they will put some flowers there. The flowers say, ‘Thank you’. They say, ‘We will never forget this sacrifice’.
Voice 2
A man called Harry⁴ Patch⁵ was invited to the ceremony.  But he chose not to go.  He was one of those soldiers in the Great War of 1914 to 1918.  But Harry survived.  He survived to the age of one hundred and eleven.  In his old age, Harry lived in a home in the west of England.  He would sit in a chair by the window.  In the distance, he could hear children playing.  Harry wore some shiny medals attached to his chest - awards for bravery.  People came to visit Harry.  They wanted to hear his story.  But it always troubled Harry to talk about the events of 1917.  When he did talk, he did not hide how bad it was.  Harry remembered,
Voice 4
“I was one of the poor foot soldiers. Poor is what we were! They paid us eighteen pence⁶ a day.”
Voice 1
Harry served in the British Army. In 1914, Germany invaded⁷ Belgium. Britain had a treaty⁸ with Belgium. The British government wanted to honour this. So, it declared war on Germany. A long, bloody⁹ conflict followed. Many of the battles took place in the fields of Northern France and Belgium – an area called the Western Front. Soldiers from each side dug trenches¹¹. These trenches were long deep holes in the surface of the ground. They were many kilometres long. Soldiers hid in the trenches. They also kept supplies and ammunition¹² in them. When it was time to fight, they climbed out of them. The two armies then faced each other on the land in between the two sets of trenches. The fighting was usually hard and fierce. Thousands of soldiers lost their lives in battles on the Western Front.
Voice 2
Harry Patch remembers war in the trenches. He is the last British soldier alive who does. He joined the army in 1916. He says:
Voice 4
“I knew what war was going to be like – dirty and horrible.”
Voice 2
The conditions in the trenches were particularly bad. Any rain that fell turned the earth into thick, wet mud. The mud would then stick to the soldiers’ clothes. Most of the time, it got inside their boots and wet their feet. Many soldiers became sick with “trench¹⁰ foot”. This condition developed if soldiers could not dry their feet. Doctors had to treat it straight away – or else the foot would become infected. Some soldiers even died from “trench foot”. In fact, death was hard to avoid on the Western Front. So how did Harry manage to survive?
Voice 1
It was September 1917. This was more than three years after the start of the war. The alliance¹³ of armies that included Britain formed a plan. Their aim was to capture¹⁴ a particular piece of high ground from their enemies. This land was near a small village called Passchendaele. Harry Patch was part of a group of five soldiers. Harry and the other soldiers were operating a machine gun. Their position was on the open ground between the trenches. After some time, the army leaders gave orders to Harry’s group. They told them to move back behind the attacking British soldiers. Harry and his friends obeyed. Suddenly, a German shell exploded nearby. Harry says:
Voice 4
“I can remember the shell bursting. I saw the bright light. But the next thing I remember was the medical station. I had a wound at the top of my leg.”
Voice 1
In fact, a piece of the shell had entered Harry’s leg. The doctors took it out while Harry was awake. Medical helpers had to hold Harry down while they did this – the pain was so bad. Harry remembers:
Voice 4
“The medical officer came to see me. He wrote something in a book. Later, somebody came in and called my name and number. He told me I was going back to England. I could not believe it.”
Voice 2
Harry and another soldier escaped death. But the explosion¹⁵ killed their three friends. And even after all these years, Harry cannot forget the terrors of war:
Voice 4
“I sit there and think. And some nights I dream – of my first battle. I cannot forget it. I fell in a trench. There was a soldier there. He must have been my age. Metal from a shell had torn open the top part of his body. I held his hand for the last sixty seconds of his life. He only said one word: “Mother”. He passed from this world into the next. And it felt as if I was in God’s presence¹⁶. You never forget it. Never.”
Voice 2
Harry Patch feels sad. He is not proud he is the last British soldier to survive the war in the trenches. For him, being the last soldier is a serious responsibility. He must continue to tell his story for as long as he can. And maybe one day, people will learn. And they will finally understand the terrible lesson that war can teach them.
Voice 4
“It wasn’t worth it. No war is worth it. No war is worth the loss of one or two lives, let alone thousands.”
 

1 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

2 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。

3 related   

adj.有关系的，有关联的，叙述的，讲述的

参考例句：

• I am not related to him in any way.我和他无任何关系。
• We spent days going through all related reference material.我们花了好多天功夫查阅所有有关的参考资料。

4 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

5 patch   

n.补丁；斑；一小块地；vt.补，修补

参考例句：

• This patch looks a bit unprofessional.这块补丁有点像出自外行之手。
• We managed to patch our quarrel.我们设法平息争吵。

6 pence   

n.便士；名词penny的复数形式

参考例句：

• She counted out fifteen pence and passed it to the salesgirl.她数出15个便士交给女店员。
• These apples are selling at 40 pence a kilo.这些苹果售价每公斤40便士。

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 treaty   

n.条约；协议，协定

参考例句：

• Hungary has indicated its readiness to sign the treaty.匈牙利已表示愿意签订该条约。
• I believe this treaty will pave the way to peace in Europe. 我相信这个条约将为欧洲的和平铺平道路。

9 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

10 trench   

n./v.(挖)沟，(挖)战壕

参考例句：

• The soldiers recaptured their trench.兵士夺回了战壕。
• The troops received orders to trench the outpost.部队接到命令在前哨周围筑壕加强防卫。

11 trenches   

深沟，地沟( trench的名词复数 )； 战壕

参考例句：

• life in the trenches 第一次世界大战期间的战壕生活
• The troops stormed the enemy's trenches and fanned out across the fields. 部队猛攻敌人的战壕，并在田野上呈扇形散开。

12 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

13 alliance   

n.同盟，同盟国，结盟，联姻

参考例句：

• China will not enter into alliance with any big power.中国不同任何大国结盟。
• The new alliance was very much in evidence.新的联盟上星期很引人注目。

14 capture   

vt.捕获，俘获；占领，夺得；n.抓住，捕获

参考例句：

• The company is out to capture the European market.这家公司希望占据欧洲市场。
• With the capture of the escaped tiger,everyone felt relieved.逃出来的老虎被捕获后，大家都松了一口气。

15 explosion   

n.爆发，发出，爆炸

参考例句：

• The police arrived right at the moment of the explosion.警察就在爆炸的那个时候赶到了。
• The shock of the explosion was felt far away.爆炸引起的震动很远都可感觉到。

16 presence   

n.出席；到场；存在

参考例句：

• Her presence lent an air of respectability to the occasion.她的到场使那种场合增添了崇高的气氛。
• His presence is indicative of his willingness to help.他的出席表示他愿意帮忙。