英语听力—环球英语 473：Body Image: Running on Empty

　　Voice 1
Hello, I’m Ruby¹ Jones.
Voice 2
And I’m Adam Navis. 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
Allie Outram sat looking at the television. She was watching the greatest sports competition in the world – the Olympic Games in Beijing, China. Allie shouted her support for the runners on the television. But in her heart, she felt some regret. Allie could have been one of those runners. When she was at school, she was a great runner. She had even represented her country – the United Kingdom! And she had been a member of the national athletics³ team. So what had happened? What stopped Allie from competing at the very highest level?
Voice 2
From a young age, Allie showed a great natural gift for sport. And she showed great promise for the future. Sport was one area of her life where Allie felt in control. But at home, Allie struggled to feel a sense of belonging. Her father worked in a private boys’ school. He was responsible for taking care of sixty [60] boys during the school term – as well as his own family. But Allie found this very difficult. She felt that her father did not understand how to behave towards her because she was a girl. She explains:
Voice 3
“I spent a lot of my early years wishing I was a boy. I envied my younger brother...he was very thin and I decided⁴ to become like him to try and win my parents’ love...I did not feel a sense of belonging.”
Voice 1
As a young girl, Allie suffered a terrible incident. A man attacked Allie. He forced her to have sex with him. This event left Allie physically⁵ and mentally wounded. She felt dirty and full of shame. At the time she did not understand that she was not to blame. She says:
Voice 3
“I believed that I deserved to be hurt. I directed my anger towards myself for being such a ‘bad’ person – someone who had done nothing to stop that man treating me badly.”
Voice 1
Allie could not deal with the intense feelings of self–hatred. She began to use control of food as a way to ease her mind. From this, she developed an eating disorder⁶. She says:
Voice 3
“I could not stop thinking about food – what to eat, what not to eat. I formed a relationship with it ... it made me feel better. This gave me a greater chance of protecting myself from being hurt by other people.”
Voice 2
Allie soon became expert in controlling what kind of food she ate. She felt pleasure in denying her body the energy it needed. She set herself targets of how much weight she could lose – and she always managed to reach them. Allie pushed herself in everything that she did – schoolwork, sport.
Voice 1
Allie decided to concentrate on running. It was a sport for individuals, not teams. So she could control her training programme herself. Allie describes her progress as a runner:
Voice 3
“I experienced success very quickly. This was because I was pushing myself hard. I had a will of iron and complete self–control. I was able to push my body to the limit.”
Voice 1
And Allie had found the perfect environment to hide her eating disorder. She explains:
Voice 3
“The athletics environment urges people to have little or no body fat. And it approves of people who exercise much more than they need to. This made it easier for me to continue having an eating disorder. And it made it more difficult for people to see that I had this disorder – and for it to be treated.”
Voice 2
All the time, Allie was getting thinner and thinner. At her worst point she weighed only thirty kilogrammes. And her condition reached crisis⁷ point. Her body seemed little more than skin and bone. It was painful for her to sit on hard surfaces. As she walked, she felt her knee bones rub together. Her skin was dry and her hair split⁸ easily. She could not keep warm. In fact, Allie was close to death.
Voice 1
Doctors told Allie she had to choose: eat, or die. Allie did start to eat – and eat and eat. The severe self-control disappeared. And Allie developed an eating condition called bulimia nervosa. She ate huge amounts of food – then made herself sick to get rid of it. Allie remembers:
Voice 3
“Bulimia seemed an easy solution at first. If I ate a lot, I made myself sick. If I hated the way my body looked, I exercised. But those ‘solutions’ drove me deeper into hopelessness, self–hatred and dependence⁹.”
Voice 2
Allie spent 2 years in hospital receiving treatment for her eating disorders¹⁰. She received all kinds of help from different health experts. But she still felt that no one had dealt with the reasons behind her sickness.
Over time, Allie met some people who had experienced similar health problems. She learned how they had dealt with their issues. These particular people told Allie it was because God had freed them. Their changed lives encouraged Allie. And she started to ask more and more questions about God.
She attended a series of studies at her local church. These studies explored the Christian¹¹ faith and what it meant to be a follower¹² of Jesus Christ. And slowly, Allie understood more and more about herself. She says:
Voice 3
“Slowly, I understood that I needed to be satisfied in my spirit. I prayed for healing and freedom. But for me it was going to be a process – not the miracle of an immediate¹³ change... I had found a place of belonging and I started believing. But the change in behaviour took a lot longer.”
Voice 1
Allie discovered a programme run by Mercy Ministries¹⁴. This aid group specializes in helping¹⁵ young women with problems like Allie’s. And the group deals with every area of a woman’s needs: physical, spiritual and emotional. Allie spent two years working through her problems. She discovered that God loved her as his daughter. She understood that her true worth came from knowing him. And she experienced peace when she permitted God, not her, to control her life.
Voice 2
Now, Allie’s physical condition has greatly improved. And her life has new meaning and purpose. She says:
Voice 3
“We were made by God and for God. And until we understand this, life will not make sense. It is only in God that we discover our origin, our character, our meaning, our purpose... Every other path leads to a dead end.”
 

1 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。

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 athletics   

n.运动，体育，田径运动

参考例句：

• When I was at school I was always hopeless at athletics.我上学的时候体育十分糟糕。
• Our team tied with theirs in athletics.在田径比赛中，我们队与他们队旗鼓相当。

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 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

6 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

7 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

8 split   

n.劈开，裂片，裂口；adj.分散的；v.分离，分开，劈开

参考例句：

• Who told you that Mary and I had split up?谁告诉你玛丽和我已经离婚了？
• The teacher split the class up into six groups.老师把班级分成6个小组。

9 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

10 disorders   

n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调

参考例句：

• Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 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。

12 follower   

n.跟随者；随员；门徒；信徒

参考例句：

• He is a faithful follower of his home football team.他是他家乡足球队的忠实拥护者。
• Alexander is a pious follower of the faith.亚历山大是个虔诚的信徒。

13 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

14 ministries   

（政府的）部( ministry的名词复数 )； 神职； 牧师职位； 神职任期

参考例句：

• Local authorities must refer everything to the central ministries. 地方管理机构应请示中央主管部门。
• The number of Ministries has been pared down by a third. 部委的数量已经减少了1/3。

15 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。