英语听力—环球英语 476：Body Image: Big and Beautiful

　　Voice 1
Hello and welcome to Spotlight¹. I’m Mike Procter.
Voice 2
And I’m Marina Santee. 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 3
‘I do not care if she is crying. This will not hurt her. It is good for her. I was force fed as a child. And I cried too. I did not like it either. But when I got older I started doing it to myself. And then I liked it. When I was their age I cried. I ran away to be sick - just like they do now.’
Voice 1
The mother pours more milk into the bowl. Then she holds the bowl to her daughter's mouth. Noha is just seven years old. She has had enough. She cries and pushes the milk away. The little girl’s stomach cannot take any more. The food comes back out of her mouth as she is sick several times. But the milk remains² in front of her. She must sit there until she has drunk³ it all. Noha’s mother has only just begun ‘gavage’ with her. Gavage is a French word meaning force feeding. It is an old cultural tradition in Mauritania, West Africa. This is where Noha and her mother live. In today’s programme we look at ideas of body shape in Mauritania.
Voice 2
Mauritania is a country of deep tradition and culture. And one of these is 'being big is beautiful'. Throughout⁴ Mauritania’s history, women have followed the custom of gavage. Reports say this custom is less common in the cities today. But it is still present in country areas.
Voice 1
Noha’s family lives in a country area - three hundred [300] kilometres southeast of the capital city. Noha’s mother explained why she force-feeds her daughters;
Voice 4
‘Men like women to be pleasing to their eyes and hands.’
‘Being fat speeds up a girl’s development. It changes her body quickly. Then she can get married faster’
Voice 1
People believe that a woman’s size sends out a message about her husband. Noha’s father explained;
Voice 5
‘Having a fat wife means⁵ that you are treating her well. You are giving her everything you have. Then other men speak well of you.’
Voice 2
Being fat may be pleasing to Mauritanian men. But what effect does it have on the female⁶ body?
An emergency vehicle⁷ stops outside Nouakchott Hospital. Inside the vehicle is a woman - Amy. Amy is extremely⁸ fat. In medical terms, she is obese⁹. Her health is suffering because of this. She can feel her heart beating strongly. She hears it in her head - loud and fast. She has high blood pressure. Medical workers take Amy inside to the heart department. Here, they will try to treat her health problems.
Voice 1
Nouakchott is the capital city of Mauritania. Doctors in Nouakchott Hospital treat women like Amy every day. In the same hospital is Aminetou. She too is suffering from severe¹⁰ health problems because of gavage.
The doctor can also see evidence¹¹ of pinching¹³ on Aminetou’s arm. In gavage, some mothers use sticks to pinch¹², to press the girl's skin together until it hurts. The idea is that the pain forces the girl to think about something else and to forget about rejecting the food.
Aminetou tells her experiences as a child;
Voice 5
‘I was beaten. I was sick again and again. My arm was pinched¹⁴ until it broke. I had to drink a full bowl of milk in the morning, at noon and at night. I was made to eat animal fat. I was very overweight.’
Voice 2
Lebneik Mint¹⁵ Soule is the government Minister for Women in Mauretania. She says that gavage is not as common today as it was in the past:
Voice 6
‘Gavage in the cities is starting to disappear because people know about the health risks. In country areas people are less educated¹⁶, so it continues. But today most people want their children to go to school. They do not want anything to stop them studying. So gavage is decreasing.
Voice 1
Gavage may be less common in the cities. But some modern women have found new ways to make themselves fat - a kind of ‘false gavage’. They are buying drugs to make themselves fat! Some human rights workers feel that social pressure makes women take these drugs. SUnya Mohamed Saleek is a human rights activist¹⁷. She works¹⁸ to help women and children in Mauretania. Sunya says:
Voice 6
‘The false gavage is so dangerous. People do not understand the serious effects of these products. They do not know! Some people do know - but they do not care. They want to be fat. They do not care what it costs!’
Voice 2
Sunya asked a local market seller¹⁹ for drugs to make her fat. The seller took the drugs from their hiding place - under the clothes she was selling. Sunya bought the drugs to get a medical opinion about them.
Doctor Ahmed Ould Eba works in the city. He said:
Voice 4
'This drug will increase a woman’s desire to eat. It will make a woman greedy. She will want to eat all the time. This other one is for animals - including camels. It even has a picture of a camel on the box. But some women do not think; they just take it. I have seen patients who took a lot of this. Their livers²⁰ failed. A woman who gains weight in this way risks a lot of health problems.’
Voice 1
It is late in the day, in the capital city of Nouakchott. A group of women are just leaving the sports centre! This is an unusual place for women to be. But here, a small minority have decided²¹ to go against the tradition of being big! They have decided to put their health first. One woman said:
Voice 7
‘People do not think well of women who are doing sports. When I came out someone said to me, “Why are you trying to be thin? You will not be beautiful.” But I do not want to be very thin. And I do not want to be very fat.’
Voice 1
These young sports women have decided to listen to their own minds - and not the voice of society. This is a rare²² and difficult thing to do anywhere - not just in Mauretania! Many people do not even think to question the ideas that society says are normal!
 

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 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 drunk   

adj.醉酒的；(喻)陶醉的；n.酗酒者，醉汉

参考例句：

• People who drives when they are drunk should be heavily penalised.醉酒驾车的人应受重罚。
• She found him drunk when she came home at night.她晚上回家时，经常发现他醉醺醺的。

4 throughout   

adv.到处，自始至终；prep.遍及，贯穿

参考例句：

• These magazines are sold at bookstores throughout the country.这些杂志在全国各地书店均有发售。
• Guilin is known throughout the world for its scenery.桂林以山水著称于世。

5 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

6 female   

adj.雌的，女(性)的；n.雌性的动物，女子

参考例句：

• We only employ female workers.我们只雇用女工。
• The animal in the picture was a female elephant.照片上的动物是头母象。

7 vehicle   

n.车辆，交通工具，运载工具；媒介，表现手段

参考例句：

• Air is the vehicle of sound.空气是声音传播的媒介。
• The power plant burns used vehicle tyres as fuel.这家电厂用废弃轮胎作燃料。

8 extremely   

adv.极其，非常，极度

参考例句：

• The film is extremely good,I just cannot miss it.这部电影太精彩了，我非看不可。
• The old man was extremely difficult to get along with.这个老人极难相与。

9 obese   

adj.过度肥胖的，肥大的

参考例句：

• The old man is really obese,it can't be healthy.那位老人确实过于肥胖了，不能算是健康。
• Being obese and lazy is dangerous to health.又胖又懒危害健康。

10 severe   

adj.严格的，凶猛的，严肃的，严重的，严厉的，朴素的

参考例句：

• The severe storm did for most of the crops.猛烈的暴风雨毁掉了大部分庄稼。
• The pace was too severe to be kept up for long.跟上这步伐太难了，无法持久。

11 evidence   

n.明显，显著，明白，迹象，根据，[物]证据，证物

参考例句：

• The first signs of spring are in evidence.春天的最初迹象已显然可见。
• From the evidence I must conclude that you are wrong.从证据看，我敢断定你错了。

12 pinch   

n.捏，撮，困苦，偷窃；vt.掐，使...困苦，偷窃

参考例句：

• She would pinch on food in order to spend on clothing.她过去常把伙食费省下来买衣服。
• He put a pinch of salt on his food.他在自己的食物上撒了一撮盐。

13 pinching   

v.收聚；夹痛( pinch的现在分词 )；逮捕；盗窃；使入不敷出adj.引起痛苦[拮据]的，吝啬的

参考例句：

• My sister's always pinching me and it really hurts. 我姐姐老拧我，好痛喔。
• He led his life, pinching and scraping. 他省吃俭用地过日子。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 pinched   

adj.短缺的，匮乏的v.夹痛( pinch的过去式和过去分词 )；逮捕；盗窃；使入不敷出

参考例句：

• He pinched the leaf between his thumb and forefinger. 他将叶子捏在拇指和食指之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A man pinched her bum on the train so she hit him. 在火车上有人捏她屁股，她打了那人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 mint   

n.薄荷，铸币厂；vt.铸造（硬币），创造（词）等

参考例句：

• The mint makes coins.铸币厂制造硬币。
• This candy tastes of mint.这糖果有薄荷味。

16 educated   

adj.受过教育的，有教养的

参考例句：

• She was well educated in literature at a university.她在大学里受到良好的文学方面的教育。
• Children should be educated in a correct way.教育孩子要得法。

17 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

18 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。

19 seller   

n.售货者，畅销品

参考例句：

• I hope for this book to become a best seller.我希望这本书会成为一本畅销书。
• She drove a hard bargain with the seller.她狠杀卖主的价。

20 livers   

n.肝脏( liver的名词复数 )；（供食用的）肝；过着某种生活的人

参考例句：

• I want some chicken livers and giblets. 我要些鸡胗肝。 来自无师自通 校园英语会话
• Regular exercise reduces fat in livers of diabetics, according to a study. 根据一项研究显示，规律的运动能够减低糖尿病患者的脂肪肝。 来自互联网

21 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。

22 rare   

adj.稀罕的，罕有的，珍贵的，稀薄的，半熟的，非常的；adv.非常

参考例句：

• It is rare to see a man over 160 years old.很少见到一个人能活到160岁。
• The zoo has a lot of rare animals in it.这个动物园有许多珍奇的动物。