英语听力—环球英语 492 Listener Mail 101

　　Voice 1
Hello and welcome to Spotlight¹. I’m Marina Santee.
Voice 2
And I’m Mike Procter. 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. Our first letter comes from Ilyes in Algeria. He writes about our programme Understanding Your Dreams:
Understanding Your Dreams
"I went to get some extra milk. I realized while I was in the store that I was naked². I wondered how to get home without any shoes on."
"I was falling and falling off a cliff³ down into a deep canyon⁴ ..."
Voice 2
Ilyes liked the fun nature of this programme. He also shared one of his dreams and goals in life. He desires to speak English softly⁵. Ilyes, I am sure that you can reach this goal. And we hope that Spotlight can help you!
Voice 1
Our next letter comes from Le Anh Tuan in Vietnam. Le Anh Tuan writes about an issue that lots of people are talking about - global warming!
Voice 3
‘Global warming is the increase in the average temperature of the earth’s near-surface air and the oceans. It causes a lot of problems to the environment, human life and animals. But who creates global warming? We polluted the air, the ocean and the seas.’
Voice 1
Like many people, Le Anh Tuan is concerned about the effects of climate change. He suggests some ways that people can help care for their environment:
Voice 3
‘We must stop throwing away waste. We must re-use waste. We should use public transport instead of personal cars and motorbikes. We could use solar energy from the sun, or wind power for electricity.’
Voice 1
Thanks for talking about such an important issue Le Anh Tuan You are right. We must all work together to help our planet⁶.
Voice 2
Our next email is from Gianni in Italy. He writes:
Voice 4
‘I am 44 years old. I am learning⁷ in English for my job. One year ago I could not speak even one word of English. I began listening to your programme, downloading it onto my ipod. I listen before I go to sleep. It is not easy after a hard day’s work. I listen to your programme and it helps me very much.’
Voice 2
Gianni, congratulations on your level of English. I think your story will greatly encourage other people learning English. Last year you could not speak any English. And today, you write and speak English to a good level. Congratulations!
Voice 1
Next we have a letter from Elzbieta in Poland. She says that Spotlight is her favourite website. She is happy that there is a free website for learning English.
Voice 1
Elzbieta also writes:
Voice 5
‘I have a suggestion. A glossary⁸ with the difficult words would be very helpful. For example: to purchase means to buy something.’
Voice 1
Thanks for your suggestion Elzbieta. Our word list uses many of the words we use in the program. You can find this on our website. We also try to make the meaning of the words clear in the programme. But we will think about other ways to define⁹ and explain words. We hope you continue to enjoy Spotlight!
Voice 2
Now we have a letter from Alireza in Iran. He writes:
Voice 3
‘I want to know about Christian¹¹ special days and their holidays. I have a Christian friend. I want to send him an email on these days. Thank you.’
Voice 2
Thanks for the interesting question! Christians¹² celebrate many holidays through the year. There are two that are the most important: Easter and Christmas. Most people celebrate Christmas on December the twenty fifth. At Christmas, Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ¹⁰. They give each other gifts and share a meal with family and friends.
The date for Easter changes every year. But it is always in the northern spring. In the northern hemisphere¹³, spring is in the months of March and April. This year, Christians from Eastern and Western traditions will celebrate Easter on the same day - April the fourth. Easter represents Jesus’ death and resurrection. So people give each other eggs. The eggs represent new life. Some people give real eggs, children like sweet chocolate eggs. People greet each other by saying ‘Happy Easter. Christ is risen.’
There are other holidays and celebrations around Easter and Christmas. We have some programmes on our website. Look for ‘Advent’, ‘Easter around the world’, and ‘The Last Passover.’
We hope this helps you to share greetings with your friend.
Voice 1
Our next letter comes from the Netherlands:
Voice 4
‘The listen and read programme is very good. I think it is better if the sound is on all the pages. You can stop, and listen again to words that you need to hear, and start again.’
Voice 1
Thank you for writing. Yes you are right. The best way to learn English is to listen and read at the same time. You can follow the words on the script¹⁴ as you hear them. In this way, you can improve your listening and reading skills. We wish you the best of luck.
Voice 1
Our last letter made us smile. It comes from Adem in Turkey:
Voice 3
‘Dear friends. Your programme gave me extra energy. I returned home a bit tired and sad from my job. Then I decided¹⁵ to check my email and listen to your programme. Suddenly I shouted. I saw my name on your programme - Listener Mail 99. I forgot about my sadness and tiredness. Small things make us happy sometimes. I hope everyone can find something to be happy about. We know life is so hard. But, there are lots of good things. Let us look at the good sides of life together.’
Voice 1
Thank you for your encouraging and wise words Adem. We like them a lot! You are right. It is good to think about the positive things in life, and enjoy them together.
Voice 2
Well that is all we have time for today. We hope you have enjoyed our listener mail programme.
 

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 naked   

adj.裸露的；赤裸裸的，无遮蔽的

参考例句：

• To the east of our school,there's a naked hillside.我们学校东边有片光秃秃的山坡。
• The children stripped off their clothes and swam naked in the river.孩子们脱得光溜溜的在河里游泳。

3 cliff   

n.悬崖，峭壁

参考例句：

• The cliff edge is dangerous and should be railed.崖边危险，应该用栏杆围起来。
• He took the measure of the cliff before he climbed it.他把悬崖的高度估量一下后再攀登。

4 canyon   

n.峡谷，溪谷

参考例句：

• The Grand Canyon in the USA is 1900 metres deep.美国的大峡谷1900米深。
• The canyon is famous for producing echoes.这个峡谷以回声而闻名。

5 softly   

adv.柔和地，静静地，温柔地

参考例句：

• He speaks too softly for her to hear.他讲话声音太轻，她听不见。
• She breathed her advice softly.她低声劝告。

6 planet   

n.行星

参考例句：

• Neptune is the furthest planet from the sun. 海王星是离太阳最远的行星。
• Rubbish, however, is only part of the problem of polluting our planet. 然而, 垃圾只是我们这个星球的污染问题的一个方面。

7 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。

8 glossary   

n.注释词表；术语汇编

参考例句：

• The text is supplemented by an adequate glossary.正文附有一个详细的词汇表。
• For convenience,we have also provided a glossary in an appendix.为了方便，我们在附录中也提供了术语表。

9 define   

vt.解释，下定义，阐述，限定，规定

参考例句：

• Please define the words.请解释这些字的意义。
• It's hard to define exactly what has changed.很难解释清楚到底发生了什么变化。

10 Christ   

n.基督，救世主，耶稣

参考例句：

• I regarded him as the Christ.我把他当作救世主。
• Christ preached that we should love each other.基督在布道中说人们应该互爱。

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 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

13 hemisphere   

n.半球，半球地图

参考例句：

• This animal is to be found only in the Southern Hemisphere.这种动物只有在南半球才能找到。
• In most people,the left hemisphere is bigger than the right.多数人的左脑比右脑大。

14 script   

n.剧本，广播稿；文字体系；笔迹，手迹

参考例句：

• It's easy to identify his script.他的笔迹容易辨认。
• The script is massaged into final form.这篇稿子经过修改已定稿。

15 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。