英语听力—环球英语 507 China’s New Favourite Book

　　Voice 1
Hello, I'm Liz Waid.
Voice 2
And I'm Ruby¹ Jones. 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
The Amity³ Printing Company - Nanjing, China. The quiet humming sound of equipment fills the air. These modern printing machines are able to produce large numbers of books very quickly. Every second, one complete book arrives at the end of the production line. The Amity printing factory is a very busy place! And the book that it is producing is in great demand. It has become one of China's best-selling books. In fact, in December 2007, Amity produced the fifty millionth copy of this book. So what is the name of this book? Well, the answer may surprise some people! It is the Bible - the Christian⁴ holy book.
Voice 2
So, why is this surprising? Well, China's recent history did not encourage religion of any kind. In 1949, twenty years of civil war finally ended. The winning side was the Chinese Communist Party. Its leader was called Mao Zedong. Zedong firmly rejected any kind of belief in God. Mao was a Communist. So he had particular ideas about how to manage the economy and land. These ideas centred on the people and did not include a belief in any kind of higher power. From 1949, China was officially an atheistic⁵ country - the authorities rejected the idea that a god of any kind existed. Later, Mao was reported to have said ‘Religion is poison'.
Voice 1
However, some people in China did believe in God. And some of those followed the teachings of Jesus Christ - they were Christians⁶. They wanted to continue to follow his ways - to meet together to pray and read the Bible. But behaving like this was illegal. It went against the values of Communism. So Christians had to meet in secret. And they had to hide their Bibles from the authorities.
Voice 2
Mao Zedong was responsible for what he called, the ‘Cultural Revolution'. He wanted all Chinese people to follow his particular communist beliefs. Mao Zedong ordered his ‘red guards' to arrest anyone who did not follow Communist Party rules. This included several different kinds of people - party members who did not agree with Zedong's methods, educated people, and religious people such as Christians. The authorities sent millions of people to work in prison camps. They executed many thousands of people. And they burned books that they considered to be anti-Communist, like the Bible.
Voice 1
During this time, Mao Zedong decided⁷ to published a book. It contained his thoughts on a number of different subjects. People called it, the "Little Red Book". And it became the most popular book in the country. Zedong expected people to read and learn about his ideas. If they did not, then they were not true Communists. So, the authorities punished them. It was a tense, difficult time for many Chinese people.
Voice 2
Mao Zedong died in 1976. And the Cultural Revolution finally came to an end one year later. A more moderate leader then took power: Deng Xiaoping. He reformed China's economy. And he permitted trade with international companies. This was something that Mao Zedong had refused to do. Slowly, China's economy became stronger and more successful. In fact, today, it is the second largest economy in the world. Chinese people have more money to spend. And more goods from all over the world are in stores for people to buy.
Voice 1
The government's attitude toward religion is also different. There are now a number of official churches across the country. And, many unofficial Christian groups also meet together. People estimate that the number of Chinese Christians is well over 30,000,000.
Voice 2
Li Bai Guang is a human rights lawyer. He is also a Christian. He believes that he knows why the number of Chinese Christians is increasing. He says:
Voice 3
"Rising wealth means that more and more people have been able to meet their material needs - the need for food and clothing. Then they are finding that they need to satisfy their spiritual needs - to look for happiness for their hearts. Also, they are seeing a breakdown⁸ in the moral order as money takes over. So, more and more people are turning to Christianity."
Voice 2
And, more and more people are buying Bibles. The Amity Printing Company is China's only authorized⁹ publisher of Bibles. The company started in 1986. Since that time, it has sold over 50,000,000 Bibles. And demand is increasing. So, the company opened an even larger factory in May 2008. This factory can produce 1,000,000 Bibles a month. This means that the total number of copies produced will increase by more than 300,000! Amity Printing will then be the largest single producer of Bibles in the world.
Voice 1
However, there are not many places that sell Bibles. Normal Chinese bookstores do not sell Bibles. So many people are surprised at the high number of sales each year. Official churches organize the sale of Bibles at church meetings or at other religious gatherings¹⁰.
Voice 2
And the Amity Printing company is happy to work with the Chinese government in this matter. It believes that it is offering a valuable service to the people of China. Peter Dean¹¹ has been working at Amity since 1991. He says:
Voice 4
"This factory has been built as a blessing¹² to the Chinese nation. It will print Bibles for China for as long as it takes to do it."
Voice 2
China has come a long way since the days of Mao Zedong and the Cultural Revolution. And so has the Bible. We finish today's programme with some words from this best-selling book:
Voice 5
"Do not worry about anything. But pray and ask God for everything you need - always giving thanks. God's peace is so great that we cannot understand it. But it will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."
 

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 amity   

n.友好关系

参考例句：

• He lives in amity with his neighbours.他和他的邻居相处得很和睦。
• They parted in amity.他们很友好地分别了。

4 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。

5 atheistic   

adj.无神论者的

参考例句：

• She has the gift of the gab.她口才很好。
• With his gift of gab, he should make an excellent politician.以其雄辩之才，他应该可以成为出色的政治家。

6 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。

7 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。

8 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。

9 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

10 gatherings   

聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集

参考例句：

• His conduct at social gatherings created a lot of comment. 他在社交聚会上的表现引起许多闲话。
• During one of these gatherings a pupil caught stealing. 有一次，其中一名弟子偷窃被抓住。

11 Dean   

n.(大学)院长，系主任，教务长

参考例句：

• The students much like the new dean.学生们很喜欢这位新系主任。
• Who is the dean of the Foreign Languages Department?外语系主任是谁？

12 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。