英语听力—环球英语 529 Women and Work: Saudi Arabia

　　Voice 1
Hello and welcome to Spotlight¹. I'm Mike Procter.
Voice 2
And I'm Ruby² Jones. 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
A business woman walks into a hotel. A young girl welcomes her. She is the hotel receptionist. She asks the business woman to sign some payment³ forms. Then the hotel worker gives the woman her room keys. The business woman smiles. She likes staying here. The young hotel worker turns to welcome the next customer - also a woman. In fact, there are no men here all. This is a women-only hotel!
Voice 2
The Luthan Hotel and Spa lies in Saudi Arabia's capital city - Riyadh. It is the kingdom's first women-only hotel! The hotel workers are women. The customers are women. And the owners are women!  Princess Madawi is head of the hotel's governing committee. She explains one idea behind the Luthan hotel:
Voice 3
‘Luthan comes from the Arabic word Malath, meaning a place that a person can escape to.'
Voice 1
Part of the idea is to create a place where women can be at ease⁴. They do not have to keep their heads covered as they do in front of men. They do not have to depend on male family members to take them to the hotel, or to organise⁵ their stay. And the women are free to use all the hotel services all the time - like the swimming pool, exercise room and spa. In normal hotels, women can only use these services at particular times.
Voice 2
The Luthan hotel opened in 2008. And it already has the support of many business women. Fadwa al Hamoud is a doctor from a town in the east of Saudi. She has stayed at the Luthan. She says:
Voice 4
‘I enjoyed it. I like the idea of only-for women...'
‘I feel free... it is very difficult for women to be alone in this city.
Voice 1
Saudi Arabia has rules that limit women from travelling alone. Until recently, women could not get a room in a hotel without a signed letter of permission from a male family member. Ms Homoud remembers a bad experience she had when travelling alone. She flew to Jeddah for a meeting. But she forgot to take her father's letter - saying he permitted her to go. She tells how the hotel refused to give her a room without the letter. And that it was late at night. Ms Hamoud had to telephone a male friend. He got the room for her in his business' name. Bad experiences like this do not happen in a women-only hotel. It is no surprise to hear Ms Hamoud say:
Voice 4
'I prefer to stay in a place like this.'
Voice 2
There are other reasons why women like the Luthan Hotel. Business women welcome a place where they can do business without men around. They see the Luthan as a sign of progress. It is enabling⁶ them to work and rest without male restrictions⁸.
Voice 1
But not everyone sees it in this way. Some women do not support the idea of a female⁹-only hotel. They worry that in the future, it may bring more restrictions in the country. There are already laws that stop men and women mixing together. What if the law-makers decide to make all hotels male-only or female-only? What if all public places become like this? There would increase the divides between men and women even more.
Hasna al Qunayeer is a teacher at King Saud University. She does not agree with the idea behind the hotel. She says:
Voice 5
‘It is not good. Maybe some people will try to make other hotels like this - keeping the women separate from the men. Always they will keep men and women separate.'
Voice 2
Hasna's daughter agrees. She does not think the hotel is a sign of progress! It is moving people's thinking backwards¹⁰ not forward. She says:
Voice 6
‘It is taking a step backwards. Religious leaders in our country are trying to say that men and women being together could cause people who are not married to each other to have sex. And it is not true.'
Voice 2
Lorraine Coutinho is the director of Luthan Hotel. She says that the hotel will give women power - not take it away.
Voice 3
‘Princess Madawi wishes to empower the women of the land with trade skills. These will help strengthen the national employment¹¹ policy'
Voice 1
The Luthan Hotel is just one of many ‘female only' places in Saudi Arabia. There are banks with female-only branches. There is a whole block of stores that are women only. And there are even plans for a female only university!
Voice 2
The Princess Noura bint Abdulrahman University is set to open in 2010. It will be the largest of its kind - with room for forty thousand students. King Abdullah attended a special ceremony on the building site - to officially begin the building work. Khaled al-Angari is Saudi Arabia's education minister. He said:
Voice 7
‘The king being present shows his support for women's empowerment. It shows his strong desire to increase higher education.'
Voice 2
There are high hopes for the university. Some people say it will offer subjects that are usually difficult for women to study, in a male governed society. Women with greater skills could go on to help develop Saudi Arabia's economy. UNESCO is the United Nation's group concerned with education. It says that almost sixty percent of Saudi students are female. Yet only sixteen percent of the Saudi workforce¹² are women! Yet the percentage of women in education is more than three times this number! So, is there a place for the skilled¹³, educated woman in Saudi Arabia's workforce? In a society where men rule, will a wider education improve her employment chances? She could work in a female-only hotel, like Luthan - but would she want to?
Voice 1
Hotels and universities for women exist in many parts of the world because some women prefer them. But the idea is new in Saudi Arabia. What are your thoughts on female-only places in Saudi Arabia? Are they opening the door to employment and freedom for women? Or, are they simply a different kind of restriction⁷? Write and tell us what you think! Our email address is radio at english dot net.
 

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 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。

3 payment   

n.付款，支付，偿还，偿还，报应

参考例句：

• I gave ten pounds in payment for the goods I bought.我买那些东西付了10英镑。
• This last payment will wipe out your debt to me.这最后一笔付款将了结你欠我的债务。

4 ease   

n. 安乐,安逸,悠闲; v. 使...安乐,使...安心,减轻,放松

参考例句：

• His mind was at ease and he felt confident in the future. 他心情舒畅,对前途很有信心。
• You should ease up on the child and stop scolding her. 你应该对那个孩子宽松些,不要再骂她了。

5 organise   

vt.组织，安排，筹办

参考例句：

• He has the ability to organise.他很有组织才能。
• It's my job to organise all the ceremonial events.由我来组织所有的仪式。

6 enabling   

adj.有可能，或有条件完成的v.使能够，提供做…的权利[措施]( enable的现在分词 )；使可能

参考例句：

• He received a laissez-passer enabling him to leave the country. 他获得了一张护照使他能离开这国家。 来自辞典例句
• Nor do many agency enabling acts deal explicitly with the subject of discovery. 许多机关的授权法案也没有明确论及要求告知的条款。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

7 restriction   

n.限制，约束

参考例句：

• The park is open to the public without restriction.这个公园对公众开放，没有任何限制。
• The 30 mph speed restriction applies in all built-up areas.每小时限速30英里适用于所有建筑物聚集区。

8 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

9 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。

10 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

11 employment   

n.雇用；使用；工作，职业

参考例句：

• A large office requires the employment of many people.一个大办事处需要雇用好多人员。
• The state of employment in this city is improving.这个城市就业状况正在改善。

12 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

13 skilled   

adj.(in)熟练的，有技能的；需要技能的

参考例句：

• Unskilled workers usually earn less money than skilled workers.无技能的工人通常比有技能的工人挣钱少。
• She was skilled enough in French to translate a novel.她法语娴熟，足以翻译小说。