英语听力—环球英语 585 Land Ownership: Bangladesh

　　Voice 1
Hello and welcome to Spotlight¹. I'm Marina Santee.
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 3
‘The rich man claimed that my father had sold him forty-eight pieces of land. But I told him I only knew about twelve. I asked to see my father's finger print on the original agreement paper. But the man got very angry. He started threatening me with death.'
Voice 1
This story is one of many about land disagreements in Bangladesh. This man tells that his father had sold some land to pay for health treatment. Sadly, the treatment did not work and he died. After his death, the land buyer claimed he had bought more land. But this was not true. And so the son was left fighting for his father's remaining land. But the buyer was a rich and powerful man. And the son was not. So the son was unable to take the case to court. He feared for his life. Finally, he lost the land.
Voice 2
In today's Spotlight we share some of the experiences of people who have suffered from land struggles. And we hear about a new government idea that hopes to completely change the country.
Voice 1
Bangladesh is home to over 150 million people. All these people have to share less than 140,000 square kilometres. This is not very much. And the population is continuing to increase. Land where people live and farm is decreasing because of rising sea levels and worse floods. One local scientist said:
Voice 3
‘You have a society that is under extreme environmental pressure. And there is no new farming land. The land is passed from one generation to another. It gets divided into smaller and smaller parts. And as a result, people become poorer.'
Voice 2
Fights over land ownership³ are very common. A local aid group said that eighty percent of legal battles in Bangladesh are about land.
Voice 1
Dipty Roy lives in Bangladesh's capital city, Dhaka. She bought a piece of land in a village on the east side of Dhaka. She hoped to build a house there. However, she says that business men produced false papers claiming they owned the land. They put pressure on her to sell her land for less than its value. Dipty said she had no hope of winning any court case. And so she sold her land for a lower price.
Voice 2
Taser Mandal is in his seventies. He lives in the northwestern area of Rajshahi. His father died in the early 1960s. His father had been involved with a land dispute⁴ with some rich relations. And when he died, Taser had to continue his fight. The fight lasted almost twenty years! But his richer relations won the battle. Taser and his brothers were left with nothing. Taser said sadly, ‘people can buy justice.'
Voice 1
Land ownership is complex in Bangladesh. The current system has its roots in history. Today's land laws are based on laws the British set up in the eighteenth century. However, many changes have been made since then. Rich and powerful people know how to use - and abuse⁵ - the laws. The result is that many of the country's poor people are left without land. Past governments have failed to enforce⁶ limits on the amount of land individuals can own. As well as this, there is much crime involved with land. Rich people pay officials to do illegal deals. They illegally claim ‘khas land' - public land that the government owns. Rich people pay for false papers to state that they own the land. In some parts of Dhaka, one small piece of land can have as many as forty listed owners! Small farmers are one of the groups that suffer under such a system. They are left without land. Many move to the cities, often to poor, slum⁷, areas.
Voice 2
The current government has said it has plans to bring big changes to Bangladesh. Its project, ‘Vision⁸ 21' aims to turn Bangladesh into a ‘developed' country by the year 2021. It hopes to improve the economy, decrease crime and bring in justice for the landless poor. How does it plan to do all this? Largely⁹, by going digital!
Voice 1
Going digital means using computer technology to bring changes. Vision 21 includes plans to train 10,000 computer programmers a year. The government hopes to use different forms of computer technology to expand its economy and reduce poverty.
Voice 2
A key part of reducing poverty is changing the land ownership system. Vision 21 plans to make land ownership records digital. A computer program will store all the information about who owns the land. People will be able to take a paper print of the document. Also under the proposed¹⁰ system, only one authority¹¹ will control the land ownership documents. There are also plans to give pieces of khas land to poor people.
Voice 1
Shamsul Huda is director of the Association¹² for Land Reform and Development. He is hopeful about the governments plans to ‘go digital'. He hopes to see local power structures change completely and empower the poor.
Voice 3
‘The poor will be able to get their voices heard.'
Voice 2
It will not be easy to bring so many changes by 2021. Some people have concerns about how the plans will really work. They fear that Vision 21 was simply part of the political party's method to win votes in the elections¹³. They have seen other governments' plans come and go without much change. Only time will show if the new program succeeds in improving the lives of poor people, and creating a fair land system. However the people of Bangladesh are not ready to give up yet. Their fighting spirit caught the interest of an American television organisation¹⁴ - PBS. In a recent broadcast they said:
Voice 4
‘Bangladesh has never been about half measures. It has always been about extremes. And for the people living in a country of extremes there are no simple answers and no easy solutions. But the people of Bangladesh are hard working. They share a strong desire to improve the quality of their lives. They have remained devoted¹⁵ to their land for centuries.'
 

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 ownership   

n.所有(权)，所有制

参考例句：

• The house is under new ownership.那栋房子已易新主。
• He claimed ownership of the house.他声称那幢房子归他所有。

4 dispute   

n.争端，分歧；v.争论，争吵，辩论，辩驳

参考例句：

• They are trying to find a way of settling the dispute.他们正设法寻找解决争端的办法。
• The parties to the dispute should be more polite to each other.争执双方应相互礼貌些。

5 abuse   

vt.滥用；辱骂；诋毁；n.滥用；恶习；弊端

参考例句：

• You can't make personal abuse on her.你不可对她进行人身攻击。
• She screamed abuse at me.她尖声责备我。

6 enforce   

vt.实施，执行；强制，强迫；加强，坚持

参考例句：

• You have no right to enforce your own views on me.你无权把你自己的观点强加给我。
• They tried to enforce agreement with their plans.他们企图迫使人们同意他们的计划。

7 slum   

n.贫民窟，贫民区；vi.（因好奇而）逛贫民区

参考例句：

• These children came from a slum area.这些孩子来自贫民窟区。
• What a wretched existence the people in the slum lead!这个贫民窟里的人们过着多么令人悲惨的生活啊！

8 vision   

n.视觉，先见之明，光景，视力，眼力，幻想，影像；vt.幻想

参考例句：

• The wall cuts across our line of vision.那面墙挡住了我们的视线。
• Much reading has impaired his vision.大量读书损害了他的视力。

9 largely   

adv.大部分，主要地

参考例句：

• It is largely dependent on the weather.这多半取决于天气情况。
• Their conclusions were largely founded on guesswork.他们的结论大部份基于猜测。

10 proposed   

被提议的

参考例句：

• There is widespread discontent among the staff at the proposed changes to pay and conditions. 员工对改变工资和工作环境的建议普遍不满。
• an outcry over the proposed change 对拟议的改革所发出的强烈抗议

11 authority   

n.当局，官方；权力，权威，威信；当权者

参考例句：

• He is recognized internationally as an authority in this field.国际上承认他是这方面的一个权威。
• Professor White is looked upon as an authority on mathematics.怀特教授被看成数学权威。

12 association   

n.联盟，协会，社团；交往，联合；联想

参考例句：

• Our long association with your company has brought great benefits.我方和贵公司的长期合作带来了巨大的利益。
• I broke away from the association ten years ago.我10年前就脱离了那个团体。

13 elections   

n.选举，当选，推举( election的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Republicans got shellacked in the elections. 共和党在选举中一败涂地。
• He emerged victorious in the elections. 他在竞选中脱颖而出获得胜利。

14 organisation   

n.组织，安排，团体，有机休

参考例句：

• The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
• His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。

15 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。