英语听力—环球英语 603 Coffee Creating Good

　　Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight¹. I'm Liz Waid.
Voice 2
And I'm Joshua Leo. 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
People all around the world enjoy drinking coffee. It is one of the largest businesses in the world. The coffee industry makes billions of dollars every year. There are hundreds of thousands of coffee stores around the world. But there is a problem with the coffee industry. Many of the farmers who grow the coffee beans do not get paid enough money. Today's Spotlight is on this problem, and two companies who are working to change this.
Voice 2
To make money, farmers must sell their coffee to coffee buyers. These buyers sell the coffee to coffee companies. But often, coffee buyers purchase the coffee from the farmers and sell it for a much higher price. The buyers do not pay the farmers enough money. And the farmers can not control the price of coffee. Often, if the farmers do not sell the coffee to the buyer, there is no other way to sell it. Farmers are forced to sell their coffee at low prices.
Voice 1
But there is a movement to help these farmers - the fair trade movement. Companies buy the coffee directly² from the farmers. With the farmers, they set a fair price. Fair trade helps farmers feed their families, care for their homes, and grow their businesses.
Voice 2
One of these coffee companies is Stumptown. They have eight stores in the United³ States. Duane Sorensen is the owner of Stumptown. Stumptown buys directly from coffee cooperative⁴ groups in many countries. And they work with these groups to improve the quality of coffee. This also helps the farmers sell the coffee for more money.
Voice 1
In 2006, Sorenson visited coffee farmers in Rwanda. These farmers were part of the Karaba Coffee Cooperative. The farmers grow a very special kind of coffee. It tastes very good, but it is difficult to grow. Sorensen wanted to buy this coffee. But he also wanted to work with the farmers. So he asked them how he could help them to improve the coffee.
Voice 2
The farmers explained their need - a two wheeled bicycle. They grew coffee on high hills. But the processing center was in the valley. To sell their coffee, they had to bring it down the hills on bad roads to this center. And this created a problem.
Voice 1
The small coffee beans grow inside a cherry, a kind of fruit. If the coffee beans are not processed quickly, they go bad. They do not taste as good. If the farmers could take the coffee beans to the processing center faster, the beans would not go bad.
Voice 2
Researchers say that there are around 500,000 coffee farmers in Rwanda. Forty to fifty percent of the population depends on the coffee industry. And transportation⁵ is an important part of this. Many of the farmers in Rwanda carry the bags of coffee on their heads. They walk on rough⁶ roads down tall hills. This takes a lot of work, a lot of energy, and a lot of time.
Voice 1
So after speaking with farmers, Duane Sorensen went back to the United States. He started the organization "Bikes to Rwanda". He created the organization to provide cargo⁷ bicycles to coffee farmers. These cargo bicycles had special areas on the back to carry large bags of coffee. The bicycles were very strong. They could carry many bags of coffee.
Voice 2
So workers from Bikes to Rwanda took some new bicycles to the farmers. They asked the farmers if the bicycles would work on the rough roads. The coffee farmers were happy with these bicycles. These bicycles would help very much. So Bikes to Rwanda purchased four hundred cargo bicycles.
Voice 1
But the organization did not give these bicycles to the farmers for free. They sold the bicycles to the farmers for a low price. The farmers could pay small amounts of money over time to buy the bicycles. The organization did this to encourage the farmers to value and care for the bicycles.
Voice 2
The farmers started using the bicycles. They made more money because they could carry the coffee to the processing center more quickly. And when the farmers were not carrying coffee, they used the bicycles to carry things for their family and friends. Bikes to Rwanda also taught local people to repair and improve the bicycles. This means⁸ that the farmers can use these bicycles for many years to come.
Voice 1
Every day people purchase cups of coffee at Stumptown. And part of that money goes to Bikes to Rwanda. This is similar to the work of another coffee company. Pura Vida Coffee Company processes and sells coffee. Their goal is to "create good" through their coffee business. They want to show that businesses and aid groups can work together. In this way, they can help more people. Their name, "Pura Vida", means pure life in Spanish.
Voice 2
Pura Vida Coffee Company sells only fair trade coffee. But the company also operate programs to improve coffee growing communities. Pura Vida Coffee Company works⁹ with coffee farmers in Colombia, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru¹⁰, and Sumatra. In some of these areas, there are thousands of coffee farmers being helped by the company.
Voice 1
In Nicaragua, Pura Vida helped a community of 161 families. The community did not have clean water. Pura Vida helped dig¹¹ wells, buy water pumps, and build water cleaning systems. The children in the community now get sick less, and the families do not have to worry about dirty water. This makes the community stronger. And a strong community helps make the coffee business stronger.
Voice 2
Both Pura Vida and Stumptown know that making money and helping¹² people do not have to happen separately¹³. Businesses can make people's lives better. Fair trade coffee helps farmers all around the world. But companies like Stumptown and Pura Vida have made things even better. They work to help whole communities.
Voice 1
Clara Seasholtz works for Bikes to Rwanda. She explains the business like this:
Voice 3
"Coffee, for these people, is their way out of poverty¹⁴. This was a way to extend¹⁵ that full circle idea of connecting the buyer with the farmer. We provide the best quality coffee and pay high prices for it to better the lives of those people that are producing it. We provide them with things that they can use and be happy about and they are providing us with really good coffee."
Voice 2
Drinking coffee is a pleasant activity for people all over the world. But it is also the path to a better life for many farmers. For these farmers, coffee is creating good.
 

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 directly   

adv.直接地，径直地；马上，立即

参考例句：

• I will telephone you directly I hear the news.我一听到消息，马上打电话给你。
• She answered me very directly and openly.她非常坦率地、开门见山地答复了我。

3 united   

adj.和谐的；团结的；联合的，统一的

参考例句：

• The whole nation is closely united.全国人民紧密团结。
• The two men were united by community of interests.共同的利益使两个人结合在一起。

4 cooperative   

adj.有合作意向的，合作的；n.合作社（企业）等

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• We decided to set up a cooperative.我们决定开办一家合作社。

5 transportation   

n.运输，运输系统，运输工具

参考例句：

• The transportation of goods by air costs a lot.航空运输货物花费很高。
• He finally solved the difficulty of transportation.他终于解决了运输的困难。

6 rough   

adj.粗糙的；粗略的，大致的；粗野的，粗暴的

参考例句：

• It's just a very rough translation.这只是一篇非常粗糙的译稿。
• His reply was a bit rough.他的答复过于粗鲁了一点。

7 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

8 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。

9 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。

10 Peru   

n.秘鲁(南美洲国家)

参考例句：

• Lima is the capital of peru.利马是秘鲁的首都。
• China and peru are friendly countries.中国和秘鲁是友好国家。

11 dig   

v.挖（洞，沟等）；掘

参考例句：

• It is difficult to dig the ground when it is frozen.地面冻住了就不易挖掘。
• In those days we often went to dig for wild vegetables.那时候我们常常出去挖野菜。

12 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

13 separately   

adv.单独地，分开地

参考例句：

• Bulky items will be collected separately.大件物品将分开收集。
• Text and graphics are prepared separately and then combined.文字和图分别编排后再进行混排。

14 poverty   

n.贫穷， 贫困， 贫乏， 缺少

参考例句：

• We must continue to war against poverty and disease.我们一定要继续同贫穷和疾病作斗争。
• He showed his poverty in his knowledge of agriculture.他表现出缺乏对农业知识的了解。

15 extend   

v.伸开；展开，伸展；扩大；加大

参考例句：

• Can you extend your visit for a few days more?你能把你的访问再延长几天吗？
• The examinations extend over two weeks.考试持续两个星期。