英语听力—环球英语 628 A Home for Children

　　Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight¹. I'm Joshua Leo
Voice 2
And I'm Liz Waid. 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
At five thirty in the morning 250 children wake from sleep at the Botshabelo orphanage². These children clean their rooms and then wash their bodies to get ready for the new day. The children go to school and when they are finished, they play games together. These children do not have parents. They are orphans³. They live together in a village for orphans near Johannesburg, South Africa. But one woman treats all these children like she is their mother. Her name is Marion Cloete. Today's Spotlight is on Marion and the work she and her family have done to help orphaned⁴ children.
Voice 2
Over twenty years ago, Marion Cloete lived in Johannesburg, South Africa. Marion was a therapist⁵. She treated patients with mental problems. Marion and her husband Con⁶ had a very easy life. They lived in a nice home. They had three daughters, and were very happy. But in Johannesburg at that time, black African people were not treated well. Marion was white. Marion saw the difference between the lives of the wealthy white people and the poor black people.
Voice 1
Marion saw that the laws damaged black families. These were Apartheid laws. Apartheid laws separated white people and black people. Black people did not have the same rights as white people.
Voice 2
Marion saw that the laws separated black parents and children. She saw important parts of the culture disappearing. Marion dreamed of helping⁷ these children. She went back to school to study community development and social issues. While she was studying, Marion decided⁸ to start an orphanage in the province of Kwazulu Natal⁹. There was intense¹⁰ fighting happening in this area. Hundreds of people died and many children's parents were killed. She wanted to help.
Voice 1
The Cloetes planned to leave their home in Johannesburg. But when local black school leaders heard about that, they asked the Cloetes to stay. The schools around Johannesburg were facing many problems too. One of the worst problems was that children were walking 180 kilometres between school and home.
Voice 2
The Cloetes were not sure about staying. They thought for a long time about what to do. They decided to stay. And they opened their home to thirty children. They cared for the children. They helped the children get to school and helped them with school work at home.
Voice 1
Many parents, orphans, and poor families came to the Cloetes for help. They asked them to open their own school. But the white people who lived near the Cloetes were not happy. They did not like that so many black orphans were living at the Cloetes house. They did not want a school in their neighbourhood.
Voice 2
But the Cloetes could not end their work. So they decided to leave their large home. They left their swimming pool. They left their servants and friends. And they started an orphanage and school.
Voice 1
The Cloetes used all the money they had to buy a forty hectare farm one hundred kilometres northwest of Johannesburg. They turned metal buildings into houses and classrooms. Marion taught all the students. Con managed the business side of the school. All three of the Cloete's daughters went to this new school. The Cloete's named the school "Botshabelo". Botshabelo means "place of rest and safety" in the local Tswana Language.
Voice 2
More people heard about Botshabelo. Soon more children were coming to the orphanage. Many of the children's parents died from AIDS. Hundreds of thousands of people die every year from AIDS in South Africa. Often, the children are left alone with no one to care for them. The Cloetes wanted to give a home to these children. Today, the orphanage is home to about 250 children.
Voice 1
In 2001 some local families were illegally forced from their homes. They came to the Cloetes for help. Soon, they found a place to live at the orphanage. They helped form the Botshabelo village. When the children at the orphanage finish school, they also can live in this village.
Voice 2
The village now is home to about one thousand people. There is a medical clinic and a farm to grow plants and raise animals. The Cloetes also plan to start a business to sell products to people on the road near the village.
Voice 2
Con Cloete tells about why he and his wife have helped people in this way.
Voice 3
"All this came about by caring for people's main needs, not all their needs, just the main ones. This is what comes to life when trying to stop poverty."
Voice 1
The Cloetes have promised to help anyone who needs it. It does not matter how old they are, where they come from, or what color their skin is. They want to help create the perfect South African village. Everyone who lives in the Botshabelo village helps to reach this goal.
Voice 2
Marion and Con's three daughters and their husbands also live and work in the village. The Cloete's grandchildren go to the Botshabelo school. Marion treats every child at the orphanage like they are her own children. She loves them. She cares for them when they are sick and helps them grow up to become strong adults. Marion believes that caring for these children is her life's work.
Voice 4
"As my children grow older, I turn around and there is a new one in the bed. It is a gift. I will do that until I think I will fall over and they will just carry me away."
Voice 1
The Cloete's work is also the subject of a documentary¹¹ film. Filmmakers from the United States learned¹² of the Bothshabelo village and wanted to share the story with more people. The film is called "Angels in the Dust"
Voice 2
The filmmakers also worked with the Cloetes to create a new way for people to support the work of the village. The women of the Botshabelo village make beautiful bracelets¹³. People wear the bracelets on their wrists. Wherever the film is shown, people sell the bracelets. They also sell them on the internet. All the money from these bracelets goes back to help the work of the Cloetes.
Voice 1
The Botshabelo village is true to its name. It is a place of rest and safety for many people, including the Cloetes. The Cloetes left their easy life in Johannesburg to help those who need help. But if you ask Marion, she will tell you that she has never been happier.
 

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 orphanage   

n.孤儿院

参考例句：

• They dispensed new clothes to the children in the orphanage.他们把新衣服发给孤儿院的小孩们。
• They gave the proceeds of the sale to the orphanage.他们把销售的收入给了这家孤儿院。

3 orphans   

孤儿( orphan的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The poor orphans were kept on short commons. 贫苦的孤儿们吃不饱饭。
• Their uncle was declared guardian to the orphans. 这些孤儿的叔父成为他们的监护人。

4 orphaned   

[计][修]孤立

参考例句：

• Orphaned children were consigned to institutions. 孤儿都打发到了福利院。
• He was orphaned at an early age. 他幼年时便成了孤儿。

5 therapist   

n.治疗专家

参考例句：

• My therapist helped me feel my anger.我的治疗专家帮助我感受自己的怒气。
• Family therapists.家庭治疗师。

6 con   

n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的

参考例句：

• We must be fair and consider the reason pro and con.我们必须公平考虑赞成和反对的理由。
• The motion is adopted non con.因无人投反对票，协议被通过。

7 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。

8 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。

9 natal   

adj.出生的，先天的

参考例句：

• Many music-lovers make pilgrimages to Mozart's natal place.很多爱好音乐的人去访问莫扎特的出生地。
• Since natal day,characters possess the visual elements such as dots and strokes.文字从诞生开始便具有了点画这样的视觉元素。

10 intense   

adj.认真的，专注的；强烈的；紧张的；热情的

参考例句：

• Susan was an intense young lady.苏珊是一个热情的年轻姑娘。
• The quarrel caused her intense unhappiness.争吵令她极其不快。

11 documentary   

adj.文献的；n.纪录片

参考例句：

• This case lacked documentary proof.本案缺少书面证据。
• I watched a documentary on the Civil War.我看了一部关于内战的纪录片。

12 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

13 bracelets   

n.手镯，臂镯( bracelet的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The lamplight struck a gleam from her bracelets. 她的手镯在灯光的照射下闪闪发亮。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• On display are earrings, necklaces and bracelets made from jade, amber and amethyst. 展出的有用玉石、琥珀和紫水晶做的耳环、项链和手镯。 来自《简明英汉词典》