英语听力—环球英语 649 Edutainment

　　Voice 1
Hello, I’m Marina Santee.
Voice 2
And I’m Joshua Leo. Welcome to Spotlight¹. 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
This is Urunana: a radio programme broadcast to the people of Rwanda, central Africa. Urunana is a soap opera – a series of programmes that tell stories about imaginary² characters and events. Urunana is hugely popular in Rwanda.  Millions of people listen to it each week! But why do people enjoy it so much? What is the secret of its success?
Voice 2
Well, the idea behind Urunana is not just to provide enjoyment³ to radio listeners. The aim is also to inform and educate listeners. Urunana discusses issues that are important to people’s lives and communities. Actors in the programme deal with ‘real life’ situations. Then, the listener can follow the characters’ progress as they deal with the problems before them.
Voice 1
One of the main characters is called Bushombe. He and his wife Kankwanzi live in the village of Nyarurembo. They are extremely poor. But Bushombe and Kankwanzi still manage to live a happy life together. One particular episode⁴ tells how Bushombe decides that he needs to go back to school – at the age of fifty! This one programme encouraged some older Urunana listeners. Many of them could not read or write. So they decided⁵ to follow Bushombe’s example and return to their local village school.
Voice 2
An aid group called Health Unlimited⁶ started the Urunana programme. It was first broadcast in 1999. At that time, Rwanda was still recovering from the effects of a terrible genocide – the planned killing⁷ of a whole race. The two main ethnic⁸ groups had a history of difficulty and unrest. But in 1994, it reached its worst point. An estimated⁹ 800,000 Rwandans were killed in just one hundred days. Most of the dead were from the Tutsi tribe¹⁰. And most of those who did the killing were from the Hutu tribe. These events left Rwanda in a state of crisis¹¹. And many aid groups, like Health Unlimited, started some kind of development work in the country. They wanted to help communities return to living a peaceful, healthy life.
Voice 1
The team that produces the Urunana radio show often visits listeners around the country. They want people’s opinions about the programme. Their comments help the producers to write stories about issues that are most important to community life. Many of these issues are related¹² to health. Others are concerned with social issues, like family planning. This can be a particularly important matter in country areas. There, jobs are few and men often have little money to support their families. But they still continue to have more and more children. In one village, a women’s group decided to act after listening to a particular Urunana programme. They took their husbands along with them to the local health centre. There, they discussed the use of family planning with medical workers. One woman explained this:
Voice 3
“I used to give birth almost every year. It has now been three years since I had a child. And I have decided not to have any more children.”
Voice 2
Urunana is an ‘edutainment’ programme. It combines education with entertainment – learning¹³ with fun activities. The first radio edutainment programme started in Colombia, South America. Jose Joachin Salcedo was a minister in the church. In 1947, Jose moved to the small mountain village of Sutatenza. He was a young priest¹⁴ then. When he got to the village, he found that there was very little for people to do – except drink lots of alcohol¹⁵. Jose Salcedo decided that it was time to bring change to Sutatenza!
Voice 1
Jose enjoyed experimenting with radio equipment in his free time. Soon, he managed to set up a home–made transmitter to broadcast radio programmes. He then requested a broadcasting permit from the government. He also gave simple radios to the people in the village. And later that year, Radio Sutatenza began!
Voice 2
To begin with, Radio Sutatenza broadcast music and educational programmes. Most of the village people could not read or write. So Salcedo developed a system of school by radio. Groups of listeners met together in different houses. They heard programmes about health and how to eat a good diet. They learned¹⁶ about mathematics and farming. Slowly, their knowledge and health improved. This strengthened them as a community. And they began to value themselves more as human beings.
Voice 1
Radio Sutatenza grew to become the biggest ‘school without walls’ in South America! And many community stations around the world copied its edutainment broadcasting model. Now you can find edutainment programmes everywhere – on the radio, on the television and on the internet.
Voice 2
Back in Gisagara village, Rwanda, a group of people gather together to listen to this week’s Urunana programme. One of the listeners is an old woman. Earlier, she had written to the Urunana team with an idea. She wrote:
Voice 4
“I want to talk about violence against women in their homes. Women work, but often do not own property. Women are involved in growing, harvesting and preparing food. But men take control and decide who gets the food at home. Often the man provides very little for the women to cook. If the food supply finishes, then the man gets angry. He says that his wife has used the food badly. If possible, please could you include a story like this?”
Voice 2
Urunana’s purpose is to deal with issues like this. And by doing so, it provides communities with the chance to face their problems, and to overcome them. The programme’s name, Urunana, means ‘hand in hand’ in the local language, Kinyarwanda. And that is how edutainment is serving the people of Rwanda – working together with them to make life better.
 

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 imaginary   

adj.想象中的，假想的，虚构的，幻想的；虚数的

参考例句：

• All the characters in this book are imaginary.此书中的所有人物都是虚构的。
• The boy's fears were only imaginary.这小孩的恐惧只是一种想象。

3 enjoyment   

n.乐趣；享有；享用

参考例句：

• Your company adds to the enjoyment of our visit. 有您的陪同，我们这次访问更加愉快了。
• After each joke the old man cackled his enjoyment.每逢讲完一个笑话，这老人就呵呵笑着表示他的高兴。

4 episode   

n.（作品的一段）情节，插曲，系列事件中之一

参考例句：

• The episode was a huge embarrassment for all concerned.这段小插曲令所有有关人员都感到非常尴尬。
• This episode remains sharply engraved on my mind.这段经历至今仍深深地铭刻在我的心中。

5 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。

6 unlimited   

adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的

参考例句：

• They flew over the unlimited reaches of the Arctic.他们飞过了茫茫无边的北极上空。
• There is no safety in unlimited technological hubris.在技术方面自以为是会很危险。

7 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

8 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

9 estimated   

adj．根据估计的

参考例句：

• She estimated the breadth of the lake to be 500 metres. 她估计湖面大约有500米宽。
• The man estimated for the repair of the car. 那人估算了修理汽车的费用。

10 tribe   

n.部落，种族，一伙人

参考例句：

• This is a subject tribe.这是个受他人统治的部落。
• Many of the tribe's customs and rituals are as old as the hills.这部落的许多风俗、仪式都极其古老。

11 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

12 related   

adj.有关系的，有关联的，叙述的，讲述的

参考例句：

• I am not related to him in any way.我和他无任何关系。
• We spent days going through all related reference material.我们花了好多天功夫查阅所有有关的参考资料。

13 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

14 priest   

n.神父，牧师，司铎，司祭，领导者，神甫；vt.使成为神职人员

参考例句：

• He confessed to a priest that he had sinned.他向神父忏悔他犯了罪。
• The priest visited all the old people in the parish.牧师探望了教区里的所有老人。

15 alcohol   

n.酒精，乙醇；含酒精的饮料

参考例句：

• The law forbids shops to sell alcohol to minors.法律禁止商店向未成年者出售含酒精的饮料。
• The alcohol is industrial.这些酒精是供工业用的。

16 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。