英语听力—环球英语 704 Stuttering

　　Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight¹. I’m Ryan Geertsma.
Voice 2
And I’m Robin² Basselin. 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
Alan Rabinowitz’s first memories are of hiding. He would do anything to avoid speaking in school. Once, in class, he was asked to speak. So he took a pencil and pushed it into his hand very hard. It caused a bad wound – so bad that Alan Rabinowitz was taken to the hospital. Much later, he explained why in a speech at the Stuttering Foundation,
Voice 3
“The pain did not hurt me. It did not matter, because the expected pain of shame, embarrassment³ and laughter was much worse.”
Voice 1
You see, Alan Rabinowitz stutters. Stuttering makes it difficult for Alan to speak. A person who stutters will say the same sound several times without wanting to. They may also have long silences in unwanted places in their sentences. These undesired stops and breaks happen very often. They are called blocks. Millions of people around the world struggle with the problem of stuttering. Today’s Spotlight is on this communication disorder⁴.
Voice 2
Stuttering is one of the world’s oldest medical mysteries. It can be caused by many different things. Some stuttering is genetic⁵. Other stuttering begins because of a bad emotional experience or physical injury.
Voice 1
Stuttering usually begins in childhood. It is normal for children to stutter as they develop the skill of talking. Most children who stutter will lose this problem as they grow older. But some people continue stuttering as adults.
Voice 2
A person’s stutter may change in different situations. On a good day, a person may be able to easily say anything they would like. They will have few blocks. But a very stressful situation often makes the stuttering worse.
Voice 1
Stuttering can be very frustrating⁶. When a stutterer has a block, he cannot say what he wants to say. Steven Miller⁷ has stuttered since he was a child. Miller told his story in a documentary⁸ film called Transcending⁹ Stuttering. He explained what it feels like when he stutters.
Voice 4
“It feels like someone is holding my neck.... just holding on to my words.”
Voice 1
People who stutter are often insulted and laughed at. Some people think that stuttering means a person is not intelligent or that a person has a mental problem. Someone who stutters is often thought to be fearful or dishonest. According to the International Stuttering Association website,
Voice 5
“There are many stories about the damage that stuttering does to the lives of people who stutter. People who stutter often experience social punishments that changes their lives.”
Voice 2
People who stutter often try to hide their difficulty. When they stutter, other people are often not patient and may get angry. The person who stutters can be made to feel ashamed that they stutter. They may feel that something is wrong with them.
Voice 1
Alan Rabinowitz felt that there was something wrong with him. Because of this, he wanted to hide from people. When Rabinowitz was a child, he could not talk to people without stuttering. But he could talk to animals. When he talked to animals, he did not have any blocks. Rabinowitz said,
Voice 3
“Animals were the only things I could talk to as a child. Animals listened to me. One day, I thought - animals are like me! Even the most powerful animal cannot talk... They just want to live their life away from people.”
Voice 2
Rabinowitz loved animals so much that he decided¹⁰ to study them. As an adult, he became an explorer. He travelled through the forests in Thailand and Myanmar. He has discovered new animals and plants. He has worked to protect large wild cats, which are in danger of dying out completely. He speaks to large groups of people about animals he wants to protect. He is very successful.
Voice 1
And Rabinowitz’s stutter has also improved. He got help from a speech therapist – an expert who taught him ways to control his stutter. Instead of hiding his stutter, Rabinowitz now talks about it. He wants other stutterers to know they do not have to feel shame. He says,
Voice 3
“There is one hope I can give a young person... It is the hope that most people who stutter do not let it control them. They might learn how to control their stutter. Or they learn to accept their stutter - and also make the world accept them. The fact is that most stutterers become stronger people.”
Voice 2
Speech therapy can help most stutterers to take control of their speech. With the help of a speech therapist, a stutterer learns that it is not wrong to stutter. They learn a new attitude towards their stutter. They learn not to be ashamed.
Voice 1
There are many ways stutterers can reduce the number of blocks they have. Speaking more slowly can help. Stopping in between words and taking more breaths in a sentence can also help.
Voice 2
But even with these tools, people who stutter still need help from those around them. When listening to a stutterer, a person may want to interrupt. But this can cause more stress or shame for the stutterer. It is better to be patient when a person has a block. Wait to hear everything the stutterer wants to say. Remember that they are not stuttering on purpose.
Voice 2
People who stutter do have difficult experiences. But many stutterers believe that working through the challenges makes them better. They learn from bad situations in life and become stronger. They live happy and creative lives. If we listen patiently to people who stutter, they can teach us. They can tell us how they learned from their difficulties. We close with the words of Alan Rabinowitz:
Voice 3
“Stuttering is a gift... it took me a long time to believe it. But I believe it. It is the gift of living with honesty and strength and courage no matter what happens to you.”
 

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 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

3 embarrassment   

n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫

参考例句：

• She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
• Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。

4 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

5 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

6 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

8 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。

9 transcending   

超出或超越（经验、信念、描写能力等）的范围( transcend的现在分词 )； 优于或胜过…

参考例句：

• She felt herself transcending time and space. 她感到自己正在穿越时空。
• It'serves as a skeptical critic of the self-transcending element. 它对于超越自身因素起着一个怀疑论批评家的作用。

10 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。