英语听力—环球英语 755 The Babies Film

　　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
Mari lives in Tokyo, Japan. She lives with her parents in a small apartment. She is surrounded by the noise and energy of the city.
Voice 2
Ponijao and her family are part of the Himba tribe² living in Nigeria. Ponijao lives with her parents and eight brothers and sisters. Their small village is far from the city and technology.
Voice 1
Bayarjargal lives in Mongolia. He lives with his older brother and his parents in a traditional Mongolian³ home. Their family farm is surrounded by the wide Mongolian sky.
Voice 2
Hattie does not have any brothers or sisters. She lives with her parents in the city of San Francisco in the United⁴ States. They live a modern American life.
Voice 1
What do all these babies have in common? It might be difficult to see. There are three girls and one boy. They all live in very different places with different levels of technology. They all have different family situations. But they do have at least one thing in common. They are all part of a film called "Babies."
Voice 2
Today's Spotlight is on the film "Babies." Every culture is different. Raising a baby and being a parent are hard work. And parents do this work differently based on their cultural beliefs. But all of them are doing what they believe is best. In the film "Babies" people can see a little bit of what it is like to raise a baby in a different way.
Voice 1
Alain Chabat is a popular French actor and producer. He had the idea for the film "Babies." In 2005 he brought his idea to Thomas Balmes. Balmes is an experienced⁵ documentary⁶ film director⁷. He films real life. Then he puts the images together to tell a story. Balmes and Chabat decided⁸ to make Chabat's idea into a film. They would choose four babies in different places and situations from around the world. Then they would film the babies from the time they were born until they took their first steps.
Voice 2
They began to choose babies and families to film. But how do you choose babies to represent⁹ whole groups of people and whole ways of life? Balmes says that he wanted to choose babies growing up in different situations. But they really only required one thing – love. In an interview with Nick Dawson, Balmes said:
Voice 3
"We went with people who were happy and positive about the arrival¹⁰ of a child. It sounds easy, but it is not. Alain was saying all the time that we needed to have joy around, and from ourselves too."
Voice 1
Balmes and Chabat decided on the families before the babies were born. So they did not know if the babies would be boys or girls. Finally, when the babies were born, there were three girls – Ponijao, Mari and Hattie. And there was one boy – Bayarjargal. Parents agreed to let Balmes and other film crews¹¹ record the details of their babies' lives. They agreed to be filmed for about one year.
Voice 2
Balmes began filming in 2006. He did much of the filming himself. But he did depend on some local crews to help him. In all, he captured¹² over 400 hours of film. Balmes says that even though he captured many hours on film, there were only a few good parts he could use. And he could not be there for every important event. For example, film crews were only present for one of the babies' births – Bayarjargal's.
Voice 1
The film seems simple. There is no narrator¹³ - no one explains what you are seeing. Few words appear in the film - only names of places. People watching the film do not need to understand other languages. They do not even need to be able to read! In an interview with Peter Bowen, Balmes explained:
Voice 3
"Babies is probably the clearest, simplest documentary form you can find. I went there and observed and waited and sat and filmed. I did this without influencing the babies. There is not a single part from Babies that I could have written on a piece of paper... Every part was a surprise. These events in the film are so special. They will probably never happen again. You will never again have a baby in Mongolia in his bath and then have a goat come up and drink water out of it."
Voice 2
"Babies" shows how parents and babies around the world do similar things. But they also do these things differently. For example, the film shows how the babies get washed. In Namibia, Ponijao's mother cleans her by licking¹⁴ her face. In America, Hattie's father takes her with him into the shower. And in Mongolia, Bayarjargal's mother washes his face with breast¹⁵ milk.
Voice 1
The film "Babies" shows life from the eyes of a baby. People who watch the film imagine what it may be like to be the same size as a baby. They observe the babies learning¹⁶ about their world. Each baby is in a different place and situation. But they all learn about their world through their family and their experiences.
Voice 2
One way babies learn is through play. Parents may often think a baby needs particular things or toys to play with. But "Babies" shows that this is not true! The babies all have different toys to play with. In Japan, Mari's parents have given her many educational toys. She must try to put all the circles on a long stick. In the film she becomes angry trying to achieve this. But in Namibia, Ponijao plays with simple sticks and bones. And one of Bayarjargal's toys is a roll of toilet paper!
Voice 1
"Babies" is a beautiful film. But it also has a beautiful message for many people. Balmes explains,
Voice 3
"In the process, I understood that the film could be understood in different ways. And in different countries people saw it in different ways. In France, for example, some people saw it as a kind of picture with sweet babies and nothing else. It was just one sweet baby after another. In other places they saw the film being about our changing relationship with the environment. In other places, it was about our relationship with materialistic¹⁷ things. I love that the film does not have one meaning, but can have several different ones."
Voice 2
Hattie's father, Frazer also believes the film has an important message for people.
Voice 4
"We let our cultures divide us. But this film really paints a picture of the universality¹⁸ of being human. We often have a difficult time seeing this. You definitely¹⁹ feel like all these parents are doing the right thing because they are doing it in the spirit that supports the child."
 

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 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。

3 Mongolian   

n.蒙古人，蒙古国民，蒙古语；adj.蒙古的；蒙古人的；蒙古语的；蒙古族的

参考例句：

• Mongolian people had replaced them.蒙古人已经取代了他们。
• This letter is written in Mongolian, and I can not understand it.这封信是用蒙文写的，我看不懂。

4 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。

5 experienced   

adj.有经验的；经验丰富的，熟练的

参考例句：

• Experienced seamen will advise you about sailing in this weather.有经验的海员会告诉你在这种天气下的航行情况。
• Perhaps you and I had better change over;you are more experienced.也许我们的工作还是对换一下好，你比我更有经验。

6 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。

7 director   

n.主管，导演；主任；理事；董事；处长

参考例句：

• The director has taken the visitors off to his office.经理把客人带到他办公室去了。
• The new director is easy to get along with.新来的主任很好处。

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 represent   

vt.表现，表示；描绘，讲述；代表，象征；回忆；再赠送，再上演；vi.提出异议

参考例句：

• I'll represent to him the risk he is running.我要向他指出他所面临的险境。
• We selected her to represent us.我们选她作为我们的代表。

10 arrival   

n.到达，达到，到达者

参考例句：

• She's impatient for her father's arrival.她急切地盼望着父亲的到来。
• The new arrival was none other than the President.刚到的不是别人，正是总统。

11 crews   

n.一群（或一帮、一伙）人( crew的名词复数 )；全体船员；（赛船的）划船队员；一队（或一班、一组）工作人员

参考例句：

• Fire crews refused to cross the picket line. 消防人员拒不冲破围厂队伍人墙。
• They are the stage crews for the new play. 他们是这台新戏的舞台工作人员。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 captured   

俘获( capture的过去式和过去分词 )； 夺取； 夺得； 引起（注意、想像、兴趣）

参考例句：

• Allied troops captured over 300 enemy soldiers. 盟军俘虏了300多名敌方士兵。
• Most of the rebels were captured and disarmed. 大部分叛乱分子被俘获并解除了武装。

13 narrator   

n.讲述者；解说员；旁白者

参考例句：

• He listens and waits for the narrator to explain more.他听著，等待讲的人进一步解释。
• The story's narrator is an actress in her late thirties.故事的叙述者是位年近四十的女演员。

14 licking   

n. 殴打，挫败 动词lick的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The steak is so delicious that he's licking his lips. 牛排这么香，使得他垂涎欲滴了。
• The little boy is licking the ice-cream cone. 小男孩在舔着冰淇淋蛋卷。

15 breast   

n.胸部；胸怀

参考例句：

• The coat is too tight at the breast.这件衣服胸部太紧了。
• He was wearing a nameplate on his left breast.他左胸前佩带着一张名牌。

16 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。

17 materialistic   

a.唯物主义的，物质享乐主义的

参考例句：

• She made him both soft and materialistic. 她把他变成女性化而又实际化。
• Materialistic dialectics is an important part of constituting Marxism. 唯物辩证法是马克思主义的重要组成部分。

18 universality   

n.一般性；普遍性

参考例句：

• It is precisely in the particularity of contradiction that the universality of contradiction resides. 矛盾的普遍性即寓于矛盾的特殊性之中。
• The beauty of Newton's method is its universality. 牛顿法的优点是它的通用性。

19 definitely   

adv.一定地，肯定地；明确地，确切地

参考例句：

• The team will definitely lose if he doesn't play.如果他不参加比赛，这个队肯定会输。
• I shall definitely be home before six o'clock.6点以前，我一定回家。