英语听力—环球英语 773 The Helpful Clock Maker

　　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
It was a winter day in the Netherlands in the year 1944. That day, an 84 year old man was arrested. The only reason for his arrest was because he was helping² people. The officers did not want to arrest such an old man. They told the old man that they could free him. But he had to promise he would stop helping people. The 84 year old man said,
Voice 3
"If you leave me here today, tomorrow I will open my door to anyone who needs help."
Voice 2
The officers did not release him. Ten days later, he died in prison.
Voice 1
Today's Spotlight is about that eighty four year old man. His name was Casper Ten Boom³. He died helping people during World War Two.
Voice 2
Casper Ten Boom lived in a city called Haarlem in the country of the Netherlands. He was a watch and clock maker⁴. He learned how to make watches from his father, and he taught his daughters how to make watches too. He lived in a small house with several members of his family.
Voice 1
Through many years, Casper Ten Boom helped people in need at his house. Children without parents came to live with his family. Other family members also came to live there. Casper was the father of four children. But it was not strange for as many as fifteen people to be living in his house. As a Christian⁵, he followed the teaching of Jesus Christ. This teaching said to give to anyone who asks for help.
Voice 2
Casper Ten Boom lived a long and happy life. Everyone knew him in Haarlem, and he had many friends there. He never imagined that helping people would put him in danger.
Voice 1
This changed during the Second World War. The people of the Netherlands expected their country to be neutral. It had been neutral during the First World War. But then Germany invaded the Netherlands in 1940. Many things changed for the citizens of the Netherlands.
Voice 2
The German army seized all working age men and sent them to factories to work as slave labor⁶. Then the Germans started hunting a second group of people. The Germans were looking for all Jewish people. They made all Jewish people wear yellow stars on their clothes. Jewish people also had to carry special identification⁷ cards. In the Netherlands in 1942 the Germans began sending Jewish people away to special camps. They called them work camps.
Voice 1
But the work camps were not for work. They were death camps. During World War Two, millions of Jews from all over Europe were killed in those camps. Over one hundred thousand of the Jews in the camps came from the Netherlands.
Voice 2
The head of Germany, Adolf Hitler, hated Jewish people. He blamed all of Germany's problems on Jewish people. After German soldiers invaded a country, they would find the Jewish people and send them to death camps.
Voice 1
After the war began, Casper Ten Boom and his family quickly went to work helping Jewish people. As Christians⁸, they believed it was their duty to always help people in need. Jewish people lived in the Ten Boom house until they could find another safe place to live. Most of the time, they moved out of the city to live on farms. In these country areas, there were not as many soldiers.
Voice 2
The Ten Booms⁹ even built a small secret hiding place in one of the rooms of their house. It had a false wall. A few people could stand behind it. If the people could stay quiet and still, they would be safe.
Voice 1
Between 1942 and 1944, over eighty Jewish people lived with the Ten Booms. And the Ten Booms helped many other people too. They were part of over thirty thousand Jewish people rescued from the Germans by the citizens of the Netherlands.
Voice 2
On February 28th, 1944 the German Secret Police raided¹⁰ the Ten Boom house. Someone had told the Secret Police what the Ten Booms were doing. Casper was arrested. Four of his children and one of his grandchildren were also arrested. On that day, six people were able to hide in the secret place and avoid arrest. Their lives were saved.
Voice 1
After his arrest, officers gave Casper Ten Boom the chance to go free. But he refused to lie to save his own life. He told the Secret Police that he would help anyone in need.
Voice 2
Ten days after his arrest, Casper Ten Boom died in prison. He was buried in an unmarked grave near the prison. After the war ended, authorities removed his body. This time, he was buried in a war hero's cemetery¹¹.
Voice 1
One of Casper's children was released from prison. But four other family members were sent to death camps in Germany. Only Casper's daughter Corrie did not die. Corrie Ten Boom later travelled the world telling what her family had done during the Second World War.
Voice 2
Today it is possible to visit the Ten Boom house in Haarlem. There is still a watch store in the front part of the house. The rest of the house is a museum. There visitors can see where the Ten Boom family lived. They can even see the secret hiding place.
Voice 1
Visitors to the Ten Boom house are often surprised that the house is bright and open. They are even invited to sit on the same chairs the Ten Booms used. The Ten Boom house is a warm, happy place to be.
Voice 2
The people who keep the Ten Boom house want it to be that way. Terrible things happened during the Second World War and it was a very dark time in many places. Casper Ten Boom and his family were a light in the darkness. Their house still shows that light today.
Voice 1
The writer of today's program was Jeff Munroe. The producer was Joshua Leo. The voices you heard were from the United States [and the United Kingdom]. All quotes were adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight.
 

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 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。

3 boom   

n.隆隆声；vt.发隆隆声

参考例句：

• The country is having a great boom in industry.这个国家的工业正蓬勃发展。
• Boom!Boom!Boom!A series of explosions shook the valley.轰！轰！轰！一连串爆破声震撼山谷。

4 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

5 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

6 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

7 identification   

n.视为同一，证明同一，确认

参考例句：

• He's made a formal identification of the body.他正式确认了死者身份。
• We should have identification card on the person when we go out.我们外出时应随身携带身份证。

8 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

9 booms   

n.（生意）繁荣( boom的名词复数 )；深沉的响声；帆桁v.激增( boom的第三人称单数 )；猛涨；发出隆隆声；以低沉有力的声音说话

参考例句：

• Booms run in cycle. 景气状况周期性地出现。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• As the starter's gun booms, the boats spring into action. 信号弹划过上空，龙舟夺标开始了。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译

10 raided   

对…进行突然袭击（raid的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The enemy raided the docks. 敌人突然袭击了码头。
• Enemy troops raided our border areas. 敌军对我边境地区进行袭击。

11 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。