英语听力—环球英语 819 Practical Action

　　Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight¹. I'm Marina Santee.
Voice 2
And I'm Nick Page. 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
Imagine you have a small piece of land. You are not rich. You need your land to produce food for your family. But every year your land gets covered by flood water - and your crops are destroyed. What could you do? This is a problem for many people in the country of Bangladesh. But some of these people have found an unusual answer to the problem - they grow their crops on top of the water!
Voice 2
Every year about eighteen percent of Bangladesh is flooded during the monsoon² season. But some years the floods are especially bad. In 1998, two thirds of the country was under water. There are 230 rivers in Bangladesh - and most of the country is less than ten metres above sea level.
Voice 1
Tara Begum is a woman who lives in a bad area for floods. Year after year Tara found that she could not grow food. She and her family went hungry... until they discovered how to make a floating garden.
Voice 2
The method is simple. First collect water hyacinth plants. These plants are very common in the wet lands of Bangladesh. Tie the plants together to form the base of the garden. Then put sticks from the bamboo plant on top of the water hyacinths. Then put another layer of water hyacinths. Finally cover it all with soil for the crops to grow in.
The garden floats on top of the flood waters. The water hyacinths provide natural food for the seeds and young plants. The crops grow well. If a family has to move from their house because of the flood, they can pull their floating garden along with them.
Voice 1
Tara Begum grows onions, okra and green leafy vegetables. She also plants gourd³ seeds. When the flood water has gone, she moves the small gourd plants into her normal garden.
Tara said,
Voice 3
'This has made a great difference to my life. Before, I had no way to feed my children. Now I have enough food during the floods and I can give some to help my relations as well'.
Voice 2
The idea of floating gardens was developed by an organisation⁴ called 'Practical⁵ Action'. Practical Action believes that using the right ideas in the right ways can change people's lives. It aims to help poor communities develop technology that fits their needs and their environment.
The workers at Practical Action say, 'We do not start with technology. We start with people'. They believe the most important thing is to help people choose the right technology for their particular situations. Practical Action is working in this way in more than sixty countries.
Voice 1
Doctor Fritz Schumacher began the organisation in 1966. He wanted to help poor people to use technology to improve their lives. However, he believed that technology often cost too much money for local people - and it often needed skills that they did not have.
Doctor Schumacher wanted to develop technology that small groups of people could use by themselves. He said, 'Find out what the people are doing and help them do it better.' He believed local people should design, improve, manage and control their own technology.
This idea has been a success in many countries of the world.
Voice 2
Nepal is one such country. In Nepal, Practical Action has helped to develop a new way to get goods to market more quickly and easily.
Nepal is a very mountainous⁶ country. Many people live in faraway villages. Getting goods to market is always difficult and tiring. And during the rainy season, the mountain paths become wet and dangerous. There are many accidents.
Voice 1
Practical Action set up a 'gravity⁷ ropeway'. In a ropeway, a set of long steel ropes connects the villages at the top of the mountain with the markets at the bottom. Two metal baskets hang from the ropes – one at the top and one at the bottom. The farmers put their produce into the top basket. The weight of the full basket going down the ropeway pulls the empty basket up. Simple!
The ropeway means⁸ that the people can get more produce to market. It also means the produce gets there more quickly so it is fresher. And that means it sells for more money.
Dharma is a vegetable grower. He says,
Voice 4
'Now we have the gravity ropeway I can earn three times as much from selling vegetables. I can use the extra money to farm animals too. I am not only happy for me. The whole village is richer thanks to the ropeway'.
Voice 2 This is exactly the kind of result that Doctor Schumacher was hoping for when he began the organisation. He worked hard to influence other people and organisations with his ideas. He was always looking forward - towards what could be done. He said, 'To talk about the future is only useful if it leads to action now'.
Voice 1
Another project in Nepal provides simple and safe ways to cross rivers. There are more than six thousand rivers in Nepal. In some places it is not possible to build normal bridges because of the steep⁹ mountains - so wire bridges are the most common structures¹⁰ for crossing rivers. The Nepalese call them 'tuins'. A tuin usually has a single wire rope, a pulley wheel and a wooden platform for the people to stand on. Tuins are dangerous, and there are many accidents.
Voice 2
Practical Action wanted to improve the existing technology. Its engineers listened to the local people's problems and ideas about the tuins. One problem was the risk of people trapping¹¹ their fingers in the wheels of the tuins. The tuins were also not well-balanced. And it needed a lot of effort to pull the tuin across the river.
The engineers tested different ways of solving these problems. Finally, they developed a new kind of tuin. It is easier and quicker to use. It is safely balanced which means it can also carry heavy loads. It even has seats for people to sit on and bars on the sides to stop them falling out.
Voice 1
Practical Action does not provide aid in the form of money. The organisation believes that it is better to supply people with ideas, knowledge and information. That way local people are in control of their own lives and can work their own way out of poverty¹².
Nearly forty years ago Doctor Schumacher wrote a book called 'Small is Beautiful'. This book explained his ideas. It influenced many people. As a result, thousands of other organisations now work with Practical Action to bring the most help to the poorest people.
Voice 2
Doctor Schumacher died in 1997 while travelling in Switzerland to tell people about Practical Action. But his ideas live on. They continue to change the lives of poor people all over the world.
 

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 monsoon   

n.季雨，季风，大雨

参考例句：

• The monsoon rains started early this year.今年季雨降雨开始得早。
• The main climate type in that region is monsoon.那个地区主要以季风气候为主要气候类型。

3 gourd   

n.葫芦

参考例句：

• Are you going with him? You must be out of your gourd.你和他一块去？你一定是疯了。
• Give me a gourd so I can bail.把葫芦瓢给我，我好把水舀出去。

4 organisation   

n.组织，安排，团体，有机休

参考例句：

• The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
• His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。

5 practical   

adj.实际的，实践的；实用的，应用的；有实际经验的

参考例句：

• He is a practical person.他是位很讲实际的人。
• Your invention is clever,but not practical.你的发明很巧，但不实用。

6 mountainous   

adj.多山的，如山的，巨大的

参考例句：

• A mountainous country is one in which there are many mountains.山国是多山的国家。
• The Antarctic is a mountainous area.南极洲是一个多山的地区。

7 gravity   

n.重力，引力，地心引力

参考例句：

• An apple falls down because of gravity.由于重力的关系，苹果往下掉。
• The stone rolled down the mountain by gravity.这块石头由于重力作用而滚下山。

8 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

9 steep   

adj.陡峭的，险峻的，急剧升降的，不合理的；n.悬崖，峭壁，浸渍，浸渍液；v.浸，泡，沉浸

参考例句：

• The slope is too steep for us to climb.这斜坡太陡，我们爬不上去。
• There was a steep climb on the road out of town.市外公路上有一处很陡的上坡路。

10 structures   

n.结构( structure的名词复数 )；[生物学]构造；机构；构造物v.组织( structure的第三人称单数 )；安排；制定

参考例句：

• All three structures dated to the third century and were tentatively identified as shrines. 这3座建筑都建于3 世纪，并且初步鉴定为神庙。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Flexibility of labour was obtained through the breakup of old trade union structures. 打破了旧的工会结构之后，雇用劳工可以灵活处理。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 trapping   

n. 诱捕 （复数）trappings: 装饰物，象征的符号 动词trap的现在分词

参考例句：

• The roof of the cave dropped in on the miners, trapping them. 洞穴的顶部坍了下来，砸在矿工身上。
• Self-trapping of Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) in double-well trap is investigated. 研究了双势阱玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚体系(BEC)的自俘获现象(self-trapping)。

12 poverty   

n.贫穷， 贫困， 贫乏， 缺少

参考例句：

• We must continue to war against poverty and disease.我们一定要继续同贫穷和疾病作斗争。
• He showed his poverty in his knowledge of agriculture.他表现出缺乏对农业知识的了解。