英语听力—环球英语 904 The Value of Weakness

　　Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight¹. I’m Adam Navis. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand - no matter where in the world they live.
Have you heard the English expression crackpot? It is not a nice expression. It means that a person is a little insane²!
No one knows exactly where the expression comes from. But the meaning is clear. A crack is a small break. A cracked pot is a container that is just a little broken. So when someone uses the expression “crackpot”, he means that the person’s mind is a little bit broken. It is an insult³! But a cracked container is not broken completely. Some cracked pots also have their uses. Christy VanArragon tells us a story about cracked pots.
Voice 2
The hot sun beat down on Sukanda’s back. He bent⁴ down on his knees by the cool lake. He lifted the water to his hand. He drank a little. It tasted wonderful on a hot day like this! But it was time to do his work. With great care, Sukanda filled his two pots with water. He hung one on each end of a long stick. He put the stick across his neck. And he stood up. He was ready for his long trip.
Each day Sukanda carried the water to his master’s house. The water pots were almost exactly the same. One pot was perfect. It held the water all the way to the master’s house. But the other pot had a crack in it. On the trip, water slowly spilled from the cracked pot. So when it arrived at the house, it was only half full.
Sukanda walked from the lake to his master’s house every day. It was a long and tiring trip. But he never missed a day. He was a good and hard worker. For two years, he delivered one half pot of water and one full pot of water.
The perfect pot was pleased with itself. But the cracked pot was ashamed. It became very unhappy. He wished he were a perfect pot! So, after two years he decided⁵ to speak to Sukanda.
Voice 3
‘I am ashamed. I want to apologise to you Sukanda.’
Voice 2
Sukanda replied,
Voice 4
‘Why are you ashamed?’
Voice 3
‘For two years, I have only carried half of my water load. Water leaks out of the crack in my side. My weakness means that you do not get the full value for your efforts.’
Voice 2
Sukanda felt sad for the cracked pot. But he knew how to encourage the pot. He said,
Voice 4
‘On our trip tomorrow I want you to look around you. I want you to see all the beautiful flowers that we pass.’
Voice 2
So the next day, they made the same trip. And this time, the cracked pot looked up and around. It saw the wild flowers on the side of the path. It was true; they did pass many beautiful flowers. The cracked pot looked at the different colours - red, yellow, orange, purple. Nature was beautiful! And so the cracked pot cheered a little. But when they reached the master’s house, he became sad again. As usual, he had spilled half of his load. So he apologised again to Sukanda. Sukanda said to the cracked pot,
Voice 4
‘Did you see the beautiful flowers along the way? Did you see that the flowers are only on your side of the path? They are not on the other pot’s side. That is because I have always known about your weakness, your crack. And I used it! I planted flower seeds on your side of the path. Every day we walked to the master’s house. And along the way you gave the seeds water! The seeds have become beautiful flowers. These flowers make me very happy. I have gathered these beautiful flowers. And I put them on my master’s table. This beauty only fills his house because of the way you are.’
Voice 1
The story of Sukanda and the cracked pot is an invented story. But it has a deep and useful meaning. The idea of the story is this: each of us has our own individual failings. In one way or another, we are all ‘cracked pots.’ We may only see our failing as weakness. But sometimes our weaknesses can have strong results.
Mary Dessein is a therapist⁶. She listens to people’s problems. And she helps people find solutions to these problems. In particular, she helps people recovering from drug and alcohol⁷ addiction⁸. Mary is also a storyteller. She believes that stories can help people understand themselves better. She uses the cracked pot story in her therapy⁹. She wrote about the story for the website, “Healing Stories”.
Voice 5
“Story is a natural tool to use in addiction treatment. It offers a safe way to examine some very difficult issues. These can be frightening or shameful¹¹ for a person to admit. There are many issues, and many stories.
"This story works¹² well in recovery¹³. In these situations, people concentrate on their weaknesses and failings. This is good, because it helps people understand themselves and make good changes. However, sometimes people just concentrate on their weaknesses. The cracked pot helps people remember that even these weaknesses have a purpose. As a therapist, I believe the problems in our lives, and our weaknesses are also some of our best teachers.”
Voice 1
You may remember our programme about Joni Earackson Tada. At a young age, Joni had a terrible diving accident. She broke a bone in her neck. As a result, she cannot move or feel anything below her shoulders. Joni was a Christian¹⁴. She prayed for God to heal¹⁰ her body. But instead he healed¹⁵ her in a different way. He healed her spirit. She found a new purpose in her life. God used her weakness to help and encourage other people.
Today Joni is a painter, speaker and writer. Her organization also helps people with physical problems all over the world. Joni has written many books about pain and suffering. She has spoken on the radio and television. Joni often remembers these words of Paul in the Bible¹⁶,
Voice 4
‘My grace¹⁷ is enough for you. My power is made perfect in weakness.’
Voice 1
Joni believes that these words can be true for all people - no matter what their weaknesses are. You can read more about Joni Earackson Tada on our website. Her story shows that having cracks, or weaknesses does not mean failure. In fact, some people argue that a cracked pot is better than a perfect one.
 

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 insane   

adj.蠢极的，荒唐的，精神错乱的，疯狂的

参考例句：

• Insane people are sometimes dangerous.精神病人有时非常危险。
• The letter made her insane with jealousy.那封信使她妒忌得发疯。

3 insult   

vt.侮辱，凌辱；n.侮辱的言词或行为

参考例句：

• You will insult her if you don't go to her party. 你要是不去参加她举办的聚会，就对她太无礼了。
• I can't sit down with that insult.我不能忍受那种侮辱。

4 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

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 therapist   

n.治疗专家

参考例句：

• My therapist helped me feel my anger.我的治疗专家帮助我感受自己的怒气。
• Family therapists.家庭治疗师。

7 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。

8 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

9 therapy   

n.治疗；疗法

参考例句：

• The doctor said she should be given a physical therapy.医生说她应该进行理疗。
• She will need to have the therapy repeated every few months.她将需要每隔几个月就进行一次治疗。

10 heal   

v.使愈合，治愈，使康复；平息(争吵等)；消除，解决(分支等)

参考例句：

• Time helped heal the old wounds.时间有助于治愈旧创伤。
• This wound will soon heal if yon keep it clean.如果你保持伤口清洁，它很快就会痊愈。

11 shameful   

adj.可耻的，不道德的

参考例句：

• It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。
• We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。

12 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

13 recovery   

n.恢复，痊愈；追回，寻回，收复

参考例句：

• The doctors said that his recovery was a miracle. 医生们说他的复原是件奇事。
• The quick recovery was truly in response to medication.这次迅速康复确实是对药物治疗的反应。

14 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。

15 healed   

v.（使）愈合( heal的过去式和过去分词 )；治愈；（使）结束；较容易忍受

参考例句：

• The surgeon healed the soldier's bullet wound in the leg. 医生治好了那位士兵腿部的枪伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The doctor applied an unguent to the wound,which speedily healed it. 医生给伤口涂了些油膏，伤口很快就愈合了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 bible   

n.《圣经》；得到权威支持的典籍

参考例句：

• According to the Bible we are all the seed of Adam.根据《圣经》所说的，我们都是亚当的后裔。
• This dictionary should be your Bible when studying English.学习英语时，这本字典应是你的主要参考书。

17 grace   

n.优雅，雅致，魅力，恩惠，慈悲

参考例句：

• She is a beautiful girl with the grace and poise.她是一位仪态优雅的佳丽。
• I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。