英语听力—环球英语 1148 Gleaning for Good

 　　Voice 1

 

　　Welcome to Spotlight¹, I’m Ryan Geertsma.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　And I’m Christy Van Arragon. 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 is a Thursday in Guatemala City, in the country of Guatemala. As usual, Justin Mehl is at the local market. He is with his friend, Edgar. They are carrying empty bags. They have no money. But they have hope. They hope that today the market workers will be kind to them.

 

　　Voice 3

 

　　“Do you have any fruit that you cannot sell? Or do you have any vegetables that are close to turning bad?”

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　Sometimes the market workers have extra food. Justin and Edgar hope to receive this food for free. They will use it to feed a group of struggling men. Justin and Edgar are gleaning³.  Today’s Spotlight is on gleaning for good.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　It is often difficult for people who are poor to get food.  Gleaning can be an effective way to solve this problem. People and organizations can glean² from fields and trees. They can also glean food that remains⁴ at markets when the selling day is over. They can collect this food and give it to people who need it - before it becomes bad to eat.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　The act of gleaning is a very old idea. It is written about in the oldest part of the Christian⁵ Bible⁶. In the book of Leviticus, God gives this command:

 

　　Voice 4

 

　　“When you harvest the crops of your land, do not harvest the grain along the edges of your fields. Do not collect what the harvesters drop.  It is the same with your fruit or grape crop. Do not take every last group of grapes from the vines⁷ or branches. Do not collect the grapes that fall to the ground.  Leave them for the poor and foreigners living among you.  I am the Lord⁸ your God.”

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　Christians⁹ believe that God’s command provided¹⁰ the poor with a chance. It gave them a chance to get their own food by gleaning from the harvested fields. It gave them a chance to provide for their own families.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　But this is not all the Bible says about gleaning.  Later in the Bible there is a story about gleaning. It shows how God’s command should work.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　The story is about a woman named Ruth. Ruth’s husband dies. Ruth could return to her own family.  However, she decides to stay with her husband’s mother - Naomi. Together they return to Naomi’s home country. There they must find food so they can live. Ruth says to Naomi,

 

　　Voice 5

 

　　“Let me go to the fields. I will collect the grain that remains in the fields after the harvest workers.  I will glean in the field of anyone who shows me kindness.”

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　Ruth goes to the field of a man named Boaz. Boaz tells his workers not to gather the grain that drops to the ground. Instead, they are to leave extra grain for Ruth. Ruth gleans¹¹ from Boaz’s field. Then she takes the grain home to Naomi.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　Since this ancient time, gleaning has become less common. One reason is that now more people live in cities or towns. This means that people do not live near fields where food crops grow. So it is not easy for people to glean from fields.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　Gleaning has also decreased because farming technology has become so effective.  A machine can harvest more land quicker than a human. And it can clear a field more completely. So there is very little left for people to glean.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　Harvesting technology has improved food production. But it has also produced negative results. When large amounts of crops are harvested, they are often stored in large buildings.  They wait to be sold or transported.  Sometimes, if there is too much food harvested, it is difficult to sell.  No one wants or needs it.  When this happens, food may begin to decay¹².

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　There are organizations and individuals that want to prevent this kind of waste.  Anna Chan is one such individual. She gleans from the markets in California.  Then she brings the food to local not for profit food organizations. She hopes market workers will recognize their unnecessary waste.  If the workers give some of their food away, they will prevent unsold food from decaying¹³. And this food will feed people who cannot pay for it.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　Joseph Gitler is the leader of an organization called Leket Israel. This organization is Israel’s largest not for profit food organization. They also work to provide food for the people that most need it. Gitler talked with the Jerusalem Post newspaper about farming and food waste.

 

　　Voice 6

 

　　“Israel’s farms are very productive¹⁴. We are blessed with a great amount of fruit and vegetables. The difficulty of that is waste. Sometimes it is not profitable¹⁵ for a farmer to harvest all of his fields. Other times, the farmer cannot collect all of his crop before it begins to decay.”

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　Organizations like Leket Israel believe gleaning from fields can reduce this kind of waste. In fact, Leket Israel has a program called ‘Glean the Land with Project Leket’. The program organizes volunteers to harvest extra food from fields.  These volunteers work and give their time for free.  Gitler told the Jerusalem Post about how this program began.

 

　　Voice 6

 

　　“We started the Gleaning project in December, 2005. A farmer in Kfar Haim called us. First, he told us he had a large amount of fruit he could not sell. He asked, ‘Could you come get it?’ No problem, we said. A few days later he called again. He said ‘A lot of perfectly¹⁶ good fruit had fallen on the ground. Could we find people to gather it up?’ Again we were happy to do this. A week or so later, he called to invite us to come and harvest fruit directly from his trees. We organized our volunteers…We organized several hundred people to collect the fruit at different times. This situation was good for everyone involved.”

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　Gleaning may not be as common as it was thousands of years ago.  But now, more and more organizations are recognizing it usefulness.  However, it does not take an organization to make gleaning work.  One individual can glean extra fruit from the market or even from trees in their community. They can bring this fruit to a local food charity.  Or, they could even give it directly to someone they know. Like in the story of Ruth, this simple act is gleaning for good. It helps the community. And it saves good food from going to waste.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　The writer of this program was Courtney Schutt. The producer was Mark Drenth. The voices you heard were from the United States and the United Kingdom. All quotes were adapted and voiced by Spotlight. You can find our programs on the internet at http://www.radioenglish.net This .program is called “Gleaning for Good.”

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye.

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 glean   

v.收集(消息、资料、情报等)

参考例句：

• The little information that we could glean about them was largely contradictory.我们能够收集到的有关它们的少量信息大部分是自相矛盾的。
• From what I was able to glean,it appears they don't intend to take any action yet.根据我所收集到的资料分析，他们看来还不打算采取任何行动。

3 gleaning   

n.拾落穗，拾遗，落穗v.一点点地收集（资料、事实）( glean的现在分词 )；（收割后）拾穗

参考例句：

• At present we're gleaning information from all sources. 目前，我们正从各种渠道收集信息。 来自辞典例句
• His pale gray eyes were gleaning with ferocity and triumph. 他那淡灰色的眼睛里闪着残忍和胜利的光芒。 来自辞典例句

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

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 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。

7 vines   

n.藤本植物，藤( vine的名词复数 )；葡萄树

参考例句：

• Melons grow on vines. 瓜长在藤上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Grape vines overarched the garden path. 葡萄藤在花园小路上方形成了拱形。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 lord   

n.上帝，主；主人，长官；君主，贵族

参考例句：

• I know the Lord will look after him.我知道上帝会眷顾他的。
• How good of the Lord not to level it beyond repair!上帝多么仁慈啊，竟没有让这所房子损毁得不可收拾！

9 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。

10 provided   

conj.假如，若是；adj.预备好的，由...供给的

参考例句：

• Provided it's fine we will have a pleasant holiday.如果天气良好，我们的假日将过得非常愉快。
• I will come provided that it's not raining tomorrow.如果明天不下雨，我就来。

11 gleans   

v.一点点地收集（资料、事实）( glean的第三人称单数 )；（收割后）拾穗

参考例句：

• Book II gleans about seventy tales of wit and humor. 第二册搜集了近七十个饱蘸机智和幽默的故事。 来自互联网
• It gleans information through infrared sensing units. It is controlled by PLC system. 它是通过光电传感器来采集信息再由PLC控制系统来实现控制的。 来自互联网

12 decay   

vi.腐烂，衰落；n.腐烂，腐朽，衰败状态

参考例句：

• The vegetables have begun to decay.那些蔬菜已开始腐烂。
• Our powers decay in old age.我们的体力在老年时就衰退。

13 decaying   

v.（使）腐烂，腐朽( decay的现在分词 )；衰败，衰退，衰落

参考例句：

• The fish and crabs scavenge for decaying tissue. 鱼和蟹搜寻腐烂的组织为食。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Overhead, grayish-white clouds covered the sky, piling up heavily like decaying corpses. 天上罩满了灰白的薄云，同腐烂的尸体似的沉沉的盖在那里。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

14 productive   

adj.能生产的，有生产价值的，多产的

参考例句：

• We had a productive meeting that solved some problems.我们开了一个富有成效的会议，解决了一些问题。
• Science and technology are part of the productive forces.科学技术是生产力。

15 profitable   

adj.有益的，能带来利益的，有利可图的

参考例句：

• That business became profitable last year.那项生意去年变得很赚钱。
• The convention business is very profitable for the hotel industry.承办会议业务能给旅馆业带来很高的利润。

16 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。