英语听力—环球英语 1210 Cleaning the World Together

 　　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

 

　　Rainer Nolvak is a business man. He is from the Eastern European country of Estonia. Estonia is famous for it’s beautiful forests and country areas. But Nolvak and his friends saw a problem. For many years people had been leaving their garbage in the forests. The forests of Estonia were full of waste. But Nolvak and his friends wanted to protect the environment. They wanted to clean up all the garbage in Estonia. And Nolvak had an idea. What if they could clean up the whole country in just one day? Today’s Spotlight is on his idea called Let’s Do It!

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　Garbage is not just a problem in Estonia. Some countries produce more garbage. Some produce less. But every day each person in the world creates garbage. There is so much garbage that people do not know where to put it. Sometimes they put it in the wrong place. This is usually against the law. This illegal² garbage causes problems for the environment.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　In Estonia, the problem seemed very large. Half of the country of Estonia is covered with beautiful forests. But people had been illegally³ dropping their garbage in the forest. Tiina Urm was one of the first people involved with the project. The Let’s Do It! team says that illegal garbage became a problem when Estonia was part of the Soviet⁴ Union. The forests belonged to the state. People did not feel that the land was their own. So they left their garbage in the forest. In 2007 Rainer Nolvak and his friends decided⁵ to do something about the illegal garbage in Estonia. But how could a few people clean up so much waste?

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　The first step was to help people to see the problem. The garbage was not just an environmental⁶ problem. It was a problem of people’s attitudes. Estonians had learned⁷ not to think about the waste. They did not even see the problem of the garbage. Rainer Nolvak got together with a team of twenty friends. They were all people who cared very much about the forests of Estonia. They began to make a plan about how to get rid of the garbage. They were very excited about this project. Soon, other people began to become excited too. These people joined the group. Soon over 600 people were involved.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　They named the project Let’s Do It! Estonia. The Ministry⁸ of the Environment gave them some support. Many other organizations became involved. Famous actors and musicians also took part. Even the President of Estonia joined in. They sent information about Let’s Do It! Estonia through the country. People heard about the clean-up program on television and over the internet.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　Information about the program was spreading around Estonia. Now, Let’s Do It! needed a plan for action. Technology experts used their skills to help. They developed a special computer program. It used a map of Estonia made from images taken by satellites⁹.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　Team members went into the forests to find where the garbage was. They used their mobile¹⁰ phones to mark every place where they found illegal garbage. They did this using GPS, the Global¹¹ Positioning System. This system uses satellites to give exact locations¹². They sent the information to the computer program. Then, the marked garbage places appeared on the map. The map gave the team a lot of information. They could tell how much garbage was in each area. And what kind of garbage it was. Anyone could go on the internet and see the map.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　The team found a surprising result. There was over ten thousand tonnes of waste in the forests of Estonia. Tiina Urm says that this knowledge was a very important step. She explained that when people saw how much waste was around their own homes, they were shocked. They understood that something was wrong.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　This was a good first step. But now the project needed to get people to clean the garbage up. Let’s Do It! Estonia got help from many companies. One company let them borrow the big trucks and machines needed to carry the waste. A gas company provided¹³ fuel at a low price. But the project also required thousands of people to help.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　The team chose May 3 2008 as the day to clean up the garbage. Let’s Do It! Estonia encouraged people to connect over the internet. Estonians joined the project. They promised to help clean up. Then they formed small groups. Each team was responsible¹⁴ for cleaning up garbage in one particular area. Many people signed up to help. On May 3, more than fifty thousand people helped to remove garbage. They moved over ten thousand tonnes of garbage in only one day!

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　This was an amazing achievement for the environment in Estonia. But it was also an important step for Estonian society. Rainer Nolvak gave a speech at a conference¹⁵ in the Balkans. He said:

 

　　Voice 3

 

　　“The most important thing we did was build a team. It changed every one of us. We had to connect to people. We had to see that the garbage was our problem. At times we are afraid of sharing. When we are together and there are many of us, we are not afraid.”

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　People from other countries saw the success in Estonia. They wanted to use the same kind of program to clean their own countries. In two thousand nine Latvia, Lithuania and Slovenia had garbage clean up days. In 2010 more than one million people around the world were involved in Let’s Do It! programs.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　This has become Let’s do It! World. Countries from around the world are taking part. India, Brazil, the US, Cambodia and Italy are a few of the countries involved. The clean-ups will officially start on March 24, 2012. The goal is to clean up all of the worlds’ garbage. There may be a Let’s Do It! clean up program in your country. Do you think you could take part? What can you do to make your country cleaner? Let’s Do It!

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　The writer and producer of this program was Rena Dam. The Voices you heard were from the United¹⁶ States. All quotes¹⁷ have been adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight. You can hear this program again, and read it, on the internet at http://www.radioenglish.net This .program is called “Cleaning the World Together”.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　You can also leave your comments on our website. Or you can email us at [email protected]. You can also find us on Facebook. Just search for Spotlight Radio. 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 illegal   

adj.不合法的，非法的，犯法的

参考例句：

• I don't want to get mixed up with any illegal organization.我不想与任何非法组织有牵连。
• It's illegal for people under 17 to drive a car in Britain.在英国，不满17岁的人驾驶车辆是违法的。

3 illegally   

adv.不法地

参考例句：

• We were alleged to have brought goods into the country illegally. 我们被指控非法携带货物入境。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The landlady found they had been illegally subletting the flat. 女房东发现他们一直在违法转租公寓。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

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 environmental   

adj.环境的

参考例句：

• A global environmental meeting is going to be held here.一个全球环境会议将在这里举行。
• We need to cure our environmental problems.我们需要解决环境问题。

7 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

8 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

9 satellites   

n.卫星( satellite的名词复数 )；人造卫星；卫星国；附庸国

参考例句：

• Many countries have sent up man-made satellites to circle the earth. 许多国家已经发射人造卫星围绕地球运转。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The previously unidentified objects have now been definitely ascertained as being satellites. 原来所说的不明飞行物现在已证实是卫星。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 mobile   

adj.可移动的，易变的，机动的；n.运动物体

参考例句：

• The old lady sits on a mobile chair every morning.那位老妇人每天上午坐在一把可携带使用的椅子上。
• She's much more mobile now that she's bought a car.自从她买了汽车后，活动量就大多了。

11 global   

adj.全球的；球形的；世界的

参考例句：

• A global environmental meeting is going to be held here.一个全球环境会议将在这里举行。
• The report takes a global view of the company's problems.这份报告对公司的问题作了综合性的论述。

12 locations   

n.位置，场所( location的名词复数 )；发现[找出]…的位置[地点]；外景（拍摄地）

参考例句：

• The massive-head buttress dam has some attractive features for certain locations. 大头支墩坝对于某些地区仍有其值得注意的特色。 来自辞典例句
• Knowing which one of 4096 date memory locations is not so simple. 要想访问4096个数据存储单元中的某一个绝非易事。 来自辞典例句

13 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。

14 responsible   

adj.有责任的，应负责的；可靠的，可信赖的；责任重大的；vi.休息，睡；静止，停止

参考例句：

• He must be responsible to me for this matter.这件事他必须对我负责。
• The police are responsible for the preservation of law and order.警察负责维持法律与秩序。

15 conference   

n.（正式的）会议；讨论

参考例句：

• We're having a conference and we'd like you to sit in.我们将举行一次会议，希望你来旁听。
• The conference will come to a close this afternoon.今天下午会议闭幕。

16 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。

17 quotes   

v.引用，援引( quote的第三人称单数 )；报价；引述；为（股票、黄金或外汇）报价

参考例句：

• He quotes a few verses from Tennyson in his paper. 他在论文中引用了英国诗人丁尼生的几行诗句。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He quotes (from) the Bible to support his beliefs. 他引用圣经来支持自己的信念。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》