英语听力—环球英语 1399 The IF Project

 　　Voice 1

 

　　Welcome to Spotlight¹. I'm Ryan Geertsma.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　And I'm Robin² Basselin. 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

 

　　Around the world, there are almost 9 million people living in prison. Every country in the world has prisoners⁴. However, one country has a big problem with prisons. It has almost 23% of all the world's prisoners. It also has the world's highest prison population rate. This country is the United⁵ States of America.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　Experts have many reasons to explain why the rate is so high. They also have many different ideas about how they can decrease it. Some people want to fix the United States' prison system by changing laws or making prison terms shorter. These ideas are very important. However, one female⁶ police officer named Kim Bogucki has another very different idea. She thinks that the prisoners have the solution. And Kim is asking prisoners one question that she thinks can change everything.

 

　　Voice 4

 

　　"If someone could have said or done something that would have changed your path to prison, what would it have been?"

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　Today's Spotlight is on the "If Project."

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　Kim Bogucki has been a police officer in Seattle, Washington⁷ for over 20 years. Her job is to work with the community to decrease crime⁸. In 2008, Kim started working with a child mentoring¹⁰ program called Beyond Bars. This program's goal was to help young girls whose parents were in prison. The program helped by providing adult mentors¹¹ for the girls. Mentors are adults who spend time with and support younger people. Mentors are also role models - they provide a positive example and influence for the children.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　Kim wanted the Beyond Bars mentoring program to be successful. She understood that these girls were at great risk. In fact, in the United States, children of prisoners have a 70% chance of becoming prisoners themselves. So, Kim decided¹² to learn more about how to support children of prisoners. However, Kim did not ask experts or read books about this subject. Instead, she decided to ask current¹³ prisoners the IF question.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　So, Kim visited the Washington Correction Center for Women in 2008. She asked the prisoners "If someone could have said or done something that would have changed your path to prison, what would it have been?" Kim thought the women would talk and discuss their answers together. However, the prisoners did not answer the question at all. So, Kim finished talking to the prisoners and returned home.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　Months later, in May of 2009, Kim returned to the prison for another visit. When she arrived, she was surprised by a prisoner³ named Renata Abramson. Renata gave her many pieces of paper. You see, Renata had been thinking a lot about the IF question. She had also encouraged many other prisoners to think about how they would answer the question. On each piece of paper that Renata gave Kim, a prisoner had written her answer to the IF question.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　Kim was shocked by the number of women that answered the question. And since that time, over 240 prisoners have written their answers to the question. Today, the IF question has turned into the IF Project. The project has a website. On the website, people can read many of the prisoners' IF question answers. The IF Project has also created a short film. The film shows eight female prisoners. The prisoners tell about their lives and read their answers to the IF question. The purpose of this film is to help educate adult mentors and at risk children. The women's stories show mentors how to better help children. The stories can also help the children learn from the mistakes of the prisoners.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　Filomena is one of the women in the film. She is a 40 year old prisoner in the Washington Correction Center for Women. She has been in prison for 15 years and will stay in prison for the rest of her life. Filomena grew up in a wealthy area. She attended a very good school. However, she always felt different than the other children in her school. Filomena was the only Asian American in her school. She was also an only child of older parents. She never had many friends or even a brother or sister to talk to. After many years of trying to make friends at school, Filomena became friends with local, criminal¹⁴ gang¹⁵ members. Filomena felt accepted by these gang members. However, they involved her in illegal¹⁶ drugs and crime. And her involvement in crime led her to prison. Filomena knows that she made terrible mistakes and did very wrong things. She accepts her responsibility¹⁷ for her crime. However, she also recognizes that one thing could have helped her. In her answer to the IF question, Filomena wrote,

 

　　Voice 3

 

　　"I needed a friend and someone to trust. I needed communication and someone to believe in me so that I could believe in myself. If I had this, I believe I would not be in prison for life."

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　Filomena believes that just one good friend could have made a major difference in her life. She now recognizes that joining a gang was not the answer to her loneliness. She wrote,

 

　　Voice 3

 

　　"I do not know if this will help anyone ever. But if there is someone that reads this and feels like I did, I hope you find that person in your life - before you end up like me."

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　Every prisoner's answer to the IF question is different. Each woman has a different life story. They each come from different places, different families and different cultures. However, Kim Bogucki says that there is a common issue¹⁸ in many of the prisoners' answers. Kim told the Real Change News organization,

 

　　Voice 4

 

　　"The common issue is the lack of a positive role model in their life - the lack of a person that would just listen."

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　All countries deal with the issue of crime. And all countries want to decrease crime. But what can individual people do to help? Could asking the IF question really prevent crime?

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　Kim Bogucki believes that knowing why people get in trouble is powerful¹⁹. Mentors can use this information to make a positive difference in the lives of at risk children. In July of 2010, Kim was given a community service award. When she spoke²⁰ with the organization that gave her the award, Kim said,

 

　　Voice 4

 

　　"I believe role models and mentors are one of the most important things in anyone's life, especially for children... In my work I see a great difference in children who have a mentor⁹ or strong role model in their life. They have self respect and they desire to do good things."

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　The writer of this program was Robin Basselin. The producer was Mark Drenth. The voices you heard were from the United States. All quotes²¹ were adapted and voiced by Spotlight. You can find this program and others on our website at http://www.Radio.English.net This .program is called "The IF Project." 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 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

3 prisoner   

n.俘虏，囚犯，被监禁的人

参考例句：

• The soldier reported that a prisoner was at large.士兵报告说一名囚犯在逃。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

4 prisoners   

n.囚徒( prisoner的名词复数 )；俘虏；被夺去自由的人[动物]等

参考例句：

• The president granted a general amnesty for all political prisoners. 总统大赦了所有的政治犯。
• The prisoners were living in appalling conditions. 囚犯的居住条件极为恶劣。

5 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。

6 female   

adj.雌的，女(性)的；n.雌性的动物，女子

参考例句：

• We only employ female workers.我们只雇用女工。
• The animal in the picture was a female elephant.照片上的动物是头母象。

7 Washington   

n.华盛顿特区(是美国首都)

参考例句：

• His birthplace is Washington,but he lives in San Francisco.他出生于华盛顿，但住在旧金山。
• They, together with my father,have gone to Washington.他们和我父亲一起去华盛顿了。

8 crime   

n.犯罪，罪行，罪恶

参考例句：

• You'll have to pay for your crime.你得为你的罪行付出代价。
• Crime in our big cities is on the increase.在我们大城市里犯罪率正在增长。

9 mentor   

n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导

参考例句：

• He fed on the great ideas of his mentor.他以他导师的伟大思想为支撑。
• He had mentored scores of younger doctors.他指导过许多更年轻的医生。

10 mentoring   

n.mentoring是一种工作关系。mentor通常是处在比mentee更高工作职位上的有影响力的人。他/她有比‘mentee’更丰富的工作经验和知识，并用心支持mentee的职业（发展）。v.（无经验之人的）有经验可信赖的顾问( mentor的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• One of the most effective instruments for coaching and mentoring is the "role rehearsal" . 辅导和教学的最有效的手段之一是“角色排练。” 来自辞典例句
• Bell Canada called their mentoring system a buddy-buddy system. 加拿大贝尔公司称他们的训导系统是伙伴—伙伴系统。 来自互联网

11 mentors   

n.（无经验之人的）有经验可信赖的顾问( mentor的名词复数 )v.（无经验之人的）有经验可信赖的顾问( mentor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Beacham and McNamara, my two mentors, had both warned me. 我的两位忠实朋友，比彻姆和麦克纳马拉都曾经警告过我。 来自辞典例句
• These are the kinds of contacts that could evolve into mentors. 这些人是可能会成为你导师。 来自互联网

12 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。

13 current   

n.涌流，趋势，电流，水流，气流；adj.当前的，通用的，流通的，现在的，草写的，最近的

参考例句：

• Electric current is often powerful enough to kill a man.电流常强得足以致命。
• There is a story about her in the current number.最近一期上有关于她的故事。

14 criminal   

n.罪犯，犯人，刑事；adj.犯了罪的，罪的，有罪的

参考例句：

• He is a habitual criminal.他是一个惯犯。
• We captured the criminal.我们捕获了那个犯人。

15 gang   

n.一伙，一帮；结伴的朋友

参考例句：

• The gang live abroad,beyond reach of the British police.这帮匪徒住在国外，英国警方鞭长莫及。
• Some gang came in and shot the place up.有股匪帮进来对这个地方开枪扫射。

16 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。

17 responsibility   

n.责任，职责

参考例句：

• The safety of the ship is the captain's responsibility.确保船的安全是船长的责任。
• The matter is outside my area of the responsibility.此事超出我的责任范围。

18 issue   

n.出版，发行，（报刊等）期、号，论点，问题，结果， （水，血等的）流出；vt.使流出，放出，发行（钞票等），发布（命令），出版（书等）发给；vi.发行，流出，造成...结果，进行辩护，传下

参考例句：

• I bought the book the day after its issue.这书出版后的第一天，我就去买了它。
• I'll support her down the line on that issue.在那个问题上我将全力支持她。

19 powerful   

adj.有力的，有权力的，强大的

参考例句：

• The UN began to get more and more powerful.联合国开始变得越来越强大了。
• Such are the most powerful voices of our times!这些就是我们时代的最有力的声音！

20 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

21 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》