英国新闻听力 人与自然和谐共处

Good morning. One of my favourite Stanley Spencer paintings shows Jesus throwing himself on the ground, on all fours, in order to place his eyes and nose within a few inches of some field daisies. It is Spencer’s imaginative way of picturing those wonderful words “Consider the lilies of the field, not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these” And that is just one of the many sayings of Jesus which reveal his great love for the natural world.

Yesterday the Pope published his long awaited Encyclical on the environment. He sees the relationship each one of us has with creation as a profoundly spiritual matter. It is not just about economics, or saving the most vulnerable communities in the world, crucial though that is, it is about getting our whole relationship with nature and one another right.

It is important not to be sentimental¹ about nature-rural poverty is a terrible thing, which has blighted² human history and from which billions still suffer. Technological³ developments, with all their downside, can lift people out of that backbreaking toil⁴. But our ancestors knew that they had to treat nature with respect for its own unfolding rhythms, working in partnership⁵ with it, coaxing⁶ it rather than plundering⁷ it. Indeed any landscape you look at will be the result of a respectful interaction between humans and natural processes over many thousands of years. That is very different from the kind of ruthless exploitation or disregard for the consequences of our behaviour that has characterised a fair amount of our behaviour over the last two centuries. That is why a key Christian⁸ concept is that we are stewards⁹ of the earth. It is not ours to do what just we like with. We are accountable-to one another and to future generations -accountable both for the economic policies of our governments and our own consumer habits.

Most human beings find refreshment¹⁰ through nature, whether it is just looking at a flower, walking under a tree, sitting on the grass during a lunchtime break or looking up at the sky to see the swifts swooping¹¹ and darting¹². Many experience this as something spiritual. A key imperative¹³ in the Encyclical is our shared responsibility to safeguard it for others. We are blessed with a good earth; it nourishes and sustains us. We have a responsibility to ensure that those who come after us continue to have that blessing¹⁴.

The Encyclical is hard hitting about the complacency and lack of will in both Government policies and our own lifestyles in the developed world but is not finally pessimistic. As it says. “Humanity still has the ability to work together in building our common home” We are still capable of “choosing what is good and making a new start.”

早上好。我最喜欢的斯坦利·斯宾塞的一幅油画显示，耶稣为了眼睛和鼻子都靠近雏菊，四肢匍匐在地。这是斯宾塞为了表达下面这些精彩的话语而想象出的画面：“想想那些野百合，所罗门的所有荣耀都没有那么灿烂。”这只是耶稣表达对大自然的热爱的众多说法之一。

昨天，罗马天主教皇发表了众人期待已久的关于环境的通谕。他认为我们每个人与宇宙之间的关系都是非常重要的精神质。不仅仅是关于经济，或者拯救社区中最弱势的群体，尽管这些问题同样重要，然而，最主要的是要注重我们与整个自然界的关系。

对待自然不要多愁善感，这非常重要——农村地区的贫困是非常悲哀的现象，有着残酷的历史，直到现在仍有数十亿人饱受其苦。科技的发展尽管存在许多弊端，却使人们摆脱了繁重的劳作。但是我们的祖先却知道要尊重自然自己的旋律，与自然合作，安抚自然而不是掠夺自然。实际上，你看到的任何自然景观都是人类与自然数千年来相互作用的结果。而过去两百年则截然不同，我们一味地残酷掠夺，完全不尊重自然。这就是基督教的主要教义称人类是地球的乘务员的原因。我们不应该按照自己的意愿行事。我们必须相互负责，为未来的人们负责，为政府经济政策和自己的消费习惯负责。

大部分人在大自然中得到新生，无论是午餐时间赏花，林中漫步，草地上静坐还是仰望蓝天，坐看云卷云舒。许多人认为这是灵魂的经历。教皇通谕中一条势在必行的建议就是我们共同承担起责任守护大自然。我们幸运地得到一个美好的地球，它养育和供养了我们。我们有责任确保后世的人们继续享受这种福祉。

通谕严厉抨击了自满得意和政府政策缺乏意志，以及发达国家的生活方式，但是并不悲观。就像它说的：“人类仍然有能力团结建设我们共同的家园。”我们仍然有能力“选择好的方式，拥有新的开始。”

1 sentimental   

adj.多愁善感的，感伤的

参考例句：

• She's a sentimental woman who believes marriage comes by destiny.她是多愁善感的人，她相信姻缘命中注定。
• We were deeply touched by the sentimental movie.我们深深被那感伤的电影所感动。

2 blighted   

adj.枯萎的，摧毁的

参考例句：

• Blighted stems often canker.有病的茎往往溃烂。
• She threw away a blighted rose.她把枯萎的玫瑰花扔掉了。

3 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

4 toil   

vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事

参考例句：

• The wealth comes from the toil of the masses.财富来自大众的辛勤劳动。
• Every single grain is the result of toil.每一粒粮食都来之不易。

5 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

6 coaxing   

v.哄，用好话劝说( coax的现在分词 )；巧言骗取；哄劝，劝诱；“锻炼”效应

参考例句：

• No amount of coaxing will make me change my mind. 任你费尽口舌也不会说服我改变主意。
• It took a lot of coaxing before he agreed. 劝说了很久他才同意。 来自辞典例句

7 plundering   

掠夺，抢劫( plunder的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The troops crossed the country, plundering and looting as they went. 部队经过乡村，一路抢劫掳掠。
• They amassed huge wealth by plundering the colonies. 他们通过掠夺殖民地聚敛了大笔的财富。

8 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。

9 stewards   

（轮船、飞机等的）乘务员( steward的名词复数 )； （俱乐部、旅馆、工会等的）管理员； （大型活动的）组织者； （私人家中的）管家

参考例句：

• The stewards all wore armbands. 乘务员都戴了臂章。
• The stewards will inspect the course to see if racing is possible. 那些干事将检视赛马场看是否适宜比赛。

10 refreshment   

n.恢复，精神爽快，提神之事物；（复数）refreshments:点心，茶点

参考例句：

• He needs to stop fairly often for refreshment.他须时不时地停下来喘口气。
• A hot bath is a great refreshment after a day's work.在一天工作之后洗个热水澡真是舒畅。

11 swooping   

俯冲，猛冲( swoop的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The wind were swooping down to tease the waves. 大风猛扑到海面上戏弄着浪涛。
• And she was talking so well-swooping with swift wing this way and that. 而她却是那样健谈--一下子谈到东，一下子谈到西。

12 darting   

v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔

参考例句：

• Swallows were darting through the clouds. 燕子穿云急飞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Swallows were darting through the air. 燕子在空中掠过。 来自辞典例句

13 imperative   

n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的

参考例句：

• He always speaks in an imperative tone of voice.他老是用命令的口吻讲话。
• The events of the past few days make it imperative for her to act.过去这几天发生的事迫使她不得不立即行动。

14 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。