Transcript &Translation
听力原文及译文
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News Item 1
Felicia Padley and her youngest daughter Jenny Ella are picking up free helpings of pasta, vegetables and other esntials at a Food Bank in Brooklyn, New York. Padley holds down a fulltime government job but still finds it hard to feed her family of four. She needs the pantry’s help now more than ever as her weekly food bill soars.
A year ago it’s like about 50 or 60 dollars I would spend at a grocery store and that would include meats, that would include vegetables, fruits, cereals stuff like that. But now I’m spending like a hundred dollars.
Rising food prices are hitting families across the United States hard. Over the past year, egg prices have rin almost 44 percent, fresh milk 21 percent, and poultry and beef more than 6 percent.
Economists say vere weather in the southern US and Australia is partly to blame for the jump in prices at food stores like this one behind me. But many are pointing to another culprit, energy, in particular the rising production of ethanol, a bio-fuel made from corn.
费利西亚·帕德利和她的小女儿詹妮·埃拉正在纽约布鲁克林粮食银行领取发放的免费面条，蔬菜和其他必需品。帕德利有一份全职的政府工作，但是仍然觉得很难养活一家四口。由于每周食物账单迅速增加，她现在比以往任何时候都需要帮助。
一年前，我每周在杂货店花费50或60美元就可以买到肉，蔬菜，水果，粮食等等。但是现在差不多要花100美元。
粮食价格上涨沉重打击了美国的许多家庭。在过去的一年，鸡蛋价格上涨了接近44%，鲜奶上涨21%，禽类和牛肉价格上涨了6%。
经济学家表示，这种现象应该部分归咎于美国南部和澳大利亚的恶劣天气，像是我身后这家食品店价格的上涨。但是许多人认为是由于另外一个罪魁祸首，能源，尤其是乙醇的产量增加，而这是一种用玉米制造的生物燃料。
At the United Nations this week Gordon Brown announced a health care plan that will give 10 million people in poor countries access to free health care. The program, which will focus on women and children, comes as aid groups warn that in the developing world 500,000 women die needlessly during childbirth or pregnancy every year.
Also this week, a $24 million initiative was launched as part of the Clinton Global Initiative to give more economic power to women in the developing world.
The initiatives come only a week after the United Nations has consolidated four agencies that tackle women’s issues, creating a new super agency, the U.N. Development Fund for Women, or UNIFEM.
Up until now, the United Nations had agencies that focus on specific issues and groups, including children, the environment, refugees, health and education. But the groups targeted at women were disperd and, many activists complained, lacked clout.
Widney Brown, nior director for policy at London-bad Amnesty International, says the new powers given to UNIFEM are momentous.
本周戈登·布朗在联合国宣布了一项卫生保健计划，即让贫困国家的1，000万人接受免费的卫生保健。
该计划以救助小组的形式出现，主要针对妇女和儿童，并提出警告，在发展中国家每年有500，000妇女在生育或是怀孕时不必要地死亡。
在本周，作为克林顿全球启动的一部分推出了2，400万美元启动资金，来给予发展中国家妇女更多的经济财力。
该启动资金在联合国合并了四个解决妇女问题的机构一周之后推出，与此同时建立了一个新的强大的机构——联合国妇女发展基金。
到目前为止，联合国已有包括针对儿童、环境、避灾难、健康和教育的特殊问题的机构和小组。但是许多积极分子抱怨，针对妇女的组织太分散，缺乏影响力量。
驻伦敦大赦国际负责的高级理事，威德尼·布朗说，给予UNIFEM的新财力是有重要意义的。
Every year they have the annual toy fair, it’s happening right now in New York City and safety is the big issue this year, Jennifer Westhoven, Toys R Us says that it’s making the toys safer, what el do we know?
Well, we know, Robin, that they want stricter standards right, so they are talking about lower amounts of lead in any of the toys, they are talking about phasing out some dangerous chemicals inc
luding phthalate, that’s a vinyl additive, it’s been linked to solve problems in rats. They, obviously, all the companies that ll toys, they do not want any more of the awful headlines about recalls of millions of dangerous toys that are kids’favorite, and that of cour frightens parents right out of the toy aisle. Now, Toys R Us is actually, uh, you know, Walmart did this last week, and what’s happening is, most of the companies are trying to get out ahead of, they know what’s coming next week, next week the Federal Government is going to announce some national standards and all the toy companies, right, they don’t wanna look like they’re, they don’t meet federal standards, they wanna get out ahead of that.
每年都会举行年度玩具交易会，今年在纽约的玩具交易会上，安全是一大主要问题。詹妮弗·维斯文，Toys R Us公司说他们正在让玩具更安全一些的，我们还了解到其他的什么吗？那么我们知道，罗宾，那些玩具公司希望有更严格的标准，因此他们是想降低玩具中铅的含量，他们正在谈论逐步淘汰，其中包括像是邻苯二甲酸酯这样的一些危险化学品，这是一种乙烯添加剂，它一般用来解决老鼠问题。很明显，所有出售玩具的这些公司，他们不希望看到任何有关召回数以百万计孩子们最喜欢的有毒玩具的可怕头条，这也吓坏了家长不会为孩子们买玩具。现在，Toys R Us确实召回了有毒玩具，嗯，你知道，沃尔玛在上周将有毒玩具撤了架。现在发生的事情是，这些公司大多数都早点解决问题，他们知道在下周联邦政府即将宣布一些国家标准，所有的玩具企业，当然，他们不希望能像现在一样，他们不符合联邦标准，他们想在标准下达之前把问题解决掉。
Conversation
A:Did you know that the Internet could be a good exerci for the brain? A new study from UCLA finds it when middle age and nior age adults perform Internet arches, it activates many different areas of the brain including tho involved with memory, decision making and reasoning. Joining us today is the lead author of a study looking at this—Dr. Gary Smalls and he’s also the author of the book iBrain, Surviving the technological alternation of the modern mind. Welcome Dr. Smalls.
B: Thank you! It’s great to be here.
A: So, in my parents’ hou, I have to tell you how it works. My mom and dad might sit up and at some point there is a discussion, hey you are on the Internet, quit surfing Internet. Can I, now tell my parents, it’s ok for dad to surf the Internet, it’s good for his brain?
B: Well, we don’t e any harm in it, and this first study to e what the brain looks like when it arches on the Internet showed very dramatic results compared to just reading a book text page, there was much greater activation and particularly in the front part of the brain that controls complex
reasoning and decision making.
A: That’s interesting, so it’s kind of, it can be crossword puzzle sounds like.
B: Right, it’s probably different from crossword puzzles but similar. One thing about when we are arching on the web is we are constantly deciding should you go for this site or that other site, whereas if we’re just reading a book page, the decision is should I turn the page when I finish the last ntence. And there’s something about that decision making process, something about the interaction that is activating a much greater extent of brain neural circuits.
A: That’s interesting. Now what about ages where you’re looking at this kind of, I saw your study was relatively small, it emed to be 24 people on the stuff that I’ve read. Uh, what ages are we looking at and when does this become potentially neuro-preventive for people?
B: We don’t know whether it’s neuro-preventive and we don’t know about the age effects, but one thing I focus on in iBrain, in my new book, is the digital divide between young people, digital natives who are getting this technology 24-7 born into it, and the older generation the digital immigrants who come to it more reluctantly later in life, and how do we bridge that so called brain gap by upgrading the text skills of older people and helping younger people with their face-to-face human contact skills.
A:It’s fascinating, we just have time for one last question, kind of common, but I’ve been fascinated how able people in their 60s and 70s are really incorporating this new technology into their daily lives in Internet arching etc. It’s really been amazing to me to e how quickly that’s happened.
B: Well I encourage boomers and niors to get involved in the technology to have fun with it and enjoy it, and it’s a great way to reach out to people who are not nearby, the communication ability is…(Absolutely) really spectacular.
A: Absolutely, sorry we are out of time, but thanks so much for coming to e us Dr. Smalls, love to hear what you had to say. Thank you!
A：你知道因特网对人的大脑是很好的锻炼？来自利福尼亚大学洛杉矶分校一项新的研究表明当中老人在进行网络搜索时，能够激发大脑的包括涉及记忆、决策和推理许多不同区域。
今天来到我们节目的是这项研究的领头发起人加里·斯莫尔斯博士，他也是iBrain《拯救
现代大脑的科学交替》的作者。欢迎您，加里·斯莫尔斯。
B：谢谢！很高兴来到这。
A：在我父母家，我不得不告诉您会发生什么。我父母会坐在一起争论，喂你在上网，不要做了。我可以告诉我的父母，爸爸可以搜索网络，那有益于他的大脑吗？
B：是的，我们没有发现网络搜索有什么危害。这项新的研究发现了当大脑在做上网搜索与在只是读书时相比，大脑展示出了鲜明的结果。它能够产生更大的触发，尤其是在控制复杂推理和决策的大脑前方位置。
A：真有意思啊。所以听起来网络搜索像是纵横猜字谜。
B：对，它可能与纵横猜字谜不同但是相似。当我们在搜索引擎时，我们是在不断地决定应该浏览这个网站还是另外一个，然而如果当我们在读一页书，只是在读完最后一句话时再决定应该翻页。因而，这里存在着决策过程及引发更大范围的大脑神经系统循环的交互作用。A：真有趣。目前你们正在研究的这种行为是针对什么年龄范围的，我发现你们的研究范围相对小一些，好像据我了解只有24人在研究范围内。我们现在研究是针对什么年龄范围的还有网络搜索会潜在地对人进行神经防护吗？
B：我们不知道网络搜索是否是神经防护，我们也不知道它的年龄效果。但是在我的新书iBrain中我着重阐述一件事情，他们之间的数字划分，年轻人是数字本土人他们出生技术时代，在这项研究中24个
人占了7个，而老年人是数字移民者，他们到晚年更不愿接受这些技术，以及我们如何通过提升老年人发送信息的技能及帮助年轻人处理他们面对面人际交往的能力来消除所谓的大脑差异。
A：真是吸引人啊。我们还有一点时间留给最后一个问题，很普遍的一个问题，可是我一直都很好奇，60到70岁的老人怎么能够将这项新技术融合入他们的日常生活中。其发展速度，真的让我感到非常惊讶。
B：我鼓励婴儿潮出生的人和老年人参与到这种技术中开心地玩并享受其中的乐趣。这也是与远方的人进行联系的好办法。这种交流能力的确很惊人。
A：太对了。抱歉我们到时间了。但是非常感谢您来到我们这里加里·斯莫尔斯博士，非常欣赏您的发言。谢谢。
Video
Now, should a library be a quiet place to read a book or a lively centre where you can hang out and drink coffee? And can it be both? Author Tracy Chevalier who is also chairman of the Society of Auth
ors, told More4 News she is worried library is sacrificing books in favor of Internet access and other facilities. Muums, Libraries and Archives Council has just launched “a blueprint for excellence” for libraries, encouraging them to moderni and become more of a community space. But they’ve told More4 News, they think local authorities ought to buy more books. Nina Teggarty has more.
Tarred buildings and fusty librarians are out. Architectural icons and coffee bars are in. An extra 2 million pounds a year is being pumped into the UK’s library rvice. And this is what we are getting, easy new state-of-the-art buildings across the country and more Internet access. The Idea Store in East London epitomizes this new library vision. Just over a year old, it’s been nominated for various design prizes. But not everyone’s impresd. Tracy Chevalier, author of Girl With the Pearl Earring became worried when she entered.
“What’s a little concerning is that the books em to be scattered so few and far between. And by far the most people were on the computer floor, using the computers. The Idea Store is not called the library any more. Is a library such a dirty word that we can’t u it? It’s, too, indicative of books, perhaps. Whereas the Idea Store gives it the n, actually, is begin indeed becoming a community centre, which is, uh, is fine. But what about all the, what about the people who wanna u it as a library? What really worries me, though, is that books are starting to be en as unpopula
r, as boring, that somehow the library has to lure people in by saying: “We can give you cappuccino. You could watch a film. You could go to yoga class.”
And at the Idea Store you can do yoga. You can even learn dance and complementary therapy. Lots of Internet terminals also exist. Two years ago, 120-million-pound-lottery injection meant every library could invest in the internet.
“Where I live, I have just a very small public library and, um, I’ve noticed over the years en, there are fewer and fewer shelves and more and more computers that’s just slowly taking over and there are fewer and fewer places to sit in and look at any books and there are fewer books.”
Is she right? Are books disappearing from our library shelves? Nina’s figures show that in the UK last year, while people visiting libraries incread, the number of books in libraries actually fell by 3%. And the amount spent on books and other reading material also dropped, compared that to near 20% ri in the money spent on online resources.
We interviewed Kate Mos. She wrote Labyrinth, the biggest lling book of 2006. She welcomes the technological and social changes occurring in our libraries.
“Nearly 70 million people a year borrow DVDs, talking books, CD-ROMS, music, chip music from their local library. And actually more than 30 million people a year go along to u the computer network to have Internet access. Many people have that n of peace and quiet in the library. But at the same time, they don’t understand that it’s also a very vibrant, lively place. And in the old days, the idea that wherever you went, someone went “”. That’s just not what modern library’s about.”
Like Kate Mos, the Muums, Libraries and Archives Council welcome a community focus for libraries. More4 News spoke to their head of library policy, John Dolan. Is he worried that only
