Verb Master 動詞達人

#一分鐘英語聽力訓練

From Those to Whom Much is Given, Much is Expected(5)

- Bill Gates, Harvard 2007

* 按照順序聽六遍，聽力從0到100

【聽力挑戰1 英文原聲】

【聽力挑戰2 英文原文】

So we began our work in the same way anyone here would begin it.

We asked, “How could the world let these children die?”

The answer is simple, and harsh.

The market did not reward saving the lives of these children, and governments did not subsidize it.

So the children died because their mothers and their fathers had no power in the market and no voice in the system.

But you and I have both.

We can make market forces work better for the poor if we can develop a more creative capitalism, if we can stretch the reach of market forces so that more people can make a profit, or at least make a living, serving people who are suffering from the great inequities.

We also can press governments around the world to spend taxpayer money in ways that better reflect the values of the people who pay the taxes.

If we can find approaches that meet the needs of the poor in ways that generate profits for business and votes for politicians, we will have found a sustainable way to reduce inequity in the world.

This task is open-ended.

It can never be finished.

But the conscious effort to answer this challenge can change the world.

【聽力挑戰3 英文 + 中文提示】

So we began our work in the same way anyone here would begin it.

We asked, “How could the world let these children die?”

The answer is simple, and harsh(嚴酷的、殘忍的).

The market did not reward(給予獎勵) saving the lives of these children, and governments did not subsidize(資助) it.

So the children died because their mothers and their fathers had no power in the market and no voice in the system.

But you and I have both.

We can make market forces(市場力量) work better for the poor if we can develop a more creative capitalism(資本主義), if we can stretch(延伸) the reach of(可觸及之處) market forces so that more people can make a profit(獲利), or at least make a living(養家活口), serving people who are suffering from the great inequities.

We also can press(督促) governments around the world to spend taxpayer money in ways that better reflect the values of the people who pay the taxes.

If we can find approaches(方法、途徑) that meet the needs of the poor in ways that generate profits for business and votes(選票) for politicians(政治人物), we will have found a sustainable way(可支撐下去的辦法) to reduce inequity in the world.

This task is open-ended(沒有結束時間的).

It can never be finished.

But the conscious effort(刻意的努力) to answer this challenge(面對挑戰) can change the world.

《關鍵詞彙》

Harsh

[形]嚴峻的(Severe)、殘酷的(Cruel)

Ex. Hard Conditions(惡劣的環境)

Press

[動詞]施加壓力

* Press的對象如果是人，意思改變，不斷用言語去說服人，去督促，讓對方感受到壓力，所以Bill Gates的意思並不是我們對各國政府施壓，學生也沒那本事，而是要學川普那樣「不斷的去督促」、「不斷大聲疾呼」，Press someone to do something，督促某人做某件事

Sustainable [sə'stenəbl]

[形]可以支撐下去的

* 因為不會造成危害，所以可以支撐下去，Sustainable多半用在環保，比方某個政策，不會對環境造成危害，稱為Sustainable Policy

Open-ended

[詞組]開放式的、沒有終點的

* 字面上來說，是另一頭沒有結束，是開放的，開放什麼呢？常見的有三種：

1) 沒有固定的答案，開放大家提供意見

2) 沒有固定的規則，隨便大家怎麼玩

3) 沒有明確結束的時間，可以一直玩下去

Conscious Effort

[詞組] 刻意的努力(deliberate and intended)

* 學英文最難的地方在詞組(phrase)，不同的字排列組合，又變成另一種意思，Conscious Effort是其中一例

* 從字面上來看，「有意識的努力」，其實是「刻意的努力」，比方運動高手，都是經過刻意的練習，made a conscious effort，不是在頭腦清醒的情況下練習

【聽力挑戰4 中譯 + 英文提示】

所以我們就展開我們的工作，在座的各位也可以用同樣的方式開始

我們問，「這個世界怎能任由孩子死掉呢？」

答案很簡單，也很殘酷(harsh)

市場無法因為拯救孩子的生命而獲利(reward)，政府也不會去資助(subsidize)

所以這些孩子之所以死掉，是因為他們父母在市場上沒有時實力，在政府體制(system)內沒有發言權(no voice)

但是你我卻具備這兩點

我們就可以讓市場力量為貧窮的人運作得更好，如果我們能夠發展一套更創新的資本主義(capitalism)，如果我們能夠延伸(stretch)市場力量的觸角(reach)，讓更多的人能獲利(make a profit)，或至少能夠養家活口(make a living)，他們就能夠為受大極大不公平待遇的人服務

我們同時可以督促(press)各國政府，把稅金(taxpayer money)用在更能夠反應(reflect)納稅人價值的地方

如果我們能夠找到辦法(approaches)滿足窮人的需求，又能夠為企業產生利潤、為政治人物(politicians)獲得選票(votes)，我們就可以找到一種可持續的途徑(sustainable way)，降低世界的不公平現象

這項任務(task)是沒有終點的(open-ended)，永遠不會結束

但是用刻意的努力(conscious effort)來面對這項挑戰(answer this challenge)，可以改變這個世界

【聽力挑戰5 中英對照】

So we began our work in the same way anyone here would begin it.

所以我們就展開我們的工作，在座的各位也可以用同樣的方式開始

We asked, “How could the world let these children die?”

我們問，「這個世界怎能任由孩子死掉呢？」

The answer is simple, and harsh(嚴酷的、殘忍的).

答案很簡單，也很殘酷

The market did not reward(給予獎勵) saving the lives of these children, and governments did not subsidize(資助) it.

市場無法因為拯救孩子的生命而獲利，政府也不會去資助

So the children died because their mothers and their fathers had no power in the market and no voice in the system.

所以這些孩子之所以死掉，是因為他們父母在市場上沒有時實力，在政府體制內沒有發言權

But you and I have both.

但是你我卻具備這兩點

We can make market forces(市場力量) work better for the poor if we can develop a more creative capitalism(資本主義), if we can stretch(延伸) the reach of(可觸及之處) market forces so that more people can make a profit(獲利), or at least make a living(養家活口), serving people who are suffering from the great inequities.

我們就可以讓市場力量為貧窮的人運作得更好，如果我們能夠發展一套更創新的資本主義，如果我們能夠延伸市場力量的觸角，讓更多的人能獲利，或至少能夠養家活口，他們就能夠為受大極大不公平待遇的人服務

We also can press(督促) governments around the world to spend taxpayer money in ways that better reflect the values of the people who pay the taxes.

我們同時可以督促各國政府，把稅金用在更能夠反應納稅人價值的地方

If we can find approaches(方法、途徑) that meet the needs of the poor in ways that generate profits for business and votes(選票) for politicians(政治人物), we will have found a sustainable way(可支撐下去的辦法) to reduce inequity in the world.

如果我們能夠找到辦法滿足窮人的需求，又能夠為企業產生利潤、為政治人物獲得選票，我們就可以找到一種可持續的途徑，降低世界的不公平現象

This task is open-ended(沒有結束時間的). It can never be finished.

這項任務是沒有終點的，永遠不會結束

But the conscious effort(刻意的努力) to answer this challenge(面對挑戰) can change the world.

但是用刻意的努力來面對這項挑戰，可以改變這個世界

【聽力挑戰6 無字天書】

【聽力挑戰7 造句練習】

現實是很殘酷的

我在班上沒有發言權

有些人想賺大錢，其他人覺得有錢賺就可以

我們可以用選票督促政治人物做我們想要的事

高手都是經過刻意努力而來的

《參考答案》

The reality is harsh.

I have no voice in the class.

Some wants to make big profits and others settle for making a living.

We can press the politicians to do what we want with our votes.

Conscious effort makes an expert.