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(6)

- Bill Gates, Harvard 2007

* 按照順序聽六遍，聽力從0到100

 

Bill Gates今天教的句子，挑戰一下：

我們都曾經愛過一個人(at one time or another)

如果當時知道有機會，我們一定會採取行動(act)

問題在這件事太複雜(complexity)

專家冷眼說，先看清楚自己長什麼德行(brutal honest)

我幫不了你，只能轉身離開(look away)

因為感情這件事就是要快刀斬亂麻(cut through)

 

【聽力挑戰1 英文原聲】

 

【聽力挑戰2 英文原文】

I am optimistic that we can do this, but I talk to skeptics who claim there is no hope.

They say, “Inequity has been with us since the beginning, and will be with us until the end because people just don’t care.”

I completely disagree.

I believe we have more caring than we know what to do with.

All of us here in this Yard, at one time or another, have seen human tragedies that broke our hearts, and yet we did nothing - not because we didn’t care, but because we didn’t know what to do.

If we had known how to help, we would’ve acted.

The barrier to change is not too little caring; it is too much complexity.

To turn caring into action, we need to see a problem, see a solution, and see the impact.

But complexity blocks all three steps.

Even with the advent of the Internet and 24-hour news, it is still a complex enterprise to get people to truly see the problems.

When an airplane crashes, officials immediately call a press conference.

They promise to investigate, determine the cause, and prevent similar crashes in the future.

But if the officials were brutally honest, they would say, “Of all the people in the world who died today from preventable causes, one half of one percent of them were on the plane.

“We determin to do everything possible to solve the problem that took the lives of the one half of one percent.”

The problem is not just the plane crash, but the millions of preventable deaths.

We don’t read much about these deaths.

The media covers what’s new and millions of people dying is nothing new.

So it stays in the background, where it’s easier to ignore.

But even when we do see it or read about it, it’s difficult to keep our eyes on the problem.

It’s difficult to look at suffering if the situation is so complex that we don’t know how to help, and so we look away.

If we can really see a problem, which is the first step, we come to the second step, cutting through the complexity to find a solution.

 

【聽力挑戰3 英文 + 中文提示】

I am optimistic(樂觀) that we can do this, but I talk to skeptics(懷疑論者) who claim(聲稱) there is no hope.

They say, “Inequity(不公平) has been with us since the beginning(打從一開始), and will be with us until the end because people just don’t care.”

I completely disagree.

I believe we have more caring(關懷) than we know what to do with.

All of us here in this Yard(哈佛公園廣場), at one time or another(曾經在某個場合), have seen human tragedies(悲劇) that broke our hearts, and yet we did nothing - not because we didn’t care, but because we didn’t know what to do.

If we had known how to help, we would’ve acted(採取行動).

The barrier(障礙) to change is not too little caring; it is too much complexity(複雜).

To turn caring into action, we need to see a problem, see a solution, and see the impact.

But complexity blocks(阻擋) all three steps.

Even with the advent of(某…時代的到來) the Internet and 24-hour news, it is still a complex(複雜的) enterprise(大型方案) to get people to truly see the problems.

When an airplane crashes(墜毀), officials(政府官員) immediately call a press conference(記者會).

They promise to investigate(調查), determine(確定) the cause(主因), and prevent similar crashes in the future.

But if the officials were brutally(冷血的) honest, they would say, “Of all the people in the world who died today from preventable(可避免的) causes, one half of one percent of them were on the plane.

“We determine to(決心做…) do everything possible to solve the problem that took the lives(奪走生命) of the one half of one percent.”

The problem is not just the plane crash, but the millions of preventable deaths.

We don’t read much(得到的消息不多) about these deaths.

The media(媒體) covers(報導) what’s new and millions of people dying is nothing new.

So it stays in the background, where it’s easier to ignore.

But even when we do see it or read about it, it’s difficult to keep our eyes on(留意) the problem.

It’s difficult to look at suffering(受難) if the situation is so complex(複雜) that we don’t know how to help, and so we look away(看別處).

If we can really see a problem, which is the first step, we come to the second step, cutting through(快刀斬亂麻) the complexity to find a solution.

 

《詞彙分析》

Skeptic ['skɛptɪk]

懷疑論者，這種人很固執，以自我為中心，不論講什麼他們都有自己一套，老年痴呆症的主要成員

 

Yard

即Harvard Yard，哈佛大學的公園廣場

 

At one time or another

某件事情曾經發生在某個場合，I had trouble sleeping at night at one time or another. (我曾有過晚上睡不著覺)，那些年我們一起追的女孩，也是這種感覺，At one time or another we had been chasing a girl, but no avail. (當年我們曾經追過一個女孩，但沒追成)

 

The advent of

Advent ['ædvɛnt]，原指耶穌的降臨，現在廣用在某重要人物或某重要事件的到來，比方網路的到來The advent of the Internet、外星人的到來The advent of the alien

 

Enterprise

本意是企業，另一個意思是需要集眾人之力才能完成的「大型複雜方案」，Taipei Dome was an example of failed joint enterprise between the government and private companies. (台北大巨蛋是政府與民間企業合力方案失敗的案例)

 

Cutting through something

穿透，但它的意思隨著穿透不同類型的東西而變化

1) 抄近路: cut through the park and get there earlier

2) 切成兩半: this road cut through this park

3) 乘風破浪: the boat cut through the water

4) 千里傳音: her high voice cut through the silence

5) 快刀斬亂麻，用霹靂手段解決複雜或困難的問題：cut through red tape

 

 

【聽力挑戰4 中譯 + 英文提示】

我樂觀optimistic相信我們做得到，但是很多懷疑論者skeptics卻宣稱claim沒救了

他們說，「不公平Inequity是打從一開始就這樣since the beginning，而且會跟著我們到人類滅亡，因為大家根本不在乎」

我完全不能接受

我相信我們都又愛心caring，只是不知道怎麼去做

在場Yard我們所有的人，都曾經at one time or another見過令人悲痛的人間悲劇tragedies，但卻束手無策，並不是我們不關心，而是我們不知道該怎麼做

如果我們當時知道had known怎麼去幫助，我們一定會採取行動would’ve acted

改變的障礙barrier不是因為關愛太少，而是太複雜complexity.

若要把關愛變成行動，我們必須認清問題所在，找到解決辦法，確認辦法產生的衝擊影響

但是複雜度阻擋blocks這三個步驟

即使是互聯網的到來the advent of，24小時即時新聞，要讓大家看見實際問題仍人事複雜的大工程complex enterprise

一架飛機掉下來crashes，政府官員officials馬上招開記者會press conference

承諾要調查investigate並確定真正原因cause，以避免將來類似的墜機再度發生

但是如果政府官員冷血誠實brutally honest，他們會說，「以今天全世界因為可避免的preventable因素死亡的人數來計算，今天墜機只占了百分之零點五，

我們一定會determine to盡一切努力解決這個問題，以避免這百分之零點五的生命再被奪走took the lives」

問題不僅僅在墜機，而在於數以百萬計可不必要的死亡

我們對這些死亡的看到的新聞不多don’t read much

媒體media總是報covers最新的事情，數百萬人生命垂危已經不新鮮

所以這樣的新聞被扔到後頭background，很容易被遺忘ignore

但即時我們真的看到或讀到這樣的新聞，我們還是很難留心keep our eyes on在問題上

如果強況非常複雜complex，見到這樣的災難suffering我們也愛莫能助，只能轉頭離開look away

如果我們能夠真正看見問題所在，這是第一步，我們就可以往下走第二步，對這謝複雜的事情快刀斬亂麻cutting through，然後找到解決辦法

 

【聽力挑戰5 中英對照】

I am optimistic that we can do this, but I talk to skeptics who claim there is no hope.

我樂觀相信我們做得到，但是很多懷疑論者卻宣稱沒救了

 

They say, “Inequity has been with us since the beginning, and will be with us until the end because people just don’t care.”

他們說，「不公平是打從一開始就這樣，而且會跟著我們到人類滅亡，因為大家根本不在乎」

 

I completely disagree.

我完全不能接受

 

I believe we have more caring than we know what to do with.

我相信我們都又愛心，只是不知道怎麼去做

 

All of us here in this Yard, at one time or another, have seen human tragedies that broke our hearts, and yet we did nothing - not because we didn’t care, but because we didn’t know what to do.

在場我們所有的人，都曾經見過令人悲痛的人間悲劇，但卻束手無策，並不是我們不關心，而是我們不知道該怎麼做

 

If we had known how to help, we would’ve acted.

如果我們當時知道怎麼去幫助，我們一定會採取行動

 

The barrier to change is not too little caring; it is too much complexity.

改變的障礙不是因為關愛太少，而是太複雜

 

To turn caring into action, we need to see a problem, see a solution, and see the impact.

若要把關愛變成行動，我們必須認清問題所在，找到解決辦法，確認辦法產生的衝擊影響

 

But complexity blocks all three steps.

但是複雜度阻擋這三個步驟

 

Even with the advent of the Internet and 24-hour news, it is still a complex enterprise to get people to truly see the problems.

即使是互聯網的到來，24小時即時新聞，要讓大家看見實際問題仍人事複雜的大工程

 

When an airplane crashes, officials immediately call a press conference.

一架飛機掉下來，政府官遠馬上招開記者會

 

They promise to investigate, determine the cause, and prevent similar crashes in the future.

承諾要調查並確定真正原因，以避免將來類似的墜機再度發生

 

But if the officials were brutally honest, they would say, “Of all the people in the world who died today from preventable causes, one half of one percent of them were on the plane.

但是如果政府官員冷血誠實，他們會說，「以今天全世界因為可避免的因素死亡的人數來計算，今天墜機只占了百分之零點五，

 

“We determine to do everything possible to solve the problem that took the lives of the one half of one percent.”

我們一定會盡一切努力解決這個問題，以避免這百分之零點五的生命再被奪走」

 

The problem is not just the plane crash, but the millions of preventable deaths.

問題不僅僅在墜機，而在於數以百萬計可不必要的死亡

 

We don’t read much about these deaths.

我們對這些死亡的聽到的新聞不多

 

The media covers what’s new and millions of people dying is nothing new.

媒體總是報導最新的事情，數百萬人生命垂危已經不新鮮

 

So it stays in the background, where it’s easier to ignore.

所以這樣的新聞被扔到後頭，很容易被遺忘

 

But even when we do see it or read about it, it’s difficult to keep our eyes on the problem.

但即時我們真的看到或讀到這樣的新聞，我們還是很難留心在問題上

 

It’s difficult to look at suffering if the situation is so complex that we don’t know how to help, and so we look away.

如果強況非常複雜，見到這樣的災難我們也愛莫能助，只能轉頭離開

 

If we can really see a problem, which is the first step, we come to the second step, cutting through the complexity to find a solution.

如果我們能夠真正看見問題所在，這是第一步，我們就可以往下走第二步，對這謝複雜的事情快刀斬亂麻，然後找到解決辦法

 

【聽力挑戰6 無字天書】

【聽力挑戰7 造句練習】

我們都曾經愛過一個人(at one time or another)

如果當時知道有機會，我們一定會採取行動(act)

問題在這件事太複雜(complexity)

專家冷眼說，先看清楚自己長什麼德行(brutal honest)

我幫不了你，只能轉身離開(look away)

因為感情這件事就是要快刀斬亂麻(cut through)

 

《參考答案》

At one time or another, we had fallen for someone.

If you had known you got a shot, you would have acted.

The problem is there is too much complexity in it.

The expert replied with brutal honest that you need to see what you look like.

I didn’t know how to help so I looked away.

You have to cut through the complexity when it comes to a relationship with someone.