文化英雄 Literacy heroes

Hello I’m Rob. Welcome to 6 Minute English. I’m joined today by Finn. Hello Finn.
大家好，我是Rob。欢迎收听六分钟英语节目。今天我的搭档是Finn。你好，Finn。
Hi Rob.
你好，Rob。
Today we’re talking about literacy – that means the ability to read and write. And one way to improve your literacy is to read books and literature in general.
今天我们要讨论的话题是读写能力。提高读写能力的一个方法就是广泛阅读书籍和文学作品。
Yes, reading is good for you – and it can be educational. So you can learn things, but of course it’s enjoyable too, isn’t it Rob?
没错，读书是件好事——能起到教育效果。通过读书可以学到东西，而且也十分享受，是不是啊，Rob？
Well, it depends on what you’re reading. But you sound like a fan of books Finn, could we say you’re a bookworm –that’s a person who reads a lot?
这个就要看你读的是什么啦。听起来你是读书迷啊，那我能不能叫你书虫呢——就是读书很多的人？
Yes, well, I do. I’m reading a book at the moment on the way to work every day and it’s very exciting.
是的，没错，可以这么叫我。现在我每天上下班都会读一本书，特别有意思。
Well, I also like to read books but the problem is there are so many books available, it’s difficult knowing which one to choose. Anyway, soon we’ll be talking about some people who’ve been awarded for promoting – or encouraging – the love of reading.
我也喜欢读书，不过问题是书实在太多了，这让人选择起来变得很困难。下面我们就会讨论到一些因为促进人们读书而受到褒奖的人——还有那些鼓励人们读书的人。
Yes, and we’ll be using some book-related vocabulary.
没错，我们也会学到一些相关的词汇。
But let’s start with a question for you Finn. It’s about one of the world’s longest books which is in French, and it’s by Marcel Proust, and translated into English it’s called Remembrance of Things Past. So, do you know approximately how many words that book contains? Is it: a) 267,000 b) 1,267,000 c) 10,267,000
现在先让我来问你一个问题吧，Finn。是关于一本世界上最长的书，写作语言是法语，作者Marcel Proust，作品英文译名是《追忆逝水年华》。那么，你知道它大约有多少字吗？a) 267,000b) 1,267,000c) 10,267,000
I know this is a very long book. I think it’s in several volumes. I’m going to say b) 1,267,000.
我知道这是本很长的书。有好几卷。我猜是b)1,267,000。
OK. Have you read it?
好的，你读过这本书吗？
No.
没有。
We’ll find out if you are right or wrong later on. So let’s talk more about literacy. I think we all know that learning to read has many benefits – many good things that help us. But what inspires us, or encourages us to read?
好的，那么节目的最后再让我们来揭晓答案。先让我们接着讨论一下读写能力。我想大家都知道学习阅读有很多好处——可以从很多方面帮助到我们。但是，到底是什么激励着我们或者鼓励着我们去阅读呢？
Well, I suppose there were our parents and our school teachers – and then we have the authors – the people who write the books. A good author can really capture your imagination and make you read their stories. Which authors do you like, Rob?
我想应该是我们的父母还有学校里的老师——当然还有作家——就是写书的人。一个好的作家能够激发我们的想象，让我们徜徉于他们的故事之中。你最喜欢的作家是谁呢，Rob？
Well, as a child, I loved Roald Dahl, who wrote stories like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Now, that was fiction – imaginary stories – not based on real people. Now I like travel stories, such as ones by American travel writer, Paul Theroux.
我小的时候喜欢Roald Dahl，他写过《查理和巧克力工厂》这样的作品。那是小说——虚构的故事——不是根据真人真事创作的。现在我喜欢的是旅行故事，比方说美国游记作家 Paul Theroux写的那些书。
Yes and he also writes novels, so we could also call him a novelist.
是的，他也写小说，所以我们也可以叫他小说家。
Now, you may have heard of J.K. Rowling. She wrote the Harry Potter books. She is one author who’s recently been recognised for improving people’s love of reading. The UK’s National Literacy Trust named her a ’literacy hero’ for "turning a generation of children into readers".
你应该听说过J.K. Rowling吧。她写的哈利波特系列书籍。最近人们开始意识到她其实促进了人们对于阅读的兴趣。英国国家文化基金把她叫作“文化英雄”，因为她“把儿童变成了爱读书的一代”。
Another ’literacy hero’ was the actor Henry Winkler, who has dyslexia – that’s a condition where your brain makes it hard to read certain words.He has written books about a boy with learning difficulties.
另外一个“文化英雄”是演员Henry Winkler，他有读写困难症——得了这种疾病的人们他们的大脑无法辨认文字。他曾写过一本书，讲的也是关于一个读写困难的男孩。
Now, not all the ’heroes’ are authors. The Trust also honoured schoolchildren, a librarian and teachers for their efforts in trying to get people to read.
不过，并不是所有的“英雄”都是作家。国家文化基金还表彰了一些学生、一名图书管理员以及老师，感谢他们为促进人们阅读而付出的努力。
Yes, reading can also help in other ways. Recently, the former world champion boxer, Mike Tyson said he read books by Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky when he was in prison.
没错，阅读在其他方面也有好处。最近，前世界拳击冠军Mike Tyson说，他在监狱的时候就曾阅读Tolstoy和Dostoyevsky的书。
Well, author, Pat Winslow, who worked as a writer in prisons explains why reading and understanding books is a good thing. What words does she use to describe how they looked at characters – that’s the people – in a book?
作家Pat Winslow，曾在监狱从事写作工作，他说阅读和理解一本书籍是很好的一件事情。她用了哪个单词来形容他们是如何看待人物的呢——就是书中出现的人？
When I was working in prison, very often we would have discussions about the moral compass of a character –what was the motivation of somebody, why did they behave that way? And when people were writing as well, they were actually reflecting on themselves and reflecting on their own patterns of behaviour.
我在监狱工作的时候，很多时候我们会讨论某个人物的道德标准——某人的动机是什么，他们为什么会那样做？当人们在写作的时候，他们也会真实的反映他们自己，以及自己行为的特点。
So she says she discussed stories with prisoners –and one of the things they looked at was the moral compass of the characters. That’s a natural feeling someone has that makes them know what is wrong and what it is right.
她说她会和犯人一起讨论故事——他们讨论的内容中其中一点就是人物的道德准则。这是一种人们自然的感觉，道德准则可以让人们清楚什么是错误的什么是正确的。
They also discussed characters’ motivation – what made them do things a certain way. And this helped prisoners look at what they themselves had done and what they should do in the future.
他们也会讨论人物的动机——他们行为的出发点。这可以帮助犯人们反思自己的行为，以及让自己明白以后该如何去做。
So there’s an example of how reading can help. Now Finn, have you had any help in answering today’s question?
所以这是一个关于阅读带来好处的例子。那么Finn，你现在知道今天问题的答案了吗？
No. It’s a complete guess, Rob!
没有，我完全是猜的啊Rob!
Well, earlier I said the world’s longest book is called, in English, Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust. Did you know approximately how many words it contained? Was it: a) 267,000 b) 1,267,000 c) 10,267,000
早先我说过，世界上最长的一本书的英文名字叫做，《追忆逝水年华》，是Marcel Proust写的。你知道它大约有多少个字吗？a) 267,000b) 1,267,000c) 10,267,000
Rob, I really have no idea so I’m going to go for b) the middle option.
Rob，我真的不知道答案，所以就选了一个中间项b。
Which means you were wrong. It was a mere 267,000 words.
那你就错啦。它只有267,000个字。
That’s nothing. A novella. A short novel!
没什么，这是一篇短篇小说！
The first volume of this 13-volume book was published in 1913 and contained 9,600,000 characters –I don’t mean people, but letters.
这部13卷的书的第一卷在1913年出版，总共有 9,600,000个人物——我指的是人，不是字母。
I just googled it and found the name in French – ? la recherche du temps perdu.
我刚在谷歌上查到了它的法文名——la recherche du temps perdu
Well done! Well, we hope you’ve enjoyed today’s programme. Please join us again soon for another 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English.
棒极了！希望你能喜欢今天的节目。希望大家下次继续收听我们的六分钟英语节目。
Bye.
再见