圣诞节的善意 Christmas kindness

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute EngNeilsh. I’m Alice...
大家好，欢迎收听六分钟英语。我是爱丽丝。
And I’m Neil… Did you get all your Christmas shopping done, Alice?
我是尼尔。爱丽丝，你完成圣诞采购了吗？
I did, Neil. And I spent a small fortune – and that means a lot of money!
当然了。花了一笔巨款，也就是不少钱啊！
Well, I hate buying all those presents that people just don’t really want.
我讨厌买这些人们根本不需要的礼物。
Oh, Neil, you grumpy old Scrooge! And I hope you realise that the subject of today’s show is Christmas kindness!
尼尔，你真是个脾气暴躁的吝啬鬼！我希望你意识到今天的主题是圣诞节的善意。
Oh dear. I might be grumpy – and that means bad-tempered – but I’m not a scrooge! I don’t mind spending money – I just don’t know what to buy people.Ebenezer Scrooge is the main character in Charles Dickens’ novel A Christmas Carol.He’s a miser – and that means someone who loves money but hates spending it.
我也许脾气暴躁，或者说脾气不好，但我不是吝啬鬼！我不介意花钱，我只是不知道要买什么送给别人。吝啬鬼斯克鲁奇是查尔斯狄更斯《圣诞颂歌》中的主人公。他是个守财奴，爱钱，又舍不得花钱。
Indeed. Well, on the subject of A Christmas Carol, Neil, at the end of the story, what does Scrooge buy the Cratchit family for Christmas dinner?Is it…a) a goose?b) a turkey?Or c) a chicken?
确实如此。谈到《圣诞颂歌》，故事的结尾，斯克鲁奇给克拉奇特一家的圣诞晚餐买了什么？a) 一只鹅?b) 一只火鸡?还是 c) 一只鸡?
Hmm. Well, I haven’t read the book so I’m going to guess a) a goose.
我没有读过这本书，我猜是a) 一只鹅。
Well, we’ll find out later if you chose the right answer. Now, Neil, I agree that Christmas shopping can sometimes feel pointless – but we mustn’t forget what a magical time Christmas is for young children.
好的，之后我们再看你选的是否正确。我承认圣诞采购有时感觉没有意义，但是我们不能忘记圣诞节对于孩子来说是那么奇妙的时刻。
Well, that’s true. I remember how hard it was to get to sleep on Christmas Eve – worrying that Santa Claus would get stuck in our chimney.
没错。我记得圣诞节前夕我总是难以入睡，担心圣诞老人卡在我们家的烟囱里。
Yes, well, eve means the day before something – in this case, Christmas Day.Parents tell their children that Santa Claus – an imaginary old man with a white beard and red clothes– will bring them presents at Christmas time.In the UK children believe that Santa comes down the chimney to get into the house.
前夕是指某事件的前一天，这里是指圣诞节的前一天。父母告诉孩子们圣诞老人——留着白胡子，穿着红衣服的虚构形象，会在圣诞节给他们送礼物。在英国，孩子们认为圣诞老人从烟囱进入他们家。
But it’s not all fun.Increasing numbers of people these days are struggling for money at this time of year.Having enough food to feed their family is what matters most and buying presents comes further down the list.So let’s listen now to a BBC Scotland report by Laura Maxwell. She’s talking about a special event with lots of presents.
不是所有人都认为圣诞节很有趣。每年这个时候有很多人因为缺钱而苦恼。获得足够的食物养活家庭是最重要的，买礼物远远排在后面。我们听听Laura Maxwell从苏格兰发回的报道。她提到一个有很多礼物的特殊事件。
Beatrice Cadell has just celebrated her 80th birthday. And instead of presents for her, she asked her friends to buy toys.
Beatrice Cadell 刚刚庆祝完自己的80岁大寿。她不收礼物，而是让朋友买一些玩具。
Everyone that turned up to that birthday do was absolutely brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. And it’s good for something like this. It’s even better. It’s even better – you know – somebody else can benefit.We don’t need it. We’re old.
每个来我生日会的人都非常伟大。真的非常伟大。做这样的事情很有意义。非常好。有一些人会因此受益，这非常棒。我们不需要礼物。我们已经老了。
So Beatrice is celebrating her birthday and she told friends and family to buy toys instead of presents for her.
Beatrice在庆祝生日，她没有让家人朋友买礼物给她，而是买一些玩具。
Right. She had the generous idea of donating – or giving – the toys to a toy bank – a place where toys are given away free to people in need.The toy bank then distributed Beatrice’s toys to parents who couldn’t afford to buy presents for their children at Christmas.
是的。她很慷慨，将玩具捐赠给玩具银行。玩具银行会把玩具免费分发给需要的人。玩具银行把Beatrice捐赠的玩具发给圣诞节没钱给孩子买礼物的家长。
Yes. So Beatrice is happy that children can benefit – or be helped by her. She says she doesn’t need presents.A woman after your own heart, Neil!
所以Beatrice很开心，孩子们能因此受益，得到她的帮助。她说她不需要礼物。这个人和你“英雄所见略同”啊，尼尔。
Indeed! And that means Beatrice has the same opinion as me!Well, that’s a great example of Christmas charity – and charity means giving free help to people who need it.
确实啊。这是指Beatrice和我的想法相同。这是关于圣诞节慈善的一个很好的例子。慈善是指无偿帮助需要的人。
Yes. And here’s another example, Neil.Last year in London, twenty tons of presents were donated, wrapped, and delivered to a local hospital to cheer up sick children who couldn’t go home for Christmas.
还有另一个例子。去年在伦敦，20吨捐赠的礼物被打包送给当地医院，鼓舞那些生病无法回家过圣诞的孩子。
Were they delivered in Santa’s sleigh?
这些礼物是用圣诞老人的雪橇送的吗？
No Neil, they were delivered in a big double-decker bus! Let’s hear about the volunteers who made this happen.
不是的，尼尔，是用双层大巴送去的。我们听听志愿者们是怎么做到的。
Lots of different groups of people come together under the banner of kindness– so religious people come together, corporate people come together, young people, old people – it seems to be something that stretches across many many many different demographics.
很多人以慈善的名义聚集在一起，不同宗教的人，不同企业的人，老老少少都聚集在一起。似乎包含了人口统计学中的各类人群。
Under the banner of kindness – what does that mean, Alice?
以慈善的名义，这是指什么呢？
Well, being under the banner of something means being part of a group who are united in support for an idea.And in this case, different people came together to do something kind for sick children.
以某事的名义是指不同的人群因为支持某一种观点而聚集在一起。在这里，不同的人群因为想要为生病的孩子们做些事情而聚集在一起。
And demographics? What’s that?
人口统计学又是指什么呢？
Demographics means statistical information about a population and the groups of people in it. People from different groups in society are working together – the old and the young, religious people, corporate – or business – people.
人口统计学涉及人口的统计信息以及组成人群。来自不同社会人群的人们，老老少少，宗教人士，政企人士都聚集在一起。
And this talk of kindness is making me feel more in the mood for Christmas!
今天所讲的慈善让我感觉圣诞节的氛围更浓厚了。
I can see that, Ebenezer. You’ve got a smile on your face! Now, earlier in the show, I asked: At the end of the story, what does Scrooge buy the Cratchit family for Christmas dinner?Is it… a) a goose? b) a turkey? Or c) a chicken?
我能看出来，埃比尼泽，你脸上有笑容了。好了，节目之初，我问你《圣诞颂歌》的结尾，斯克鲁奇给克拉奇特一家的圣诞晚餐买了什么？a) 一只鹅?b) 一只火鸡?还是 c) 一只鸡?
And I said a) a goose.
我选的是a) 一只鹅。
Yes. And you were wrong, Neil! The answer is b) a turkey.
你回答错了，尼尔。正确答案是b) 一只火鸡。
That makes me a goose.
这让我感觉自己像是一只笨鹅。
It certainly does.Scrooge buys the Cratchit family the prize turkey hanging. Delicious!A Christmas Carol is a lovely story. Everybody should read it.
很像哦。斯克鲁奇给克拉奇特一家买了火鸡。很美味。《圣诞颂歌》是一个很温馨的故事。每个人都应该读一读。
And did you know that although turkeys are traditional Christmas food now, they weren’t in Dickens’s time.
那你知道吗，尽管火鸡如今是圣诞节的传统食物，但是在狄更斯的年代并不是这样。
I see...
我知道了。
They were exotic back then – and that means unusual because it comes from another country. The story was written in 1843. Now how about hearing the words we learned today, Alice?
火鸡当时需要国外进口，就是说很珍贵，从另一个国家运来。《圣诞颂歌》这个故事写于1843年。爱丽丝，我们再来听一下今天的单词吧？
They are:
今天听到的单词有：
a small fortune
一笔钱
grumpy
脾气暴躁的
miser
吝啬鬼
eve
前夕
Santa Claus
圣诞老人
donating
捐赠
toy bank
玩具银行
benefit
使某人受益
after your own heart
英雄所见略同
charity
慈善
under the banner of something
以某事的名义
demographics
人口统计学
exotic
外来的
Well, that’s the end of today’s 6 Minute English.Merry Christmas, everybody!
今天的六分钟英语就到这里。大家圣诞快乐！
Merry Christmas!
圣诞节快乐！
Please join us again soon!
下次节目再会！
Bye.
再见。