新视野大学英语读写教程听力 第四册 课文 4t03a

[by:和谐英语学习网|http://www.hxen.net|和谐英语||和谐英语学习网]
[00:00.00]喜欢hxen.net，就把hxen.net复制到QQ个人资料中！(Longing for a New Welfare System)
[00:-1.00]A welfare client is supposed to cheat.
[00:-2.00]Everybody expects it.
[00:-3.00]Faced with sharing a dinner of raw pet food with the cat,
[00:-4.00]many people in wheelchairs I know bleed the system for a few extra dollars.
[00:-5.00]They tell the government that they are getting two hundred dollars less
[00:-6.00]than their real pension so they can get a little extra welfare money.
[00:-7.00]Or,they tell the caseworker that the landlord raised the rent by a hundred dollars.
[00:-8.00]I have opted to live a life of complete honesty.
[00:-9.00]So instead,I go out and drum up some business and draw cartoons.
[00:10.00]I even tell welfare how much I make!
[00:11.00]Oh,I'm tempted to get paid under the table.
[00:12.00]But even if I yielded to that temptation,
[00:13.00]big magazines are not going to get involved in some sticky situation.
[00:14.00]They keep my records,
[00:15.00]and that information goes right into the government's computer.
[00:16.00]Very high- profile.
[00:17.00] As a welfare client I'm expected to bow before the caseworker.
[00:18.00]Deep down,caseworkers know that they are being made fools of
[00:19.00]by many of their clients,
[00:20.00]and they feel they are entitled to have clients bow to them as compensation.
[00:21.00]I'm not being bitter.
[00:22.00]Most caseworkers begin as college-educated liberals with high ideals.
[00:23.00]But after a few years in a system that practically requires people to lie,
[00:24.00]they become like the one I shall call "Suzanne",a detective in shorts.
[00:25.00]Not long after Christmas last year,
[00:26.00]Suzanne came to inspect my apartment and saw some new posters pasted on the wall.
[00:27.00]"Where'd you get the money for those?" she wanted to know.
[00:28.00]"Friends and family."
[00:29.00]"Well,you'd better have a receipt for it,by God
[00:30.00]You have to report any donations or gifts."
[00:31.00]This was my cue to beg.Instead,I talked back.
[00:32.00]"I got a cigarette from somebody on the street the other day.
[00:33.00]Do I have to report that?"
[00:34.00]"Well I'm sorry,but I don't make the rules,Mr.Callahan."
[00:35.00]Suzanne tries to lecture me about repairs to my wheelchair,
[00:36.00]which is always breaking down
[00:37.00]because welfare won't spend the money maintaining it properly.
[00:38.00]"You know,Mr.Callahan,I've heard that you put a lot more
[00:39.00] miles on that wheelchair than average."
[00:40.00]Of course I do.I'm an active worker,not a vegetable.
[00:41.00]I live near downtown,so I can get around in a wheelchair.
[00:42.00]I wonder what she'd think if she suddenly broke her hip and had to crawl to work.
[00:43.00]Government cuts in welfare
[00:44.00]have resulted in hunger and suffering for a lot of people,
[00:45.00]not just me.
[00:46.00]But people with spinal cord injuries felt the cuts in a unique way:
[00:47.00]The government stopped taking care of our chairs.
[00:48.00]Each time mine broke down,lost a screw,needed a new roller bearing,
[00:49.00]the brake wouldn't work, etc.,
[00:50.00]and I called Suzanne,I had to endure a little lecture.
[00:51.00]Finally,she'd say,"Well,
[00:52.00]if I can find time today,"I'll call the medical worker."
[00:53.00]She was supposed to notify the medical worker,
[00:54.00]who would certify that there was a problem.
[00:55.00]Then the medical worker
[00:56.00]called the wheelchair repair companies to get the cheapest bid.
[00:57.00]Then the medical worker alerted the main welfare office at the state capital.
[00:58.00]They considered the matter for days while I lay in bed,unable to move.
[00:59.00]Finally,if I was lucky,they called back and approved the repair.
[-1:00.00]When welfare learned I was making money on my cartoons,
[-1:-1.00]Suzanne started "visiting"every fortnight instead of every two months.
[-1:-2.00]She looked into every corner in search of unreported appliances,
[-1:-3.00]or maids,or a roast pig in the oven,or a new helicopter parked out back.
[-1:-4.00]She never found anything,but there was always a thick pile of forms