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标题: 【每日阅读训练——速度越障5系列】【5-16】 [打印本页]

作者: 抓抓sandra 时间: 2011-9-19 08:43
标题: 【每日阅读训练——速度越障5系列】【5-16】
【速度5-16】
Louisa May Alcott, 1832-1888: The Woman Behind 'Little Women'
http://www.51voa.com/VOA_Special_English/Louisa-May-Alcott---The-Woman-Behind-Little-Women-43151.html
计时1
BOB DOUGHTY: I'm Bob Doughty.
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: And I'm Shirley Griffith with the VOA Special English program People in America. Every week we tell about a person important in the history of the United States. Today we tell about Louisa May Alcott. She wrote one of America's best known children's books.
BOB DOUGHTY: In eighteen sixty-eight, an American publisher asked a struggling young writer to write a book for girls. At first, the writer, Louisa May Alcott, was not sure she wanted to do it. She said she never liked girls. And she never knew many, except her sisters. She thought her family's activities and experiences might be interesting to others. But, she said, probably not.
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Alcott decided to write the book anyway. She told about her experiences growing up in the northeastern United States during the middle of the nineteenth century. Her book proved to be more than interesting. "Little Women" became one of the most popular children's books in American literature. It has been published in more than fifty languages.
(MUSIC)
BOB DOUGHTY: Louisa May Alcott was born in Pennsylvania in eighteen thirty-two. She was the second of four daughters. She had one older sister, Anna. And two younger sisters, Elizabeth, called Beth, and May. Her parents were Bronson and Abigail Alcott. Her father was an educator and social reformer.
The Alcotts later settled in Concord, Massachusetts. Several great American writers were friends of the family. They included Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry David Thoreau. Mister Alcott provided the girls' education. He taught them many subjects. He also made them write about their personal thoughts and experiences.
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计时2
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: The Alcotts did not have much money. Louisa worked to help support her family. She tried teaching, sewing, and taking care of children. She did not like any of these jobs.
Louisa thought of herself as a writer. At the age of sixteen, she wrote her first book. It was called "Flower Fables." She decided to sell what she wrote. She wrote many kinds of poems, stories, and plays. Her stories were exciting, but unrealistic. She sold them to newspapers and magazines for small amounts of money.
BOB DOUGHTY: In eighteen sixty-two, during the American Civil War, Louisa May Alcott went to Washington, D.C. She served as a nurse in a military hospital. She cared for sick and wounded soldiers. She wrote letters to her family about her experiences. She included these letters in a book that was published the next year. Critics praised it but it did not bring her much money. And, working in the hospital damaged her health.
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: In eighteen sixty-five she visited Europe as a helper to an older woman. Alcott hoped to re-gain her health. She spent a long time away from her family. Her health did not improve. But she thought about her writing. When she returned, she agreed to her publisher's request that she write a book for girls based on the life she knew.
"Little Women" was published in eighteen sixty-eight. The book was immediately popular with people of all ages. It brought Alcott fame and a lot of money. She continued writing other popular books for young people. These included "An Old-Fashioned Girl," "Little Men, and "Eight Cousins."
(MUSIC)
(272)

计时3
BOB DOUGHTY: Louisa May Alcott wrote books for adults, as well as children. She published these under another name -- A. M. Barnard. These books were published before "Little Women" made her famous. They were very different from her children's stories. They were about love, power, and unhappiness.
One book is called "Behind a Mask: The Unknown Thrillers of Louisa May Alcott." The book includes four mystery stories. Another is called "The Lost Stories of Louisa May Alcott." These stories are about love, betrayal, and illegal drugs.
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Alcott wrote a story called "A Long Fatal Love Chase." It is about an independent young woman. She marries an older man who already has a wife. She flees from him. He follows her throughout Europe. The book tells of insanity, violence, and death. Louisa May Alcott tried to get the book published in eighteen sixty-six. The publisher rejected it. He said it was too shocking.
In the early nineteen nineties, a man who collected Alcott materials found the unpublished story in a bookstore in New York City. He bought it for about fifty thousand dollars. Reports said he sold it to a major American publisher for about one million dollars. The story was published in nineteen ninety-five.
BOB DOUGHTY: Louisa May Alcott wrote many exciting stories about love. Yet she never married. She continued to support her family during the last years of her life. In fact, she cared for the young daughter of her sister, May, who died in eighteen seventy-nine.
Alcott was involved in the movements to end slavery and to gain voting rights for women. She wrote that "I . . . take more pride in the very small help we Alcotts could give than in all the books I ever wrote." Louisa May Alcott died in eighteen eighty-eight.
(MUSIC)
(303)

计时4
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Louisa May Alcott's most famous book, "Little Women", tells the story of the March family of Concord, Massachusetts. The story begins during the American Civil War in the eighteen sixties. Mister March is away from home. He is with the troops of the Union Army. He is a religious worker. Missus March is raising her four daughters by herself.
The March family is very close. They do many things together. They do not have much money. They suffer shortages caused by the war. Yet they share what they have with people who are in need.
BOB DOUGHTY: The four daughters are Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. They are strong, brave, and loving. Jo is the most important person in the book. She is smart. She has a good imagination. She writes stories. And she creates plays that the sisters perform together.
Jo also is independent. She chooses a non-traditional life. She goes to New York to become a writer. There she meets an older man, a professor. She returns home to care for her parents. She writes stories that become very popular. Later, Jo marries the professor. Together, they establish a school.
(MUSIC)
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: The March family in "Little Women" is very much like Louisa May Alcott's family. Her sisters are like the sisters in the book. And the leading person, Jo, is like Louisa. Jo must work to support her family, just as Louisa had to do. One of Jo's jobs is to help a family member, an old woman called Aunt March. Jo does not really like Aunt March. But she loves the older woman's house, especially the large library with hundreds of books. This is how Alcott writes about this place:
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计时5
BOB DOUGHTY: "The dim, dusty room. . . the cozy chairs, the globes, and, best of all, the wilderness of books in which she could wander where she liked, made the library a region of bliss to her. The moment Aunt March took her nap, or was busy with company, Jo hurried to this quiet space, and, curling herself up in the easy chair, devoured poetry, romance, history, travels, and pictures, like a regular bookworm. "
All of these wonderful books put great ideas into Jo's head. Jo wanted to do something very wonderful, Alcott writes: "What it was she had no idea as yet, but left it for time to tell her."
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Jo's beloved sister Beth dies young, as Alcott's own sister Beth did. Jo is very unhappy. Her mother tells her to write because that always made her happy. Jo writes a story "that went straight to the hearts of those who read it." Jo cannot understand how her simple little story became so popular.
Her father explains, "There is truth in it, Jo, that's the secret; . . . You have found your style at last. You wrote with no thought of fame or money, and put your heart into it. . . ; You have had the bitter, now comes the sweet. "
BOB DOUGHTY: Louisa May Alcott's book, "Little Women", is still popular today. The book has been made into several movie versions. And, some American women say they decided to become writers after reading how Jo March became a writer in "Little Women".
(MUSIC)
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: This Special English program was written by Shelley Gollust. It was produced by Dana Demange. I'm Shirley Griffith.
BOB DOUGHTY: And I'm Bob Doughty. For transcripts, mp3s and podcasts of our programs, go to 51voa.com. Join us again next week for another People in America program on the Voice of America.
(315)

【越障5-16】
Financial transaction tax in the euro area
Shooting the bankers, or themselves?
Sep 17th 2011, 15:42 by The Economist | Wroclaw
http://www.economist.com/blogs/charlemagne/2011/09/financial-transaction-tax-euro-area

THROUGH the crisis, European taxpayers have bailed out first the banks, and then busted states. So it is little wonder that many governments are reluctant to consider either of the main options to end the euro-zone crisis: opening up the wallet (by enlarging the euro-zone rescue fund), or letting others borrow one’s credit-card (issuing joint Eurbonds).
Germany and France want somebody else to start paying. And who better to punish than the reckless bankers and speculators who, in their view, caused the trouble in the first place?
The idea of imposing a financial transaction tax (FTT) has been around since the start of the crisis, indeed for several decades since it was mooted by the late Nobel laureate, James Tobin. But has faced a seemingly insurmountable problem: in a globalised connected financial world, a financial tax has to be global if markets are not simply to shift their operations to where they will not be taxed.
As Timothy Geithner, America’s Treasury Secretary, repeated to European finance ministers in a less-than-cordial encounter (see previous posting) in the Polish city of Wroclaw this week, the United States opposes the FTT on the grounds that it would raise the cost of capital and weaken the already-fragile economic recovery.
Undeterred, Germany and France last week called for the tax to be imposed by the European Union alone (see joint letter from the German and French finance ministershere). The European Commission is also supporting the idea, and will unveil proposals in the coming weeks. Michel Barnier, commissioner for the single market, said his proposals would be “technically simple, economically bearable by the financial sector, financially productive and politically just”. He gave no figures for how much money could be raised.
Supporters of a more localised FTT would argue that this is an opportunity for Europe to show the way in taking action that is both moral and remunerative. As with emissions-trading to curb climate change, others will follow. Indeed, European officials are already arguing over who should take the proceeds of an FTT: national exchequers, the European Union or a special-purpose European fund to deal with future banking collapses?
Even so, the idea is running into the firm objections of, among others, Britain. Jacek Rostowski, the Polish finance minister who holds the rotating presidency, said the EU was “very, very divided” on the issue when it was discussed in Wroclaw. In any case, he said, “nobody expects this element to be crucial in our attempt to stabilise the situation, both fiscally and financially.” In other words, the FTT is not worth the trouble it would cause.
Thus the idea that gathered strength yesterday: a financial transaction tax within the 17 countries of euro zone. “I’m sure that if it’s impossible at the worldwide level, we’ll need to organise that in the European Union, or at least in the euro zone.” To reduce the risk of avoidance, he said, an FTT in the euro zone would have to be imposed at a lower rate than a global tax. In an interview, his German counterpart, Wolfgang Schäuble, supported the idea.
One might question whether an FTT in an ever-smaller geographical area makes sense, particularly given that it excludes London, Europe’s main financial centre. The pony-tailed Swedish finance minister, Anders Borg had some words of caution:
We have substantial experience in Sweden. Basically most of our derivative and bond trading went to London during the years we had a financial transaction tax. So if you don’t get a solution that is universal it is very likely to be detrimental for European financial markets. And from the Swedish perspective, we cannot foresee that we would introduce such a tax in our system again.
The idea of an FTT at 17 raises another intriguing question: might it become the first fracture in the EU from the move to integrate the euro zone to confront its debt crisis? An FTT is no longer a question of monitoring budgets and maintaining fiscal discipline, but a move to integrate taxation, which in turn influences the EU’s single market.
Britain may consider a FTT at anything other than the global level to be self-defeating. But what of a common base for corporate tax in the euro zone? Even if British tax rates are lower, a simplified and uniform system for calculating and paying corporate tax in the much of the European market may prove attractive to some companies.
Such issues worry British officials. But for now the greater alarm is over a collapse of the euro, so the British have become among the loudest cheerleaders for euro-zone integration. “Time is running out,” said George Osbone, Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer. “They have got to get a grip and deliver a solution to the uncertainty in the markets.”
If the ordinary citizen has to pay tax on a daily financial transaction, like buying a toothbrush, there can be little moral argument against taxing financial transactions. But at a time of crisis, the question is an FTT might actually worsen the crisis. Might a euro-area FTT not weaken the euro area’s banks? After all, the IMF is urging governments urgently to recapitalise their banks - not to draw money out off them - to halt the spread of contagion from their exposure to the sovereign debt of vulnerable European countries. Two French banks were downgraded this week due to their exposure to Greek debt
It would not be the first time that Germany and others, in taking aim at the bankers, shoot themselves in the foot. The demand that the financial sector pay for a share of the second bail-out of Greece (which has not yet been approved) caused delay, destabilised the markets and had to be buttressed by offers of government cash to protect the European Central Bank and Greek institutions. It raised comparatively little money. If the euro zone believed the creditors should take the hit, it should have allowed a proper restructuring of Greece’s unsustainable debt. Instead it came up with a fudge that did more harm than good.
The resentment of bankers, and the desire to protect the taxpayer is understandable. But the grudging and erratic response of the euro zone’s governments has been as much part of the problem as of the solution. The citizen will be placed at ever greater risk unless the crisis is tamed quickly. To do that, two destabilising feedback loops have to be broken. The first is between collapsing banks and collapsing treasuries; the other is between panicking markets and hesitating governments. An EU or euro-area FTT helps with neither. For now, it is a distraction - and could make things worse.

作者: jxgzcly 时间: 2011-9-19 09:01

01:16

01:06

01:11

01:20

01:23

最近速度感觉下来了点,又上不去了.

容易走神.

作者: fox0923 时间: 2011-9-19 09:11
狐来了，占位~~

1‘20“
1‘13”
1'30"
1'20"
1'03"

作者: jxgzcly 时间: 2011-9-19 09:24

狐来了，占位~~

-- by 会员 fox0923 (2011/9/19 9:11:18)

糊糊,是在米国呗?

作者: fox0923 时间: 2011-9-19 09:26
曾经很小的时候就有“little women"这本书，可是一直没有好好读过，后悔不已~~

作者: fox0923 时间: 2011-9-19 09:28

狐来了，占位~~

-- by 会员 fox0923 (2011/9/19 9:11:18)

糊糊,是在米国呗?

-- by 会员 jxgzcly (2011/9/19 9:24:59)

恩恩，米国最近几年"米”不多了啊~~考虑要不要上万学就回去呢。

作者: fox0923 时间: 2011-9-19 10:00
10‘
- Who should be blamed? Tax payers bail out the Euro banks first.
- The European government is reluctant to make choice either let people borrow one's credit card or open up a wallet.
- The idea of FTT has been the center of criticism since it claimed to have a globalized tax rate for all european countries. However, this idea was opposed by the American...(forgot), and the official people claimed that this will weaken the fragile economy of Europe.
- Some people think it's better to have a lower tax rate than globalized tax for European's current economic situation. This would be better to suit their own market.
- There's also a question might Europe from the move to globalize its euro zone to fight against its own debt crisis a good idea? The british worries if the citizens of British need to pay the tax for products such as toothbrush, people worry if FTT's influence brings negative effect to Europe. Would FTT be harmful to the banks?
- People have to understand this better to calm their resentment...

------------------------------------------------------------------
抓，我不瞒你说，我真看不懂~~谁能给讲讲？一遇到Euro-zone的问题，脑子就不转了~

作者: ykelly123 时间: 2011-9-19 10:22
1:21
0:59
1:15
1:01

little women 阿，小时候看过动画片阿，每个姐妹都很有特色阿。很久很久之后才知道英文是little women
看这篇文章不知道为什么连想到happy potter的作者怎么写HP的。。。看这些创作人创作的由来挺有意思的

作者: ykelly123 时间: 2011-9-19 10:46
越障8:10
鹅鹅鹅鹅鹅。。

1. the euro union is trying to impose financial transaction tax on financial trasactions. many think that if not impose it globally, its not going work. the U.S. disagree with idea of imposing FTT.
3. the euro countries want to at least impose it in the euro zone. the biggest europe financial entity, British, will not be part of the FTT, so many people think FTT would not worth the effect. the euro union is very dividing among this topic. 瑞士(?) says that last year(?) most of their financial transactions eventually connected to British.
5. bankers think that the government should capitalize the financial institution instead of dragging money out of it. they think that FTT would worsen the economy crisis.
5. loops have to be broken. the bank or the treasury? the hesitating government or the public?

作者: ccmoom 时间: 2011-9-19 10:59
01:14
01:10
01:18
01:00
00:59

作者: ccmoom 时间: 2011-9-19 11:06
我第一次发现通过链接可以听听力也…… 我太后知后觉了……

作者: 小影熊 时间: 2011-9-19 11:21
1.差2行
2.58
3.差3行
4.差3行
5.57

作者: 小影熊 时间: 2011-9-19 11:25
越障花了10分钟，还是稀里糊涂

作者: bananazoo 时间: 2011-9-19 15:05
1'05
1'01
1'16
1'12
1'19
little women~好亲切的感觉，还想到了另一个关于爱与坚强的故事，《小公主》~都在小时候带去温暖！
原来书的作者也这么经历着这不平凡的一生~

作者: bananazoo 时间: 2011-9-19 15:37
7‘41
前面还认真的，后面晕乎乎就不记得了~
1 euro-zone crisis, no government want to take responsibility of it.
2 the idea about FTT,but they need to face some problem about global tax...
different about FTT:
USA disagree with it
France and German support it. And many euro countries suppoet the idea.
supporters think it is a good ieda. but they need someone to process FTT.
some one said is very divided. since it will cost a lot than it bring.
3 a country try FTT,but the resullt is not so good.
.......
FTT will worse crisis~
后面不记得不记得。。。

作者: superbat28 时间: 2011-9-19 18:17
80s
75s
80s
80s
75s

作者: joelee1991 时间: 2011-9-19 19:05
1:07
0:50
1:01
1:00
0:59
今天的文章对于我来说太熟悉太亲切了！小妇人这本书超级超级好看。第一次看是大概6岁的时候在一个类似彩图版的童话故事书里。名叫《马奇家的姐妹们》，算是对小妇人的一个缩写吧。后来也看过电影。一直超级喜欢Jo，喜欢她的独立，有思想，坚强。
这也是我的英文名字叫joe的原因~灰常亲切灰常亲切。

作者: 小曼嘟嘟 时间: 2011-9-19 20:47
1.1:30
2.1:10
3.1:30
4.1:20
5.1:30
越障 8:00
关于FTT的，试行交易税
supporter
objection
一些人提出在smaller geographical areas
in conclusion,it may make situation worse

作者: jxgzcly 时间: 2011-9-19 20:58
...

作者: jxgzcly 时间: 2011-9-19 20:59

狐来了，占位~~

-- by 会员 fox0923 (2011/9/19 9:11:18)

糊糊,是在米国呗?

-- by 会员 jxgzcly (2011/9/19 9:24:59)

恩恩，米国最近几年"米”不多了啊~~考虑要不要上万学就回去呢。

-- by 会员 fox0923 (2011/9/19 9:28:30)

不是说,刚刚从米国毕业回来,很没有优势的吗? 最好有工作经历~ 听别人说的,不懂诶~~~

你是在准备GMAT吗? 还是要读硕士咯?

作者: phoebe0624 时间: 2011-9-19 22:41
01:12
01:03
01:12
01:09
01:19

拖拉大王来补作业。
这篇文章是关于financial transaction tax的，从不同角度论证了这个政策只能使得economic worse
1、提出solve problem有two ways： open wallet or borrow credit card
2、提出financial transaction tax这个概念
3、Germany 和 French两国要求实行该制度
4、BJ反对这个制度，认为无法解决problem
5、另外有人支持这个制度
6、swedish 不接受，但是GF两国议案被通过
7、有fracture in EU
8、Britain base of tax 使得必须solution worsen crisis
9、需要recapitalise banks ，是harm
10、引起problem grudging response ，产生problem bankruptcy of bank or treasuries；market or government 的问题，所以使得经济更worsen

作者: fox0923 时间: 2011-9-19 22:44

狐来了，占位~~

-- by 会员 fox0923 (2011/9/19 9:11:18)

糊糊,是在米国呗?

-- by 会员 jxgzcly (2011/9/19 9:24:59)

恩恩，米国最近几年"米”不多了啊~~考虑要不要上万学就回去呢。

-- by 会员 fox0923 (2011/9/19 9:28:30)

不是说,刚刚从米国毕业回来,很没有优势的吗? 最好有工作经历~ 听别人说的,不懂诶~~~

你是在准备GMAT吗? 还是要读硕士咯?

-- by 会员 jxgzcly (2011/9/19 20:59:07)

GMAT~~
我一直有在上班啊，上学的时候就有，所以还好了。

作者: 很邻家 时间: 2011-9-20 00:02
1‘31
1’35
1‘23
1’18
1‘26
越障明天来写

作者: alina0127 时间: 2011-9-20 00:35
1.25'
1.18'
1.27'
1.19'
1.22'
有进步。。
euro-zone economic crisis
American treasury secretary oppose FIT
substantial experience in Sweden
tax rate for euro-zone
FIT worsen crisis?

作者: 很邻家 时间: 2011-9-20 13:32
越障8'44
To solve the euro-zone economic crisis, someone put forward FTT.
America opposed FTT on the ground that it may make the global economic worse.
However, Germany and French supposed FTT.

作者: daisyの小夢想 时间: 2011-9-21 08:55
58s
61s
63s
60s
61s
T.T 一边看一边联想到很多~

作者: 向日葵般阳光 时间: 2011-9-21 22:39
来补作业啦~~~
1‘15’‘
1’16‘’
1‘40’‘
1’34‘’
1‘17’‘
怎么还是想默念呢？？？
反应也变慢了！！！
要加强啊！！！！！！！！！

作者: corneliaflower 时间: 2011-9-21 23:11
1:05
0:57
0:59
1:02
1:15

今天看很快唉~

但是越障看不下去了TAT 每次都记不住看不懂肿么办？
做笔记不知怎么做求指导

作者: Crystaljoy 时间: 2011-9-22 22:59
1.10
1.03
1.06
0.50
0.58

速度总是强迫自己快读。。。受不了自己了

我也想知道，越障每次都不知所云怎么办？

作者: 裤裤melo 时间: 2011-9-24 10:57
我回来了。。。和你们一起练习。。。。
今天才知道t我那天是惨案，新题。。。竹子和小马预测都不预测。。。
没办法，靠实力了。。。背水一战。。。
现在极度苦闷中。。。求抓老大和大家安慰鼓励。。。

作者: superbat28 时间: 2011-9-24 11:02

我回来了。。。和你们一起练习。。。。
今天才知道t我那天是惨案，新题。。。竹子和小马预测都不预测。。。
没办法，靠实力了。。。背水一战。。。
现在极度苦闷中。。。求抓老大和大家安慰鼓励。。。

-- by 会员裤裤melo (2011/9/24 10:57:29)

哥那天也是新题。。所以，要相信自己！！Bee！！
安心考T，我查学校~over~~~

作者: jiaosisisisi 时间: 2011-9-24 16:53
125
133
151
143
150

作者: 2012Michelle 时间: 2012-11-3 13:19
速度
1'15"
Alcott was a very famous writer in the U.S., her book named "little women" was popular. She was the 2nd daughter of her parents, and growed up in Southerneast in America.
1'24"
Alcott did some jobs such as teaching,... which she didn't like. When she was 16 years old, she wrote some peoms and plays to earn money for helping her family. She became famous when she moved to Europe, and she wrote many books that brought her money.
1'37"
Alcott had lots of great books in her late ages. One of them was rejected by the publisher, but later someone in NYC bought the story then sell to film producer.
1'15"
The book "little women" talked the stories about a family with 4 daughters, which was very similar to Alcott's.
1'18"
The book "little women" had some versions of movies, which were popular world wide.

越障的迟点来看。

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