By 謝忠理 on Thursday, 07 March 2024
Category: 托福口說

BBC 6 分鐘英語—Sewing to fight period poverty 用縫紉消除貧困

婦女月經期間需要用到衛生用品,但是並非每名婦女都能夠負擔市售衛生用品的價格。那到底有什麼方式可以為這些身處貧困的婦女解決這項惱人的難題?一起來聽聽 BBC 6 分鐘英語對這個話題的討論。

Sewing to fight period poverty 用縫紉消除貧困

BBC 6 分鐘英語在 2024 年 3 月 7 日播出的節目 中討論的是如何幫助貧困婦女解決經期衛生用品使用的問題。

經期貧困影響著全球 5 億多人。為了幫助解決這一問題,Pachamama 計畫招募了志工,為難民縫製可重複使用的經期用品。BBC 6 分鐘英語的主持人喬治和貝絲將討論這個問題。同時和往常一樣,節目主持人也會教導聽眾一些相關詞彙與表達方式。

本周的問題

月經影響著女孩和育齡婦女,約占女性人口的一半,或全球人口的 26%。但這是多少人呢?是
a) 21 億人?
b) 23 億?
c) 25 億人?

詞彙

sew 縫紉
通過手工或縫紉機,用針反覆穿線,將一塊塊材料連接起來

to this day 至今
直到現在

absorbent 吸水性
能夠通過表面吸收液體並保持住液體

disposable 一次性
設計用於使用後丟棄

barely 勉強
極少量;剛剛好;幾乎沒有

chat away 聊天
與人聊天打發時間

中英文稿謄本

BBC 6 minute English – Sewing to fight period poverty

點此看英文原稿

Georgie
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I’m Georgie.

Beth
And I’m Beth. Menstruation is an issue that’s not often talked about, yet every month it affects billions of women around the world. Menstruation, or periods, are a natural process that typically happen once a month when women and girls bleed from their vagina for a few days as part of the reproductive cycle. When this happens, women need special products like sanitary pads or tampons to manage the flow of blood and go about their day-to-day life.

Georgie
Unfortunately, over 500 million people around the world either don't have access to these products or can't afford to buy them, and this is called period poverty. Period poverty has serious consequences, for example, girls on their periods not going to school affects their education, and women who can’t work during their period have less income. What’s more, it can cause health problems because, without sanitary products, its easy to get infections.

Beth
In this programme, we’ll be learning about one project fighting period poverty affecting thousands of women refugees. And, of course, we’ll be learning some useful new vocabulary as well. But first, Georgie, I have a question for you. Periods affect girls and women of reproductive age, that’s roughly half the female population, or 26% of the global population. But how many people is that? Is it: 
a)    2.1 billion people?
b)    2.3 billion people?  or,
c)    2.5 billion people?

Georgie
I’ll guess it’s about 2.1 billion people.

Beth
OK, Georgie, I’ll reveal the answer at the end of the programme. Ella Lambert was a student at Bristol University when she started The Pachamama Project in 2020 during the first Covid lockdown. She’d heard about period poverty and decided to put her lockdown time to good use by making sanitary pads, pieces of soft material used to absorb menstrual blood. Here’s Ella explaining how her project got started to BBC World Service programme, ‘People Fixing the World’:

Ella Lambert
So I borrowed a sewing machine from a friend, I learned how to sew on YouTube, and then I just started making pads. And even now to this day, I can't sew anything else, only pads.

Myra Anubi
Ella started making reusable sanitary pads which aren't a new thing. They’re made from absorbent fabrics such as fleece and cotton sheets which means that they can be used over and over again after they're washed unlike disposable pads.

Georgie
Ella spent lockdown learning how to sew, how to join pieces of material by hand using a needle and thread, or with a sewing machine. In fact, Ella was so focused on sewing sanitary pads she didn’t make anything else, and to this day, pads are the only thing she knows how to sew. Ella uses the phrase, to this day, to say: up to and including the present moment.

Beth
Sanitary pads aren’t easy to make. The outer layer has to be soft because it touches the skin, but they also need to be absorbent, able to soak up liquids like blood and hold them. What’s more, Ella designed her pads to be washed and used again, unlike most sanitary pads bought in shops which are disposable, designed to be thrown away after they’ve been used.

Georgie
Ella’s network of volunteers sewing reusable sanitary pads grew, and to date the Pachamama Project has donated tens of thousands of period products to refugees fleeing conflict in Syria, Turkey and Lebanon, as well as women here in the UK.

Beth
Plus, the project is helping in other ways too. Despite affecting so many people, and being necessary for life itself, many cultures consider menstruation unclean or shameful, not a topic of polite conversation. But Ella thinks her project is giving refugees the confidence to talk about periods, as she told BBC World Service’s, People Fixing the World:

Ella Lambert
I have seen such major change in such a short short period of time. Like, the women originally who were distributing the pads would barely even speak about it and we had it behind a curtain, and now they’ll chat away about the pads with their male colleagues, anyone that comes into the shop…

Georgie
Before, most women refugees would barely talk about menstruation, they would only just, scarcely talk about it. But now they’re happily chatting away, passing the time talking to other women, and even to male colleagues.

Beth
I think it’s time I reveal the answer to my question – as a number, how many women make up the 26% of the world’s population who menstruate?

Georgie
I said it was 2.1 billion people

Beth
Which was… the correct answer. OK, let's recap the vocabulary we've learned in this programme starting with the verb to sew, to join material together using a needle and thread, either by hand or with a sewing machine.

Georgie
The phrase, to this day, means up to and including the present moment.

Beth
The adjective absorbent means able to soak up and hold liquid, and the adjective disposable means designed to be thrown away after use.

Georgie
If you barely do something, you only just do it, by the smallest amount.

Beth
And finally, to chat away means to pass the time by talking a lot with someone. Once again our six minutes are up! We hope you’ll join us again next time, here at 6 Minute English. Bye for now!

Georgie
Bye!

廣播原稿中文翻譯有兩個目的。首先是幫助聽力有困難的讀者能夠快速了解原文的意思。而更重要的原因是,提供給練習英語口語表達的讀者訓練的素材。

由於每個人的知識範疇各不相同,因此碰到超出自己專長的領域,常常會啞口無言,無話可說。這對練習英語表達是一項非常難以克服的障礙。所以參考 6 分鐘英語的對白稿,既可以讓自我練習英語對話時有貼切適當的素材,同時也能順便學些道地的表達方式,實是一舉數得。

使用上,可以在聽完一、兩次原始廣播之後,試著一邊看中文謄本,一邊流利、正確地用英語說出文中的內容。多次練習之後,未來自然能夠在碰到同樣主題時與人侃侃而談。

BBC 6 分鐘英語 – 用縫紉消除貧困

點此看中文翻譯

喬治
您好。這裡是 BBC 學習英語的六分鐘英語。我是喬治。

貝絲
我是貝絲。月經是一個不常被談論的問題,但它每個月都影響著全世界數十億女性。月經或月經期是一個自然過程,通常每月發生一次,婦女和女孩的陰道會出血幾天,這是生殖週期的一部分。在這種情況下,婦女需要使用衛生護墊或衛生棉條等特殊產品來控制血流,並繼續她們的日常生活。

喬治
不幸的是,全世界有 5 億多人無法獲得這些產品或買不起這些產品,這就是所謂的「經期貧困」。經期貧困會造成嚴重後果,例如,經期的女孩不上學會影響她們的學業,經期不能工作的婦女收入會減少。此外,經期貧困還會導致健康問題,因為沒有衛生用品,很容易感染疾病。

貝絲
在本節目中,我們將瞭解一項計畫,該計畫旨在消除影響成千上萬女性難民的經期貧困。當然,我們還將學習一些有用的新詞彙。但首先,喬治,我有一個問題要問你。月經影響著女孩和育齡婦女,約占女性人口的一半,或全球人口的 26%。那到底是多少人呢?是
a) 21 億人?
b) 23 億人?
c) 25 億人?

喬治
我猜大約是 21 億人。

貝絲
好的,喬治,我會在節目最後揭曉答案。艾拉.蘭伯特(Ella Lambert)是布里斯托爾大學的一名學生,她在 2020 年第一次 Covid 禁閉期間啟動了 「Pachamama 計畫」。她聽說過經期貧困的問題,於是決定好好利用封城時間,製作衛生護墊(一種用於吸收經血的柔軟材料)。以下是艾拉在英國廣播公司世界服務節目《修復世界的人們》中介紹她的計畫是如何開始的:

艾拉.蘭伯特
我向朋友借了一台縫紉機,在 YouTube 上學習如何縫紉,然後就開始製作護墊。直到現在,我都不會縫別的東西,只會做護墊。

邁拉.阿努比
艾拉開始製作可重複使用的衛生護墊,這並不是什麼新鮮事。它們由羊毛和棉床單等吸水性織物製成,這意味著它們與一次性衛生護墊不同,清洗後可以反覆使用。

喬治
艾拉在禁閉期間學習了如何縫紉,如何用針和線手工或用縫紉機縫合材料。事實上,艾拉一直專注於縫製衛生護墊,她沒有做過任何其他東西,直到今天,護墊是她唯一會縫製的東西。直到今天,艾拉還用這個片語來表達:直到當下,也包括當下。

貝絲
衛生護墊並不容易製作。衛生護墊的外層必須柔軟,因為它會接觸到皮膚,但同時也需要具有吸水性,能夠吸收血液等液體並保持住它們。更重要的是,艾拉設計的衛生護墊可以清洗後再次使用,而不像商店裡買的大多數衛生護墊是一次性的,用完就扔。

喬治
艾拉縫製可重複使用衛生護墊的志工網絡日益壯大,迄今為止,Pachamama 計畫目已向敘利亞、土耳其和黎巴嫩的衝突難民以及英國婦女捐贈了數萬件生理期用品。

貝絲
此外,該計畫還在其他方面提供幫助。儘管月經影響著如此多的人,也是生命本身所必需的,但許多文化認為月經是不潔或可恥的,不是一個禮貌的話題。但艾拉認為,她的計畫讓難民們有信心談論月經問題,正如她在英國廣播公司世界服務節目《修復世界的人們》中所說的那樣:

艾拉.蘭伯特
在如此短的時間內,我看到了如此重大的變化。比如,原來分發月經墊的婦女幾乎都不談論這個話題,我們把它放在簾子後面,現在她們會和她們的男同事、任何來到店裡的人聊起月經墊……

喬治
以前,大多數女性難民幾乎不談月經,她們只是勉強談及。但現在,她們會開心地聊天,與其他女性,甚至與男性同事聊天,打發時間。

貝絲
我想是時候揭曉我的問題的答案了——作為一個數字,全世界 26% 的人口中有多少女性有月經?

喬治
我說是 21 億人…

貝絲
這是……正確答案。好了,讓我們從動詞「縫紉」開始,複習一下我們在本課程中學到的詞彙。「縫紉」是指用針和線將材料縫合在一起,可以是手工縫合,也可以用縫紉機縫合。

喬治
片語「到今天」的意思是到現在為止。

貝絲
形容詞吸水性的意思是能夠吸收和保持液體,形容詞一次性的意思是用完就扔。

喬治
如果你勉強做了一件事,那麼你只是做了,而且做得很少。

貝絲
最後,聊天的意思是通過與人聊天來打發時間。我們的六分鐘時間又到了!希望您下次還能來 “6 Minute English”。再見!

喬治
再見!

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