Part A: Spot Dictation
My topic today is how to address the problem of hunger and starvation, which still exists in many parts of the world. To end hunger starts with people’s own productivity. A dangerous and patronizing cliche we often hear is: give a man a fish and feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for life. People living with chronic hunger have generations of wisdom about ’fishing’ — the problem is the barbed wire around the lake. The hunger project announced recently by the United Nations cut through the barbed wire, addressing the underlying social conditions that systematically deny hungry people the opportunity they need to end their own hunger. When we invest in a hunger project, we are investing in people’s productivity and giving people a chance to translate their hard work into improved well-being. We are ensuring that people get the opportunities which are rightfully theirs. Too often hungry people are isolated, marginalized and exploited. Mobilizing communities and building local organizations is critically important — both to sustain the work we do and to get more out of our precious resources and efforts. When people come together to work, a kind of social capital is created that can compensate for the lack of financial capital in rural areas. In Africa, a unique feature of the hunger project’s work is to organize villages to work cooperatively on community land to produce food for food banks. This fosters collective responsibility and action for a better future for all. Another example is in some Asian countries, such as India and Bangladesh, where hunger project volunteer animators have catalyzed the creation of over 1,100 local organizations throughout the country. With nearly 50% ran by women, these local groups create savings programs and invest in individual and collective income generating enterprises, including sowing, tailoring and weaving projects, bakeries and small businesses, fish and poultry farming, bee keeping and plant nurseries. The impact of these enterprises is enormous. As women have become economically empowered, the decision-making roles have increased. As family incomes have often tripled, parents are sending more children — both girls and boys — to school.

【解析】

本篇文章是关于如何解决世界上许多地方仍然存在的饥荒问题，形式属于公共演讲类文章，话题hunger and starvation不是很晦涩，考生应较容易理解。该文通过名人名言引入，表明结束饥荒要以提高人们自身的生产力为源头，介绍了hunger project，后面运用了两个例子进行具体说明和阐述。文章难度属于中等，介绍思路清晰，较易抓取关键信息。但文中有部分词汇或发音，可能仍会对考生造成困扰：如cliché，barbed wire，marginalized，animators，catalyzed等。建议考生平时多关注与生活息息相关的公共演讲类文章和常用名人名言。