环球英语 — 140：Trees and Green Space
Voice 1
Thank you for joining us for today’s Spotlight program. I’m Joshua Leo.
Voice 2
And I’m Rebekah Schipper. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
Chicago’s Robert Taylor Homes project was the largest public housing development in the world. There were twenty-eight [28] buildings, each with sixteen [16] levels. At one time twenty seven thousand [27,000] people lived in the Robert Taylor Homes. Twenty-thousand [20,000] of them were children.
Voice 2
Life in the Robert Taylor Homes was not easy. Many of the people living there were very poor. They had to face many bad living conditions like insects, no heat in the winter, gangs, drugs, and a lot of violence. Katie Sistrunk lost four children in the Robert Taylor Homes. Gang members shot them dead, one on the playground, one in the elevator lift and two in the streets. No place was safe.
Voice 1
The Robert Taylor Homes were famous in the United States. Many people called them the government’s biggest failure. Today only one building remains. The rest were destroyed.
Voice 2
Over the years many people tried to understand why the homes failed. Social scientists, people who study human behaviour, visited the Robert Taylor Homes. They found many reasons why the homes failed. But, one reason may surprise you. There were very few trees!
Voice 1
Today’s Spotlight is on the importance of trees and natural green surroundings.
Voice 2
In the mid 1990s, two social scientists, Frances Kuo and Bill Sullivan, visited the Robert Taylor Homes. They observed something very interesting. They saw that concrete, hard building material, surrounded most of the buildings. They called this an urban desert. Instead of desert sand, hard, gray, concrete covered the land. There were very few green areas and even fewer trees! Only a few buildings had trees near them. Kuo and Sullivan observed that many people spent time outside of the buildings with trees. This made them think, why?
Voice 1
Kuo and Sullivan wanted to know what effect the trees and green areas had on the people of the Robert Taylor Homes. They started asking the people there a lot of questions about their living experiences. The scientists discovered that the people living near the trees led happier, less violent lives.
Voice 2
Kuo and Sullivan questioned one hundred and fifty [150] people. They found fewer reports of physical violence in homes that had trees outside of the buildings. Some of the people reported that they had threatened their own children with a weapon. But the threat level was higher among people living in buildings surrounded by concrete. People living near the trees used less violence. They threatened their children less.
Voice 1
Other social scientists have found similar results. Many social scientists find that trees bring people together. When people come together they feel safer. One group studied one hundred [100] different housing developments, like the Robert Taylor Homes. The group found that people like to gather in areas near trees more often than areas without trees. Trees help bring people out of their homes. Trees help to build a community where people felt safer. Kuo noted that strong communities play a part in better physical and mental health. Kuo said
Voice 3
“Imagine feeling angry, impulsive, about ready to snap due to the difficulties of living in severe poverty. Having neighbours you can call on for support means you have another way of dealing with your problems other than striking out against someone. Places with nature and trees may provide places in which relationships grow stronger and violence is reduced.”
Voice 2
Children gain from trees and green areas too. Studies show that children like to play in green areas more than concrete-covered areas. Social scientists found that children playing in green areas are more creative. Their play is more complex with more rules. There are more songs and more kinds of games.
Voice 1
Children playing in green areas also talk with adults more often. That is because adults like to spend time in green areas too. Social scientists say that children need time with adults. They say that spending time with adults can help children develop socially and mentally. Kuo said,
Voice 3
“We see clearly in these studies that trees add to the environment that supports healthy development of children.”
Voice 2
Dr. William Bird lives in the United Kingdom. He is part of a group called Natural England. They know the good effects nature can have on people. This group wants to encourage people to spend more time outside in nature. Dr. Bird explains why,
Voice 4
“Increasing evidence suggests that both physical and mental health is improved through contact with nature. Yet people are having less contact with nature than at any other time in the past. This has to change.”
Voice 1
Monty Don agrees. He believes in the healing power of nature. Monty Don is a famous gardener in the UK. He grows his own food and cares for animals. He suffers from depression but finds that working outside helps his depression. He believes that nature can help free people from many things, including drug addiction. He says
Voice 5
“I have complete faith in the healing power of the land... You cannot cheat nature. You cannot lie to a pig that needs feeding or a plant that needs to grow. And if you produce good food with love and hard work and share it with other people ... the tradition of that gives self worth.”
Voice 2
About twenty-seven [27] drug users have stayed on Monty Don’s farm. Only a few of them have returned to drugs. The others found that hard work and the beauty of nature helped them end their drug addictions.
Voice 1
Social scientists are finding more and more evidence that trees are important. Frances Kuo admitted
Voice 3
“Before we started our research, I would have said trees are nice. But, I think that through this research I now believe that trees are really an important part of a supportive, humane environment. Without trees and green space, people are very different beings.”
Voice 2
It is not completely clear why trees and green space are so good for people. But maybe it is just because that is how God created them to be!
Voice 1
In the Bible God said, “‘Let the land produce plants. Let them bear their own seeds. And let there be trees on the land that bear fruit with seeds in it. Let each kind of plant or tree have its own kind of seed.’ And that is exactly what happened. And God saw that it was good.”
Voice 2
Christians believe that God gave everything he created to people as a gift. And we are learning more and more just how good that gift can be.
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