环球英语 — 449：Scotland
Voice 1
Hello, and welcome to Spotlight. I'm Steve Myersco.
Voice 2
And I'm Marina Santee. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
Scotland - one of the four countries that form the United Kingdom. For this small country, 2009 is a special year. It is the 250th anniversary of one of its most famous writers - Robert Burns. Burns was born in 1759 - 250 years ago. To mark this event, the government decided to turn the whole year into one long celebration of Scotland and its culture. They have called this project "Homecoming Scotland 2009". They are inviting the people of Scotland to attend over 200 different events. But they are inviting the whole world to come and visit too!
Voice 2
But why would people particularly want to visit Scotland? It is a beautiful country. Dark mountains circle deep, long lakes, called ‘lochs'. On the coasts, large areas of white sand edge the cold, bright sea. However, the weather in Scotland can be terrible! The rain can last for weeks. So it may not be the best place for a holiday! But, each year, millions of visitors do go. And for many of them, their visit has a special purpose. They are searching for their Scottish ancestors!
Voice 1
Some people say that Scotland's greatest export has been its people! The country's population is currently just over five million. But there are many people with Scottish origins who do not live in Scotland. Estimates put the number between twenty-eight and one hundred million! So, why do so many Scottish people live outside the country?
Voice 2
We can find the answer to this question by looking back at Scotland's history. During the 17th century, religion and politics were difficult to separate. And many people were not free to worship God in the way that they wanted to. So, they sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to settle in North America. They believed they would find peace there, to live and worship as they pleased.
Voice 1
In the 18th century, a new law united the parliaments of Scotland and England. Even before this, one king ruled over both countries. But many Scots were not happy with this united kingdom. A movement started to bring back a member of the Scottish royal family and to give him the crown of Great Britain. This revolt failed horribly. And the authorities sent many Scots into exile because they had fought against the king.
Voice 2
Other Scots moved overseas because they no longer had a home or a way of earning a living. This was especially true in the mountains of the north of Scotland - the ‘Highlands'. In the 18th and 19th centuries, thousands of Highland families were forced out or ‘cleared' from the land of rich farmers. These farmers then used the land for sheep farming. This was a better way of making money than renting small pieces of land to poor families. Some families went to the coast and joined the fishing industry. But more left to go and live in North America and Australia. It was a tragic period in Scottish history. However, these Scots never forgot their home country. And, generations later, millions of them come back to visit Scotland and discover more about their past.
Voice 1
Scotland's gift to the world may well be its people. And here are Nick Page and Ruby Jones to tell us about some of them:
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Next time you use a telephone, think of Alexander Graham Bell! Bell was born in 1847 in Scotland's capital city, Edinburgh. His mother was deaf - unable to hear. And Alexander was always trying to invent new ways of communicating with her. When he was 23, the family moved to North America. There, Bell continued to experiment. He discovered how to send speech through a wire. And these experiments resulted in the invention of the telephone!
Voice 4
The world of medicine will always be thankful to Alexander Fleming. In 1928, this Scottish doctor made an important discovery. He had left some bacteria to grow in a container in his laboratory while he went on holiday. The name of the bacteria was staphylococcus. When he returned, he saw that some mould was present with the staphylococcus. This growth should not have been there. But the area around it was free from bacteria. Fleming decided that this mould must have released a substance that prevented the staphylococcus from growing around it. He performed some experiments on the mould. And he found that he was right. Fleming named the substance penicillin. And doctors still use penicillin today to fight against infection and disease.
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David Livingstone was born in the small Scottish town of Blantyre in 1813. He studied medicine and theology - the study of God. These were the two great influences on his life. And he wanted to share this knowledge with others. He travelled to the centre of Africa to tell the people there about God. As well as that, he wanted to help free people living as slaves. This desire made Livingstone explore a large part of Africa. He wanted to discover how traders took slaves from the heart of the country to the coast. When he returned to Scotland, he told many stories about the terrors of the slave trade. He also spoke of the wonders of nature that he had seen. And he spoke warmly about the people he had met. Many of them had become Livingstone's friends. And they shared Livingstone's love for God. Livingstone died in his beloved Africa in May, 1873. His body was taken to Britain - but his heart remained buried in African soil.
Voice 2
We finish today's programme with a poem that was spoken by Scotland's most famous writer, Robert Burns. This poem may sound strange because it uses a Scottish way of speaking English. It talks about people that have food and cannot eat it. And it talks about people who do not have food, but would like some. It says that people should thank God for the food that they have. People normally say this poem before a meal:
Voice 4
Some hae meat, and canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it.
But we hae meat, and we can eat -
and sae the Lord be thankit.
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