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Good morning. As we have been hearing, the monster Cyclone Pam has devastated the islands of Vanuatu. President Lonsdale has appealed for a helping hand, and I'm so pleased that Britain, along with a number of others, has responded by pledging up to two million pounds in aid.
The Vanuatu disaster came at the end of a week in which Parliament passed a bill which made the aid spend of naught point seven percent of gross national product a legal requirement and became the first G7 country to meet the UN's 45-year-old target. Despite arguments for such aid contributing to stability and security, some opponents have called it absurd and foolish, not least in the light of needs at home.
A different kind of foolishness was on display on Friday when Comic Relief raised a record seventy eight million pounds to take its thirty year total to one billion. As Billy Connolly said, 'All the silly nonsense of Red Nose Day is about the serious business of helping people change their lives'. It's a remarkable achievement to raise money out of Dermot O'Leary's dancing and David Walliams' kissing - and a remarkable testimony to the generosity of the British people.
When it comes to asking for a helping hand, you can preach it as a moral imperative or you can celebrate a common humanity through a combination of stories of need and shared laughter. Indeed, foolishness is not a bad way to change the world. In his recent book, 'Blueprint for Revolution: How to Use Rice Pudding, Lego Men and Other Non-Violent Techniques to Galvanise Communities, Overthrow Dictators or Simply Change the World', Srdja Popovic one of the founders of the Otpor movement which played a key part in seeing off Milosevic in Serbia, argues that change happens as a result of careful planning, enthusiasm and importantly humour. The foolish and the absurd can subvert the status quo and give a different picture of the world.
This was in fact part of the ministry of Jesus. He used the image of a camel trying to squeeze itself through the eye of a needle to subvert the assumption that the rich could easily get into the Kingdom of God. At a deeper level, God's non-violent self-giving love embodied in the life and death of Jesus can be dismissed as foolish but I and others see it at the very heart of being fully human.
In 2006 Vanuatu was classified as the happiest place on earth, not least because of the welcome, hospitality and care for the outsider, despite the poverty of its people. Perhaps as we give so we can learn.
詞匯解析
nerve
難度：4星核心詞匯，屬常用3000詞
英漢解釋
n.神經(jīng)；勇氣；敏感處；葉脈；厚臉皮
v.鼓起勇氣
（復(fù)）nerves: 神經(jīng)緊張.
參考例句
用作名詞 (n.)
You'll need plenty of nerve to sit beside him when he is driving.
他開車的時(shí)候，你得有足夠的膽量才敢坐在他旁邊。
用作動(dòng)詞 (v.)
I nerved myself to face my accusers.
我下決心迎擊指責(zé)我的人。
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prime
難度：4星核心詞匯，屬常用3000詞
英漢解釋
adj.最好的；首要的；典型的
n.壯年；全盛時(shí)期；青春
n.[數(shù)]質(zhì)數(shù)
vt.事先指點(diǎn)；在（金屬、木材等上）打底漆
vi.變得首要
參考例句
用作形容詞 (adj.)
He reached his prime and then, when he had the most to live for, he died.
他到了壯年時(shí)期,該做出最大貢獻(xiàn),活得最好的時(shí)候,卻死掉了。
Britain has a queen, but it is the prime minister and the cabinet who govern.
英國有女王,但執(zhí)政的是首相和內(nèi)閣。
用作名詞 (n.)
It states that every even number greater than two can be expressed as the sum of two primes (a prime is a number that is only divisible by itself and by 1, such as 7 and 13).
其陳述是：每一個(gè)大于2的偶數(shù)都可以表達(dá)成兩個(gè)素?cái)?shù)之和(素?cái)?shù)是指只能被1和它本身整除的數(shù)，如7和13)。
用作及物動(dòng)詞 (vt.)
You must prime the wood before you paint it.
油漆這木制東西前,你得先在上面涂上底漆。
用作不及物動(dòng)詞 (vi.)
The telecom hotels are prime targets for bombing.
電信賓館是轟炸的首要目標(biāo)。
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agency
難度：4星核心詞匯，屬常用3000詞
英漢解釋
n.代理；代理處；政府機(jī)構(gòu)
參考例句
用作名詞 (n.)
I hope we can see eye to eye about the other terms of the agency then.
我希望到那時(shí)候我們能在代理協(xié)議的其他條款上能取得一致意見。
The agent is the person who works for a government agency in secret.
特工人員是為政府部門秘密工作的人。
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remains
難度：5星基本詞匯，屬常用1000詞
英漢解釋
n.剩余物；遺跡；遺體
參考例句
用作名詞 (n.)
After the wheat crop has been gathered, many farmers burn the remains and plough the ash into the soil, so as to enrich it.
小麥?zhǔn)崭钔瓿珊螅r(nóng)夫們把剩余物燒掉，然后用犁把灰埋入地里，使土地更肥沃。
Choi's remains true today for cremation.
崔真實(shí)的遺體今天進(jìn)行火葬。
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trade
難度：5星基本詞匯，屬常用1000詞
英漢解釋
n.貿(mào)易；交易；行業(yè)；同行；顧客；營業(yè)額；交易量
v.做生意；從事貿(mào)易；購物；營業(yè)；(在證券交易所)交易；交換
參考例句
用作名詞 (n.)
China does a lot of trade with many countries.
中國和許多國家進(jìn)行多方面貿(mào)易。
用作動(dòng)詞 (v.)
I refuse to trade with that company again.
我拒絕再度和那家公司做生意。
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unfair
難度：3星常用詞匯，屬常用6000詞
英漢解釋
adj.不公平的；(商業(yè)上)不正當(dāng)?shù)?/p>
參考例句
用作形容詞 (adj.)
The detention of the whole class was unfair.
滯留全班學(xué)生是不公平的。
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expert
難度：4星核心詞匯，屬常用3000詞
英漢解釋
n.專家；能手
adj.熟練的；內(nèi)行的
參考例句
用作名詞 (n.)
She is a reputable expert.
她是個(gè)有聲望的專家。
用作形容詞 (adj.)
The surgeon cut away the tumour with expert skill.
外科大夫用熟練的技術(shù)把腫瘤切去。
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