南京街头,一名外国青年与老年乞丐分享食物和水的照片触动了中国民众。
  

Beyond the Barriers
跨越障碍

Many of us have seen recent pictures on the Internet of an American named Jason Loose sharing French fries and drinking water with an old beggar woman on a street in Nanjing. This kind of action may have been rather shocking to many of us, making us question our own reaction to beggars on the street, and to poor people in general.
我们许多人都看过最近网络上的一张图片,在南京街头一个来自美国的叫做Jason Loose的人同一个乞丐老婆婆一起分享薯条和水。这种善行让很多人震惊,也让我们扪心自问我们自己是如何对待街上乞丐以及贫苦人们对此的反应是怎样的。

First, it seems some beggars are secretly wealthy, taking advantage of people’s generosity to live in luxury. Friends tell me that in Xiamen, where I now live, a fancy limousine picks up beggars at nightfall to take them home to their mansion. I have not seen this with my own eyes, but it gives me a reason to avoid giving to beggars here. How can we know which ones are truly needy?
首先,有些乞丐似乎是隐藏的富人,他们从人们的慷慨中获利,住在豪宅。有朋友告诉我,在厦门,也就是我现在所住的地方,在傍晚的时候,会有豪华轿车来把乞丐接回他们的公寓。虽然我没有亲眼所见,但是它给了我在这里躲避施舍乞丐的理由。我们如何知道哪些人才是真正需要帮助的人?

But, rich or poor, local or foreigner, we all need friendship and acceptance. I must admit that when I see a beggar in any country, my impulse is to turn away, but then my conscience hurts, and I think, “How would I feel if I were in his situation?”
但是,无论穷人还是富人,本地人还是外国人,我们都需要友情和认可。我必须承认我在任何国家见到乞丐,都会有转身离开的冲动,但是之后我的良心便会受到伤害,因为我会想:“如果我处在他的境地我会有怎样的感受?”

As fellow human beings, fellow travelers on planet Earth, this spaceship of ours, hurtling around the Sun, is becoming smaller and smaller. The barriers are falling; travel and communications are becoming easier. We find we have more in common with peoples all over the world than the differences that divide us. That simple photo of a foreigner sharing food and drink with a local beggar should make headlines is a sad statement which shows we have not fully recognized our common humanity. Jason had to show us how, by cutting through the prejudices of social class, gender and nationality, to share a simple meal on a human level. We, too, can pause in our busy day to give a kind word or lend a helping hand to someone in need.
作为人类同胞,同生活在地球这个宇宙飞船上,绕着太阳急速飞驰,现在大家的距离变得越来越小了。各种障碍正在下降,旅行和通信都变得更容易了。我们发现与世界各国人们的共同点比区分我们的不同点来得更多。这张简单的照片,一个外国人和当地的乞丐分享食物和水,却成为了头条这是一件悲哀的事,这说明我们并不完全承认人性的共同点。Jason向我们展示了怎样消除社会阶级、性别和国籍的偏见,人性化的与人共享一顿便饭。我们也能暂停我们忙碌的日子,向需要帮助的人说一句善良的话,或伸出援助之手。

Such an act of friendship can help to pave the way for a world without war, suspicion and prejudice, to bring a new era of peace to the human family.
这种友好的行为可以帮助我们铺一条让世界上没有战争,怀疑和偏见的道路,给人类这个大家庭带来和平的新时代。

本期题目:

What can we do to conquer the barriers among people?

A to give a kind word or lend a helping hand to someone in need

B to be prejudices of social class, gender and nationality

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