一起聽英語 147 秘魯的英雄

今天要講的主題是平民英雄的故事，有沒有好萊塢大片的即視感。

This is not a word for word transcript.

William: Hello and welcome to another edition of 6 minute English. My name is William

Kremer.

Neil: And I'm Neil Edgeller.

Hollywood style music

Neil: Why the dramatic music, Will?

William: Well, that's some Hollywood-style music to accompany today's story, which is

a little bit like a Hollywood film. It has a gripping plot and an action hero.

Neil: OK, I'm intrigued.

William: Now, the setting is the Peruvian jungle...

Neil: The jungle – a thick, tropical forest. Jungles are the thickest parts of a

rainforest.

William: Now, before we go any further Neil, will you allow me to quiz you?

Neil: Ah yes, the quiz. I almost forgot about that.

William: What proportion of Peru is covered by the Amazon rainforest? Is it

a) 35%

b) 60% or

c) 85% ?

Neil: Well Peru is covered by mountains so I don't think very much, so I'll go for a)

35%.

William: Ok, well of course, we'll hear at the end of the programme what the answer is.

Now, back to our Hollywood-style story: the setting is, as I said, the Peruvian

jungle and the hero is a policeman called Luis Astuquillca. The details are still

rather unclear, but we do know that Mr Astuquillca survived an attack by the

rebel group Shining Path. But that's not all. He was separated from other

officers and survived by himself for seventeen days in the jungle before

finding his way to a village.

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Neil: Wow – he survived for seventeen days in the jungle! That is actually rather

more exciting than most Hollywood films.

William: Yes, I agree. And now Mr Astuquillca is back in the capital Lima and being

hailed as a hero. Let's hear the first part of a report by Mattia Cabitza about

this story. As you listen try to hear whether Luis Astuquillca arrived back in

Lima unharmed by his experience.

BBC correspondent Mattia Cabitza:

Luis Astuquillca is only 22 years old but already a hero in Peru. With a bandaged hand and

slightly limping, he got off a military plane in Lima and embraced his mother, sister and

grandmother. The young officer suffered bullet wounds to his leg and arm during a mission

to rescue 36 people who were kidnapped by the Shining Path rebels earlier this month.

Neil: So Luis Astuquillca was indeed injured.

William: That's right, the report said that he had a bandaged hand and was limping.

A bandage is a strip of material used to cover or protect an injury. It's also a

verb, meaning to put this material on after someone has had an injury.

Neil: To limp means to walk unevenly, usually because one of your legs or feet is

injured. Luis Astuquillca had a bandaged hand and was limping. In fact, he

had been shot in the arm and leg. But what was Luis Astuquillca doing in the

jungle in the first place, William?

William: Well he was part of a mission to rescue 36 hostages who had been taken by

that rebel group, Shining Path. Now, a hostage is a person who has been

taken by someone else, or by a group of people. Now, before they give that

person back they usually demand money or for something to be done.

Neil: Shining Path are a communist rebel group. Back in the 1980s and early 1990s

they presented a real threat in Peru, but nowadays they only operate in quite

a small part of the country. But what happened to these hostages, William?

William: Let's listen to the next clip from the report. See if you can hear what has

happened to them.

BBC correspondent Mattia Cabitza:

The rebels released the hostages six days later, but not without leaving casualties: two

soldiers and two police officers died, and Mr Astuquillca was one of two policemen who went

missing.

Neil: The hostages were released but sadly four people died. What's more, two

policemen went missing. Luis Astuquillca was one of them, but who was the

other one?

William: Well, the other policeman's name is Cesar Vilqua. And unfortunately since

Mattia Cabitza filed this report for the BBC, Mr Vilqua's body has been found

in the jungle, so sadly it looks like five people died rather than four. Now, the

Peruvian government has been criticised for its handling of this situation.

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Neil: Its handling, so the way it has reacted to a difficult situation. But why have

they been criticised for their handling of the situation? Let's listen to the final

clip from the report.

BBC correspondent Mattia Cabitza:

No details are yet known about how he survived for 17 days in the Peruvian jungle. The

government was quick to say it was thanks to his training in the police force. But the

Peruvian press has criticised the authorities for their handling of the rescue operation,

saying that the two officers who went missing were abandoned.

Neil: So the press in Peru are saying that the missing police officers were

abandoned by the authorities. If you abandon someone you stop caring for

them, you leave them to take care of themselves.

William: OK, well that was our dramatic Hollywood-style report. Now, what about that

quiz question, Neil? I asked you what proportion of Peru is covered by the

Amazon rainforest? Is it

a) 35%

b) 60% or

c) 85% ?

... and you said –

Neil: I said a) 35%.

William: Ok, you were wrong! The answer is b) about 60% of the country.

Neil: Ok then. Well before we finish, let's hear the words from today's programme

one more time.

jungle

bandage

to limp

hostage

handling

to abandon someone

William: That's all from us for this week. Goodbye!

Neil: Goodbye!