Part 3 Going the Extra Mile
生活聊吧
Stephanie和Damon希望有一個不一樣的暑期社會實踐，於是他們來到了偏遠貧困的地區做調查，想盡辦法改變當地居民的生活狀況，然而卻處處碰壁……
（Two friends sit at a table going through paperwork.）
Stephanie： Hey Damon， can I get your input on something？
Damon： Sure Steph， go ahead， shoot.
Stephanie： I’ve been going over all the data we’ve collected so far， and while we knew there were gonna be some 1）discrepancies， these figures seem a bit off.
Damon： That’s what happens when you interview people who have no interest in being interviewed. Your data is bound to get a bit 2）skewed in the process.
Stephanie： Do you mean skewed， or 3）screwed？①’Cause that’s what we are if we can’t get to the bottom of this cover-up.
Damon： This isn’t like CSI or Law & Order. We have to be patient and keep knocking on doors until something 4）materializes. We already know the lengths that these businesses will go to， to hide their shady practices. So all we need is proof. The polling we’ve been doing in local communities has helped， ②but it’s not the kind of game-changer we’re looking for here.
Stephanie： ③I just wish these locals weren’t so tight-lipped about the whole thing.
Damon： We’ve only been here a short time. Why should these people believe that a couple of visiting foreign students are spending their summer trying to save the lives of some lowly rural townsfolk.
Stephanie： But that’s exactly what we are trying to do； save the lives of people who are too 5）downtrodden， or simply too 6）complacent to save their own.
Damon： The circumstances in which many poverty-stricken rural residents find themselves in are completely and utterly unavoidable. Many of their families have lived here all their lives， for generations even， so their roots have grown too deep to move.
Stephanie： Even when the soil underfoot contains dangerously poisonous chemicals， which have been making people sick for decades.
Damon： Again， that’s why we are here. To raise awareness about the issue. They simply lack the means to improve their quality of life. This isn’t just about 7）contaminated soil samples. It’s about gathering all the information we can， and presenting it in a proper way， to someone， or a group of someones， who can actually do something about it. ④Rome wasn’t built in a day！