VOA慢速英语2009年-Education Report - Bringing Young People T

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

An American nonprofit organization helps young people around the world to understand important issues -- and each other.

The Global Nomads¹ Group organizes educational videoconferences. Students and speakers discuss subjects like AIDS, world religions, nuclear weapons, immigration, climate change and politics.
　
A videoconference set up by the Global Nomads Group

For example, students from at least eight schools in Ghana talked with American students about the election² and inauguration³ of President Obama. The Ghanaians took part from a distance learning⁴ center in Accra. Live coverage⁵ from Washington "brought the energy from the streets to the classrooms," said a story in Modern Ghana News.

The Global Nomads Group, or G.N.G., was started in nineteen ninety-eight by four university students. They wanted other young people to become more informed about the world.

Programs have been held in more than forty countries. The group says at least ten thousand students take part each year.

Shirley Herrin teaches high school in Magnolia, Texas. She says her school is not using the programs this year because of budget cuts. But she tells us in an e-mail: "A live conference feed was 100% better than a textbook. Magnolia is a small town and for many of my students this was an opportunity to travel around the world."

One thing her students discovered is that they liked the same music and activities as many other young people around the world.

The Global Nomads Group charges for programs, but says it tries to help schools with limited resources.

In one program, students in Rwanda and at several American high schools asked each other questions. These included questions from Rwandan students about subjects like drug use, H.I.V./AIDS and girls in school who get pregnant⁶.

An American boy asked about ethnic⁷ groups in Rwanda.

BOY: "The Tutsi and the Hutu, I am wondering what you guys see as the differences between those two tribes⁸?"
GIRL: "This is Alene speaking. There is actually no difference between the Hutus and the Tutsis. First of all they are not two different tribes. We are one people. They are just ethnicities ... "

At the end of the videoconference, the Rwandan teacher made an announcement.

TEACHER: "In our culture we never say goodbye, and we are going to entertain you. Thank you."

(MUSIC)

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Karen Leggett. I'm Steve Ember.

1 nomads   

n.游牧部落的一员( nomad的名词复数 )；流浪者；游牧生活；流浪生活

参考例句：

• For ten years she dwelled among the nomads of North America. 她在北美游牧民中生活了十年。
• Nomads have inhabited this region for thousands of years. 游牧民族在这地区居住已有数千年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 election   

n.选举，选择权；当选

参考例句：

• There is no doubt but that he will win the election.毫无疑问，他将在竞选中获胜。
• The government will probably fall at the coming election.在即将到来的大选中，该政府很可能要垮台。

3 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。

4 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

5 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

6 pregnant   

adj.怀孕的，怀胎的

参考例句：

• She is a pregnant woman.她是一名孕妇。
• She is pregnant with her first child.她怀了第一胎。

7 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

8 tribes   

n.部落( tribe的名词复数 )；（动、植物的）族；（一）帮；大群

参考例句：

• tribes living in remote areas of the Amazonian rainforest 居住在亚马孙河雨林偏远地区的部落
• In Africa the snake is still sacred with many tribes. 非洲许多部落仍认为蛇是不可冒犯的。 来自《简明英汉词典》