VOA慢速英语2011-Mentors Try to Improve Lives of Homeless

A mentor¹ is someone who teaches or advises a younger person with less experience. January is National Mentoring² Month in the United States. This is a time for calling attention to the value of mentoring.

Some mentoring programs connect adults with children who need guidance. Researchers say mentoring can reduce drug and alcohol use and violence among young people.

In Southern California, a nonprofit group called School on Wheels has volunteers who tutor children from homeless families. Experts estimate that one in every fifty children in the country is homeless at some time during the year.

They might live in shelters or weekly hotels or abandoned buildings or even on the streets. Anywhere except a permanent home.

Sinead Chilton is marketing³ consultant⁴ for School on Wheels. She says she was surprised to learn the extent of the problem when she moved to the United States from London.

An instructor⁵ shows a slide show during a class at the Homeward Bound Camp in Bear Mountain, New York. The Coalition⁶ for the Homeless operates the camp.

SINEAD CHILTON: "When I first moved here ten years ago and I heard about School on Wheels, I didn't even consider the fact that there were homeless children in America. And then when I realized that there was 1.6 million homeless children in America, it just floored me."

Ms. Chilton has worked with School on Wheels for more than six years. She says still remembers the first student she tutored. She met with her every week at a local church. The church provided shelter for people on winter nights. The girl slept on the floor.

SINEAD CHILTON: "It just struck me as just so devastating⁷ and just how can you focus on school and how can you even think about homework when those are the circumstances that you're living in."

A retired⁸ teacher named Agnes Stevens started School on Wheels eight years ago. She wanted to help homeless children stay in school. The group now has more than one thousand volunteers.

Each year they tutor as many as two thousand students. The group also provides services to other children, including backpacks and school supplies.

Sinead Chilton says School on Wheels also helps parents to put their children in school and advises parents about the education system.

SINEAD CHILTON: "A lot of time homeless children's families are in chaos⁹ and homework is the last thing that parents want to be worrying about."

The Harvard School of Public Health and the National Mentoring Project launched National Mentoring Month in two thousand two. Ms. Chilton says she hopes more people will volunteer to help children.

SINEAD CHILTON: "I think it's so important for people that want to make a difference in their community to look at where the needs are. And the most vulnerable members of our community are homeless children."

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by June Simms. Have you ever been a mentor or had a mentor? Write about your experience at voaspecialenglish.com or on Facebook and Twitter at VOA Learning English. I'm Steve Ember.

　

1 mentor   

n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导

参考例句：

• He fed on the great ideas of his mentor.他以他导师的伟大思想为支撑。
• He had mentored scores of younger doctors.他指导过许多更年轻的医生。

2 mentoring   

n.mentoring是一种工作关系。mentor通常是处在比mentee更高工作职位上的有影响力的人。他/她有比‘mentee’更丰富的工作经验和知识，并用心支持mentee的职业（发展）。v.（无经验之人的）有经验可信赖的顾问( mentor的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• One of the most effective instruments for coaching and mentoring is the "role rehearsal" . 辅导和教学的最有效的手段之一是“角色排练。” 来自辞典例句
• Bell Canada called their mentoring system a buddy-buddy system. 加拿大贝尔公司称他们的训导系统是伙伴—伙伴系统。 来自互联网

3 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

4 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

5 instructor   

n.指导者，教员，教练

参考例句：

• The college jumped him from instructor to full professor.大学突然把他从讲师提升为正教授。
• The skiing instructor was a tall,sunburnt man.滑雪教练是一个高高个子晒得黑黑的男子。

6 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

7 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

8 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

9 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。