VOA慢速英语2013 Some of the world’s richest countries need to take better care of their children

 

Some of the world’s richest countries need to take better care of their children

From VOA LEARNING ENGLISH, welcome to AS IT IS! Hello, I’m Steve Ember.

Today we tell about a study showing some of the world’s richest countries need to take better care of their children.

In Egypt, some Islamists are blaming women’s behavior for sexual harassment¹ and attacks.

And in Chile, medical experts are set to examine the remains² of Pablo Neruda.  It’s in response to an accusation³ that the great poet was murdered more than forty years ago.

The United Nations Children’s Fund says some of the richest countries of the world are doing a poor job of protecting their children. UNICEF officials spoke⁴ after the release of a new report. Kelly Jean Kelly has more about the report and its findings.

UNICEF says the Netherlands and four Nordic countries --Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden --top its ratings of the best developed countries for children to live in. Four southern European countries – Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain – are in the lower half of the ratings. Romania is at the bottom.

The United States is one of the world’s richest countries. But it was in 26th place on the list.

Chris de Neubourg is chief of social and economic policy at UNICEF’s Office of Research. He says the United States receives a failing grade because “You have an excellent education system, excellent health system, but only not everybody has access to it and the equality in the access is very different between the U.S. and other rich countries.”

Mr. de Neubourg says the United States does better in comparison to European countries with lower rates of alcohol abuse and bullying⁵ among children. But he says the teenage pregnancy⁶ rate in the United States is double that in Europe. And he says baby and child death rates are also two times as high.

Writers of the UNICEF report say more research is needed to investigate the effect of the worldwide economic crisis on children. They say there is evidence that child poverty and the difference between rich and poor already are increasing in some countries. They say many poor children are permanently⁷ leaving school and are not employed or involved in any training programs. I’m Kelly Jean Kelly.

You are listening to AS IT IS. I’m Steve Ember.

Women’s rights groups in Egypt are fighting attempts by some Islamists to blame women for increased sexual harassment. In Egypt today, the number of women reporting sexual harassment or sexual violence has increased greatly. So, too, it seems is the number of Egyptians blaming women for the abuse they suffer.

Farah Shash is with the Nadim Center for Victims of Violence. She says Egyptian society is becoming increasingly conservative and controlled by men. She says a woman can be criticized for her clothing, for laughing, or just for being outdoors.

“She is the one to be blamed because she is dressed ‘inappropriately’ or she walks ‘inappropriately’ or she laughs loudly or just because she is on the street.”

Egyptian religious and political leaders like Sheikh Gamel Saber have expressed just those opinions. He helped to organize the al-Ansar Party. He suggests that women can expect disrespectful treatment when they walk down the street wearing tight clothing. He says he does not want to say harassment is a natural response. But in his words, men “are not entirely⁸ to be blamed.”

The Egyptian government has sought to distance itself from such statements. President Mohamed Morsi launched an effort to help protect and strengthen women’s rights.

But rights groups say the effort is more talk than reality. Recently, the Muslim Brotherhood⁹ rejected a proposed United Nations declaration condemning¹⁰ violence against women.

Mr. Morsi came from the Muslim Brotherhood. He is part of a growing Islamist movement in Egypt. The movement has roots in religious beliefs that rights activists¹¹ say are not in keeping with Egyptian traditions.

Nehab Abo el Komsan directs the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights. She praises the country’s religious leaders.

“We have lots of very open-minded sheikhs who teach us about Islam and women, and we do not find any controversy¹² between women’s rights and lots of interpretations¹³ of Islam.”

She says many women are now starting to understand why political leaders work on restricting women’s rights. She says the politicians mean to take attention away from problems like the economy.

From VOA Learning English, You’re listening to AS IT IS. I’m Steve Ember.

Medical experts are set to examine the remains of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, who died in 1973. The examination is part of an investigation¹⁴ of claims he may have been poisoned during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. Test results will not be announced for at least three months. June Simms has more.

In addition to his poetry, Pablo Neruda was active in politics and belonged to the Communist Party. At one time, he served in Chile’s Senate.

The writer died 12 days after the military overthrow¹⁵ of President Salvador Allende in 1973. The president belonged to Chile’s Socialist¹⁶ Party. The overthrow brought General Augusto Pinochet to power.

It was said that Pablo Neruda died of prostate cancer. But there were also unconfirmed reports that he was murdered. In 2011, Chile opened an investigation of claims by Neruda’s former driver. The driver accused agents of the Pinochet government of poisoning the poet.

Pablo Neruda won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971. He is probably best known for his poem about the history and people of

South America. It is called “Canto General” or, a general song. He also won recognition for his love poems.

Critics say Neruda was a public poet – a writer who captured everyday happenings, objects and people in his work. A good example is his poem about the death of his dog. Listen now as Christopher Cruise reads a few translated lines from the poem, “A Dog Has Died.” “My dog has died. I buried him in the garden next to a rusted¹⁷ old machine. Someday I’ll join him right there, 

But now he’s gone with his shaggy coat, 

His bad manners and his cold nose.”

And that’s our program for today. For the latest world news, join 

us at the top of the hour Universal Time for VOA News on radio and here on our web site. I’m Steve Ember. Thanks for joining us.

1 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 accusation   

n.控告，指责，谴责

参考例句：

• I was furious at his making such an accusation.我对他的这种责备非常气愤。
• She knew that no one would believe her accusation.她知道没人会相信她的指控。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 bullying   

v.恐吓，威逼( bully的现在分词 )；豪；跋扈

参考例句：

• Many cases of bullying go unreported . 很多恐吓案件都没有人告发。
• All cases of bullying will be severely dealt with. 所有以大欺小的情况都将受到严肃处理。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

7 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

8 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

9 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

10 condemning   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
• I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done. 我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

11 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

13 interpretations   

n.解释( interpretation的名词复数 )；表演；演绎；理解

参考例句：

• This passage is open to a variety of interpretations. 这篇文章可以有各种不同的解释。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The involved and abstruse passage makes several interpretations possible. 这段艰涩的文字可以作出好几种解释。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

15 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

16 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

17 rusted   

v.（使）生锈( rust的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I can't get these screws out; they've rusted in. 我无法取出这些螺丝，它们都锈住了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• My bike has rusted and needs oil. 我的自行车生锈了，需要上油。 来自《简明英汉词典》