2006年VOA标准英语-Gates Philantrophy Follows Long US Tradition

By Brian Padden
Washington, DC
20 October 2006

The issue of philanthropy in America received much media attention recently when Warren Buffet¹, the world's second richest man donated more then $1.5 billion to the charitable foundation run by Bill Gates, the world's richest man.  The gift set off speculation² that the Gates foundation could change the landscape of corporate³ giving, by adapting a creative corporate approach to charity and inspiring a new era of corporate giving.  But as VOA's Brian Padden reports, Bill Gates is not so much revolutionizing a private sector⁴ approach to charitable causes, as he is following in a long tradition of philanthropy in America.

 
Bill and Melinda Gates
After seeing the devastation⁵ caused by AIDS in Africa, the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation pledged $500 million to help get HIV drugs to more than 500,000 people.  And they have vowed⁶ to do more. "AIDS is getting worse every year.  We need to provide the latest drugs.  We need to provide intervention⁷ and so that crisis has become a top priority for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation."

 
Warren Buffet
Friend and fellow billionaire Warren Buffet was so impressed with the work of the Gates Foundations that he donated $1.6 billion to the cause. "It was clear that an outstanding mind with the right goals was focusing intently with passion, heart on improving the lot of mankind around the world without regard as to gender⁸ religion, color, geography, just doing the most good for the most people."

Gates and Buffet are the latest in a long line of wealthy American philanthropists.    In the early 1900s industrialists⁹ Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller set up the model for the modern day non-profit foundation.   Their organizations were structured like corporations but their goal was to serve the public good.  Their initial projects were building libraries and hospitals. 

 
Stacey Palmer
Stacey Palmer, editor of the weekly newspaper Chronicle of Philanthropy, says these early industrialists were intrigued¹⁰ with trying to solve age-old problems with new-age science and technology.  "There was also this feeling in society that we could change things.  We had scientific ideas about how to change the world and we were really learning about ways to do that.   So modern social science came into being and philanthropists seized on that right away."

This corporate science-based model of philanthropy has not been free of controversy¹¹.  Until the 1930s, the Rockefeller Foundation funded eugenics programs in both the U.S. and Nazi¹² Germany supporting forced sterilization¹³ of persons with genetic¹⁴ defects.  Critics say Hitler later used this research to justify¹⁵ the killing¹⁶ of Jews and other races he considered inferior. 

 
William Shambra
While this case was extreme, William Shambra, director of the Center for Philanthropy at the Hudson Institute, says foundations often overreach when trying to solve the root causes of social problems.  "It would be lovely to get to the root cause of the problem and solve it once and for all and put it behind you, and move on to the next big problem, and get on to the next root cause, but that is not how it happens. You can't name a single major social problem in the United States that hasn't been tackled by a big foundation in the 20th and the 21st centuries, and you can't name a single problem that has been solved." 

Shambra says foundations operate best when they work with grass roots [locally run] organizations to alleviate¹⁷ human suffering.  He says this is what the Gates foundation is doing.   He also says foundations must guard against what he calls "corrupting¹⁸ flattery" from people looking for money. "It is hard to find truth tellers¹⁹ in philanthropy. Foundations, there are all sort of jokes.  You know, once you become a foundation program officer, all your jokes are funny; all you observations are witty²⁰ and accurate.  All your questions are just excellent questions."

One of the great advantages of private philanthropic organizations is the speed in which they are able to respond to a crisis.   After hurricane Katrina, churches and private charities were providing relief long before government assistance arrived. 

Still, the Chronicle for Philanthropy's Stacey Palmer says foundations cannot replace government's responsibility in addressing long-term needs. "Sometimes people say why doesn't a philanthropist just take care of the health insurance crisis because so many people do not have health insurance in this country.  But there isn't enough money in philanthropy in a year to take care of that kind of thing.  So there needs to be governmental solutions to some of those kinds of problems."

In addition to the good works they do, Palmer says Bill Gates and other philanthropists also influence public policy by focusing worldwide attention on important social problems and solutions.  
c

1 buffet   

n.自助餐；饮食柜台；餐台

参考例句：

• Are you having a sit-down meal or a buffet at the wedding?你想在婚礼中摆桌宴还是搞自助餐？
• Could you tell me what specialties you have for the buffet?你能告诉我你们的自助餐有什么特色菜吗？

2 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

3 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

4 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

5 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

7 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

8 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

9 industrialists   

n.工业家，实业家( industrialist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This deal will offer major benefits to industrialists and investors. 这笔交易将会让实业家和投资者受益匪浅。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has set up a committee of industrialists and academics to advise it. 政府已成立了一个实业家和学者的委员会来为其提供建议。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 intrigued   

adj.好奇的，被迷住了的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的过去式)；激起…的兴趣或好奇心；“intrigue”的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• You've really intrigued me—tell me more! 你说的真有意思—再给我讲一些吧！
• He was intrigued by her story. 他被她的故事迷住了。

11 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。

12 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

13 sterilization   

n.杀菌，绝育；灭菌

参考例句：

• Sterilization by filtration is subject to one major theoretical limitation. 过滤灭菌具有一个理论上的局限性。 来自辞典例句
• Sterilization is a treatment that frees the treated object of all living organisms. 灭菌处理是从处理对象排除一切生活的生物。 来自辞典例句

14 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

15 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

16 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

17 alleviate   

v.减轻，缓和，缓解(痛苦等)

参考例句：

• The doctor gave her an injection to alleviate the pain.医生给她注射以减轻疼痛。
• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。

18 corrupting   

（使）败坏( corrupt的现在分词 )； （使）腐化； 引起（计算机文件等的）错误； 破坏

参考例句：

• It would be corrupting discipline to leave him unpunished. 不惩治他会败坏风纪。
• It would be corrupting military discipline to leave him unpunished. 不惩治他会败坏军纪。

19 tellers   

n.（银行）出纳员( teller的名词复数 )；（投票时的）计票员；讲故事等的人；讲述者

参考例句：

• The tellers were calculating the votes. 计票员正在统计票数。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The use of automatic tellers is particularly used in large cities. 在大城市里，还特别投入了自动出纳机。 来自辞典例句

20 witty   

adj.机智的，风趣的

参考例句：

• Her witty remarks added a little salt to the conversation.她的妙语使谈话增添了一些风趣。
• He scored a bull's-eye in their argument with that witty retort.在他们的辩论中他那一句机智的反驳击中了要害。