2006年VOA标准英语-Singer Willie Nelson Helps Native American

By Greg Flakus
Houston, Texas
10 April 2006
 
watch Benefit report

Willie Nelson  
  
Native American Indians are often associated with images from the past or with life on the often-remote reservation lands, where poverty is widespread.

But Indians, both on and off the reservations, are developing business skills and trying to boost the economic levels of their people through private enterprise.

These efforts are supported by the Houston-based Native American Chamber¹ of Commerce, which recently raised funds at a festival and concert headlined by country music legend Willie Nelson. 

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The cause of Native Americans is close to the heart of Willie Nelson, who is part Cherokee and has many fans among Indians around the nation.

  
  

At the first "Hope and Harmony for Humanity Benefit" held near Houston, members of various tribes came together in celebration.

Some also came to sell crafts.

Many Indians also came to re-establish contact with the heritage that they sometimes leave behind as they assimilate into the mainstream².

 
Roger Sanchez
  
Vendor³ Roger Sanchez, who lives in a small town north of Houston, says he was an adult before he looked into his ancestry⁴ and discovered that his grandparents were from an Indian tribe.  He says that discovery changed his life. "I know who I am now, I know where I belong. I know my path now. Before I was lost, I didn't feel I belonged anywhere."

The head of the Native American Chamber of Commerce, Carroll Cocchia, says she and many other people of mixed blood sometimes have to overcome the stereotypes⁵ others have of what an Indian should look like.
 
 
Carroll Cocchia 
  
"Many times they are surprised when they see someone like me saying, 'I am Blackfoot, but I had a Polish father.' So I have both bloods. Native Americans, many of them, most of them, probably, have become assimilated.  They could be the guy next door who has blonde hair and blue eyes, but is very much an Indian because it is in his heritage."

Cocchia says the Native American Chamber has provided a way for business owners of Native American descent to seek contract work from corporations anxious to support minority businesses.

"There is much representation of other groups, but there is not much of the Native American community, of Native American construction companies, media companies and pipeline⁶ companies.  So, when there is, they like to take advantage of it, because they are trying very hard to give everyone an equal opportunity."

Many businesses are also starting up on reservations, which have been made less remote by computer technology. 

Ramona LaVallie, from the Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota, helps run a successful enterprise there. "The building I work in right now, we have call center work, we have data entry work, we have conversion⁷ work, we do medical quotations⁸, billing and transcription work. That has all happened in the past 20 years."

Most of the money earned from the benefit will go to improve housing on reservations and for scholarships for promising⁹ young Indian scholars.  The Native American Chamber of Commerce hopes to make this an annual event.

1 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

2 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

3 vendor   

n.卖主；小贩

参考例句：

• She looked at the vendor who cheated her the other day with distaste.她厌恶地望着那个前几天曾经欺骗过她的小贩。
• He must inform the vendor immediately.他必须立即通知卖方。

4 ancestry   

n.祖先，家世

参考例句：

• Their ancestry settled the land in 1856.他们的祖辈1856年在这块土地上定居下来。
• He is an American of French ancestry.他是法国血统的美国人。

5 stereotypes   

n.老套，模式化的见解，有老一套固定想法的人( stereotype的名词复数 )v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
• It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调，我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

7 conversion   

n.转化，转换，转变

参考例句：

• He underwent quite a conversion.他彻底变了。
• Waste conversion is a part of the production process.废物处理是生产过程的一个组成部分。

8 quotations   

n.引用( quotation的名词复数 )；[商业]行情（报告）；（货物或股票的）市价；时价

参考例句：

• The insurance company requires three quotations for repairs to the car. 保险公司要修理这辆汽车的三家修理厂的报价单。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These quotations cannot readily be traced to their sources. 这些引语很难查出出自何处。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。