VOA常速英语2007-John Lennon's Music to Help Darfur

By Mandy Clark
London
04 October 2007
 

The human rights group Amnesty International has teamed up with John Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, to raise awareness¹ and money for the victims of the conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan.  Ono was recently on hand at Amnesty's headquarters in London to launch the release of a special double CD set of Lennon's post-Beatles songs,  "Make Some Noise - Instant Karma." Ono donated the rights to the music to Amnesty and the album features some of the world's top artists.  For VOA, Mandy Clark reports from London.

"To present Yoko with a platinum² disk for sales of 'Instant Karma - Make Some Noise' the Amnesty campaign to save Darfur" was the introduction at the presentation ceremony.

A show of thanks to the woman who made the campaign possible and a celebration of the success of the original album. It came out in June.  Ono said her decision to donate the rights to the music is what Lennon would have wanted. "I will accept this on behalf of myself and John Lennon who really, had an incredible feeling for the world and he wanted to see the world become better for all of us."

The album already has raised more than a million dollars, and it is expected to raise millions more after the special edition box set goes on sale October 9th. It includes all of the original double CD tracks, plus previously³ unreleased material.

More than 50 artists are involved in the project, including the Black Eyed Peas, U2, REM and Avril Lavigne. The goal -- to highlight the humanitarian⁴ crisis in Sudan's western region of Darfur.

The conflict in Darfur began in 2003 and involves rebel groups, government troops and government-backed Arab militias⁵ known as Janjaweed.  The rebels accuse Khartoum of ignoring the impoverished⁶ south and west of the country.

The United Nations estimates the fighting has killed more than 200,000 people and displaced more than two million others.The U.N. says that by now more than four million people rely on humanitarian aid.

Amnesty International says it wants the U.N. to take greater action to protect civilians⁷ and to ensure that aid is delivered safely.

Irene Khan is the secretary general of Amnesty International. She says she believes the 'Instant Karma' album can be used as an instrument to peace. "I hope that through projects like 'Instant Karma and Make Some Noise' we will generate hope, because this is all about bringing hope to people. They will fight for the future, they will stand up. I have seen activists⁸ in Sudan, in the midst of all that, still standing⁹ up. They have courage. We have to give them hope that we will stand with them and that is what Yoko, your gift to Amnesty did -- it gave hope to many people around the world."

Singer Peter Gabriel also was in London to support the campaign.  He says he still believes the message that one person can make a difference is important.

"It is an old message but it still works for me. I think Amnesty has been built on this child-like premise¹⁰ that writing a letter might make a difference and clearly many people have been rescued from jail and torture on that very idealistic, basic belief. So, these things can work."

The special album is being released on October 9th, on what would have been John Lennon's 67th birthday. He died in 1980 after a gunman shot him outside his New York apartment building.

1 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

2 platinum   

n.白金

参考例句：

• I'll give her a platinum ring.我打算送给她一枚白金戒指。
• Platinum exceeds gold in value.白金的价值高于黄金。

3 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

4 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

5 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

6 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

8 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》

9 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

10 premise   

n.前提；v.提论，预述

参考例句：

• Let me premise my argument with a bit of history.让我引述一些史实作为我立论的前提。
• We can deduce a conclusion from the premise.我们可以从这个前提推出结论。