VOA常速英语2007年-Building Boats for Better Lives

By Malcolm Brown
Old Town Alexandria, Virginia
16 November 2007
 

The traditional skill of boat building is providing a fresh chance for some at risk youth in the United States. A non-profit organization just outside the U.S. capital city, reports a high success rate with its apprenticeship³ program. Malcolm Brown has more in today's searching for solutions report.

Just a short drive, or easy sail, south of Washington, D.C., on the other side of the Potomac River, is the Alexandria Seaport⁴ Foundation. Its motto -- "Doing big things with small boats."

The program targets disadvantaged young people -- many of whom have dropped out of school, been involved in gangs and had run-ins with the law. Joe Youcha, executive director, says, "Most of these kids have looked at what they have considered their options and had a very narrow horizon and they have made bad decisions. We are trying to open up that horizon and telling them -- 'You, go here and if you go here, you do well.'"

Here, "doing well" means still being employed and/or in school one year after graduating -- something which around 70 percent achieve. Central to the approach is the apprentice¹ status of participants, who are paid above minimum wage and expected to play by the rules.

Youcha explains, "We give them the basics that are universal to any trade -- how do you use a ruler, how do you plan a project, how do you learn on the job and be productive? We teach them those things and most importantly: how do you show up every day on time, ready to learn, prepared?"

Experience has shown that building these old fashioned wooden boats is a great way to impart a variety of valuable skills quickly. And it is not just about carpentry.

There is classroom work too, including math, so apprentices² can calculate measurements with the necessary precision.

Program graduate Oscar Melgar has learned the value of accuracy and hopes to use that in a job as a surveyor. "I like working with boats. You work with different angles, different shapes and you've got to use your brain a lot."

The workshop is also a place for apprentices to interact with people they might not normally meet -- the volunteers. Many of those who donate their time are retired⁵ professionals, with backgrounds very different from those they help.

That is why Joe Youcha describes the workshop as a "mixing pot." "I would say the most important things we do are the socialization skills -- to show these kids that they have a place in our community and that there's a way for them to get to that place," he said.

That lesson and the value of all the collective life experience available here are not lost on 19-year old Oscar Melgar. "I learned that when you go to a jobsite, you should stay around the person who's been around the longest. You learn the most from him," Melgar said. 

While the basic design of this launch is 19th century, the lessons learned during its construction are proving very relevant today.

1 apprentice   

n.学徒，徒弟

参考例句：

• My son is an apprentice in a furniture maker's workshop.我的儿子在一家家具厂做学徒。
• The apprentice is not yet out of his time.这徒工还没有出徒。

2 apprentices   

学徒，徒弟( apprentice的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They were mere apprentices to piracy. 他们干海盗仅仅是嫩角儿。
• He has two good apprentices working with him. 他身边有两个好徒弟。

3 apprenticeship   

n.学徒身份；学徒期

参考例句：

• She was in the second year of her apprenticeship as a carpenter. 她当木工学徒已是第二年了。
• He served his apprenticeship with Bob. 他跟鲍勃当学徒。

4 seaport   

n.海港，港口，港市

参考例句：

• Ostend is the most important seaport in Belgium.奥斯坦德是比利时最重要的海港。
• A seaport where ships can take on supplies of coal.轮船能够补充煤炭的海港。

5 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。