2007年VOA标准英语-Changing Lives of the Poor with Donated Cars

By June Soh
Baltimore, Maryland
22 February 2007
 
watch Donation report

Outside of major cities in the United States, public transportation is not always well developed in many communities.  Cars and other personal vehicles dominate the American culture, so getting where they have to go each day is especially challenging for low-income families.  Without a car of their own, they are often stuck in poverty.

 
Sean Rock
It is a happy moment for 27-year-old Sean Rock, a radio technician in Baltimore.  He is getting a car.  "I feel great.  It is going to help me with transportation, getting back and forth¹ to work, and with my family chores that I need to get done and taking my son to basketball practices, swimming lessons."

As a father of three children, Rock says life was rough without a car for the last two years.

 
Ivan Smith learning about his first car
Ivan Smith is another Baltimore man who is getting a car.  And for the 20-year-old plumber² it is his very first.  "Now I have a car, I can make a lot more money by doing other side jobs,” he says.  “And I can go hang out with my buddies³ and be happy."

What makes it possible for Rock and Smith to have such confidence is a program called Vehicles for Change.  It is a non-profit organization that repairs and provides donated vehicles to low-income families at a minimal⁴ price to help them stay employed.

 
Martin Schwartz
Martin Schwartz is the organization's executive director. He co-founded it in October 1999 with an auto⁵ parts distribution company that is no longer in business.

"We looked at the problems with low-income families in gaining and maintaining employment.  Two of the major barriers for them to get out of poverty were transportation and childcare,” Schwartz says.  “So we looked into several easy ways to provide transportation.  All of our cars today are donated mostly by individuals.  We do advertising⁶ in local radio, in local newspapers and a little bit on TV, and do a lot of word of mouth and presentations."

Schwartz says in the past seven years Vehicles for Change has awarded more than 2,100 cars to low-income families in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

"All of our recipients⁸ come through what we call sponsor agencies.  Those sponsor agencies are job readiness programs.  They might be domestic violence programs, they can be a homeless shelter.  They work with these individuals to help them make a better life for themselves.  And they identify the folks for us who would get a car." 

Qualified⁹ individuals attend an orientation¹⁰ program to learn about safe driving and automobile¹¹ insurance. They then buy the car with the help of a loan for $900 to $1,000.

"Once our recipient⁷ gets a car they get a six month, 6,000 mile warranty¹².  They always can bring it back here.  We probably have 30 garages throughout Maryland and Virginia who do the repairs for us."

Schwartz says that many of the people who get a car from Vehicles for Change are single mothers with two to three children.  Nephakedda Brown, a single mother of two kids, is one of them.  She got her sports utility vehicle 10 months ago while she was staying in a shelter.

"There has been a tremendous change.  I have been able to do so much with this particular vehicle,” she says.  “I have two young children.  I feel more independent, more secure being able to take my children to the necessary appointments or to go to a meeting at their school."

Schwartz says the program makes a huge difference, especially in recipients' financial earning ability.  "A survey where we looked at 155 of our recipients shows 75 percent of them had found a better job with an average salary increase of over $4,800 a year."

He says he hopes that donors¹³ will provide higher quality cars and more cars.  He says by helping¹⁴ low-income families gain financial independence, taxpayers¹⁵ save millions of dollars on food stamps and cash assistance, and the entire community benefits.

1 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

2 plumber   

n.(装修水管的)管子工

参考例句：

• Have you asked the plumber to come and look at the leaking pipe?你叫管道工来检查漏水的管子了吗？
• The plumber screwed up the tap by means of a spanner.管子工用板手把龙头旋紧。

3 buddies   

n.密友( buddy的名词复数 )；同伴；弟兄；（用于称呼男子，常带怒气）家伙v.（如密友、战友、伙伴、弟兄般）交往( buddy的第三人称单数 )；做朋友；亲近（…）；伴护艾滋病人

参考例句：

• We became great buddies. 我们成了非常好的朋友。 来自辞典例句
• The two of them have become great buddies. 他们俩成了要好的朋友。 来自辞典例句

4 minimal   

adj.尽可能少的，最小的

参考例句：

• They referred to this kind of art as minimal art.他们把这种艺术叫微型艺术。
• I stayed with friends, so my expenses were minimal.我住在朋友家，所以我的花费很小。

5 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

6 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

7 recipient   

a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器

参考例句：

• Please check that you have a valid email certificate for each recipient. 请检查是否对每个接收者都有有效的电子邮件证书。
• Colombia is the biggest U . S aid recipient in Latin America. 哥伦比亚是美国在拉丁美洲最大的援助对象。

8 recipients   

adj.接受的；受领的；容纳的；愿意接受的n.收件人；接受者；受领者；接受器

参考例句：

• The recipients of the prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者的姓名登在报上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The recipients of prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者名单登在报上。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

9 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

10 orientation   

n.方向，目标；熟悉，适应，情况介绍

参考例句：

• Children need some orientation when they go to school.小孩子上学时需要适应。
• The traveller found his orientation with the aid of a good map.旅行者借助一幅好地图得知自己的方向。

11 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

12 warranty   

n.担保书，证书，保单

参考例句：

• This warranty is good for one year after the date of the purchase of the product.本保证书自购置此产品之日起有效期为一年。
• As your guarantor,we have signed a warranty to the bank.作为你们的担保人，我们已经向银行开出了担保书。

13 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

15 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。