2007年VOA标准英语-Teenagers From Around the World Discuss Common

By Ted¹ Landphair
Washington, D.C.
19 July 2007
 

Poor nutrition, alcoholism, drugs and violence in schools affect children around the world.  Usually it's teachers, parents, and other adults who confront them.   But don't tell that to the teenagers from 32 countries who are in Washington, D.C. this week.  As VOA's Ted Landphair reports, they have tackled life-threatening problems head-on and are not afraid to speak their minds.

Students of Project Citizen

The adolescents shown to the left are part of a program called Project Citizen.  It's sponsored by the California-based Center for Civic² Education, which is trying to motivate teenagers to not only study citizenship³ but to actually solve problems in their communities. 

Richard Nuccio directs the effort in 70 nations. "There's a kind of innocent arrogance⁴ on the part of many young people.  They haven't learned yet, as we adults have, that we should know our place and stick to it.  They believe, based on their learning, their knowledge of a situation, that they need to be heard.  And they aren't shy about arguing and presenting themselves to public figures."

Students from Pinetown, South Africa, for instance, were furious about a wave of teenage suicides.  Philile Lukhele says their peers who killed themselves felt useless, unloved by their parents. "You don't believe in yourself.  You feel unworthy. You feel like what they're [parents] saying is so true, so powerful, that you should just give up in your life.  So that's why they take their lives away."

Philile's friend, Thembek Mthalane says teenagers are saving their suicidal friends just by being there, listening and caring. "Making them feel worth something in life, making them feel not neglected or lonely, it's much easier."

At a Washington hotel and a Senate office building, and in conversations among themselves, students offered other ideas for solving tough community problems. Young Jordanians addressed school violence. Students from Mali described the severe industrial pollution that bespoils their village.

Youngsters like Valon Begaj spoke⁵ of rampant⁶ drug addiction⁷ in Kosovo. "Don't use drugs.  Drugs can kill you and kill, also, your family.  Drugs are bad, so don't use drugs.  Don't walk away from drugs, but RUN from them."

Director Richard Nuccio

Richard Nuccio points to one example of Project Citizen's successes. He says students in Ramallah on the West Bank mobilized to improve conditions at a local hospital.

"They collected money from among their families, printed up flyers with some pictures and documentation that they had about the hospital conditions, and went on the streets of Ramallah, handing out these flyers to the average citizen,” said Nuccio. “And the headline was, 'If you were sick, would you want to go to this hospital?'"

Along with immersion⁸ in serious social issues, there was time for exploration and fun.

And time to see one of America's chief symbols of democracy, the White House. The U.S. presidents who have lived here were students once, too.  They embraced the message of Project Citizen -- that you can't solve problems just by reading about them.

1 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

2 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

3 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

4 arrogance   

n.傲慢，自大

参考例句：

• His arrogance comes out in every speech he makes.他每次讲话都表现得骄傲自大。
• Arrogance arrested his progress.骄傲阻碍了他的进步。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 rampant   

adj.(植物)蔓生的；狂暴的，无约束的

参考例句：

• Sickness was rampant in the area.该地区疾病蔓延。
• You cannot allow children to rampant through the museum.你不能任由小孩子在博物馆里乱跑。

7 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

8 immersion   

n.沉浸；专心

参考例句：

• The dirt on the bottom of the bath didn't encourage total immersion.浴缸底有污垢，不宜全身浸泡于其中。
• The wood had become swollen from prolonged immersion.因长时间浸泡，木头发胀了。