2007年VOA标准英语-Afghan-American Works to Bring Equality to Afgh

By George Dwyer
Washington
02 August 2007
  

Afghan American Attorney Mariam Nawabi came to the United States as a child following the Soviet¹ invasion of Afghanistan in 1978. After the fall of the Taleban, she returned home for the first time in 25 years as part of the team that helped draft the 'Equality Clause' in the new Afghan constitution. For producer George Dwyer, VOA's Jim Bertel reports Mariam Nawabi continues to work toward the improvement of Afghanistan from her home in the U.S.

Mariam Nawabi

U.S. - Afghan trade relations have one of their most effective advocates in Mariam Nawabi, a Washington based attorney who came to the United States as a child. "And the very first time I went back to Afghanistan after about 25 years of having left as a child was to go and meet with members of the Constitutional review commission, women's leaders, civil society and others to discuss the options that they had in this clause."

The clause she is referring to concerns the women's rights provision in Afghanistan's new constitution. Nawabi's legal training helped her build the consensus² needed to see Afghanistan's 'Equality Clause' through to passage.

"And after that project I got involved with the commercial law project, that started in 2003 and is still going strong today as we speak."

Although it has experienced significant economic growth in recent years, Afghanistan remains³ one of the world's poorest countries. But Nawabi says Afghanistan's economic challenges also present opportunities. The key is to create an open environment to attract investors⁴ from around the world.

"And the basic goal is really to create a strong network of companies and individuals, institutions who are interested in Afghanistan and also bilateral⁵ relations between the U.S. and Afghanistan."

As special consultant⁶ to the Afghan American Chamber⁷ of Commerce, Nawabi helped create an on-line "Business Gateway⁸" to facilitate communications between potential trading partners. But much of her most effective work is done face to face, as a commercial diplomat⁹.

"So in the past few years I have been able to learn a lot about diplomacy¹⁰ and how to use those skills in order to effect legal reform and investment promotion¹¹. The audience may be different but the skills that you use are very similar. And in terms of diplomacy, it is definitely a field where you have to work with different institutions, with different individuals to help reach a common objective and to help bring together parties to help identify that goal and objective."

As a busy attorney, Nawabi has to juggle¹² many projects. But her highest priority is helping¹³ those in the country of her birth.

1 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

2 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

5 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

6 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

7 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。

8 gateway   

n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法

参考例句：

• Hard work is the gateway to success.努力工作是通往成功之路。
• A man collected tolls at the gateway.一个人在大门口收通行费。

9 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

10 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

11 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

12 juggle   

v.变戏法，纂改，欺骗，同时做；n.玩杂耍，纂改，花招

参考例句：

• If you juggle with your accounts,you'll get into trouble.你要是在帐目上做手脚，你可要遇到麻烦了。
• She had to juggle her job and her children.她得同时兼顾工作和孩子。

13 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。