VOA标准英语2008年-US Students Empowered by ‘Kite Runner’ Movie

By George Dwyer
Washington
03 January 2008
 

Hollywood's much-anticipated film "The Kite Runner" hit cinema screens across the United States last month. Based on the 2004 novel by Afghan-American author Khaled Husseini, the film follows the tumultuous journey of a young Afghan boy from war-torn Afghanistan to the United States and back again.

Critics are calling "The Kite Runner" a film of redemption. But for a group of young students in the United States it has also served as a call to action. For producer George Dwyer, Kristal Knight¹ reports.

The film version of "The Kite Runner" was intended to have a powerful effect on viewers…and it has.

"I think it hit us all pretty hard,” says Katy Gathright. “We were pretty emotional in the theater together, so afterwards, that is, when we kind of had it in our brains that we wanted to help."

Katy is a student at the Holton-Arms secondary school in suburban² Washington.  She and other students here recently attended a special viewing of "The Kite Runner."  Among them, Katy's schoolmate, Lauren McDonald.

"It was definitely a very emotional and very powerful movie so we wanted to do something as soon as we could after seeing it because everyone would be very motivate to help," Lauren tells us.

What they did was rally³ their classmates to raise $500 to plant trees in Afghanistan.

"There is a line in the movie,” explains Katy, “where the boy comes back to Afghanistan and he remarks on how there are not any trees left."

Once considered "the orchard⁴ of Central Asia," Afghanistan has lost about three quarters of its fruit trees and vineyards in the past 25 years.  Forests now cover less than one percent of the land here.  And environmentalists worry that continued deforestation could spell the end for Afghanistan's few remaining forests – unless, that is, people take action.

"I just typed 'tree planting in Afghanistan' into a Google search and the first thing that came up was the Global Partnership⁵ for Afghanistan, and they have a goal by 2008 to plant a million and a half trees," explained Lauren.

Bill Paul teaches environmental science at Holton-Arms, and is academic sponsor of the school's environmental club.  He says students here are not only globally aware, but also committed to helping⁶ solve the world's problems.

"Lauren and Katy have been co-presidents of the environmental club for the past three years and they have been involved in a variety of initiatives⁷ to sort of spread awareness⁸ to the community," said Paul.

And at this school, at least, students are taught that the community they belong to includes everyone from nearby neighbors to the people of Afghanistan.

1 knight   

n.骑士，武士；爵士

参考例句：

• He was made an honourary knight.他被授予荣誉爵士称号。
• A knight rode on his richly caparisoned steed.一个骑士骑在装饰华丽的马上。

2 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

3 rally   

n.集会，公路汽车赛；v.集合，恢复，振作

参考例句：

• The grand mass rally was held on the square.广场上举行了盛大的群众集会。
• The team captain vainly tried to rally his troops.队长试图振作部队的士气，但没有成功。

4 orchard   

n.果园，果园里的全部果树，(美俚)棒球场

参考例句：

• My orchard is bearing well this year.今年我的果园果实累累。
• Each bamboo house was surrounded by a thriving orchard.每座竹楼周围都是茂密的果园。

5 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

6 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。

7 initiatives   

n.主动性( initiative的名词复数 )；主动的行动；初步；主动权

参考例句：

• Economic policy is liberalized to encourage initiatives in production. 放宽经济政策以鼓励生产的积极性。
• They are tireless in thinking up initiatives. 他们不厌其烦地想出种种采取主动行为的倡议。

8 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。