VOA标准英语2008年-Christian Hip-Hop Club Tempts Teens Off Mean St

Hip¹ hop² is the soundtrack of urban street life. Nightclubs that play the music can be a magnet for trouble. But a Christian³ social service group is convinced it can co-opt hip hop and keep at-risk kids on the right path. Tom Banse reports from Tacoma, Washington.

Life is about making compromises. It's a struggle that dates to Biblical times. As the apostle Paul wrote in a letter to the Corinthians, "I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some."
　
The music is hot at Club Friday

Today, that might explain why good Christians⁴ can end up operating a nightclub where teens dress in saggy⁵ pants and short skirts. The young people dance in sexually provocative⁶ fashion to deafening⁷ music. And they stay out past midnight, too. But if they're here, says the club's outgoing director Deanna Neidlinger, the teens are safe. The alternative could be running with street gangs.

Neidlinger says it was hard to entice⁸ kids to come to Christian youth events. '"The average kid on the corner would get a flyer and it would say 'Come to this church for a social.' They would laugh, rip it up and throw it on the ground. It just wouldn't happen."

So a youth outreach worker had the idea to start a downtown nightclub for teens. In 2004, the Christian aid group World Vision added Club Friday to its domestic poverty relief efforts. The club plays hip-hop, a musical genre¹⁰ that adults frequently dislike because of the profane¹¹ and sometimes violent lyrics¹².

Neidlinger defends the club's playlist. "It wouldn't make sense to reach out to the toughest kids who have been the least reached, the hardest served, with music that doesn't relate to their experience." However, the nightclub does play the radio versions of hip-hop hits, in which the cuss words have been edited out.

A community for those who choose it

18-year-old Dominique Lewis has found friends and community in the no smoking, no drinking nightclub crowd. He says it's a safe place to be. "You know, if you need somebody to vent⁹ to, we have mentors¹⁴ here. It is very comforting here. It is a home away from home. People say school is a home away from home. But it is not. School is a prison away from home."

Earlier this year, Lewis and his friend Sondra Mays helped some churches in a rural part of Washington state start a copycat Friday night club. Lewis was surprised that he didn't see any blacks in the crowd. "But the place was packed with Caucasians listening to the same music we listen to, dancing the same way we dance." Mays was surprised, too, but says it made her realize "we can go global with this. Yeah, we can go national with this."

Pushing for a prevention approach to gangs

World Vision helped these two teens – and 15 others – go national, flying them to Washington, DC to talk to their Senators and Congressmen. Mays says they urged the lawmakers to direct anti-gang spending to intervention¹⁵ and prevention instead of more jail time. "Get them off the streets. Give those people money so they can make flyers so they can get out there and get kids into their buildings. Help them, mentor¹³ them, tutor them." Club Friday is open after school on weekdays to provide some of those very services.

But it can't reach every wayward teen. "'This club is whacked¹⁶ [stupid]," sneers¹⁷ Mario Jones, hanging out with friends around the corner. "Ain't nothing but cops around here and only [ages] 16 to 21 let in. It's whacked."

American police, politicians and social workers are warning of a resurgence¹⁸ of gang activity in poor neighborhoods, not just in Tacoma, but also across the country. In response, police departments have created gang-suppression units and try to keep track of gang members on probation¹⁹. Local lawmakers have established curfews for young people and promoted summer employment and other development programs. Faith-based groups hope their projects – like Club Friday – can add a positive, preventive component²⁰.

 

1 hip   

n.臀部，髋；屋脊

参考例句：

• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

2 hop   

n.单脚跳，跳跃；vi.单脚跳，跳跃；着手做某事；vt.跳跃，跃过

参考例句：

• The children had a competition to see who could hop the fastest.孩子们举行比赛，看谁单足跳跃最快。
• How long can you hop on your right foot?你用右脚能跳多远？

3 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

4 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

5 saggy   

松懈的，下垂的

参考例句：

• Daisy: Would you still love me if I were old and saggy? 当我的皮肤变得又老又松弛时，你还会爱我吗？
• My darling, if my breasts were saggy, would you still love me? 这是女人最担心的一个问题。

6 provocative   

adj.挑衅的，煽动的，刺激的，挑逗的

参考例句：

• She wore a very provocative dress.她穿了一件非常性感的裙子。
• His provocative words only fueled the argument further.他的挑衅性讲话只能使争论进一步激化。

7 deafening   

adj. 振耳欲聋的, 极喧闹的 动词deafen的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The noise of the siren was deafening her. 汽笛声震得她耳朵都快聋了。
• The noise of the machine was deafening. 机器的轰鸣声震耳欲聋。

8 entice   

v.诱骗，引诱，怂恿

参考例句：

• Nothing will entice the children from television.没有任何东西能把孩子们从电视机前诱开。
• I don't see why the English should want to entice us away from our native land.我不明白，为什英国人要引诱我们离开自己的国土。

9 vent   

n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄

参考例句：

• He gave vent to his anger by swearing loudly.他高声咒骂以发泄他的愤怒。
• When the vent became plugged,the engine would stop.当通风口被堵塞时，发动机就会停转。

10 genre   

n.(文学、艺术等的)类型，体裁，风格

参考例句：

• My favorite music genre is blues.我最喜欢的音乐种类是布鲁斯音乐。
• Superficially,this Shakespeare's work seems to fit into the same genre.从表面上看， 莎士比亚的这个剧本似乎属于同一类型。

11 profane   

adj.亵神的，亵渎的；vt.亵渎，玷污

参考例句：

• He doesn't dare to profane the name of God.他不敢亵渎上帝之名。
• His profane language annoyed us.他亵渎的言语激怒了我们。

12 lyrics   

n.歌词

参考例句：

• music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart 由罗杰斯和哈特作词作曲
• The book contains lyrics and guitar tablatures for over 100 songs. 这本书有100多首歌的歌词和吉他奏法谱。

13 mentor   

n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导

参考例句：

• He fed on the great ideas of his mentor.他以他导师的伟大思想为支撑。
• He had mentored scores of younger doctors.他指导过许多更年轻的医生。

14 mentors   

n.（无经验之人的）有经验可信赖的顾问( mentor的名词复数 )v.（无经验之人的）有经验可信赖的顾问( mentor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Beacham and McNamara, my two mentors, had both warned me. 我的两位忠实朋友，比彻姆和麦克纳马拉都曾经警告过我。 来自辞典例句
• These are the kinds of contacts that could evolve into mentors. 这些人是可能会成为你导师。 来自互联网

15 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

16 whacked   

a.精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• She whacked him with her handbag. 她用手提包狠狠地打他。
• He whacked me on the back and I held both his arms. 他用力拍拍我的背，我抱住他的双臂。

17 sneers   

讥笑的表情（言语）( sneer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You should ignore their sneers at your efforts. 他们对你的努力所作的讥笑你不要去理会。
• I felt that every woman here sneers at me. 我感到这里的每一个女人都在嘲笑我。

18 resurgence   

n.再起，复活，再现

参考例句：

• A resurgence of his grief swept over Nim.悲痛又涌上了尼姆的心头。
• Police say drugs traffickers are behind the resurgence of violence.警方说毒贩是暴力活动重新抬头的罪魁祸首。

19 probation   

n.缓刑(期)，(以观后效的)察看；试用(期)

参考例句：

• The judge did not jail the young man,but put him on probation for a year.法官没有把那个年轻人关进监狱，而且将他缓刑察看一年。
• His salary was raised by 800 yuan after his probation.试用期满以后，他的工资增加了800元。

20 component   

n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的

参考例句：

• Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
• Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。