VOA标准英语2010年-Steve Park Helps Underprivileged Child

Washington, DC is known for some of the worst public schools in the United States. Most of the students who attend the city schools are black. Many come from poverty and perform poorly in reading and math. Steve Park, a South Korean immigrant who lives in DC, is trying to help young people do better in school and excel after they finish their education.

A warm smile and a loving hug are all that Steve Park needs to fuel his passion for helping¹ kids in a tough Washington neighborhood not far from the Capitol. It began 15 years ago when Park met a 13 year-old boy here who couldn't read a children's book.  "If he didn't learn how to read, it was going to be very difficult for him in adulthood², and so I felt convinced we should start a tutoring program," he said. "Especially to help kids to read."

Park founded Little Lights Urban Ministries³. It's a free after-school tutoring and recreational program -- with some bible study thrown in --  for kids who live in this public housing project surrounded by poverty, drug dealers⁴ and crime. 

"I think it's something about the culture sometimes that makes it difficult for kids to feel like they can make it out or going to college is even an option for them," he said.

 Park says only one in three DC public school students finishes high school and if they make it to college only five percent graduate.  He says Little Lights focuses on students who need the most help. "The kids just often have a very bleak⁵ view of the future just from a very early age. They feel like they will never be able to make it to college. They have a good chance of not even graduating high school. We try to provide as many resources as we possibly can to the young people so that they come through our program, because we know the odds⁶ are so stacked against them," Park said.

Park was born in South Korea and immigrated⁷ to the US, growing up in the Washington DC suburbs. He never dreamed of working with underprivileged children but 16 years ago, he was drawn⁸ to religion.  "Before my conversion⁹ I had no interest in children", he says, "I was not interested in non-profit work but, after my conversion, I just had an incredible sense of compassion¹⁰ for the kids that I was meeting."

One of those kids was Dwaine Brown. He was tutored by Little Lights and now is in his last year of college. He remembers when Park first showed up in the black neighborhood. "A lot of times when you get new people that come into the community they tend to be a little timid or nervous but Steve doesn't display any of that," he said. "He fits right in."

A few blocks away, Steve and his wife Mary, with a small staff and volunteers, provide a safer environment to learn and play. But besides helping with grades, they also teach valuable life skills. 

"If you really want to be happy, you have to build the person you are on the inside, you want to be an honest person, you want to be a hard working person and you want to be a person that cares about their own community and that takes care of their families," Park said.

Park says the test scores of students who spend two to three years in the program have measurably improved. "I just have this sense of gratitude¹¹ and hope for the future that really drives me and I want the kids that we work with to experience that sense of hope and compassion for themselves so their lives can be changed."

Park knows he's succeeding by getting these kids to believe in themselves as much as he believes in them.
 

1 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。

2 adulthood   

n.成年，成人期

参考例句：

• Some infantile actions survive into adulthood.某些婴儿期的行为一直保持到成年期。
• Few people nowadays are able to maintain friendships into adulthood.如今很少有人能将友谊维持到成年。

3 ministries   

（政府的）部( ministry的名词复数 )； 神职； 牧师职位； 神职任期

参考例句：

• Local authorities must refer everything to the central ministries. 地方管理机构应请示中央主管部门。
• The number of Ministries has been pared down by a third. 部委的数量已经减少了1/3。

4 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

5 bleak   

adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的

参考例句：

• They showed me into a bleak waiting room.他们引我来到一间阴冷的会客室。
• The company's prospects look pretty bleak.这家公司的前景异常暗淡。

6 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

7 immigrated   

v.移入( immigrate的过去式和过去分词 )；移民

参考例句：

• He immigrated from Ulster in 1848. 他1848年从阿尔斯特移民到这里。 来自辞典例句
• Many Pakistanis have immigrated to Britain. 许多巴基斯坦人移居到了英国。 来自辞典例句

8 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

9 conversion   

n.转化，转换，转变

参考例句：

• He underwent quite a conversion.他彻底变了。
• Waste conversion is a part of the production process.废物处理是生产过程的一个组成部分。

10 compassion   

n.同情，怜悯

参考例句：

• He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
• Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。

11 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。