VOA标准英语2011--Virtual Center Keeps Seniors on Their Toes

Virtual Center Keeps Seniors on Their Toes

In a small community in Virginia, elderly residents have developed a program that helps them stay active and involved, without having a huge impact on the local government budget.

Edna Ludden, 71, attends one of four line-dancing classes offered to seniors in the Burke and West Springfield neighborhoods in Fairfax County. The weekly program is popular among the elderly residents with more than 60 participants in each class.

"I love it. I like to come. It is good to get some exercise, it makes me happy," says Ludden. "It's good for my brain because I have to remember these steps."

This is just one of the activities that wasn’t available in her neighborhood until two years ago, when Corazon Foley asked county officials to start a local senior center.

“At first, they said we could not do it because there was no money nor a staff," Foley recalls. "So I told them, 'Well, what is the money for?' and they said 'To build a center.' I said 'You do not have to build a center, you can just ask the churches and the other groups who have facilities to donate their facilities.'”

So the Burke/West Springfield Senior Center Without Walls, a senior center with programs but without a building, was created.

Using facilities donated by churches, schools, libraries and businesses, the virtual center offers a dozen programs and activities such as yoga, Tai Chi, book clubs and computer classes. The nominal¹ $5 fee participants pay for each eight-week class goes to the instructor².

Annette Devito, who is taking a computer class, says she always tries to learn new things. “One of the main things was learning about Facebook, too. That was the highlight today.”

Shirley Dibartolo and her husband enjoy square dancing and try not to miss a class.

“I think the socialization is very good," she says. "We have made a lot of new friends and we have been more active. It makes you get out because you are going to go to class.”

John Cook, a member of the County Board of Supervisors³, says the Senior Center Without Walls is a great example of how a public-private partnership⁴ can do what the government alone can not.

“County staff is actively⁵ involved but it is also a program that is run by citizen volunteers, and that is a great combination to have.”

The seniors' efforts and the creative partnership have been noticed. The group, Burke/West Springfield Senior Center Without Walls, received a 2010 Commitment Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for integrating smart growth and active aging, and an award this year from the National Association of Counties.

“When you help the seniors get better," Foley says, "you are helping⁶ the families, and the whole community get better in that sense.”

Foley also says seniors who stay physically⁷ active can help the nation address its health care crisis, while having lots of fun.

1 nominal   

adj.名义上的；(金额、租金)微不足道的

参考例句：

• The king was only the nominal head of the state. 国王只是这个国家名义上的元首。
• The charge of the box lunch was nominal.午餐盒饭收费很少。

2 instructor   

n.指导者，教员，教练

参考例句：

• The college jumped him from instructor to full professor.大学突然把他从讲师提升为正教授。
• The skiing instructor was a tall,sunburnt man.滑雪教练是一个高高个子晒得黑黑的男子。

3 supervisors   

n.监督者，管理者( supervisor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I think the best technical people make the best supervisors. 我认为最好的技术人员可以成为最好的管理人员。 来自辞典例句
• Even the foremen or first-level supervisors have a staffing responsibility. 甚至领班或第一线的监督人员也有任用的责任。 来自辞典例句

4 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。

5 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

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 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。