VOA标准英语2011--Mentoring USA Nurtures America’s Youth

Mentoring² USA Nurtures³ America’s Youth

Mentoring is a time-honored relationship, in which someone with more experience helps another with less, for purposes of growth, knowledge and support. That's the idea behind Mentoring USA, a New York based non-profit organization that matches children and teens with adults who help them develop self-esteem and make positive life choices.
Special relationship
It is 4 p.m. at P.S. 59, a public school on New York City's Upper East Side. Most of the children have gone home but today is Wednesday, so fifth grader Baily Raffensperger is still here. He sits at a low table practicing his reading skills with his mentor¹, Tony Boccia, a 13-year veteran of the Mentoring USA program.
For them, as with the more than 5,000 or so other mentor-mentee pairs that have come through this program, homework help is a big part of the relationship, but there's more.
"I like having a mentor because it's kind of like having a mom or a dad at school," says Baily. "Somebody is on your side that you can talk to and that you can play games with. It's like a really close friend."
Both seem to enjoy the flexibility⁵ the mentoring relationship allows. Boccia finds that sometimes his mentee will want guidance, while at other times it may be game-playing or academic help.
"It's whatever they need. And I can only say that over the years I've always gotten back a lot more than I've given," says Boccia. "It's just wonderful working with the children and sharing the experience with them."
VOA - A. Phillips
PS 59 principal Adele Schroeter (left) and Mentoring USA founder⁶ Matilda Cuomo are dedicated⁷ to the mentoring ideal.
Joy of service
That joy of service has been at the core of Mentoring USA's mission since it began in 1987.
Founder Matilda Cuomo's experience as a mother of five, former school teacher and former first lady of New York State, convinced her that parents, schools and communities all benefit from what mentors⁸ give children.
"The parents feel good when the child is getting help. It's a natural thing," says Cuomo. "And the school realizes that this child needs help, and they can bring in the mentor."
For children, mentors can occupy an emotional space somewhere between teachers, parents and friends. Mentees who have written about their experiences often report seeking advice from mentors about issues they're not ready to talk about with anyone else.
"There are kids who have a difficult issue in school or they've got tension with friends or at home," says P.S. 59 principal Adele Schroeter, "and the mentor is like someone to try it out on."
Civics lesson
About 25 percent of the students at P.S. 59 are immigrants who have come to the US within the past year. Mentors often help these children adjust to their new environment.
"Our kids do a pretty good job of welcoming new class members in and our teachers do a really good job," says Schroeter, "but the mentor is just one more person who can help them make that transition, help make them feel comfortable."
She adds that simply having a caring mentor gives mentees an important civics lesson.
"We try to communicate to kids the idea that they have kind of a commitment to society and to each other and I think the benefit from the modeling of the mentors themselves [because mentors] are really good citizens."
The mentors in the program are volunteers, not professional therapists, teachers or social workers. Still, according to Cuomo, all are rigorously screened and trained.
"We take it very seriously because you are putting a child in the hands of a volunteer," she says. "I wanted to make sure that the training was par⁴ excellence⁹."
Diversity awareness¹⁰
Part of that training is diversity awareness, a necessity in the Big Apple, perhaps the most ethnically¹¹ diverse city in the world.
The mentors and mentees often come from widely different social, economic and cultural backgrounds, and it is often a rich learning experience for both simply to be together at all.
"The mentor has to be trained to understand the sense of diversity we are living with today," says Cuomo.
Educators and parents agree: being mentored¹² is a win-win-win-win for parents, schools, communities and, most importantly, children.

1 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。

2 mentoring   

n.mentoring是一种工作关系。mentor通常是处在比mentee更高工作职位上的有影响力的人。他/她有比‘mentee’更丰富的工作经验和知识，并用心支持mentee的职业（发展）。v.（无经验之人的）有经验可信赖的顾问( mentor的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• One of the most effective instruments for coaching and mentoring is the "role rehearsal" . 辅导和教学的最有效的手段之一是“角色排练。” 来自辞典例句
• Bell Canada called their mentoring system a buddy-buddy system. 加拿大贝尔公司称他们的训导系统是伙伴—伙伴系统。 来自互联网

3 nurtures   

教养，培育( nurture的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Art nurtures the soul and culture cultivates the mind. 艺术滋润心灵，文化陶冶情操。
• Who first loves and nurtures us and takes care of every need. 是谁先爱上我们，哺育我们，对我们无微不至。

4 par   

n.标准，票面价值，平均数量；adj.票面的，平常的，标准的

参考例句：

• Sales of nylon have been below par in recent years.近年来尼龙织品的销售额一直不及以往。
• I don't think his ability is on a par with yours.我认为他的能力不能与你的能力相媲美。

5 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

6 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

7 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

8 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

9 excellence   

n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德

参考例句：

• His art has reached a high degree of excellence.他的艺术已达到炉火纯青的地步。
• My performance is far below excellence.我的表演离优秀还差得远呢。

10 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。

11 ethnically   

adv.人种上，民族上

参考例句：

• Ethnically, the Yuan Empire comprised most of modern China's ethnic groups. 元朝的民族成分包括现今中国绝大多数民族。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• Russia is ethnically relatively homogeneous. 俄罗斯是个民族成分相对单一的国家。 来自辞典例句

12 mentored   

v.（无经验之人的）有经验可信赖的顾问( mentor的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They had a fantastic dean who really mentored a lot of people. 那儿的教务长非常出色，的确为许多人提供了指导。 来自互联网
• The famous professor mentored him during his years in graduate school. 那位著名的教授在他读研究生期间指导他。 来自互联网