VOA标准英语2011--US Woman's Afghan Experience Inspires No

US Woman's Afghan Experience Inspires Novel

"Farishta" means 'angel' in Dari, the widely spoken language in northern Afghanistan. It's also the title of a novel by Patricia McArdle, a retired¹ American diplomat² who spent a year in Afghanistan.
Over her 27-year career as a U.S. diplomat, McArdle served in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe. But it was her last assignment in Afghanistan that inspired her to write about her experiences.
However, instead of a memoir³, she opted⁴ to write a novel inspired by real people and events.
"I couldn't really use their names without compromising their safety and the work they're doing in Afghanistan," she says.
So she wrote a novel, hoping to convey the same message a memoir would.
"I created fictional⁵ characters that are composites of people I knew, the people I met. Some of the incidents are based on real incidents that happened to me. Others are incidents that happened to other people," says McArdle. "But I think I was able to be freer to express my opinions sometimes through the voices of my characters."
"Farishta" tells a story of Angela Morgan, a mid-career diplomat who overcomes personal tragedy to discover a new life and new sense of purpose.
After losing her husband in a terrorist bombing in Beirut and dealing⁶ with post traumatic stress disorder⁷, Morgan is forced to choose between early retirement⁸ or assignment to an isolated⁹ British army compound in northern Afghanistan.
At the small camp in Mazar-e-Sharif, she receives a cold welcome from the British soldiers and from Rahim, a young interpreter who makes it clear he is not pleased to be working for a woman.
"What I tried to capture in Rahim was this clash of cultures because he is an educated young man and he wants to be a modern person in the modern world, but he still has this male dominated culture that he has to struggle against," says McArdle. "So with his relationship with Angela, I tried to deal with it in that way. Then when he begins his romance with Nilofar, he is also dealing with a very Western but Afghan woman. And I hoped to portray¹⁰ the struggle that I saw some young men facing."
Nilofar is a law student who embodies¹¹ the struggle McArdle saw young Afghan women facing.
The author's first view of Afghan women, as she was driven in an armored convoy¹² from the airport to the embassy in Kabul, was of them walking along the street in the blue burqas.
"But I began, after I was there for a while, to meet some women who were doing very brave things," she says. "I met women lawyers, doctors, who were trying to help other women in their society. And some of them were really taking great risks. And I was so impressed with what they were doing. I did see a lot of women going to school and I met school teachers, who were trying to educate women, which is very impressive."
However, McArdle believes Afghan women still have a long way to go to improve their legal, economic and social status and to be part of their country's future.
Several scenes in "Farishta" mirror McArdle's experiences working with Afghan communities to improve their future.
In the novel, Angela notices that children spend their days gathering¹³ firewood for their mothers' cookstoves. She shows them how to fashion a solar cooker, which is what McArdle once did, at a meeting with local officials in an Afghan village.
"I built a little solar cooker out of a cardboard box and aluminum¹⁴ foil. I set it up in a village, where we had a meeting. I poured a liter of water into a pot, put the cooker on the ground, pointed¹⁵ it at the sun and went on to the meeting. We were in a meeting with the district governor for about an hour. When we came out, the pot was boiling," she says.
Since returning from Afghanistan, McArdle has become an advocate of sustainable, renewable energy and a promoter of integrated solar thermal¹⁶ technology. She's also joined Secretary of State Hilary Clinton's new Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves initiative.
McArdle says these simple technologies should be embraced as Afghanistan rebuilds.
"It disappoints me that our construction is required to follow international building codes, so we're bringing in cement and cinder¹⁷ blocks and putting up buildings that require generators¹⁸ to run ventilation systems because without those ventilation systems these buildings in the winter are too cold and in the summer are too hot. I would like to see us focus more on traditional Afghan building, helping¹⁹ them maybe make slight improvements. Let the Afghans use their own techniques to re-build their own country."

1 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

2 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

3 memoir   

n.[pl.]回忆录，自传；记事录

参考例句：

• He has just published a memoir in honour of his captain.他刚刚出了一本传记来纪念他的队长。
• In her memoir,the actress wrote about the bittersweet memories of her first love.在那个女演员的自传中，她写到了自己苦乐掺半的初恋。

4 opted   

v.选择，挑选( opt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She was co-opted onto the board. 她获增选为董事会成员。
• After graduating she opted for a career in music. 毕业后她选择了从事音乐工作。

5 fictional   

adj.小说的，虚构的

参考例句：

• The names of the shops are entirely fictional.那些商店的名字完全是虚构的。
• The two authors represent the opposite poles of fictional genius.这两位作者代表了天才小说家两个极端。

6 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

7 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

8 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

9 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

10 portray   

v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等)

参考例句：

• It is difficult to portray feelings in words.感情很难用言语来描写。
• Can you portray the best and worst aspects of this job?您能描述一下这份工作最好与最坏的方面吗？

11 embodies   

v.表现( embody的第三人称单数 )；象征；包括；包含

参考例句：

• The new treaty embodies the aspirations of most nonaligned countries. 新条约体现了大多数不结盟国家的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This document embodies the concern of the government for the deformity. 这个文件体现了政府对残疾人的关怀。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 convoy   

vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队

参考例句：

• The convoy was snowed up on the main road.护送队被大雪困在干路上了。
• Warships will accompany the convoy across the Atlantic.战舰将护送该船队过大西洋。

13 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

14 aluminum   

n.(aluminium)铝

参考例句：

• The aluminum sheets cannot be too much thicker than 0.04 inches.铝板厚度不能超过0.04英寸。
• During the launch phase,it would ride in a protective aluminum shell.在发射阶段，它盛在一只保护的铝壳里。

15 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

16 thermal   

adj.热的，由热造成的；保暖的

参考例句：

• They will build another thermal power station.他们要另外建一座热能发电站。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

17 cinder   

n.余烬，矿渣

参考例句：

• The new technology for the preparation of superfine ferric oxide from pyrite cinder is studied.研究了用硫铁矿烧渣为原料，制取超细氧化铁红的新工艺。
• The cinder contains useful iron,down from producing sulphuric acid by contact process.接触法制硫酸的矿渣中含有铁矿。

18 generators   

n.发电机，发生器( generator的名词复数 )；电力公司

参考例句：

• The factory's emergency generators were used during the power cut. 工厂应急发电机在停电期间用上了。
• Power can be fed from wind generators into the electricity grid system. 电力可以从风力发电机流入输电网。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 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。