VOA标准英语2014--陈光标纽约派免费午餐堪称奇观

 

China Billionaire's Homeless Lunch Becomes Spectacle 陈光标纽约派免费午餐堪称奇观

NEW YORK —

A highly-publicized free lunch for New York City's homeless, paid for by a Chinese billionaire, has ended in recriminations and anger among many who attended.

Chinese entrepreneur¹ Chen Guangbiao had high hopes for the event -- billed as a free lunch for 1,000 homeless people in an upscale Central Park restaurant. It wound up looking more like an ideological² talent show, however, ending in disaster.

The menu included sesame tuna, salad, beef steak, and dessert. Craig, who would only give his first name, said he had never been to fancy restaurant before.

”Mr. Chen bought us a delicious lunch. It’s so yummy,” he said.

Li, who would give only his family name, said the lunch made him feel proud to be Chinese.

"Chinese are rich, they stand in foreign countries, they have earned a reputation for us Chinese, and have won honor for us,” he said.

Talent show

But the event that started with such good feelings soon turned sour, starting with the talent show.

Chen Guangbiao sang "We Are the World," did magic tricks, and then sang a Chinese song that advocated Maoism. Some volunteers at the event were even dressed in old replica³ uniforms of China's People's Liberation⁴ Army.

Finally, came the money portion of the evening. And things went from odd to angry.

One of highlights billed for the event was that Chen would give $300 to each homeless person. Five lucky people did get their money. But the rest were left wanting.

The New York City Rescue Mission that worked with Chen objected to giving away cash to the homeless based on their long-term experience working with that population.

Broken promise

Michelle Tolson, the Mission's Director of Public Relations, said, ”Giving cash to homeless is not good idea. Thus, he [Chen Guangbiao] has chosen to donate $90,000 to New York City Rescue Mission.”

That position did not sit well with many of the assembled homeless.

"The mission got the money and we got nothing. Nothing. They got $90,000 and we're still living on the street," said one homeless person at the event.

"You don't play with people like this. You tell them the freaking truth. Not like a politician, who smiles and tells you what you want to hear," said another person at the lunch.

Only 200 homeless were allowed in, despite previous advertising⁵ that said more than 1,000 would be fed. Chen says the rest will be given lunch on another date.

1 entrepreneur   

n.企业家，主办人

参考例句：

• The entrepreneur has become a news figure.这位企业家变成了新闻人物。
• The entrepreneur takes business risks in the hope of making a profit.企业家为追求利润而冒险。

2 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

3 replica   

n.复制品

参考例句：

• The original conservatory has been rebuilt in replica.温室已按原样重建。
• The young artist made a replica of the famous painting.这位年轻的画家临摹了这幅著名的作品。

4 liberation   

n.解放，解放运动（为获得平等权利和地位的行为）

参考例句：

• We should help those who are still struggling for liberation.我们应当帮助那些仍在为独立而斗争的人们。
• Many people died during famines every year before liberation.解放前每年有许多人在饥荒中死亡。

5 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。