CNN 2010-05-28

Would a guy like the governor of California be allowed to teach Arizona kids how to learn English? Arnold (Schwarzenegger)'s Austrian accent is as thick as his biceps but his English seems to be just fine. How about Paula Deen? Her accent's as thick as three melted sticks of butter in a frying pan.

It seems just wrong to judge a teacher by his or her accent as to judge on their hair or skin color. Their accents reflect who they are and where they came from. What's more important -- what teachers say or how they say it?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIC HANSON, KCCI REPORTER (voice-over): When your whole world is shaken before age 12, escapes are simple and rare, especially for girls. You see, boys near the epicenter of Haiti's earthquake don't let a flat basketball derail a good time. But girls, their green pigtails stay on the sidelines, until a Division One women's coach shows up --

AMY STEPHENS, DRAKE UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL COACH: I might be just as nervous as they are.

HANSON: -- and convinces 40 young Haitians to trade their green dresses for bulldog blue.

STEPHENS: Put your arms out in front and if they can touch someone, they're too close.

HANSON: Even though they can't understand a word she's saying.

STEPHENS: One, two, three -- oh.

STEPHENS: We're making the number eight around our legs.

HANSON: Once ball handling became comedic, the coach used to precision decided¹ she might as well turn them loose --

STEPHENS: OK. Lay-ups. We're doing right-handed lay-ups.

HANSON: -- on the baskets they'd been eyeing.

STEPHENS: Yes. Oh, almost.

HANSON: Air balls, there were plenty until baskets started falling. And when they did, 6th grade girls became 6th grade girls.

STEPHENS: That's the beauty of the age group. It doesn't matter if you're Haitians or Americans. When you get excited and you high five all of a sudden it really breaks down -- it breaks down barriers.

ISAAC FILS, HAITIAN COACH: They're just so happy about playing. They're playing, so they feel very, very happy. You know, so they're enjoying themselves, you know.

HANSON: Suddenly, the boys were the jealous ones.

ANDIE HATFIELD CLUBB, ATHLETIC² DIRECTOR, DRAKE UNIVERSITY: This is a group of girls who they said, don't play basketball.

HANSON: And the girls burdened with adult-sized problems discovered it's OK to play.

CLUBB: Their joy, their excitement -- just to watch them playing. They're playing just like 5th and 6th graders play. It's hard to believe, especially when you look behind them and they're living in these tents and there is rubble³ from the earthquake. It's overwhelming⁴.

FILS: So when they play, they forget about the awful earthquake that happened in Haiti. Sport is very, very good for them to make them forget some things like the earthquake. It's a good thing. You know.
 

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

3 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

4 overwhelming   

adj.势不可挡的，压倒的，无法抵抗的

参考例句：

• The flood was overwhelming and the city was soon drowned.洪水来势凶猛，很快这个城市就被淹没了。
• The act was adopted by an overwhelming majority.该法案以压倒多数通过。