英语听力—环球英语 782 Creating Leaders in Africa

　　Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight¹. I'm Liz Waid.
Voice 2
And I'm Joshua Leo. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
Skilled², intelligent people live everywhere in the world: in wealthy countries and poor countries. But there is a problem in developing³ countries. It is called "Brain Drain⁴." It happens when a country's most educated⁵ people leave the country. Often, these people go to wealthy countries to find jobs.
Voice 2
These people hope to make their own lives better. But for the countries they leave, losing them causes many problems. But is it possible for people to improve their own lives, and their countries too? Fred Swaniker would say yes.
Voice 1
Today's Spotlight is on the school Fred started: the African Leadership Academy⁷.
Voice 2
Fred Swaniker grew up in many places in Africa. His family has a history of starting schools. Fred shared his reasons for starting the school at the 2007 TED⁶ conference⁸ in Tanzania.
Voice 3
"I am an African. I was born in Ghana, and grew up in Gambia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe. I have worked in South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, and Tanzania. With each part of Africa I lived in, I fell more deeply⁹ in love with my continent. With this love, came a desire to see Africa grow and do well. So I kept asking myself "What will it take to make Africa grow?"
I looked at other successful countries. I saw that those countries grew because of people with new ideas. People who made these new ideas become real. I knew that if this was going to happen in Africa, we needed leaders. We needed a system to help these leaders. We must work to increase the number of people who can think new, important ideas. People who can make those ideas happen. And so was born the idea for African Leadership Academy."
Voice 1
Fred wanted to give young people a place to grow into great adults. He wanted to connect these young people together. He knew that these skilled children needed to be friends with each other. He wanted them to work together to lead Africa in new directions.
Voice 3
"So many skilled young Africans cannot get far because they do not have those friendships. They may have an idea or a desire, but they do not have any connection or person to help them make those ideas come true."
Voice 2
So Fred worked to create the African Leadership Academy. He worked with other educators and business people. Together, they formed a group to build the school. They collected money from companies and groups. With this money, the group purchased an old printing building in Johannesburg South Africa. This building became the African Leadership Academy.
Voice 1
Fred employed five people to travel to schools across Africa. They looked for the best students. He also wrote to 1,600 school leaders. He asked them to choose their best students for the Leadership Academy.
Voice 2
The school opened its doors to students in 2008. It is a boarding school. The students study and live at the school. They attend the school for two years, their final two years of schooling¹⁰. Most students are between the ages of 16 and 19.
Voice 1
Students from any African country can attend the academy. It does not matter if they are rich or poor. In the first year of school, 80 percent of the students did not pay anything to attend the Academy. But Fred Swaniker is not just giving the education for free. He has a special agreement with the students.
Voice 2
The students have "forgivable loans¹¹." When a student turns 25 years old, the school will call him. If the student is working in Africa and plans to continue for ten more years, he does not have to pay the money back. But if the student is working anywhere else in the world, he will owe¹² all the money, and interest on the money too.
Voice 1
Successful business people from all around the world have come to the school to speak to the students. Fred hopes that these business leaders will be examples for the students. He wants the students to someday start their own businesses.
Voice 3
"Africa will not come out of poverty¹³ unless we become successful business owners."
Voice 2
Fred believes that many Africans seek out dependable jobs. But he thinks that more people in Africa need to be willing¹⁴ to take risks. He hopes his school will encourage students to do this.
Voice 1
But who are the students at the African Leadership Academy? The students come from over 29 different countries. Most students are from Africa, but some are from the United¹⁵ States. You may remember a Spotlight program about one of the students from Malawi. William Kamkwamba built a windmill in his village to create electricity. William hopes to someday start an energy company to provide electricity to all of Africa.
Voice 2
Tabitha Tangoi is another student at the Academy. She is from Kenya. When she heard about children in Kenya who did not have school books, she decided¹⁶ to do something to help. She started a group called "A Book for Change." This group collects books for school children in Kenya. In only a year, her group has given over 3,000 books to poor children.
Voice 1
Medhi Oulmakki is from Morocco. Medhi is part of the Aquarium¹⁷ Acting¹⁸ Troupe¹⁹. It is a group that uses theatre to make positive changes in poor communities. The group travels across Morocco to educate women about their rights. He says, "Theatre is a great way to fight negative ideas." People listen to new ideas when they come in the form of theatre.
Voice 2
Miranda Nyatha is a student from South Africa. When she was young, her school was having problems. Teachers were unhappy and refused to work. The school searched for a new mathematics²⁰ teacher but could not find one. At the age of 16, Miranda decided to do something to help.
Voice 4
"I saw the need for me to start afternoon and Saturday classes. I taught mathematics, but then expanded to science and geography."
Voice 1
Miranda hopes to encourage more young leaders by putting skilled teachers in schools all over Africa
Voice 2
These are just a few of the students at the African Leadership Academy. All of them have the ability to make Africa a better place. All of them have the ability to be great leaders. And Fred Swaniker believes that with the help of the Academy, all of the students will succeed.
 

1 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

2 skilled   

adj.(in)熟练的，有技能的；需要技能的

参考例句：

• Unskilled workers usually earn less money than skilled workers.无技能的工人通常比有技能的工人挣钱少。
• She was skilled enough in French to translate a novel.她法语娴熟，足以翻译小说。

3 developing   

adj.发展中的

参考例句：

• Transport has always been the key to developing trade.运输一直是发展贸易的关键。
• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。

4 drain   

n.排水沟，阴沟；消耗，负担；v.排去，放干

参考例句：

• Drain off the rest of the wine from this barrel.把桶里剩余的酒排出去。
• First,you have to drain the container of all the old oil.首先，你得从油箱中把所有的陈油都抽去。

5 educated   

adj.受过教育的，有教养的

参考例句：

• She was well educated in literature at a university.她在大学里受到良好的文学方面的教育。
• Children should be educated in a correct way.教育孩子要得法。

6 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

7 academy   

n.(高等)专科院校；学术社团，协会，研究院

参考例句：

• This is an academy of music.这是一所音乐专科学院。
• I visited Chinese Academy of Sciences yesterday.我昨天去访问了中国科学院。

8 conference   

n.（正式的）会议；讨论

参考例句：

• We're having a conference and we'd like you to sit in.我们将举行一次会议，希望你来旁听。
• The conference will come to a close this afternoon.今天下午会议闭幕。

9 deeply   

adv.深刻地，在深处，深沉地

参考例句：

• I do feel deeply the strength of the collective.我确实深深地感到了集体的力量。
• We're deeply honoured that you should agree to join us.您能同意加入我们，我们感到很荣幸。

10 schooling   

n.教育；正规学校教育

参考例句：

• A child's access to schooling varies greatly from area to area.孩子获得学校教育的机会因地区不同而大相径庭。
• Backward children need a special kind of schooling.天赋差的孩子需要特殊的教育。

11 loans   

n.借出物，借款( loan的名词复数 )v.借出，贷与（尤指钱）( loan的第三人称单数 )；出借（贵重物品给博物馆等）

参考例句：

• They are offering loans at extortionate rates of interest. 他们在放高利贷。
• Government loans have been the salvation of several shaky business companies. 政府的贷款救活了几家濒临倒闭的公司。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 owe   

vt./vi.欠（债等）；感激；把……归功于某人

参考例句：

• We still owe one hundred dollars for the car.为这部车我们还欠着100美元。
• We owe it to society to make our country a better place.把国家建设得更美好是我们对社会应尽的责任。

13 poverty   

n.贫穷， 贫困， 贫乏， 缺少

参考例句：

• We must continue to war against poverty and disease.我们一定要继续同贫穷和疾病作斗争。
• He showed his poverty in his knowledge of agriculture.他表现出缺乏对农业知识的了解。

14 willing   

adj.愿意的，自愿的，乐意的，心甘情愿的

参考例句：

• We never lack food and clothing if we're willing to work.如果我们愿意工作,就不会缺吃少穿。
• He's quite willing to pay the price I ask.他很愿意照我的要价付钱。

15 united   

adj.和谐的；团结的；联合的，统一的

参考例句：

• The whole nation is closely united.全国人民紧密团结。
• The two men were united by community of interests.共同的利益使两个人结合在一起。

16 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。

17 aquarium   

n.水族馆，养鱼池，玻璃缸

参考例句：

• The first time I saw seals was in an aquarium.我第一次看见海豹是在水族馆里。
• I'm going to the aquarium with my parents this Sunday.这个星期天，我要和父母一起到水族馆去。

18 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

19 troupe   

n.剧团，戏班；杂技团；马戏团

参考例句：

• The art troupe is always on the move in frontier guards.文工团常年在边防部队流动。
• The troupe produced a new play last night.剧团昨晚上演了一部新剧。

20 mathematics   

n.（用作单）数学；（用作单或复）计算(能力）

参考例句：

• He has come out in front in the study of mathematics.他在数学方面已名列前茅。
• She is working at a difficult problem in mathematics.她在做一道数学难题。