英语杂谈：103 Social Service Projects

The Beijing municipal government will spend 100 million yuan or nearly 15 million US dollars on the purchase of social service projects. It aims to meet various needs of the public and boost the development of social organizations.

Chen Zhe has the story.

Reporter:

As many as 300 out of more than 2,700 social service projects regarding public interest have been selected and will be purchased by the Beijing municipal government this year.

Each project will receive financial support ranging from 30,000 to 300,000 yuan.

Zhang Jun is deputy secretary general of the Promotion¹ Association for the Education of Migrant Workers' Children. A project involving volunteer teachers launched by his organization was selected into the purchasing plan.

"(57') We have organized volunteers in universities and companies to open music, drawing and psychology² courses in schools for migrant workers' children. The project is now available in three schools in Beijing. We got funds from companies and individuals in the past. As we're going to get fund from the government, it will expand to ten schools this year. Six thousand students will benefit from it."

Projects focusing on poverty relief, healthcare, education and other subjects concerning people's daily life, are the main targets of the purchasing program. This is the first time the municipal government has taken action to fund social service projects in a unified³ manner.

"It will prompt to build a model of small government and big society as it helps streamline⁴ government organs and display the function of social organizations."
There are nearly 7000 registered social organizations in Beijing. Some of them are struggling financially.

Financial support from the government accounts for less than ten percent of the funding of the social organizations.

Famous Chinese scholar of public administration Mao Shoulong says the move is part of the efforts to transform the function of the government.

"It's a transition from an all-round government to a limited government and it focuses on enhancing the cooperation between the government and the public. It enables taxpayers⁵ to get more services from the government. It's an important endeavor for Beijing to build an effective and service-oriented government."

Professor Mao believes as society becomes more and more diverse, it will be a trend for the government to purchase services provided by social organizations.

 

1 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

2 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

3 unified   

(unify 的过去式和过去分词)； 统一的； 统一标准的； 一元化的

参考例句：

• The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
• The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。

4 streamline   

vt.使成流线型；使简化；使现代化

参考例句：

• We must streamline our methods.我们必须简化方法。
• Any liquid or gas passing it will have streamline flow.任何通过它的液体或气体将呈流线型的流动。

5 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。