VOA慢速英语2019 全球大学生的政治参与度增加（在线收听）

Political Involvement Increasing Among College Students Worldwide

All over the world, more and more young people are becoming involved in political activities. In many cases, higher education is related to, or even at the center of, their activism.

在世界各地，越来越多的年轻人开始参与政治活动。在许多情况下，高等教育与他们的行动主义甚至是其行动主义有关。

More recently, demonstrations began spreading across India after an attack on protesters at a university in New Delhi.

最近，在新德里一所大学的抗议者遭到袭击后，示威活动开始在印度各地蔓延。

Some college-age activists have even turned against higher education. This week, students in Chile restarted protests against what they call an unfair university admissions system. And a few years ago, protests against the high cost of study programs hit nearly every university in South Africa.

一些大学时代的激进主义者甚至反对高等教育。本周，智利的学生重新发起了抗议活动，抗议所谓的不公平大学录取制度。几年前，针对高昂学习计划费用的抗议活动席卷了南非几乎每所大学。

No?lla Richard says students in many places have become more politically active in recent years because they are tired of waiting for their voices to be heard.

诺拉·理查（No?llaRichard）说，近年来，许多地方的学生在政治上变得更加活跃，因为他们厌倦了等待听到自己的声音。

Richard is Youth Global Program Manager for the United Nations Development Programme. She argues that, generally speaking, educated young adults in almost every country see the world in similar ways. They are highly informed about major international issues, like climate change, and want peace -- both in their home country and worldwide.

理查德（Richard）是联合国开发计划署全球青年计划经理。她认为，一般而言，几乎每个国家的受过教育的年轻人都以相似的方式看待世界。他们对自己的祖国和世界范围内的重大国际问题（例如气候变化）高度了解，并希望和平。

She says they also want to change conditions that have led to problems in the past.

她说，他们还想改变过去导致问题的条件。

But young people do not see those in power working towards those goals, or representing them in the way they want to be represented, Richard says. So they have chosen to take action and produce change in different ways.

理查德说，但是年轻人没有看到当权者为实现这些目标而努力，或者以他们想要代表的方式代表他们。因此，他们选择采取行动并以不同的方式产生变化。

"That doesn't mean that it's necessarily violent. That doesn't mean, necessarily, that it is radical, although also, being radical is not necessarily a bad thing. But it's just exploring new forums," she told VOA.

她对美国之音说：“这并不意味着它一定是暴力的。这并不意味着它一定是激进的，尽管激进并不一定是一件坏事。但这只是在探索新的论坛。”

In Yemen, a not-for-profit group has worked with young people to fight drug abuse and avoid extremist groups. In Kosovo, a youth-led organization has been developing an employment training program. And in Pakistan, another group has young businessmen working together to prevent religious extremists from taking control of their businesses.

在也门，一个非营利组织与年轻人合作，打击药物滥用并避免极端主义组织。在科索沃，一个青年领导的组织正在制定一项就业培训方案。在巴基斯坦，还有一个小组让年轻的商人共同努力，以防止宗教极端分子控制自己的生意。

In the United States, college students have shown their interest in politics in a more traditional way: voting in elections.

在美国，大学生以更传统的方式表现出对政治的兴趣：在选举中投票。

Last September, Tufts University's Institute for Democracy and Higher Education published its latest National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement. The study explores the voting records and data for about 10 million American college students. It found that the number of students who voted in U.S. elections more than doubled between 2014 and 2018.

去年9月，塔夫茨大学的民主与高等教育研究所发布了最新的《国家学习，投票与参与研究》。这项研究探索了大约1000万美国大学生的投票记录和数据。调查发现，在2014年至2018年期间，在美国大选中投票的学生人数增加了一倍以上。

Adam Gismondi is Director of Impact at the Institute. He says that college student involvement in political activities dates back hundreds of years.

Adam Gismondi是该研究所的影响力主管。他说，大学生参与政治活动可以追溯到数百年前。

In U.S. politics, there have been periods of heavy student involvement, such as in the 1960s, and low involvement, as in the late 1990s. During the 2018 congressional elections, the overall percentage of Americans voting reached its highest level in over 100 years.

在美国政治中，曾经有大量的学生参与时期，例如1960年代，而参与度较低，例如在1990年代后期。在2018年国会选举期间，美国人投票的整体百分比达到100年来的最高水平。

Some political observers have linked this with the rise of President Donald Trump as a political figure, with many people wanting to vote for or against him.

一些政治观察家将此与唐纳德·特朗普总统的崛起联系起来，他是一个政治人物，许多人想投票支持或反对他。

But Gismondi argues that is not necessarily the case.

但是吉斯蒙迪认为，事实并非一定如此。

"There's a lot of conversations around national politics, and there's been attention paid to the Trump administration and some of the policies as a result of his election," Gismondi said. "But I will say there's some pretty significant data out there that shows that a lot of the activism that we're seeing is issue-based. It's not necessarily party-based."

吉斯蒙迪说：“围绕国家政治进行了很多对话，由于他当选，人们对特朗普政府和一些政策给予了关注。” “但是我会说有一些非常重要的数据表明，我们看到的许多行动主义都是基于问题的。不一定是基于党派的。”

Many of the biggest issues of the day are ones that college-educated Americans have strong opinions on, says Gismondi. These include gun control, immigration reform and the rising costs of healthcare and higher education.

吉斯蒙迪说，当今许多最大的问题是受过大学教育的美国人对此有强烈的看法。其中包括枪支管制，移民改革以及医疗保健和高等教育成本的上升。

But another reason political activism among young people has risen is U.S. colleges and universities themselves, says Clarissa Unger. She is Director of Civic Engagement for Young Invincibles, a non-profit group that supports youth political involvement.

克拉丽莎·昂格（Clarissa Unger）说，但是年轻人中政治激进主义上升的另一个原因是美国的大学和大学本身。她是支持青年政治参与的非营利组织“青年无敌”公民参与总监。

Unger suggests that many schools have made efforts to increase student political involvement. They take steps to ensure students stay informed about issues. Some provide resources that inform students how to register to vote and offer voting centers on school grounds.

昂格（Unger）建议，许多学校都在努力提高学生的政治参与度。他们采取措施确保学生随时了解问题。一些提供的资源可以告知学生如何注册投票，并提供基于学校的投票中心。

Unger and Gismondi agree that, as a result, many students are not just becoming involved in national political campaigns. They are also voting and sometimes even competing locally as candidates for elected positions.

昂格和吉斯蒙迪都同意，因此，许多学生不仅仅是参加国家政治运动。他们也在投票，有时甚至在当地竞争当选职位的候选人。

And, Unger notes, leaders who ignore the interests of the younger generation risk losing their power.

而且，昂格指出，忽视年轻一代利益的领导者有失去权力的风险。

"At the end of the day, young people want authentic leaders," she said. "They ... don't want to hear politicians saying what they think they want to hear. They want to be heard, and they want authentic leaders who are taking them seriously, taking their concerns seriously."

她说：“归根结底，年轻人想要真正的领导人。” “他们……不想听政客说他们想听的话。他们想被人听到，他们希望真正的领导人认真对待他们，认真对待他们的关切。”

No?lla Richard adds it is important that political involvement not just be limited to the college-educated. There are many poor and uneducated young people around the world who do not just deserve an equal voice, she says. They possess valuable knowledge, skills and opinions -- all things leaders must consider when making any decisions about the future.

诺拉·理查（No?llaRichard）补充说，重要的是政治参与不仅限于受过大学教育的人。 她说，世界上有许多贫困和未受过教育的年轻人不仅仅应享有平等的声音。 他们拥有宝贵的知识，技能和意见-领导人在对未来做出任何决定时必须考虑的所有事项。

Words in This Story

radical – adj. having extreme political or social views that are not shared by most people

forum(s) – n. a place or opportunity for discussing a subject

impact – n. a powerful or major influence or effect

figure – n. a person who has a specified status or who is regarded in a specified way

significant – adj. large enough to be noticed or have an effect

civic – adj. relating to citizenship or being a citizen

engagement – n. the act or state of being involved with something

resource(s) – n. a place or thing that provides something useful

authentic – adj. real and honest

deserve – v. used to say that someone or something should or should not have or be given something