VOA慢速英语20060605a

DEVELOPMENT REPORT - Sportswear Fitted to the Needs of Muslim GirlsBy Jill Moss¹

Broadcast: Monday, June 05, 2006

I'm Faith Lapidus with the VOA Special English Development Report.

This Friday, the World Cup opens in Germany. Teams from thirty-two countries will compete in sixty-four games. The champion of the world's most popular sport will be decided² in the World Cup final on July ninth in Berlin.

Sports are important for physical health, but they can also educate people. Sports can teach teamwork, conflict resolution and cultural understanding, and improve how people feel about themselves.

These are some of the goals of a project launched by the United Nations refugee agency and Nike, the sports equipment company. The project is called Together for Girls.

It began in two thousand four in refugee camps in Dadaab, in eastern Kenya. Most of the people in the camps are Somalis who fled civil war in their country in the early nineteen nineties.

The project was created as a way to improve education for girls in the camps. The U.N. refugee agency says that in the first year, new classrooms were built and additional teachers were hired. Students received books and other supplies.

Nike took the program a step further. The American company has designed sportswear for Muslim girls among the refugees. The clothing gives them more freedom of movement than the traditional Somali hijabs they wear around their heads and bodies.


Nike's Gulsun Erkal teaching the girls to sew their outfits³

Nike sent a team of female designers to research and create a new hijab for girls who play volleyball. Volleyball is a fast-moving game. It requires a lot of jumping and diving.

The new hijab is fitted yet conservative, so it is culturally sensitive to Somali Muslims.

Nike has said it will provide enough material for several hundred hijabs to be made. The company has also taught girls in Dadaab how to make them using locally produced materials.

Other sportswear makers⁴ also have special designs for Muslim women.

Nike is one of several companies represented on a business advisory⁵ committee to the U.N. refugee agency. The Council of Business Leaders was launched last year.

Microsoft is also on the council. The computer software company has been working with the agency on a system called Project Profile. This is used to store pictures and detailed⁶ records of the people in U.N. refugee camps. A number of Microsoft employees have given their time to help set up the system in more than forty countries.

This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Jill Moss. Read and listen to our reports at www.unsv.com. I'm Faith Lapidus.

1 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

2 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。

3 outfits   

n.全套装备( outfit的名词复数 )；一套服装；集体；组织v.装备，配置设备，供给服装( outfit的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He jobbed out the contract to a number of small outfits. 他把承包工程分包给许多小单位。 来自辞典例句
• Some cyclists carry repair outfits because they may have a puncture. 有些骑自行车的人带修理工具，因为他们车胎可能小孔。 来自辞典例句

4 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。

6 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。