VOA慢速英语2013 肯尼迪和平队的影响仍然强劲

 

AS IT IS 2013-11-23 JFK's Peace Corps¹ Still Going Strong 肯尼迪和平队的影响仍然强劲

Hello there! I’m June Simms and this is As It Is, from VOA Learning English.

Several leading democracy groups in the United States are celebrating 30 years of service. Their work to increase democracy around the world has not been easy. But,  these groups say this work has paid off. Mario Ritter will have more on that later in the show.

Peace Corps Among JFK’s Lasting³ Achievements

But first, Friday, November 22nd, marked the 50th anniversary of the murder of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas. The anniversary has raised discussion and  reflection about the former president’s achievements while in office. One of his more notable successes was the creation of the Peace Corps, a volunteer force of  mainly young Americans who have served in developing nations for more than 50 years.

“Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.”

That was President Kennedy’s famous call to service during his Inaugural⁵ Address on January 20, 1961. That call to action marked the beginning of the Peace Corps.

The idea for the Peace Corps came during a late-night campaign stop at the University of Michigan in October of 1960. John F. Kennedy was a senator at the time. He  urged students to serve their country by helping⁶ to improve conditions in other countries.

Young Americans quickly grabbed hold of the idea of delaying their own careers to live and work in developing nations.

Harris Wofford served as an advisor⁷ to the new president. He says creating the Peace Corps was one of President Kennedy’s main goals when he entered office.

“Kennedy wanted action. He wanted us to move and we had the plan of the Peace Corps within the first six weeks.”

Kennedy invited the first group of volunteers to a gathering⁸ at the White House before they left for Africa.

“The fact that you are willing to do this for our country and in the larger sense, as the name suggests, for the cause of peace and understanding, I think should make  all Americans proud and make them all appreciative⁹.”

Those early volunteers entered the Peace Corps with a sense of excitement and purpose. Barbara Kamara was one of them.

“Going to Liberia as a Peace Corps volunteer was a life-changing experience. I learned that I could just endure, that you start something and no matter what the  challenges were to do it, that I could keep doing it until it was completed.”

Fifty years later, what remains¹⁰ is a sense of pride and accomplishment¹¹.

“When I look back on the great things that Peace Corps volunteers did, the many lives they impacted. I mean, the vice² president of Liberia today gives tribute to his  Peace Corps teacher contributing to his ability now to serve in that position as vice president.”

Harris Wofford says the creation of the Peace Corps remains an important part of President John F. Kennedy’s history.

“Around the world, people thought, here is the America we’ve been believing in or hoping for, young, optimistic, can-do. That’s the America that we’ve read about,  we’ve thought about, we’ve hoped for, and here he was bringing it about.”

Since 1961, more than 200-thousand Americans have served in the Peace Corps in 139 host countries around the world. Volunteers must be citizens of the United States  and they must be at least 18 years old to join. Education represents 43 percent of the work that the Peace Corps does. Health and community economic development are  two other main areas of service.

You are listening to As It Is, from VOA Learning English. I’m June Simms in Washington.

U.S. Democracy Groups Mark 30 Years of Service

Many areas of the world are more democratic today than they were 30 years ago. That is partly because of the work of several organizations based in the United States,  including the National Endowment for Democracy, or NED. This private, nonprofit group, which receives funds from Congress, is celebrating its 30th anniversary this  year. Mario Ritter reports.

?The NED’s longtime president, Carl Gershman, has helped spread democracy around the world.

“Our job, our responsibility, our mission, given by the Congress, is to be helpful, is to lend a helping hand. That's what we do. But the main driving forces are  inside those countries, and it's basically the people in those countries.”

The NED is one of several pro-democracy groups celebrating 30 years of service. The National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute have  similar operations.

The groups work with non-governmental organizations, political parties, democracy activists¹² and some governments to help establish and strengthen democratic  institutions. The NED does so by providing financial support to those groups. The party-backed groups are field-based, operating their own offices in the countries.  Ken⁴ Wollack is president of the National Democratic Institute.

“In most all of those countries, we work with the ruling party, the opposition¹³ party, we work with the government, we work with civil society.”

However, field-based groups sometimes face opposition from the governments in the countries where they work.

The Republican IRI and the Democratic NDI left Russia last year under pressure from President Vladimir Putin's government.

Melinda Haring was an NDI program officer in Azerbaijan and is now with the Foreign Policy Research Institute. She says democratic aid operations should work only in  countries that are partly free.

“When you're in a place like Kazakhstan or Uzbekistan or Azerbaijan or even Russia, you have to pay the piper. You can't implement¹⁴ programs that really challenge the  regime.”

However, Ken Wollack notes numerous successes in which his agency has been involved. He says they include this year's elections in Kenya, which were far more peaceful  than earlier votes.

“And a lot of effort was made in promoting dialogue between political parties, dialogue between the election authorities and parties, engaging youth constructively¹⁵ in  the political process.”

NED president Carl Gershman admitted that democracy often is slow to take root, but it has global demand.

“Even in difficult countries like Saudi Arabia, or in North Korea, there are people, even there, who are trying to take the next step toward democracy. Over time,  given enough time, I do think it's inevitable¹⁶.”

And for 30 years, these United States democracy groups have been making progress, one country at a time. I’m Mario Ritter.

1 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

2 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

3 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

4 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

5 inaugural   

adj.就职的；n.就职典礼

参考例句：

• We listened to the President's inaugural speech on the radio yesterday.昨天我们通过无线电听了总统的就职演说。
• Professor Pearson gave the inaugural lecture in the new lecture theatre.皮尔逊教授在新的阶梯讲堂发表了启用演说。

6 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

7 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

8 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

9 appreciative   

adj.有鉴赏力的，有眼力的；感激的

参考例句：

• She was deeply appreciative of your help.她对你的帮助深表感激。
• We are very appreciative of their support in this respect.我们十分感谢他们在这方面的支持。

10 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

11 accomplishment   

n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能

参考例句：

• The series of paintings is quite an accomplishment.这一系列的绘画真是了不起的成就。
• Money will be crucial to the accomplishment of our objectives.要实现我们的目标，钱是至关重要的。

12 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

14 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

15 constructively   

ad.有益的，积极的

参考例句：

• Collecting, by occupying spare time so constructively, makes a person contented, with no time for boredom. 如此富有意义地利用业余时间来进行收藏，会使人怡然自得，无暇烦恼。
• The HKSAR will continue to participate constructively in these activities. 香港会继续积极参与这些活动。

16 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。