VOA慢速英语2014 阿富汗女子足球队所象征的改变

 

AS IT IS 2014-12-02 Women's Football Team a Sign of Change in Afghanistan 阿富汗女子足球队所象征的改变

For many years in Afghanistan, women were not permitted¹ to play outdoor games. They were banned from playing under the former Taliban government. One of the banned sports was football, known² in the United³ States as soccer. But the rise of a national women’s football team is a sign of change in the country.

The Afghan women's team recently went to Pakistan to compete in the South Asian Football Federation⁴ championship. The games were played ay Jinnah Stadium⁵ near Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad. The Afghan team did not win any of its games. But the players seem hopeful⁶ that they will do better in the future. They also hope the new Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani, will take more steps to support women's football in Afghanistan.

Twenty-one-year old Frozan Tajali is the captain of the Afghan women's team. She says that increased involvement in international events is helping⁷ the team improve its skills. She says that a four-team female⁸ football league was organized in October. The teams played in Kabul. She adds that the football league helped in identifying players for the national team.

She says, “women are now free and can play football in Afghanistan. We recently organized the league and 20 girls came from one province alone to Kabul to take part in the league.”

Twenty-year-old Yalda Arghandiwal came all the way from the United States to represent⁹ her country at the football championship.

She understands the cultural limits on women playing football and other sports in parts of Afghanistan. However, she says, things have improved.

“There is a lot more brighter cases in Afghanistan, it is not just the Taliban taking over and nobody has any rights. We do have rights. It is more free. We have a president who is trying to make the country better for us. And yes, the women now are getting better and as you see, this is a big example for you. They are out here playing soccer so that should be a big improvement¹⁰ that yes, Afghanistan is improving as a country and they will own the future.”

Yalda is from Kabul. She moved to the United States 10 years ago with her family. While there, she started playing football. She says the Afghan team must improve to compete with countries like India and Nepal.

“Yeah, we lost but that does not matter. As long as we tried our best. We tried really, really hard and we worked how we want to work. It is totally fine. This is the just the beginning for Afghanistan national soccer team and for the women of Afghanistan. This could be a big start and it could just lead us into a more brighter future.”

Yalda was one of five female Afghan players who live abroad. But she and the others return to Afghanistan to represent the national team in international events.

Monika Staab of Germany is an advisor¹¹ with the International Federation of Association¹² Football, the organization better known as FIFA. She watched all of the teams compete at the South Asian Football Federation Championship. Ms. Staab says that she saw great improvement in the Afghan team’s performance since she first saw the team play in 2007.

“Afghanistan women want to play. I know the Taliban and all these people who say women should stay at home, things are changing we are now in 2014 and we have to give the girls the opportunity. We have to push them move on to play, let them play.”

The football players wear black head coverings and black leggings in all of their matches. The women do this to obey the rules of their country’s strong Islamic culture. The Taliban may not be in power, but males and females¹³ remain on unequal footing in Afghanistan.

Words in This Story

abroad – adv. overseas¹⁴; in or to a foreign country

ban – v. to bar people from using something; to say that something cannot be used or done

league -  n. a group of sports teams that play against each other

soccer – n. a game played between two teams of 11 players in which a ball is moved toward a goal usually by kicking

1 permitted   

允许( permit的过去式和过去分词 )； 许可； 许用

参考例句：

• Radios are not permitted in the library. 图书馆内不许使用收音机。
• Entrance is permitted only on production of a ticket. 出示门票才可进入。

2 known   

adj.大家知道的；知名的，已知的

参考例句：

• He is a known artist.他是一个知名的艺术家。
• He is known both as a painter and as a statesman.他是知名的画家及政治家。

3 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。

4 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

5 stadium   

n.露天大型运动场

参考例句：

• The new football stadium can hold eighty thousand people.新的足球场可以容纳八万人。
• The stadium is being used for a match.那个露天运动场正在进行一场比赛。

6 hopeful   

adj.有希望的，怀抱希望的，保持乐观的；n.有希望之人，有前途之人

参考例句：

• This is a hopeful news.这是个鼓舞人心的消息。
• We are hopeful about the future.我们对未来抱乐观态度。

7 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。

8 female   

adj.雌的，女(性)的；n.雌性的动物，女子

参考例句：

• We only employ female workers.我们只雇用女工。
• The animal in the picture was a female elephant.照片上的动物是头母象。

9 represent   

vt.表现，表示；描绘，讲述；代表，象征；回忆；再赠送，再上演；vi.提出异议

参考例句：

• I'll represent to him the risk he is running.我要向他指出他所面临的险境。
• We selected her to represent us.我们选她作为我们的代表。

10 improvement   

n.改进，增进；改进之处，改善的地方

参考例句：

• The doctor noticed a gradual improvement in his patient.医生注意到病人在逐渐恢复健康。
• I can detect signs of improvement in your thinking.我可以察觉出你思考问题方面的进步。

11 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。

12 association   

n.联盟，协会，社团；交往，联合；联想

参考例句：

• Our long association with your company has brought great benefits.我方和贵公司的长期合作带来了巨大的利益。
• I broke away from the association ten years ago.我10年前就脱离了那个团体。

13 females   

n.雌性动物( female的名词复数 )；女人

参考例句：

• The male birds are more colourful than the females. 这种鸟雄性比雌性更加色彩艳丽。
• The males in the herd protect the females and the young. 兽中的雄性动物保护雌性动物和幼崽。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 overseas   

adj.海外的；adv.在海外

参考例句：

• Her man has been sent overseas by his employers.她的丈夫已被雇主派往海外。
• Many firms are focusing on increasing their markets overseas.许多商行都专注于扩大国外市场。