VOA慢速英语2014 AS IT IS 2014-04-27 New Opportunities Open for Foreign Engineering Students 欧林学院为国外工程系的学生开创新的机会

 

AS IT IS 2014-04-27 New Opportunities Open for Foreign Engineering Students 欧林学院为国外工程系的学生开创新的机会

Hello again, and welcome to As It Is. I’m Jonathan Evans in Washington.

Today on the program, we tell you how one talented dancer performing in a famous New York theater is sharing his abilities with children in Africa. But first, American colleges and universities have a new program to give foreign engineering students a chance to study and work in the United States. VOA reporter Karen Legett has more.

New Opportunities for Foreign Engineering Students

It is called the Charles M. Vest Grand Challenges for Engineering International Scholarship Program. The grand challenges are 14 big problems that could be solved by engineers in the 21st century. They include making energy from the sun more economical, providing more clean water, preventing nuclear terror, and making better medicines.

Eight American universities each offered one Vest scholarship in 2014. Rich Miller¹ is the president of Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering in Massachusetts. He talks about the type of Vest scholars Olin College is seeking.

“The concept is to try to find very highly gifted individuals who are likely to make a difference in their generation. They are up-and-comers. People who are in graduate school now who have ambitions to make a difference on a large scale… We believe that the next generation, in order to achieve that vision, are going to have to work across the globe.”

The first class of Vest scholars has already been selected. Applicants² must propose a one-year research and study plan connected to one of the grand challenges. Applications for the next class are being accepted now at www.vestscholars.org.

Another program for young, foreign engineers is Frontiers of Engineering organized by the National Academy of Engineering. Young engineers from 30 to 45 years old come together to listen to presentations about the newest developments in all types of engineering.

Two engineers who study earthquakes in the United States and India met at a Frontiers of Engineering meeting in the United States in 2012. Nicolas Luco with the United States Geological Survey talked about designing nuclear power plants that can withstand earthquakes.

…”make sure that you design for some ground motion that has a small chance of happening. We want to be pretty conservative. This newer method goes beyond that and says we really want to quantify what is the chance of damage to the power plant, what level of round shaking should we design for.”

C.S. Manohar is an engineer from Bangalore, India, who listened to Mr. Luco and invited him to come to India. Both of these engineers want stronger building rules to deal with the risk of earthquakes in all buildings, not just nuclear power plants.

These engineers are now looking for money to pay for further cooperation. But already Mr. Manohar says,

“Actually it has not translated into any specific action, but the mere³ awareness⁴ is also very important.”

Building awareness and connections is what the Frontiers of Engineering program is all about. The Frontiers of Engineering meetings are planned for and by younger engineers. There is a meeting in India in May, one in Japan in June and one in California in September.

I’m Karen Leggett.

And I’m Jonathan Evans. You are listening to As It Is from VOA Learning English.

Many dancers and actors dream of performing on Broadway in New York City. One American dancer is living his dream. But he also shares his talents by teaching students in Rwanda. Bob Doughty⁵ has more.

A Dance Education for Children

American LaMar Baylor spends most of his time in New York City.  He works as a performer in the Broadway musical “The Lion King.”  But since 2011, he has also spent weeks in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda.  There he teaches dance to boys who live on the street. 

 

His teaching is part of an effort by the Rebecca Davis Dance Company.  The project helps young people learn more about dance – and learn how to behave in a classroom environment.

LaMar Baylor describes his students as genocide survivors⁶.  They have lost all of their families.  Some have been in jail.  Others have sold their bodies for sex. 

“They have been through things that no one should ever have to go through.”

He says dance classes provide the children with structured learning and self-expression that they have never had before. 

Rebecca Davis is the founder⁷ and director of the dance company.  She says she got the idea for the project after she visited Rwanda in 2008.  She remembers meeting a large number of street children who were dancing.  And, she thought that dance could be used to get them off the street and into a safer place.

Rebecca Davis believes that learning to dance is a step toward education.

“When you start to play music in Rwanda, these kids come out of nowhere and they enter the center.  And it’s because of dance that they have a way of exchanging their physicality, their survival skills that they learn on the street, and their strength, into something that is actually artistic⁸ and aesthetic⁹.”

She says children can take classes in information and technology after they have learned to attend classes and follow directions.

The boys who win scholarships are sent to the Sonrise Boarding School.  About 30 boys have won this kind of financial aid. 

She says all the students are male because few girls in Rwanda live freely on the street.

The Rwanda program is the largest one set up by the Rebecca Davis Dance Company.  But Ms. Davis has also set up a dance program in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Guinea.  About 2,000 children in the three countries have taken part in the project since it was launched in 2010.                                                                                                                           

As for LaMar Baylor, he knows from his own experience how dance can lead to a better life.  He is from Camden, New Jersey¹⁰.  Camden has sometimes been called America’s poorest and most dangerous city.  Mr. Baylor says that, growing up in Camden, it took a long time for him to find out what he wanted to do.  He now thinks dancing saved his life. 

I’m Bob Doughty.

1 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

2 applicants   

申请人，求职人( applicant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were over 500 applicants for the job. 有500多人申请这份工作。
• He was impressed by the high calibre of applicants for the job. 求职人员出色的能力给他留下了深刻印象。

3 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

4 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

5 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。

6 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

7 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

8 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

9 aesthetic   

adj.美学的，审美的，有美感

参考例句：

• My aesthetic standards are quite different from his.我的审美标准与他的大不相同。
• The professor advanced a new aesthetic theory.那位教授提出了新的美学理论。

10 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。