VOA慢速英语--吉尔吉斯斯坦首次卫星发射或由女性团体众筹完成

Kyrgyz Women Working on Country’s First Satellite

Young women in Kyrgyzstan are reaching for the stars. They are working to build and launch¹ the country’s first satellite before 2020.

A small group of female² scientists has been working with computers and other equipment since March to build a CubeSat. The American space agency³ NASA has described CubeSat as the smallest and cheapest satellite used for space exploration.

“I’m very proud that it’s going to be the first satellite of the country,” said 23-year-old student Kyzzhibek Batyrkanova.

“I’m doing this because I want to empower other girls,” she said. Batyrkanova added that a person’s gender⁴ — whether you are male or female — “doesn’t have to determine what you do in this life.”

She spoke⁵ to the Reuters news agency on Skype from Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital.

Few Kyrgyz choosing careers in technology

Kyrgyzstan is a mountainous country where nearly two thirds of the people live in rural⁶ areas. The United Nations notes that the local economy depends heavily on farming. So it is rare for any Kyrgyz to choose technology as a career path.

The UN Development Program studied records about the country’s college graduates in science, technology, engineering⁷, mathematics, construction and manufacturing⁸. It found that women make up less than 10 percent of those graduates.

Nineteen-year-old Alina Anisimova is a computer programmer who leads the CubeSat project. She told Reuters “some girls don’t have the courage” to take on such studies because it is not common in their country. And, she said, “the majority of parents discourage their daughters” from studying these subjects.

Anisimova said she wishes that in the future “people will not consider it so surprising” to see young women involved in engineering and metal working.

She is one of the young women, ages 17 to 24, who are working on the project. It was started by Kloop Media, a local media group, after a chance meeting with Alexander MacDonald, a NASA official. MacDonald suggested the idea of building the satellite.

He told Reuters that building a satellite “can serve as a powerful social and political signal," or sign. MacDonald said it could send important messages about “who is able to participate and build the future."

Kloop created a crowdfunding page to raise money for the project. It says the manufacture⁹ and launch of Kyrgyzstan's first CubeSat will cost up to $150,000. The final part of device¹⁰ will be made with a Lithuanian company.

Women in scientific research

The number of women in science, technology, engineering and math areas has increased in recent years. In the United States, there has been a push to get more girls interested in such subjects at an early age. Still, the UN’s cultural agency UNESCO notes that only about 30 percent of the world's researchers are women.

Aidana Aidarbekova is a 19-year-old student involved in the project. She said girls and women in her country are expected to marry instead of having careers.

"There are a lot of people who don't believe that girls are capable¹¹ of doing anything else but cleaning and cooking and giving birth to children," Aidarbekova said.

Nearly one in 10 girls in Kyrgyzstan is married before age 18, notes the international aid group Girls Not Brides. Aidarbekova said she hopes the space project will inspire girls in Kyrgyzstan and other countries.

"We are doing this program because we want to prove that girls can actually do it," she said. “ … Maybe our project will give hope to girls all around the world."

I’m Anne Ball.

Words in This Story

cheap – adj. not costing a lot of money

proud – adj. causing a feeling of pride

determine – v. to officially decide (something) especially because of evidence or facts : to establish (something) exactly or with authority¹²

graduate – n. a person who has completed a course of study in college or university

construction - n. to build or make things like buildings, roads, equipment, etc.

courage – n. to be brave

crowdfunding – n. the practice of getting money (as for a new business) by asking for contributions from a large number of people especially online

inspire – v. to make (someone) want to do something : to give (someone) an idea about what to do or create

1 launch   

vt.发动，推出；发射；n.发射，下水，投产

参考例句：

• The makers are about to launch out a new product.制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。
• Would it be wise to launch into this rough sea?在这样汹涌的大海中游泳明智吗？

2 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。

3 agency   

n.经办；代理；代理处

参考例句：

• This disease is spread through the agency of insects.这种疾病是通过昆虫媒介传播的。
• He spoke in the person of Xinhua News Agency.他代表新华社讲话。

4 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 rural   

adj.乡下的，田园的，乡村风味的

参考例句：

• He lived a rural life.他过着田园生活。
• We left the city for a rural home.我们离开城市，去农村安家。

7 engineering   

n.工程，工程学，管理，操纵

参考例句：

• The science of engineering began as soon as man learned to use tools. 人类一学会使用工具,工程科学就开始了。
• It was the first great engineering works in the world. 这是世界上第一家大型的工程工厂。

8 manufacturing   

n.制造业，工业adj.制造业的，制造的v.（大规模）制造( manufacture的现在分词 )；捏造；加工；粗制滥造（文学作品）

参考例句：

• The entire manufacturing process has been automated. 整个生产过程已自动化。
• Manufacturing processes may be affected by the functionality of the product. 生产过程可能要受到产品设计目的的影响。

9 manufacture   

n.产品，制造，制造业；vt.制造，加工；vi.参与制造

参考例句：

• The equipment is of our own manufacture.这设备是我们自己制造的。
• Plastic is an important manufacture.塑料是种重要产品。

10 device   

n.器械，装置；计划，策略，诡计

参考例句：

• The device will be in production by the end of the year.该装置将于年底投入生产。
• The device will save much time and effort for us.这种装置会使我们节省大量时间和气力。

11 capable   

adj.有能力的，有才能的

参考例句：

• The new woman secretary was extremely clever and capable.这位新来的女秘书很是精明强干。
• Jim is capable at sports.吉姆擅长运动。

12 authority   

n.当局，官方；权力，权威，威信；当权者

参考例句：

• He is recognized internationally as an authority in this field.国际上承认他是这方面的一个权威。
• Professor White is looked upon as an authority on mathematics.怀特教授被看成数学权威。