VOA慢速英语--推广“生活图书馆”以消灭歧视

A Push to Fight Discrimination through Living Libraries

Father Mick Ngundu has survived waves of violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Today the Roman Catholic¹ clergyman is actively² working for poor people. He is a critic of corruption³ that he claims poisons chances of democracy.

Recently, he described how many people in his homeland are too poor to pay for electricity. He spoke⁴ on the grounds of housing once used by Catholic religious workers in Normandy, France.

Among the listeners was Veronique Couque, a retired⁵ worker. She has never been to an African country south of the Sahara desert.

The French woman may have never had a chance to hear Ngundu if not for a growing citizen movement called Living Libraries. It was created to end widely held, but oversimplified ideas about groups of people through discussion.

"It allows you to discover what it's like to be that person. It's an opportunity to break barriers," said former French diplomat⁶ Natacha Waksman. She helped to launch a Living Library gathering⁷ this month in the French city of Caen.

The movement comes at a time when a new report shows rising levels of xenophobia and hate speech across Europe. It said this has been partly driven by populism, terrorist⁸ attacks and large numbers of non-Europeans migrating⁹ to the continent.

The 47-member Council of Europe prepared the report. It listed Africans and Arabs as the newer targets of discrimination. It also noted¹⁰ older prejudices against Jews, Roma and members of the LGBT community.

Changing people’s opinions

Zeynep Usal-Kanzier is a lawyer at the European Commission¹¹ Against Racism¹² and Intolerance in Strasbourg. He said, "It's not that there is no will to change things, but it shows we need to make more efforts."

Supporters of living libraries say they offer people a chance to meet those they might otherwise avoid and ask them hard questions. These people are called “living books.”

Tina Mulcahy is head of the European Youth Centre. She says, "The living books are often people who have personal experiences of discrimination or social exclusion¹³ that they are willing to share with the readers."

She adds that instead of books, the “readers” can explore subjects that interest them, "borrowing" human books for one-on-one meetings.

A Danish non-governmental organization set up the first Living Library nearly 20 years ago. The movement has since spread to more than 60 countries, including the United States.

The recent event in Caen was crowded, as visitors sat down to talk with immigrants like Mick Ngundu.

The clergyman said, "Since I experienced war, I can offer ideas for how to end it."

Moving forward

Veronique Couque said her meeting with Ngundu taught her a lot about politics and development.

Natacha Waksman is already thinking about how the Living Libraries model could bring Europeans together.

"That would give people another image of Germans, for example," she said. She added that perhaps Britons would not have voted against leaving the European Union had they been more in contact with other EU nationals.

In Normandy, some have asked Waksman about starting an online library — but that is one idea that she disagrees with.

She said, "I believe it's great that people actually get to meet, shake hands, look into each others' eyes. This creates an intimacy¹⁴ that's helpful in today's society."

I’m Jonathan Evans.

Words in This Story

exclusion - n. to prevent (someone) from doing something or being a part of a group?

intimacy - n. a quality that suggests informal warmth or closeness?

library - n. a place where books, magazines, and other materials (such as videos and musical recordings) are available for people to use or borrow?

LGBT - n. is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transge?nder people.

online - adj. connected to a computer, a computer network, or the Internet?

opportunity - n. an amount of time or a situation in which something can be don?e

prejudice - n. an unfair feeling of dislike for a person or group because of race, sex, religion, etc.?

xenophobia - n. fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners

1 catholic   

adj.天主教的；n.天主教徒

参考例句：

• The Pope is the supreme leader of the Roman Catholic Church.教皇是罗马天主教的最高领袖。
• She was a devoutly Catholic.她是一个虔诚地天主教徒。

2 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

3 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

4 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。

5 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

6 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

7 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。

8 terrorist   

n.恐怖主义者，恐怖分子

参考例句：

• Without the gun,I'm a sitting duck for any terrorist.没有这支枪，我就成了恐怖分子下手的目标了。
• The district was put on red alert during a terrorist's bomb scare.这个地区在得到恐怖分子炸弹恐吓后作了应急准备。

9 migrating   

v.迁移，移往( migrate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The mudflats offer a winter home to thousands of migrating swans. 泥滩成为成千上万只迁徙的天鹅越冬的场所。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many Asians are migrating to the West. 许多亚洲人移民去了西方国家。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

11 commission   

n.委托，授权，委员会，拥金，回扣，委任状

参考例句：

• The salesman can get commission on everything he sells.这个售货员能得到所售每件货物的佣金。
• The commission is made up of five people,including two women.委员会由五人组成，其中包括两名妇女。

12 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

13 exclusion   

n.拒绝，排除，排斥，远足，远途旅行

参考例句：

• Don't revise a few topics to the exclusion of all others.不要修改少数论题以致排除所有其他的。
• He plays golf to the exclusion of all other sports.他专打高尔夫球，其他运动一概不参加。

14 intimacy   

n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行

参考例句：

• His claims to an intimacy with the President are somewhat exaggerated.他声称自己与总统关系密切，这有点言过其实。
• I wish there were a rule book for intimacy.我希望能有个关于亲密的规则。