VOA慢速英语--阿富汗音乐家希望在葡萄牙重建一所著名的学校

Afghan Musicians to Recreate Their Famous School in Portugal

Over 270 students and teachers from the Afghanistan National Institute of Music arrived with their families this week in Portugal.

The Western European country has offered them asylum¹. As a group, they hope to rebuild their famous school in their new home.

The group fled Afghanistan over a period of six weeks in October and November. First, they went to Doha, Qatar. They arrived Monday in Portugal's capital, Lisbon. Governments, companies and private donors² paid for the group's evacuation and resettlement costs.

Dr. Ahmad Sarmast is the institute's founder³ and director. On Monday, he said, "The arrival of the (institute's) community today means that the first and most important step of saving⁴ lives and ensuring freedom is now over."

The musicians are among tens of thousands of Afghans who have fled since Taliban fighters seized Afghanistan in August. That is when the U.S. and NATO ended their 20-year military presence⁵.

The Afghanistan girls' youth soccer team has also resettled in Portugal. The country has taken in 764 Afghans since the summer.

Afghanistan has a strong musical tradition. A popular music scene also had grown there over the past 20 years. But many musicians fear for their futures⁶ under the Taliban.

The Afghanistan National Institute of Music was founded in 2010. It became well-known for its inclusiveness⁷. It became a symbol of a new Afghanistan. Women and men studied together and performed to huge audiences in the United States and Europe.

The school's campus⁸ in Kabul is now occupied by a Taliban group. Its bank accounts were seized. Its offices have been destroyed, former school officials say.

The Afghan teachers and students plan to recreate the school in Portugal. This will permit the students to continue their education. The school will be part of a larger Lisbon-based center for Afghan culture that will continue to welcome exiles⁹.

Words in This Story

evacuation –n. to leave or remove (someone) from a dangerous place

scene –n. a particular area of activity that involves many people

symbol –n. an action, object, event, that expresses or represents an idea or quality

audience –n. a group of people who gather together to listen or see a performance or who watch a performance such as a movie

campus –n. the area and buildings around a university, college, school or similar organization

1 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

2 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 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。

4 saving   

n.节省，节约；[pl.]储蓄金，存款

参考例句：

• Energy saving is term strategic policy of our country.节约能源是我国长期的战略国策。
• Old-fashioned housewives were usually very saving.旧时的家庭主妇通常都很节俭。

5 presence   

n.出席；到场；存在

参考例句：

• Her presence lent an air of respectability to the occasion.她的到场使那种场合增添了崇高的气氛。
• His presence is indicative of his willingness to help.他的出席表示他愿意帮忙。

6 futures   

n.期货，期货交易

参考例句：

• He continued his operations in cotton futures.他继续进行棉花期货交易。
• Cotton futures are selling at high prices.棉花期货交易的卖价是很高的。

7 inclusiveness   

包容性

参考例句：

• The excessive inclusiveness of the plan will spread the investment too thinly. 这一方案过于面面俱到，会使资金的使用过于分散。
• Cathedrals are perhaps the ultimate reflection of this inclusiveness. 大教堂或许就是包容的最终反映。

8 campus   

n.大学校园，学校校园；大学　

参考例句：

• They spoke of the old days on the campus.他们谈起昔日的校园生活。
• The campus covers an area of twenty square kilometres.这个校园占地二十平方公里。

9 exiles   

流放，放逐，流亡( exile的名词复数 )； 长期离家[出国]； 被流放者，流亡国外者，背井离乡者

参考例句：

• There were many French exiles in England after the Revolution. 法国大革命后，有许多法国人流亡到英国。
• Political exiles had not been given indemnity from prosecution. 政治流放犯没有得到免予起诉的保护。