VOA慢速英语--麦肯齐·斯科特向286个组织、学院捐赠了20多亿美元

MacKenzie Scott, the former wife of Amazon founder¹ Jeff Bezos, recently donated over $2 billion to hundreds of organizations, including colleges and universities.

She is one of the wealthiest women in the world. Even with the donation², she still has over $60 billion.

Scott wrote about her decision to donate the money on Medium.

She said she wanted to give money to organizations that can help people who are "underfunded and overlooked³."

Who Received Donations⁴?

Some of the organizations support arts and culture. Many of them support local education.

For example, one organization, Achieving the Dream, works⁵ to help community college students in 45 states enter school and finish their degrees.

Another organization, Jazz at Lincoln Center, is run by Wynton Marsalis, a member of a famous musical family. Its mission⁶ is to teach people about jazz music, educate music students and "celebrate personal freedom."

However, a major part of Scott's money went to higher education, schools both large and small. For example, large universities in Florida and Texas each received $40 million. Overall⁷, about 30 colleges and universities received money.

A number of community colleges received millions of dollars each. They are two-year schools that often serve as a bridge between high school and four-year colleges. They also teach people career skills like how to be a nurse or how to protect computer networks.

Martha Parham is a spokeswoman for the American Association⁸ of Community Colleges. The colleges her organization represents serve almost 12 million students each year. She said about 30 percent of the students are the first in their families to attend college.

Most community colleges operate with very small budgets. Money generally comes from state governments, local taxes and students paying for their classes. A large donation from someone like Scott is rare.

Life-Changing Donations

"Community colleges are not ‘heavy hitters' in terms of philanthropic donations," Parham said. "These donations from MacKenzie Scott are, in most cases, the largest donations these colleges have ever received."

College of the Desert is a community college near Palm Springs, California. It has about 16,000 students. Scott donated $18 million.

In a statement, the college president, Jeff Baker⁹, said the money will go to a program that helps local high school graduates attend school without being charged for two years.

Baker said the donation will help the program stay active for many years without asking for donations. He said the program will now be "never-ending."

Parham said the donation from Scott is the second big news story of 2021 to call attention to community colleges. The other is that Jill Biden, the First Lady, is a community college professor.

"We're extremely proud of what the community colleges do, and are thrilled that they're being recognized for the role that they serve as that on-ramp to the middle class for millions of Americans."

Pledge¹⁰ to Donate Billions

Scott and Bezos divorced¹¹ in 2019. She left the marriage owning four percent of Amazon. Her wealth increased as the value of Amazon grew.

She joined The Giving Pledge, along with Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates. They are all among the richest people in the world. They plan to give away most of their money. Since 2020, Scott has given away almost $10 billion.

Last year, she gave away about $6 billion. In that donation, she chose several colleges and universities founded by Black people with the goal of providing African-Americans with high-quality college educations. The schools are known as Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Scott gave money to Howard University, Hampton University, Tuskegee University and many others. She also gave money to organizations that help feed hungry people and others that were helping¹² people struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Scott's most-recent gift allows the organizations to spend the money "however they choose."

Scott wrote that higher education is "a proven pathway to opportunity," and she wanted to give money to schools that help people from "chronically¹⁴ underserved" communities.

Words in This Story

achieve – v. to become successful by working hard

nurse - n. a person who is trained to care for sick or injured people and who usually works in a hospital or doctor's office

heavy hitter –n. an important and powerful person or thing

philanthropic –n. the practice of giving money and time to help make life better for other people

thrilled- adj. very excited or happy

on-ramp – n. a short road used to drive onto a highway; used to signify¹⁵ the start of a journey

pledge –n. a serious promise or agreement

chronic¹³ –adj. happening or existing frequently or most of the time

1 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。

2 donation   

n.捐赠，捐献，捐助；捐赠物

参考例句：

• She made a personal donation to the fund.她以个人名义向基金会捐款。
• Then next big donation of musical instruments came from Germany.第二笔音乐乐器的大型捐助来自德国。

3 overlooked   

v.忽视( overlook的过去式和过去分词 )；监督；俯视；（对不良现象等）不予理会

参考例句：

• He seems to have overlooked one important fact. 他好像忽略了一个重要的事实。
• This is a minor point, but it must not be overlooked. 此事虽小，然亦不可忽视。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 donations   

n.捐赠( donation的名词复数 )；赠送；捐款；捐赠物

参考例句：

• The hospital receives a good deal of money in donations. 这家医院收到捐赠来的大笔款项。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The charity is completely reliant on public donations. 这一慈善团体完全依靠公众捐款。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

6 mission   

n.使命，任务，天职；代表团，使团

参考例句：

• He was charged with an important mission.他受委托承担一项重要使命。
• I'll leave you to undertake an important mission.我要让你承担一项重要使命。

7 overall   

n.工作服，工装裤；全面的，全体的

参考例句：

• The shop assistant was wearing a white overall.那店员穿着白色的工作服。
• How much will it cost overall?一共多少钱？

8 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。

9 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

10 pledge   

n.保证，誓言，抵押，抵押品；vt.保证，誓言，举杯祝...健康

参考例句：

• Take this ring as a pledge of our friendship.收下这枚戒指当作我们友谊的信物。
• The old man is willing to pledge for him.那位老人愿意为他担保。

11 divorced   

adj.离婚的；分开的；不相干的；脱离的v.与…离婚(divorce的过去式和过去分词)；分离；与某人离婚，判某人离婚

参考例句：

• Apparently they are getting divorced soon. 看样子，他们很快就要离婚。
• Many divorced men remarry and have second families. 许多离婚的男子再婚组成了新的家庭。

12 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。

13 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

14 chronically   

ad.长期地

参考例句：

• Similarly, any pigment nevus that is chronically irritated should be excised. 同样，凡是经常受慢性刺激的各种色素痣切勿予以切除。
• People chronically exposed to chlorine develop some degree of tolerance. 人长期接触氯气可以产生某种程度的耐受性。

15 signify   

vt.表示...的意思，意味，预示

参考例句：

• State ownership in itself does not signify collective control.国家所有本身并不意味集体控制。
• The striped band round a policeman's sleeve is to signify that he is on duty.警察袖子上的袖标标明他正在执勤。