Habitat for Humanity

By Jill Moss¹
Broadcast: July 21, 2003
This is Bill White with the VOA Special English Development Report.
The United Nations estimates that more than one-thousand-million people live in poor housing conditions. And that estimate is just for cities. In developing nations, that is about one out of four families.
1)Habitat for Humanity is a group that is working to help change the situation. Millard and Linda Fuller, two Christian² 2)religious aid workers, started this organization in nineteen-seventy-six. Habitat for Humanity says it has built or improved more than one-hundred-fifty-thousand homes in eighty-seven countries.
People give their time and skills to build homes. The group also accepts gifts of money and materials. Habitat for Humanity builds or improves homes for specially³ chosen “partner” families. Each partner family not only pays for its home, but also has to help build it.
Habitat for Humanity does not make a profit when it sells a new home to a partner family. It says all monthly payments from the homeowner are used to finance other projects. Homes are also paid for with 3)no-interest loans that can last from seven to thirty years.
Habitat for Humanity is based in the American state of Georgia. Among its best known supporters are a famous local couple: former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalyn. The group also has 4)affiliate⁴ offices around the world. These offices are run by local groups. Habitat says there are more than two-thousand offices in eighty-seven countries and all fifty states.
Each affiliate plans and organizes the building of Habitat homes in their community. They also raise money for projects and choose partner families. Affiliate offices in the United States give ten percent of their 5)budgets to headquarters. This money is used to pay for products in other countries. In two-thousand-one, Habitat for Humanity says, its affiliates⁵ gave more then nine-million dollars to support the international work.
Families that wish to become partners go to their nearest affiliate and are chosen based on their level of need. Officials also consider a family's willingness to help and its ability to repay a home loan. Habitat for Humanity says race and religion are not considered when choosing a partner family.
This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Jill Moss. This is Bill White.

注释：
1) habitat [5hAbitAt] n.聚集处；居住地
2) religious [ri5lidVEs] n.僧侣，尼姑，修道士
3) no-interest loans  无息贷款
4) affiliate [E5filieit] v.(使……)加入，接受为会员
5) budget [5bQdVit] n.预算

1 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

2 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

3 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。

4 affiliate   

vt.使隶(附)属于；n.附属机构，分公司

参考例句：

• Our New York company has an affiliate in Los Angeles.我们的纽约公司在洛杉矶有一个下属企业。
• What is the difference between affiliate and regular membership?固定会员和附属会员之间的区别是什么？

5 affiliates   

附属企业( affiliate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She affiliates with an academic society. 她是某学术团体的成员。
• For example, these security affiliates participated in the floating of 19,000,000,000 of issues in 1927. 例如，这些证券发行机构在1927年的流通证券中，就提供了一百九十亿美元的证券。