DEVELOPMENT REPORT - Alliance for the New Humanity

DEVELOPMENT REPORT - Alliance for the New Humanity
By Jill Moss¹

Broadcast: Monday, January 12, 2004

This is Bob Doughty² with the VOA Special English Development Report.

 
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A new group says its goal is to recapture kindness within societies. The group is called the Alliance for the New Humanity. Organizers say societies put too much value on competition, wealth and individualism. They say one of the main problems in the world today is a lack of concern for one another. The organizers say they seek to build bridges between those who want peace and those who defend human rights.

The group includes activists⁴, two Nobel Peace Prize winners and, among others, Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin. The alliance held its first conference in December in the United States territory of Puerto Rico. Former Vice⁵ President Al Gore⁶ was the guest speaker. He discussed environmental issues. The Associated Press reported that about two-hundred people attended the conference.

One of the founding members of the alliance is former Costa Rican president Oscar Arias⁷. He won the nineteen-eighty-seven Nobel Peace Prize. Another is Betty Williams, a winner of the peace prize in nineteen-seventy-six for her work in Northern Ireland.

Also a founding member is Deepak Chopra. The Indian-born writer is known for his books about health and spirituality. Mister Chopra says development is not simply the creation of wealth. He says it also has to do with improvement of the human spirit.

Mister Chopra says he believes that people today recognize the need for more hopeful thinking, more caring societies and less influential⁸ media. The Alliance for the New Humanity say its purpose is to unite these people. It says the goal is to influence national and international policy toward a more caring humanity.

The alliance has a name for individuals and groups that work toward these goals. It calls them "peace cells." A person who provides shelter to a woman and her children to escape violence is a peace cell. A group that works to feed the homeless is a peace cell. Alliance organizers say their aim is to connect all these people and groups using the Internet.

The Alliance for the New Humanity says it plans to raise money to support humanitarian⁹ work. The group says it also hopes to influence the media to report less on the world's problems and more on answers to those problems.

This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Jill Moss. This is Bob Doughty.

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 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。

3 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

4 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

6 gore   

n.凝血，血污；v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破；缝以补裆；顶

参考例句：

• The fox lay dying in a pool of gore.狐狸倒在血泊中奄奄一息。
• Carruthers had been gored by a rhinoceros.卡拉瑟斯被犀牛顶伤了。

7 arias   

n.咏叹调( aria的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Can you pick out the operatic arias quoted in this orchestral passage? 你能听出这段管弦乐曲里有歌剧式的咏叹调吗？ 来自辞典例句
• The actions are large and colour, there are arias and recitatives. 动作夸张而华美，有唱段也有宣叙部。 来自辞典例句

8 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

9 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。