2006年VOA标准英语-Laura Bush to Hold Global Literacy Conference

By Amanda Cassandra
New York
17 September 2006

On the eve of the annual meeting of the U.N. General Assembly, First Lady Laura Bush will be in New York Monday to host an international conference on global literacy initiatives. Education officials from nine countries previewed the conference in New York this week.

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		First Lady Laura Bush File Photo

White House officials say, traveling around the world, Laura Bush recognized the power of literacy to change lives. Expanding literacy among women and girls is a key objective of the conference.

According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization - UNESCO - there are more than 771-million adults around the world, who cannot read, and more than two-thirds of them are women.

Hasina Mojadidi, a literacy instructor¹ from Afghanistan, says, despite reluctance² to educate women in her country, people are gradually seeing the benefits. "We had a very hard time at the beginning to introduce the project, which is (successfully) working for women, and asking the women to go to someone else's house to study. There was a man, who wouldn't let his wife go to classes. Since she was very interested, she went without his permission. And, she had learned something, and she had asked her husband a question he couldn't answer. She said, 'I know the answer, and I learned it from this literacy class.' And he was very willing after that to send even his daughter to attend classes," she said.

The educators say the conference will focus on three initiatives for combating global illiteracy³, including teaching mothers to read and to pass that skill on to their children. The other two initiatives are aimed at improving reading skills, so adults can make informed decisions about health issues, and ways to use literacy to build basic business skills.

Conference participants believe women have a key role in spreading literacy. The skills women learn are passed on to their families, beginning a cycle of literacy that is shared from one generation to the next.

Speaking through an interpreter, Salah Sabri Sebeh, head of Egypt's education sector⁴, says learning to read is a catalyst⁵ for change in all of society. "We believe that the best way to change a society is to get those people who have the least amount of wealth in society to be able to take care of themselves, and to become empowered, so that they can actually change society from the base up," he said.

The strategies of these officials will be featured on the White House Web site for global literacy: www.globalliteracy.gov.

1 instructor   

n.指导者，教员，教练

参考例句：

• The college jumped him from instructor to full professor.大学突然把他从讲师提升为正教授。
• The skiing instructor was a tall,sunburnt man.滑雪教练是一个高高个子晒得黑黑的男子。

2 reluctance   

n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿

参考例句：

• The police released Andrew with reluctance.警方勉强把安德鲁放走了。
• He showed the greatest reluctance to make a reply.他表示很不愿意答复。

3 illiteracy   

n.文盲

参考例句：

• It is encouraging to read that illiteracy is declining.从读报中了解文盲情况正在好转，这是令人鼓舞的。
• We must do away with illiteracy.我们必须扫除文盲。

4 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

5 catalyst   

n.催化剂，造成变化的人或事

参考例句：

• A catalyst is a substance which speeds up a chemical reaction.催化剂是一种能加速化学反应的物质。
• The workers'demand for better conditions was a catalyst for social change.工人们要求改善工作条件促进了社会变革。