VOA标准英语2011--Young MBAs Compete to Solve Global Probl

Young MBAs Compete to Solve Global Problems

Solving the world’s most pressing social challenges takes passion, dedication¹, innovation and a good business plan, which is the idea behind the Hult Global Case Challenge.
Hult International Business school is one of the world’s top business schools, with campuses across the globe. Three years ago, Ahmad Ashkar, one of its enterprising MBA students, founded the Hult Global Case Challenge (Hult GCC), a competition for business students to come up with ways of solving pressing global issues.
“We’re not interested in farfetched ideas that aren’t actionable,” Ashkar says.
He challenged student teams from business schools around the world to develop innovative² strategies for selected non-governmental groups, to help their efforts to tackle some of most urgent problems of the day, including chronic³ hunger, poverty and disease.
"The solutions that get evaluated will focus on implementation," Ashkar says." And how a one million dollar cash grant can be paired with the solution for immediate⁵ impact.”
After examining an organization’s mission and operations, students put together a business plan to increase efficiency and its bottom line.
“It’s equivalent to 20,000 hours of consulting advice from world’s smartest young people," says Howard McNally, chief executive officer of Hult GCC. "Everyone is a winner, the NGOs and the students."
Each year the competition has a different theme. Poverty is this year’s challenge subject.
Hult has partnered with three nonprofits; SolarAid, which fights poverty through energy conservation and sustainability; Habitat For Humanity, which builds simple, affordable⁷ houses; and One Laptop per Child, which builds computers and sells them at cost to governments for distribution in poor communities.
“We have about three million laptops right now in 40 different countries in South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and in some places in Europe,” says Matthew Keller, vice⁶ president of One Laptop per Child, which is participating in the Global Case Challenge for a second year. “It’s vitally important for the future of development, the future of economic prosperity, the sooner these young people get involved and know that they can make a difference. That’s a big deal.”
Sandy Parakilas, 30, participated in the first competition in 2009, when the challenge was to help their NGO reach 100 million people in five years. His team from Carnegie Mellon University won one of the three top prizes for the business plan they developed for One Laptop per Child.
“They were struggling with competition from Microsoft and Intel," says Parakilas. "They were having trouble basically making money. So it was a great opportunity for some business students to come in and create some ideas for a not-for-profit to be more profitable, essentially⁸.”
This is the first year SolarAid has taken part in the competition. Spokesman David Batley says the organization focuses on rural areas in eastern and southern Africa, where kerosene⁹ is a major source of energy as well as pollution. SolarAid works with local entrepreneurs to bring solar energy products to rural communities.
“But that’s the first half of the challenge," Batley says. "The other part of it is how you get those technologies in front of the communities in which they’re needed, how do you build up the trust, and how do you get the logistics required to get those products out to people.”
The students who design a plan to meet those challenges, he says, will be the winners.
“I think the winning team will be the one that uses a combination of really innovative thinking and taking account of practicalities of operating in Africa and the challenges that that represents.”
A million-dollar prize will be awarded to the winning team in each of this year’s three categories: education, housing and energy conservation.
“The winning team gets recognition, but the money goes to the agency to implement⁴ the winning teams’ ideas,” says McNally.
Regional competitions will be held on February 25, at Hult campuses in Boston, San Francisco, London, Dubai and Shanghai. The finalists will be selected in New York City on April 26.

1 dedication   

n.奉献，献身，致力，题献，献辞

参考例句：

• We admire her courage,compassion and dedication.我们钦佩她的勇气、爱心和奉献精神。
• Her dedication to her work was admirable.她对工作的奉献精神可钦可佩。

2 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

3 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。

4 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

5 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

6 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。

7 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

8 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

9 kerosene   

n.(kerosine)煤油，火油

参考例句：

• It is like putting out a fire with kerosene.这就像用煤油灭火。
• Instead of electricity,there were kerosene lanterns.没有电，有煤油灯。