VOA标准英语2011--Women Scientists Close Gender Gap in Ind

The United Nations chose the theme of women and science education for this year's International Women's Day to highlight the gender¹ gap in many parts of the world between the number of men and women scientists.
Yanti, a scientist developing new chemical agents to treat inflammatory diseases like arthritis², says there is no significant gender gap in Indonesia, at least not in her field.
"I find when I enter undergraduate school in the department of chemistry, I found that most students are women. And also at the department of biology at the time," Yanti said.
Yanti, who like many Indonesians uses one name, is a researcher and lecturer in biotechnology at Atma Jaya University in Jakarta.
So is Noryawati Mulyono, who is developing a new type of biodegradable plastic. She says today there are more opportunities for women to compete with men in the field of science.
"Nowadays there is a lot of science competitions, such as science olympiads, both national and international level," said Mulyono. "So if the women have a good academic record, she can join the competition and the competition is disregarded about the gender."
While the United Nations credits Indonesia with near gender parity³ in the field of science, overall in Asia women only constitute 18 percent of researchers.
And despite parity in some fields, Indonesia still has a gender gap in the overall literacy rate. Poverty plays a large part in that situation, by keeping many girls out of school, although Indonesia has always valued education for girls as well as boys.
Education advocates say in a world where technological⁴ innovation is key to development, a gender gap in science can put countries at a competitive disadvantage.
Both Yanti and Mulyono recently received fellowships for their research from the cosmetic⁵ company L'Oreal. The awards are given to support gender equality in science.
Both women are passionate⁶ about their work.
Mulyono prefers to spend her vacation, or refreshing⁷ time as she calls it, collecting new samples of damar, a substance found in certain trees in Indonesia that she uses in her research.
"So last year I go to Kalimantan I found another species of dammar," Mulyono added. "So while refreshing I still find something if I can have a chance to do research."
Yanti says the most rewarding aspect of being a scientist is the process of discovery.
"If we fail and it make like, yeah, sometimes we feel like we are losers, kind of like that," said Yanti. "But after that and then, we think again. ‘OK, lets' read again, read again', and then we study and then we try to find what's the mistake and what's the solution for that. For me that is the interesting or soul of research."
Indonesia has a long history of strong women leaders in a number of fields. Dewi Sartika, who built school for girls in the early part of the 20th century, was declared a national hero by the Indonesian government. Megawati Sukarnoputri, the daughter of Indonesia's first president, became the country's first female president in 2001. And economist⁸ Sri Mulyani Indrawati was the country's finance minister and is now the managing director of the World Bank.
Despite their recent recognition, neither woman says she feels like a role model or a pioneer because in their experience, women scientists are nothing extraordinary.

1 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

2 arthritis   

n.关节炎

参考例句：

• Rheumatoid arthritis has also been linked with the virus.风湿性关节炎也与这种病毒有关。
• He spent three months in the hospital with acute rheumatic arthritis.他患急性风湿性关节炎，在医院住了三个月。

3 parity   

n.平价，等价，比价，对等

参考例句：

• The two currencies have now reached parity.这两种货币现已达到同等价值。
• Women have yet to achieve wage or occupational parity in many fields.女性在很多领域还没能争取到薪金、职位方面的平等。

4 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

5 cosmetic   

n.化妆品；adj.化妆用的；装门面的；装饰性的

参考例句：

• These changes are purely cosmetic.这些改变纯粹是装饰门面。
• Laughter is the best cosmetic,so grin and wear it!微笑是最好的化妆品，所以请尽情微笑吧！

6 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

7 refreshing   

adj.使精神振作的，使人清爽的，使人喜欢的

参考例句：

• I find it'so refreshing to work with young people in this department.我发现和这一部门的青年一起工作令人精神振奋。
• The water was cold and wonderfully refreshing.水很涼，特别解乏提神。

8 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。