VOA标准英语2011--Sanitation Pioneer Offers India's 'Untou

Sanitation¹ Pioneer Offers India's 'Untouchable' Women New Lease on Life

Soon after it gained independence, modern India outlawed² discrimination against so-called "untouchables," the lowest of social classifications outlined in Hindu scripture³.
In reality, hundreds of millions of Indians continue to be ostracized⁴ and mistreated because of their connection to that class.
Night soil scavengers
By day, millions of Hindu faithful have come to bathe in Ganga water over the centuries, but this plunge⁵ in the water has a special significance for one group of women.
Their journey starts in New Delhi, at the headquarters of the Sulabh International Social Service Organization.
This is a refuge for women who were born on the wrong side of Hinduism's ancient caste system of social classifications. For thousands of years, they and their "untouchable" ancestors have had no other life option, but the lowest of the low-caste professions - night soil scavenging. A polite euphemism⁶ for the manual removal of human excrement⁷ from primitive⁸ dry toilets.
Usha Chamour says she was seven when she started following her mother around so she could watch her clean night soil and learn how to do it herself.? Her mother carried the waste on her head, and she says she would eventually have to do the same thing herself. She says her hands were too small at the time for the usual cleaning brush, so she had her mother make her a miniature one.
Sanitation revolution
Nightsoil scavenging is slowly becoming obsolete⁹ in some areas, thanks to a sanitation revolution launched by Bindeshwar Pathak. He developed, an eco-friendly, underground toilet system which he calls Sulabh, meaning "simple." It converts waste into dry fertilizer and biofuels inexpensively and with no daily maintenance.
 Pathak's passion for decades has been to eradicate¹⁰ Hindu discrimination against so-called "untouchables" like these women. He recalls a defining moment in his life when he saw an entire community ignore an untouchable boy who had been attacked by a bull.
"We took him to hospital, and the boy died. There, I took a vow¹¹ to fulfill¹² the dreams of Mahatma Gandhi," he says.
Classroom experience
Pathak now offers these women an escape from untouchability, and their first experience of a classroom.
"My name is Dolly Parwana. I live in Tonk, Rajasthan. I joined Sulabh in 2008," a new student tells her classmates. "I love reading in English. I read every day English paper. And-- that's it."
A Sulabh English teacher says her students are in love with learning.
"These children, they are coming from the area where they have zero education. They are very smart, very intelligent. Age is no bar," she explains. "I meet ladies who are almost sixties, 67, and they come very sweetly and they say, 'I don't know how to write my name-- can you please teach them?' The shine which comes into their eyes that they have learned how to write their name-- it really gives me encouragement to learn from them."
Redemption
Pathak, Sulabh's founder¹³, hopes all of India will learn something from these women about redemption from the past. He takes them on high-profile, made-for-media excursions around India and the world.
On this latest trip, they pray at holy Hindu shrines¹⁴. They receive songs of blessing¹⁵ as they sit side by side for a meal with members of Hinduism's highest class, the Brahmins.
"More than 200-million people or 300-million people, they are not allowed to have food with others, even today," he explains. "If you go to the village, they cannot have common dining."?
Sulabh is slowly changing Hindu attitudes, as some of the conditions that fostered untouchability are replaced by better hygiene¹⁶ and sanitation. But volunteers say plenty of work lies ahead, because attitudes 5,000-years old are not easy to wash away.

1 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。

2 outlawed   

宣布…为不合法（outlaw的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Most states have outlawed the use of marijuana. 大多数州都宣布使用大麻为非法行为。
• I hope the sale of tobacco will be outlawed someday. 我希望有朝一日烟草制品会禁止销售。

3 scripture   

n.经文，圣书，手稿；Scripture:(常用复数)《圣经》，《圣经》中的一段

参考例句：

• The scripture states that God did not want us to be alone.圣经指出上帝并不是想让我们独身一人生活。
• They invoked Hindu scripture to justify their position.他们援引印度教的经文为他们的立场辩护。

4 ostracized   

v.放逐( ostracize的过去式和过去分词 )；流放；摈弃；排斥

参考例句：

• He was ostracized by his colleagues for refusing to support the strike. 他因拒绝支持罢工而受到同事的排斥。
• The family were ostracized by the neighborhood. 邻居们都不理睬那一家人。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 plunge   

v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲

参考例句：

• Test pool's water temperature before you plunge in.在你跳入之前你应该测试水温。
• That would plunge them in the broil of the two countries.那将会使他们陷入这两国的争斗之中。

6 euphemism   

n.婉言，委婉的说法

参考例句：

• Language reflects culture and euphemism is a mirror of culture.语言反映文化,而婉语则是各种文化的一面镜子。
• Euphemism is a very common and complicated linguistic phenomenon.委婉语是一种十分常见而又非常复杂的语言现象。

7 excrement   

n.排泄物，粪便

参考例句：

• The cage smelled of excrement.笼子里粪臭熏人。
• Clothing can also become contaminated with dust,feathers,and excrement.衣着则会受到微尘、羽毛和粪便的污染。

8 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。

9 obsolete   

adj.已废弃的，过时的

参考例句：

• These goods are obsolete and will not fetch much on the market.这些货品过时了，在市场上卖不了高价。
• They tried to hammer obsolete ideas into the young people's heads.他们竭力把陈旧思想灌输给青年。

10 eradicate   

v.根除，消灭，杜绝

参考例句：

• These insects are very difficult to eradicate.这些昆虫很难根除。
• They are already battling to eradicate illnesses such as malaria and tetanus.他们已经在努力消灭疟疾、破伤风等疾病。

11 vow   

n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓

参考例句：

• My parents are under a vow to go to church every Sunday.我父母许愿，每星期日都去做礼拜。
• I am under a vow to drink no wine.我已立誓戒酒。

12 fulfill   

vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意

参考例句：

• If you make a promise you should fulfill it.如果你许诺了，你就要履行你的诺言。
• This company should be able to fulfill our requirements.这家公司应该能够满足我们的要求。

13 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

14 shrines   

圣地，圣坛，神圣场所( shrine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• All three structures dated to the third century and were tentatively identified as shrines. 这3座建筑都建于3 世纪，并且初步鉴定为神庙。
• Their palaces and their shrines are tombs. 它们的宫殿和神殿成了墓穴。

15 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

16 hygiene   

n.健康法，卫生学 （a.hygienic）

参考例句：

• Their course of study includes elementary hygiene and medical theory.他们的课程包括基础卫生学和医疗知识。
• He's going to give us a lecture on public hygiene.他要给我们作关于公共卫生方面的报告。