VOA常速英语2016--阿富汗多地适龄女孩无法上学

阿富汗多地适龄女孩无法上学

Educating girls is one of the most powerful instruments for reducing poverty and inequality. Nonetheless, some 62 million girls who should be attending school, aren't.

让女孩儿接受教育是减少贫困、消除不平等的重要利器之一。然而，有近6200万适龄儿童却没有接受应有的教育。

There are many reasons why girls are kept out of school. Sometimes the girl's family or community believe that she is more useful if she takes care of daily chores, such as fetching wood or water, or caring for her younger siblings¹. Sometimes the family has little money for school supplies and sends only the boys to school. Sometimes the girl herself has heard too often that girls aren't smart enough or deserving enough to go to school, and takes this false message to heart. And in some cases, local norms forbid girls studying with male teachers, so if there are no female teachers, the girls are not allowed to attend school.

女孩子不上学的原因有很多。有时候是因为女孩的家庭或所在社区认为让她们照顾家务，比如找柴火、运水、照顾弟弟妹妹，比上学更有用。有时候是家庭经济能力的问题，只将家里的男孩儿送去上学；有时候是因为这些女孩子听了太多她们不够聪明、没必要上学之类的话，于是自己心里也默认了这样的“事实”；而有时候是当地要求禁止女孩与男老师接触，所以如果学校没有女老师，那女孩子就不能上学。

That is the case in many parts of Afghanistan. Typically, girls are only allowed to attend classes taught by women. And in Afghanistan, there is a distinct lack of female teachers.

阿富汗的很多地区都有这种情况。典型的情况是，女孩只允许上女老师教的课。而阿富汗却是一个极度缺乏女老师的地方。

That is why Let Girls Learn, a U.S. government-led initiative aiming to address the many challenges that prevent adolescent girls from attaining² a quality education, is expanding its program in Afghanistan.

因此，由美国政府主导的《让女孩学习》项目成立，并在阿富汗不断扩张，旨在解决阻碍女孩接受优质教育的诸多挑战。

In July, the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, formed a partnership³ with the United Kingdom's Department for International Development, or DFID, to support a program that helps develop more female teachers in Afghanistan. USAID committed $25 million to help establish a teacher apprenticeship⁴ program for girls in grades 9 through 12.

今年7月，美国国际开发署（USAID）与英国国际发展署（DFID）合作，以支持致力于为阿富汗培养更多女性教师的项目。美国国际开发署（USAID）斥资2500万美元，以帮助9到12年级的女孩建立教师学徒项目。

The idea is to begin preparing them to teach while they are still studying, and once they have graduated from school, move them directly into careers as teachers. In this way, they can help educate the next generation of Afghan girls.

该项目的想法就是在她们上学期间就培养她们授课，一旦毕业后，就能直接做教师。这样，就能帮助教育阿富汗的下一代女孩。

 

Educating and empowering girls is one of the core components⁵ of our effort to end extreme poverty and promote resilient, democratic societies with healthy, well-educated citizens. USAID and DFID are working together to help teenage girls in Afghanistan train as teachers, so they can go on to teach future generations of girls, and build a cycle of education that will raise all of Afghanistan.

让女孩接受教育并强大起来是结束极度贫困，促进社会弹性民主，培育身心健康、教育良好的市民的关键之一。美国国际开发署（USAID）与英国国际发展署（DFID）正精诚合作，助力将阿富汗正当时的女孩们培养成未来的优秀教师，这样他们就能继续教育后辈的女孩们，并建立起能扶植起整个阿富汗的教育循环。

1 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分

2 attaining   

（通常经过努力）实现( attain的现在分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况）

参考例句：

• Jim is halfway to attaining his pilot's licence. 吉姆就快要拿到飞行员执照了。
• By that time she was attaining to fifty. 那时她已快到五十岁了。

3 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

4 apprenticeship   

n.学徒身份；学徒期

参考例句：

• She was in the second year of her apprenticeship as a carpenter. 她当木工学徒已是第二年了。
• He served his apprenticeship with Bob. 他跟鲍勃当学徒。

5 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。