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VOA慢速英语2012 THIS IS AMERICA - Medical Students Help the Homeless; Haitian Soccer Players in Maryland; Soccer

时间:2012-11-17 11:27:20

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THIS IS AMERICA - Medical Students Help the Homeless; Haitian Soccer Players in Maryland; Soccer 

From VOA Learning English, welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in Special English. I'm Christopher Cruise1.

And I’m June Simms.

This week on our program, we have stories about students. First, we tell you about medical students helping2 homeless people in Los Angeles. Then, we meet two Haitian students playing soccer for the University of Maryland.

We also learn how a thesis3 for a master's degree turned into a project to supply soccer balls to children in Africa.

Once a week, medical students from UCLA, the University of California, Los Angeles, work with poor and homeless people in Hollywood. The students bring supplies and medical records in a truck and set up chairs along the street for the patients. The students operate similar clinics in different communities on other nights.

The students provide medicine and offer clean socks and reading glasses to those who need them. Students in law and social work offer assistance in getting long-term aid from the government or private groups. A charity group offers nutritious4 meals to the patients.

Dr. Walter Coppenrath helped start this street clinic twelve years ago when he was a medical student. He now teaches at UCLA and sees patients at a nearby medical center. He says this mobile care is important for this population.

"Small infections on your foot might be able to be handled by just changing your socks and all that. But when those, quick, being able to wash in a bath or change your socks, they can actually lead to limb-threatening infections."

Charles Brownridge lives on the streets. He goes to the clinic every week, sometimes just to be with the students.

"I come down here. I like the atmosphere, some food, and they give us pretty good service. They're training, lot of these, sort of like rookies are doing an apprenticeship5. And it's fun to be around youngsters6. And it's a nice atmosphere."

Steffanie Becerra is a medical student who works with the patients.

"Basically they kind of see us as their only point of care within the medical system where they can get their medications filled. A lot of people with hypertension or diabetes7 who really have no other choice but to come here because they just can't afford the medications elsewhere."

Kevin Norris is an undergraduate who plans to go to medical school. He says his volunteer work at the clinic helps him understand his future role as a doctor, while the patients get attention and care.

"You really treat them as individuals deserving of respect, because so many of the homeless people here in Los Angeles are really just looked down upon and largely ignored by much of the population."

Earlier this month, the men's soccer team at the University of Maryland lost the last game of the regular season. But that was the only loss of the year for the Maryland Terrapins8. They finished the season as the number one team in the country.

The team has six foreign-born players, including two students from Haiti.

One of those Haitian players is first-year student Christiano Francois. He was in Haiti when the powerful earthquake struck Port-au-Prince in January of twenty-ten. At the time, he was practicing for his high school team across the bay from the capital. He says some of his friends were killed. Others lost arms and legs. He feels lucky that his family, and their house, survived.

He came to the United States to finish high school. He was the star forward for St. Benedict's Prep, a high school in New Jersey9.

"Since I been here, St. Benedict's Prep, my high school, we were number one in the nation, and then I came here and we're still number one in the nation – that's a good thing for me. I really appreciate that, yeah.”

Christiano Francois works hard on the field and in the classroom.

"That was my dream, to come to America, get education, because here they got better, like, education than Haiti. I just, I was really happy to come here and then to get education and then play soccer, to get better every day."

The other student from Haiti is Widner Saint10 Cyr. This was his third season at Maryland. He helped persuade Christiano Francois to join him at the school near Washington.

"It has been a great experience, you know, knowing that back home it's not easy, you know what I mean? So I'm enjoying it so far, learning from it, and growing from it and everything like that."

The team's longtime coach, Sasho Cirovski, is happy that the two young men decided11 to play for him.

"They're just really special people. And not only do they bring a great amount of soccer talent, but they bring in the locker12 room, and in the experience, a sense of gratitude13 and humility14. They're just so grateful for the opportunity and really grab15 every ounce of energy."

Coach Cirovski was born in Yugoslavia and raised in Canada. He played college soccer in the United States.

"The U.S. universities are global institutions and soccer's a global game, so it just makes sense that we're looking for players overseas and the players overseas are looking at us. But soccer is an international language, and even though some of our players are just learning the English language, they fit in perfectly16."

Unfortunately, Widner Saint Cyr recently suffered an injury that kept him from playing. But he and Christiano Francois hope to play together someday on the senior national team in Haiti. 

More than twenty years ago, Michael Mitchell and Dave Stahl played together on the soccer team at Chico State University in Northern California. After graduation, Mr. Mitchell joined the Peace Corps17 and went to Niger. Dave Stahl says his friend took soccer balls with him to the West African country.

"Soccer is the international language of the world. I mean, people play soccer everywhere and they get a lot of joy out of it. And that brings communities together."

After two years in Niger, Michael Mitchell returned to Chico State for his master's degree in physical education. Mr. Stahl helped him structure his thesis. His thesis was that soccer could improve the lives of African children. The paper was called "Project Play Africa."

It took more than fifteen years for the two friends to make their dream come true. But finally, with thirty thousand dollars in donations, they ordered two thousand soccer balls from China. Dave Stahl says that was the easy part.

"It was very difficult to get the balls to Niger because there's not a lot of commerce going into Niger and it's expensive to ship the balls. You have import duties and, you know, where are the balls going to be when they get there, etcetera, etcetera.”

Once they solved those problems, they went to Niger, rented a car and drove into the countryside. They gave away soccer balls and air pumps in settlements, villages and schools. Dave Stahl remembers one of the stops.

"We're driving down the road and we're going by this little village and we see about a dozen kids trying to play soccer and they were literally18 kicking around a sock filled with sand. So we stopped and got out and they were very excited. We started kicking the ball around and we started kicking it with the kids. And then we got our translator to communicate that, 'Hey, we're going to leave you guys this soccer ball.' And when the kid had the ball in his hand, all the kids just started jumping up and down and screaming. We have that on tape!"

In twenty-ten, with help from the Peace Corps, volunteers from Project Play Africa went to Benin. But on that trip, they realized that their efforts were not measurable or sustainable.

So in twenty-eleven, they decided to focus on Libore, a small, rural community near Niamy, the capital of Niger. The volunteers came with information, equipment and a plan to work with local clubs and schools to create a soccer league. 

Dave Stahl says volunteers returned to Libore this year and were extremely pleased to see what the local people had done with the idea.

"They embraced the idea and staffed all the positions and created the league and played the games and were hungry to expand it. It engaged boys and girls, which is very unusual for a Muslim country -- to know that the parents were letting their girls participate in an activity because usually the girls are doing housework, fetching water and wood and so on. We found we had the support of both the tribal20 and the political leaders of Libore. We saw that the program created pride in the village and the school."

Dave Stahl says he especially enjoyed watching the boys and girls championship games.

"We drive up and they had literally a thousand to two thousand people there -- both adults and children -- to watch these kids play soccer. They were probably aged19 between six and twelve years old. So the field is totally lined with spectators21 and then they had, like, a lean-to tent at the center of the field where the mayor and the chief and the dignitaries were sitting. And it was incredible22 to watch."

Dave Stahl says Project Play Africa's greatest challenge is to find a soccer ball that is not only low cost but also easy to transport. It must also be strong enough to survive for more than a few weeks on Niger's rocky playing fields. Once they find the right ball, he says, Project Play Africa wants to bring soccer balls to all of West Africa.


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 cruise 2nhzw     
v.巡航,航游,缓慢巡行;n.海上航游
参考例句:
  • They went on a cruise to Tenerife.他们乘船去特纳利夫岛。
  • She wants to cruise the canals of France in a barge.她想乘驳船游览法国的运河。
2 helping 2rGzDc     
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
参考例句:
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
3 thesis DIzzN     
n.论题,论点,论文
参考例句:
  • His thesis is being finished off.他的论文快写完了。
  • He argued his thesis well.他为他的论点进行了有力的辩论。
4 nutritious xHzxO     
adj.有营养的,营养价值高的
参考例句:
  • Fresh vegetables are very nutritious.新鲜蔬菜富于营养。
  • Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。
5 apprenticeship 4NLyv     
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。
6 youngsters 9d413e799253048dc5ebe7d07ff8dd5f     
n.孩子( youngster的名词复数 );少年;青年;年轻人
参考例句:
  • We followed the youngsters at a more sedate pace. 我们跟在年轻人后面,步子稍慢一点。
  • The camp is for youngsters aged 8 to 14. 这次夏令营是为8至14岁的少年儿童安排的。
7 diabetes uPnzu     
n.糖尿病
参考例句:
  • In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者,医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
  • Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。
8 terrapins 41f12e4aa611efdcc8ec8527c34cba82     
n.(北美的)淡水龟( terrapin的名词复数 )
参考例句:
9 jersey Lp5zzo     
n.运动衫
参考例句:
  • He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
  • They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致,都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。
10 saint yYcxf     
n.圣徒;基督教徒;vt.成为圣徒,把...视为圣徒
参考例句:
  • He was made a saint.他被封为圣人。
  • The saint had a lowly heart.圣人有谦诚之心。
11 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
12 locker 8pzzYm     
n.更衣箱,储物柜,冷藏室,上锁的人
参考例句:
  • At the swimming pool I put my clothes in a locker.在游泳池我把衣服锁在小柜里。
  • He moved into the locker room and began to slip out of his scrub suit.他走进更衣室把手术服脱下来。
13 gratitude p6wyS     
adj.感激,感谢
参考例句:
  • I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
  • She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。
14 humility 8d6zX     
n.谦逊,谦恭
参考例句:
  • Humility often gains more than pride.谦逊往往比骄傲收益更多。
  • His voice was still soft and filled with specious humility.他的声音还是那么温和,甚至有点谦卑。
15 grab ef0xd     
vt./n.攫取,抓取;vi.攫取,抓住(at)
参考例句:
  • It is rude to grab a seat.抢占座位是不礼貌的。
  • The thief made a grab at my bag but I pushed him away.贼想抢我的手提包,但被我推开了。
16 perfectly 8Mzxb     
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
  • Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。
17 corps pzzxv     
n.(通信等兵种的)部队;(同类作的)一组
参考例句:
  • The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
  • When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时,他自愿参加了海军陆战队。
18 literally 28Wzv     
adv.照字面意义,逐字地;确实
参考例句:
  • He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
  • Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候,她不走到真正要昏厥了,决不肯坐下来。
19 aged 6zWzdI     
adj.年老的,陈年的
参考例句:
  • He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了,也老点了。
  • He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老,然而记忆力还好。
20 tribal ifwzzw     
adj.部族的,种族的
参考例句:
  • He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
  • The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。
21 spectators f68d48a1c64478cadff5c343371783c3     
n.观众,旁观者( spectator的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The spectators were wilting visibly in the hot sun. 看得出观众在炎热的阳光下快支撑不住了。
  • The policemen asked the spectators to stand well back. 警察要求旁观者靠后站。 来自《简明英汉词典》
22 incredible q8fx7     
adj.难以置信的,不可信的,极好的,大量的
参考例句:
  • Some planets run at incredible speed.某些星球以难以置信的速度运行着。
  • Her answer showed the most incredible stupidity.她的回答显示出不可思议的愚蠢。

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