在线英语听力室

VOA慢速英语2013 AS IT IS - India turns its attention to the “red planet”

时间:2013-03-22 08:56:09

搜索关注在线英语听力室公众号:tingroom,领取免费英语资料大礼包。

(单词翻译)

AS IT IS - India turns its attention to the “red planet”

Hello.  Welcome to another look at our world “as it is.”  I’m Jim Tedder1 in Washington. 

Today we have some exciting news from India, as that country’s space program turns its attention to the “red planet.”  We will also hear about violence in Liberia against women and girls, and what is being done about it. But our first subject is money. 

President Obama recently called for a rise in the federally required minimum wage in the United States. Currently, the lowest legal wage is seven dollars 25 cents an hour. The president wants it to rise to nine dollars an hour. His call gave new energy to labor2 activists3, including those who say the pay raise would especially help women. American activists are pressing the government to raise the minimum wage. 

“Raise the wage!” 

President Obama supported this call in a recent television broadcast. 

“A family with two kids that earns the minimum wage still lives below the poverty line. That’s wrong.” 

Joan Entmacher is with the National Women’s Law Center. She says American women hold more than half the nation’s minimum wage jobs, but they represent about half the American workforce4

“They’re the people who serve you food in restaurants or prepare it behind the scenes. They’re the people who clean your offices at night after you go home or clean your hotel rooms. Those are the really low paid jobs, and they are overwhelmingly filled by women.” 

Joan Entmacher says women have the most to gain if the minimum wage is raised. She notes that two of three minimum-wage workers are women. But when women are earning more, she says, families do better. She believes whole economy is better because people have more money to spend, and that creates jobs for other people. 

It can be hard to pay for everything you need in a tight economy. For example, a woman named Debra Z. Roth found low-wage work during the recession. She did this after she had a surgical5 operation and lost her well-paid job. She says the loss of money and the inability to feel secure made her feel like the ground was taken out from under her. 

Now Ms. Roth holds a job in her field of expertise6. She is communications chief with the group Wider Opportunities for Women. But she still remembers how it felt to hold a low-paying job. America’s lowest hourly pay rate has not risen since 2009. 

The African nation of Liberia recently signed a measure calling for an end to violence against women and girls. Liberia joined about 20 countries that have promised to stop such attacks. Kelly Jean Kelly has details. 

Lucy Morris is a 45-year old housewife from Monrovia. She says violence against women is a serious problem in Liberia. 

“Many of us are beaten by our husbands. My husband beats me almost every time. He hurts me a lot. I have taken the complaints to the female (rights) lawyer and they have called him for an investigation7. But this is still happening.”  

Lucy Morris is not alone. The World Health Organization says 33 percent of married women in Liberia have reported domestic violence. And up to 77 percent of Liberian women say they have been a victim of sexual violence. 

Smith Toby works for Liberia’s Ministry8 of Gender9 and Development. He says the country has laws against both domestic violence and rape10, but many cases never go to court. He says a lot of women are too frightened to report sexual or domestic violence. 

Last month, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf signed a U.N. agreement aimed at ending violence against women and girls. She became the 19th head of state to do so. 

By signing the agreement, the Liberian government promised to approve and pass stronger laws against domestic violence. The government agreed to finance a National Action Plan on Sexual and Gender-based Violence. And it promised to help more women get justice in cases of such violence. 

Salome Cankpane works for an aid organization called Women in Progressive Action. Her group helps victims of sexual violence seek legal guidance. She says the agreement is an important step for the government. But she says now is the time for Liberian women to speak out against domestic and sexual violence. I’m Kelly Jean Kelly. 

India has announced plans to send a spacecraft to the planet Mars later this year. This is an important step in the country’s space program. As Jeri Watson tells us, the goal is to make India a leader in the space race. 

The unmanned, Indian spacecraft is to be launched around November. That will be when the planet is closest to Earth. It will take nine months to reach Mars’ orbit. The Indian Space Research Organization says its Mars Orbiter will be equipped with a device that senses, or recognizes, the presence of methane11. It also will look for signs of past life. 

The Mars launching comes five years after India sent an unmanned spacecraft to Earth’s moon. That spacecraft found evidence of water on the moon for the very first time. India now is set to join only a handful of nations that have sent spacecraft to the red planet. They are the United States, Russia, China and Japan. 

James Oberg is a space industry expert in Houston, Texas. He says India’s Mars flight could add to what scientists know about Mars. He says now is the time to set goals beyond those of the race to the moon. 

“It is not just playing a game, or showing off at the Olympics or something. It is actually making contributions to the world. We have seen the technology that India has brought to their space program, very significant technology, and the goals of the program appear to me to be very realistic and very important for India as well as for the world. “  

The Mars project marks a change in India’s space program. For more than 40 years, its space activities were meant to improve the life of average Indians. India worked toward this goal by sending communication and earth observation satellites into space. Those satellites brought television to hard-to-reach areas, searched for water and helped farmers reclaim12 wasteland. Indian satellite images also connected rural areas to hospitals in cities. 

But India decided13 to aim higher and enter space exploration after its scientists developed rocket technology.  Many people say this is part of the goal of making India one of the world’s leading nations. I’m Jeri Watson. 

By the way, the U.S. space agency NASA just last week announced that Mars could have supported life long ago. Now the Indian space program may help us learn if life still exists on the “red” planet. Think about it, and send us an email.  Is there life somewhere else in the universe, or are we alone? 

Send an email to [email protected]. And remember, you can get the latest world news on VOA at the beginning of the hour Universal Time.


分享到:


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 tedder 2833afc4f8252d8dc9f8cd73b24db55d     
n.(干草)翻晒者,翻晒机
参考例句:
  • Jim Tedder has more. 吉姆?特德将给我们做更多的介绍。 来自互联网
  • Jim Tedder tells us more. 吉姆?泰德给我们带来更详细的报道。 来自互联网
2 labor P9Tzs     
n.劳动,努力,工作,劳工;分娩;vi.劳动,努力,苦干;vt.详细分析;麻烦
参考例句:
  • We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
  • He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后,他已经疲惫不堪了。
3 activists 90fd83cc3f53a40df93866d9c91bcca4     
n.(政治活动的)积极分子,活动家( activist的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
  • Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》
4 workforce workforce     
n.劳动大军,劳动力
参考例句:
  • A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
  • A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。
5 surgical 0hXzV3     
adj.外科的,外科医生的,手术上的
参考例句:
  • He performs the surgical operations at the Red Cross Hospital.他在红十字会医院做外科手术。
  • All surgical instruments must be sterilised before use.所有的外科手术器械在使用之前,必须消毒。
6 expertise fmTx0     
n.专门知识(或技能等),专长
参考例句:
  • We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
  • You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。
7 investigation MRKzq     
n.调查,调查研究
参考例句:
  • In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
  • He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。
8 ministry kD5x2     
n.(政府的)部;牧师
参考例句:
  • They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
  • We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。
9 gender slSyD     
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。
10 rape PAQzh     
n.抢夺,掠夺,强奸;vt.掠夺,抢夺,强奸
参考例句:
  • The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
  • He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。
11 methane t1Eyx     
n.甲烷,沼气
参考例句:
  • The blast was caused by pockets of methane gas that ignited.爆炸是由数袋甲烷气体着火引起的。
  • Methane may have extraterrestrial significance.甲烷具有星际意义。
12 reclaim NUWxp     
v.要求归还,收回;开垦
参考例句:
  • I have tried to reclaim my money without success.我没能把钱取回来。
  • You must present this ticket when you reclaim your luggage.当你要取回行李时,必须出示这张票子。
13 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。

本文本内容来源于互联网抓取和网友提交,仅供参考,部分栏目没有内容,如果您有更合适的内容,欢迎 点击提交 分享给大家。