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)
Debilitating1 Disease Gets Windfall Support through Social Media
WASHINGTON—
A social media stunt2 sweeping3 the United States is drawing attention and money to combat the deadly neurological disease, Amyotrophic Lateral4 Sclerosis, or ALS. In the U.S. alone, there are roughly 15 new cases of ALS diagnosed each day and the disease is well-known for claiming the life of famed American baseball player, Lou Gehrig, nearly 80 years ago.
To do the Ice Bucket Challenge, one first challenges others to follow suit and the dump ice water on your head. The stunt raises money to research the debilitating disease, Amytrophic Lateral Sclerosis.
“Right now, we are running -- countrywide with both our chapters and the national organization -- at about 15.6 million dollars,” said Barbara Newhouse, president of the ALS Association.
With help from this viral video campaign, the association has raised millions in just a few weeks, which means it can fund more research and help more families affected5 by the disease.
“My father was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's last November. The disease immediately started ripping through his system at a very fast pace where his body deteriorated6 very quickly, and on April 27th, he passed away,” said Matt Lewis, the son of an ALS victim.
A few months later, the ice bucket campaign took off. His friends challenged him, but Lewis wasn’t sure.
“I remember the last couple weeks thinking... I wasn't quite sure how I would feel if I was nominated. Three of my friends nominated me. I just thought this would be a great time to advertise everything,” said Lewis.
So he took the Ice Bucket Challenge, and in the first four hours after he posted, Matt's video had raised more than two thousand dollars.
Newhouse said social media have changed the way non-profits do business.
"What we've seen with the Ice Bucket Challenge... it's probably a game-changer for all of us in the fundraising world,” said Newhouse.
Nikki Usher7, an assistant professor at George Washington University, agrees.
“If you want to be a player in the fundraising arena8 and to reach people that you haven't been able to reach before, you have to reach people who you're not immediately going to be connected to. And one of the ways you do that is through social media,” said Usher.
Newhouse said the challenge now is to properly distribute the millions of dollars raised so far. That gives hope to people like Matt Lewis.
“[I’m a] big fan of what everyone's been doing with that. It's raised a ton of awareness9 and a ton of money, and hopefully, that will keep staying strong going forward,” said Lewis.
The videos are everywhere, and they feature celebrities10 calling out everyone from their friends to President Barack Obama. While some videos are outright11 failures, for most, it's a fun way to raise awareness about a disease. But for some people it means there's hope for the future, and for a cure.
1 debilitating | |
a.使衰弱的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
2 stunt | |
n.惊人表演,绝技,特技;vt.阻碍...发育,妨碍...生长 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
3 sweeping | |
adj.范围广大的,一扫无遗的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
4 lateral | |
adj.侧面的,旁边的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
5 affected | |
adj.不自然的,假装的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
6 deteriorated | |
恶化,变坏( deteriorate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
7 usher | |
n.带位员,招待员;vt.引导,护送;vi.做招待,担任引座员 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
8 arena | |
n.竞技场,运动场所;竞争场所,舞台 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
9 awareness | |
n.意识,觉悟,懂事,明智 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
10 celebrities | |
n.(尤指娱乐界的)名人( celebrity的名词复数 );名流;名声;名誉 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
11 outright | |
adv.坦率地;彻底地;立即;adj.无疑的;彻底的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
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。