2006年VOA标准英语-Annual Awards Honor Philosophies of ‘The

By Mohamed Elshinnawi
Washington, D.C.
16 May 2006
 
watch report on Gibran Awards

The Lebanese-American poet, painter and philosopher Kahlil Gibran lived and wrote in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  Best-known for his 1923 work, "The Prophet," a collection of spiritual poems, Gibran has long been celebrated¹ for his skill at merging² Eastern and Western philosophies. His writings reflect his love of humanity and equality, as well as his commitment to better understanding among racial, ethnic³, and religious communities.

For the past eight years, Gibran's spirit has inspired a unique awards program at the Washington-based Arab American Institute, designed to honor those whose lives and works mirror Gibran's vision of humanity. 

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A statue of philosopher Gibran Khalil Gibran   
  

Gibran Khalil Gibran -- his full name -- is honored with a statue and a small park on a major street in the American capital. His vision of brotherhood⁴ is honored with the Khalil Gibran Spirit of Humanity awards.

This year's recipients⁶ include Congressman⁷ John Dingell, the longest-serving member of the U.S. House of Representatives. He received special recognition for outstanding public service:

"All of us,” said the congressman, “regardless of from where we come, bring great gifts, great riches, great strength and goodness to this wonderful land of which we are so proud and to which we are so grateful"

Former Governor John Sununu was one of the recipients  
  
John Sununu, former Chief of Staff for the first President Bush, and governor of New Hampshire for three terms, received the Gibran Spirit of Humanity Award for Public Service.

"The message I tried to give to people is to get involved, to be part of the process, and to let people know what the facts are and the truth is," said the former governor.

Habitat for Humanity, an American humanitarian⁸ organization, has built more than 200,000 homes for families in need throughout the world. Its president, Reverend John Reckford, accepted the Gibran award for institutional achievement.

"Through his writings, Kahlil Gibran provided a window in his belief in self-reliance and the power of dreams. Through its work with families in need of decent shelters, I believe Habitat for Humanity embodies⁹ these same ideas."

In his book, "The Broken Wings", Gibran emphasized the need to empower women, describing their plight¹⁰ as "the bird with broken wings in a cage."  U.S. Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes explained why the non-profit group Women for Women International is the recipient⁵ of this year's award for International Achievement:

 
Undersecretary Karen Hughes presents an award to Zeinab Salbi
  
  
"Women for Women International is the only organization solely¹¹ dedicated¹² to women's development needs, that operates in the heart of conflict-affected areas. Their goal is to provide opportunities for education and economic access to the most vulnerable and marginalized women, and they have helped more than 55,000 of them in nine countries."

Hughes presented the award to Zeinab Salbi, founder¹³ of the organization.

"Women for Women International works with women survivors¹⁴ of wars and we work in countries like Afghanistan, Rwanda, Congo, Iraq, Bosnia and different countries. When a woman gets sponsored, we help her get vocational skills, training, business training and we help her rebuild her life after war."

The 2006 Gibran Awards also paid tribute to the late Moustapha Akkad. The Hollywood film producer, who devoted¹⁵ his career to bridging the gap between East and West, was killed in a terrorist attack in Jordan last year:

Entertainer Kasey Kasem said, "Akkad was acting¹⁶ as a conduit for information and understanding. His early success in television would set the stage for his most personal and difficult challenge, to bring the story of Islam to the big screen. This massive undertaking¹⁷ would take over seven years to achieve and force him to face unimaginable obstacles. His dream was not to be denied."

To highlight the need to understand the diverse cultures in the United States, Arab-American comedians¹⁸ M & M offered "How to be an Arab in five easy lessons."

The comic entertainment at this year's Kahlil Gibran Spirit of Humanity Awards was a fitting tribute to a poet who once wrote, "In the sweetness of friendship, let there be laughter and joy." 

Video courtesy: Habitat for Humanity, Women for Women International, "Tribute to Moustapha Akkad" -- The Arab American Institute

1 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

2 merging   

合并（分类）

参考例句：

• Many companies continued to grow by merging with or buying competing firms. 许多公司通过合并或收买竞争对手的公司而不断扩大。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• To sequence by repeated splitting and merging. 用反复分开和合并的方法进行的排序。

3 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

4 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

5 recipient   

a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器

参考例句：

• Please check that you have a valid email certificate for each recipient. 请检查是否对每个接收者都有有效的电子邮件证书。
• Colombia is the biggest U . S aid recipient in Latin America. 哥伦比亚是美国在拉丁美洲最大的援助对象。

6 recipients   

adj.接受的；受领的；容纳的；愿意接受的n.收件人；接受者；受领者；接受器

参考例句：

• The recipients of the prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者的姓名登在报上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The recipients of prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者名单登在报上。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

7 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

8 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

9 embodies   

v.表现( embody的第三人称单数 )；象征；包括；包含

参考例句：

• The new treaty embodies the aspirations of most nonaligned countries. 新条约体现了大多数不结盟国家的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This document embodies the concern of the government for the deformity. 这个文件体现了政府对残疾人的关怀。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

11 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

12 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

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 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

15 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

16 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

17 undertaking   

n.保证，许诺，事业

参考例句：

• He gave her an undertaking that he would pay the money back with in a year.他向她做了一年内还钱的保证。
• He is too timid to venture upon an undertaking.他太胆小，不敢从事任何事业。

18 comedians   

n.喜剧演员，丑角( comedian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The voice was rich, lordly, Harvardish, like all the boring radio comedians'imitations. 声音浑厚、威严，俨然是哈佛出身的气派，就跟无线电里所有的滑稽演员叫人已经听腻的模仿完全一样。 来自辞典例句
• He distracted them by joking and imitating movie and radio comedians. 他用开玩笑的方法或者模仿电影及广播中的滑稽演员来对付他们。 来自辞典例句