2006年VOA标准英语-Senegal's President Appeals for Computer L

By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
17 May 2006

Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade¹ says information technology can be Africa's ticket out of poverty. The president spoke² at an award ceremony in which he and the managing director of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, Muhammad Yunus, were honored for their contribution to the information society.

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The International Telecommunication³ Union kicked off its first World Information Society Day Wednesday by honoring two men for following through with their belief that the information technology can free people from the shackles⁴ of poverty.

 

Yoshio Utsumi, left, Secretary-General of ITU, applauds after handing out prize to Abdoulaye Wade, center, and Muhammad Yunus, (r) in Geneva, May 17, 2006   
  

The ITU cited President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal for his vision in creating the Digital Solidarity⁵ Fund, an organization which aims to close the digital divide between poor and rich countries.

In accepting the award, Mr. Wade said the internet has profoundly changed the lives of people. He added Africa must not miss out on the opportunities afforded by new technologies.

He said children in Africa, at a very young age, must become computer literate⁶. He refuted the arguments of critics who call computers a luxury for people who have no means to feed themselves.

"Well that is just ignorance because computer is a tool for agriculture, in offices and factories because many modern farms are managed through computers today and they work very well thanks to all different kinds of savings⁷ and also the efficiency culture," said President Wade.

A proposent of a virtual university in Africa, Mr. Wade said this institution would connect African students by satellite to a network of partner universities around the world to pursue their studies.

"At the end of their course, these students would not need to go to the U.S. or Europe to gain knowledge," he added. "They will have the same degrees as those granted by partner universities and through this we intend to contribute to combating the "brain drain" from the African continent."

The co-recipient of the ITU award, Muhammad Yunus, founded the Grameen Bank. The bank gives small loans to poor rural people, 96 percent of whom are women, to run their own businesses.

He was honored for bringing the information and communication technology to rural Bangladesh by putting mobile phones in the hands of poor women. When he first proposed the idea, Yunus said people thought he was mad.

"But, poor women responded to my idea with enthusiasm," he said. "They learned quickly how to handle the phone and the business. Today there are 200,000 telephone ladies in Bangladesh earning good incomes for their families and contributing $11 million worth of revenue per month to Grameen Phone, the mobile phone company."

Both President Wade and Muhammad Yunus said the new information technologies can dramatically change the fate of the poor. They said they believe it is possible to create a poverty-free world by closing the digital divide.

1 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 telecommunication   

n.电信，远距离通信

参考例句：

• Telecommunication is an industry of service.电信业是一个服务型的行业。
• I only care about the telecommunication quality and the charge.我只关心通信质量和资费两个方面。

4 shackles   

手铐( shackle的名词复数 )； 脚镣； 束缚； 羁绊

参考例句：

• a country struggling to free itself from the shackles of colonialism 为摆脱殖民主义的枷锁而斗争的国家
• The cars of the train are coupled together by shackles. 火车的车厢是用钩链连接起来的。

5 solidarity   

n.团结；休戚相关

参考例句：

• They must preserve their solidarity.他们必须维护他们的团结。
• The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock.中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。

6 literate   

n.学者；adj.精通文学的，受过教育的

参考例句：

• Only a few of the nation's peasants are literate.这个国家的农民中只有少数人能识字。
• A literate person can get knowledge through reading many books.一个受过教育的人可以通过读书而获得知识。

7 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。