VOA慢速英语2010年-AMERICAN MOSAIC - Volunteer Programs O

I’m Doug Johnson.

Today: Some new music from Christina Aguilera.

And a report on vocational¹ education in the United States.

But first, we talk to some Americans who have retired² from their professional lives but still work hard to help others.

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Senior Volunteers

DOUG JOHNSON: Many retired Americans seek volunteer work as a useful way to spend their time. Older citizens have knowledge, experience and skills that can fill many needs. Shirley Griffith tells about some of these volunteers and the help they provide.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Chaniya Anderson is a second grader at Whittier Elementary School in Washington. She needs help in math and reading. She gets help in those subjects from Shirley Mickel, a sixty-two-year- old-volunteer.

SHIRLEY MICKEL: “Very good, excellent. Excellent Chaniya.”

CHANIYA ANDERSON: “I enjoy math.”

Shirley Mickel volunteers at a Washington elementary school twice a week

Shirley Mickel is retired from the federal government. She tutors at Whittier two times a week. So does volunteer Gloria Pendelton, a former computer systems programmer. She is sixty-five.

GLORIA PENDELTON: “I feel much better. I feel that I am learning. So I am constantly trying to learn along with the children.”

Both women are members of Experience Corps³. It is a nationwide program that connects people over age fifty-five with elementary school students from low-income families. About two thousand volunteers help students in twenty-three cities across the country.

Kathleen Kaye has been an Experience Corps volunteer for more than three years.

KATHLEEN KAYE: “What I have seen is a lot of kids really take off because they do have the one-on-one attention and they are up to grade level, if not beyond, as a result of having been in the program.”

But she says she gets back more than she gives. Irving Wilson, a volunteer for more than seven years, says he does also.

IRVING WILSON: “I get a lot of benefits from being in this program. I keep my mind active and coming to school three times a week, and walking up and down the steps, that kept me physically⁴ able.”

But volunteering is not just good for the brain and body. Eighty-six-year-old Mary Holt finds it good for her soul.

REPORTER: “Why do you like to volunteer?”

MARY HOLT: “It gives me peace. Happiness. And knowing that I’m helping⁵ other people.”

Mary Holt has been an active volunteer for the last thirty years. She volunteers through her church in Arlington, Virginia. She makes meals for the homeless. She helps with the church’s newsletter and puts together its Sunday service papers.

Seventy-two-year-old Glenn Wood of Missoula, Montana says volunteer work keeps him connected. He works in the federal government’s Senior Corps program. Almost five hundred thousand volunteers work in thousands of American communities.

Glenn Wood likes to do more than just one job. He serves as a guide for special exhibits at the University of Montana and for special events at the Missoula Art Museum. He also helps judge the yearly ninth grade science fair. And he works with a community conflict resolution group to lower crime and violence in the city.

Finally, he works in the Missoula visitor center during tourist season. He says the payback is simple. When you can help someone new in town solve a problem, you feel good about it.

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Vocational Education

DOUG JOHNSON: This week’s listener question comes from China. Feng Tianqiang wants to know more about vocational education in the United States.

There is a long history of vocational education in this country. Dating back to colonial⁶ times, the government has supported programs to train skilled workers. It started out as a way to teach students to farm and work in industries. But as the American economy grew, so too has vocational training.

Today, vocational education is usually called career and technical education, or CTE.

Students in high schools and trade schools can earn degrees in many areas. They include nursing, engineering, accounting⁷, biotechnologies, web design, art design and auto⁸ mechanics⁹, just to name a few.

Career and technical education is different from traditional school because it is much more “hands on.” Instead of sitting in a crowded classroom taking notes, students in CTE programs learn a trade. They are prepared to step out of the classroom right into the working world. That means they can start earning money years before students who attend four-year colleges.

This can be especially appealing considering the present high unemployment rate and the rising costs of attending college. Many college graduates owe hundreds of thousands of dollars for their education costs. Some are struggling to find jobs.

At the same time, some of the fastest growing jobs are in technical areas. The Bureau of Labor¹⁰ Statistics¹¹ says eighteen of the twenty fastest growing jobs in the next decade will require technical education.

However, for many years, parents and educators have pushed for college education. So enrollment¹² in vocational schools is down.

In nineteen eighty-two, one-third of high school students chose vocational schools. But in two thousand five, only one-fifth of students did.

Supporters of college education point out that students who attend vocational schools will make less money on average. They are worried that some students will settle for vocational education when they could go to college and possibly earn more money. They also say students who choose vocational schools miss out on the college experience.

Some people say the best choice is a little bit of both. There are about two thousand five hundred “career academies” within American high schools. Students take both academic and technical courses. They also get work experience. The career academies were developed to redesign large high schools into small learning communities. They are designed to link high school, further education and the workplace.

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"Bionic"

DOUG JOHNSON: Christina Aguilera’s latest album “Bionic” is filled with sexy songs made for dancing. Critics are divided in their opinion of the album. But they agree that she is experimenting with electronic sounds and new ways of singing. Faith Lapidus tells us more.

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FAITH LAPIDUS: That was “Bionic”, the title song of Christina Aguilera’s newest album. This is the twenty-nine-year-old performer’s fourth album. She is best known for her powerful and emotional voice. But in this album she says she has softened¹³ her singing to try something different. Here is the energetic song “Prima Donna.”

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Christina Aguilera has said that the album “Bionic” is about the future. And, she says her young son is her latest musical influence. She says he has made her want to play and have fun.

Christina Aguilera worked with different songwriters on the album including Linda Perry and the Australian singer-songwriter Sia.

We leave you with the song “Elastic Love” which the British-Sri Lankan performer M.I.A helped write.

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DOUG JOHNSON:I'm Doug Johnson. Our program was written by Mike Defabo, Dana Demange and Caty Weaver¹⁴ who was also the producer.

You can find transcripts¹⁵, MP3s and podcasts of our shows at voaspecialenglish.com. If you have a question about American life, send an e-mail to [email protected]. We might answer it on this show. Please remember to tell us your name and where you live.

Join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA’s radio magazine in Special English
 

1 vocational   

adj.职业的，业务的

参考例句：

• They have set a regular time for vocational study.他们把业务学习时间固定下来。
• She was given some quick training at the vocational school.她在职业学校受过速成训练。

2 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

3 corps   

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。

4 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

5 helping   

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。

6 colonial   

adj.殖民地的，关于殖民的；n.殖民地，居民

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• The people of Africa have successfully fought against colonial rule.非洲人民成功地反抗了殖民统治。

7 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

8 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

9 mechanics   

n.力学，机械学；结构

参考例句：

• The mechanics of fixing a car are very long.修理一部汽车的过程很长。
• The mechanics of the machine are very old.这台机器的机件非常老。

10 labor   

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。

11 statistics   

n.统计，统计数字，统计学

参考例句：

• We have statistics for the last year.我们有去年的统计资料。
• Statistics is taught in many colleges.许多大学都教授统计学。

12 enrollment   

n.注册或登记的人数；登记

参考例句：

• You will be given a reading list at enrollment.注册时你会收到一份阅读书目。
• I just got the enrollment notice from Fudan University.我刚刚接到复旦大学的入学通知书。

13 softened   

（使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰

参考例句：

• His smile softened slightly. 他的微笑稍柔和了些。
• The ice cream softened and began to melt. 冰淇淋开始变软并开始融化。

14 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

15 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句