VOA标准英语2010年-US Organization Helps Girls Build Self

An organization in the United States is helping¹ girls maintain a healthy lifestyle and build self esteem².  Girls on the Run uses running to encourage girls from 8 to 13 to stay in physical shape.  The group also holds after school sessions where girls learn positive behavior. 

Nine year old Ela Kalra is taking part in Girls on the Run at Washington International School. 

"It's really fun and it teaches you about self respect and how you should care for others and what you should feel about yourself," Kalra said. "You shouldn't be mean or unkind to anybody else."

Ela is among 60 thousand girls in 45 states who are participating in the 10 week program.  They also learn about nutrition, and how to be more assertive³.

Molly Barker, a runner, founded Girls on the Run in the southern state of North Carolina.  She says the girls discuss what she calls, "the girl box," society's definition of how girls should look, act and feel.  She's critical of it. 

"There's a certain appearance a girl should have, there's a certain way she should address people and act, and even in educational roles, girls tend to shrink to the back of the classroom," Baker⁴ said.

Barker says the girls learn that instead of trying to fit into the stereotypes⁵, they should be themselves.  The girls discuss developing positive behavior, such as caring about others, and avoiding negative behavior like bullying⁶.

At this recreation center in Washington DC, Autumn Saxton-Ross is a Girls on the Run coach.

"When you're in a group, and you're this age, you don't realize that picking on someone, or calling someone a name, or singling them out, can be considered bullying," Saxton-Ross said. "What we really want to teach them is to recognize these behaviors."

Each group takes part in a service project.  The girls at Washington International School are running and taking donations for a Washington-based group, Girls Gotta Run Foundation.  The money is used to buy shoes for girls in Ethiopia who are training to be professional runners. And it also helps keep them in school.

Ashley Griffith is on the foundation's board of directors.

"Many of these girls, before Girls Gotta Run came into the picture, didn't even have shoes," she said. "One of them had a story that she had to get up at five o'clock in the morning to borrow her brother's shoes in order for her to get her run in."

Mahelete Yared from Ethiopia has a daughter in Girls on the Run at the International School.  She says the money for the Ethiopian runners will help them achieve their dreams.

"In Ethiopia it's very difficult to have bigger dreams and really believe they will ever come to completion," Yared said.

Girls on the Run is in its 14 year.  Coach Saxton-Ross says the program gives girls the tools to be future leaders.

"It speaks to all girls, regardless of what your house looks like, regardless of what your neighborhood looks like, regardless of what you look like," Saxton-Ross said.
 

1 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。

2 esteem   

n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• The veteran worker ranks high in public love and esteem.那位老工人深受大伙的爱戴。

3 assertive   

adj.果断的，自信的，有冲劲的

参考例句：

• She always speaks an assertive tone.她总是以果断的语气说话。
• China appears to have become more assertive in the waters off its coastline over recent years.在近些年，中国显示出对远方海洋的自信。

4 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

5 stereotypes   

n.老套，模式化的见解，有老一套固定想法的人( stereotype的名词复数 )v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
• It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调，我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 bullying   

v.恐吓，威逼( bully的现在分词 )；豪；跋扈

参考例句：

• Many cases of bullying go unreported . 很多恐吓案件都没有人告发。
• All cases of bullying will be severely dealt with. 所有以大欺小的情况都将受到严肃处理。 来自《简明英汉词典》