PBS高端访谈:美国童子军同意女孩子的加入

 　　Big changes are coming to an American tradition, the Boy Scouts².

　　The Scouting³ board voted unanimously today to admit girls into the century-old program, and to permit them to earn the coveted⁴ rank of Eagle Scout¹. John Yang has more.

　　Thanks, Judy. Beginning next year, the Boy Scouts will allow young girls to become Cub⁵ Scouts.

　　And then, in 2019, they will begin a program for older girls that will allow them to earn the rank of Eagle Scout.

　　Here to help understand what's going on, what is behind this historic change and what it might mean for the Girl Scouts,

　　we're joined by Associated Press national writer David Crary. David, thanks for joining us.

　　First of all, let me ask you, why are the Boy Scouts doing this?

　　You know, they have been looking at their membership numbers now for quite a while. They have been going down over the last couple of decades.

　　They have stabilized⁶ the last year or two, but they have been looking for ways to grow.

　　And it's not an easy task in this day and age, where these youth organizations are all struggling to keep their ranks full.

　　So, I think the idea was, if we want to grow, let's let girls in. This could be a huge increase, hundreds of thousands of girls over the next few years.

　　It would help them get more revenue and really change the way the demographics of the Boy Scouts work.

　　And they also talked in their announcement -- that, I think, are some of the forces behind it.

　　But in their announcement, they also talked about demographic changes in society overall.

　　Well, it's been tough for all of these youth groups, the Boy Scouts and the Girl Scouts, because there are so many -- there are single-parent families now.

　　There are families where both parents are working. It's tough for the parents to find the time to take their kids to and from these meetings and activities.

　　I think the Boy Scouts are hoping that parents will see this kind of one-stop shopping now,

　　where they can have the girls and boys in the same organization, maybe make things a little more efficient for themselves.

　　And, also, Dave, the Boy Scouts have already had co-ed programs for older girls for a while now.

　　So, what's going to be the significance of this new program for older girls that they're going to start in 2019?

　　Yes, it's pretty fascinating, because that one they are saying it's going to still be single-sex.

　　There will be the boys, Boy Scouts, and then there will be a mirror program for girls of that age, 11 to 14 years old.

　　It is going to be fascinating how much they interact with each other.

　　They told me today still no co-ed camping. That is not on the cards. So it's almost like two parallel groups.

　　And I think the odd person out, the odd entity⁷ out is the Girl Scouts, who feel, I think, that their mission is being encroached on.

　　Have they had anything to say today, the Girl Scouts?

　　As I came to the studio, I asked Girl Scouts for comment at midday, right when the story broke. Five hours later, no comment.

　　I'm guessing they are upset. I'm sure they are.

　　It will be interesting perhaps tomorrow to see how they phrase their annoyance⁸ with this and their idea for how to go forward.

　　They have been talking about their annoyance with this earlier in the year, when they heard about the plans for this, didn't they?

　　They have been very outspoken⁹. They said this was covert¹⁰ recruiting of girls.

　　They have implied that the Boy Scouts are doing this out of financial distress¹¹.

　　They have harked back to decades ago, these sex abuse cases of the Boy Scouts, implying that this is the last thing the Boy Scouts should be doing, is bringing in girls.

　　It's been pretty nasty. And I think a lot of people have been surprised that these two organizations that have been kind of buddies¹² for so long are now at odds¹³ with each other.

　　And, in the recent years, we have seen the Boy Scouts open up to first gay Scout leaders then gay Scouts and then transgender Scouts.

　　What does this say about the Scouts and how they're trying to change with the times or keep up with the times?

　　Well, I think it shows that they take their livelihood¹⁴, their viability¹⁵ pretty seriously.

　　It's interesting. The other three changes that you mentioned were all the result of a lot of pressure.

　　Big business, gay rights activists¹⁶ were saying, hey, you have got to be more tolerant, you have got to let these people in.

　　Eventually, the Boy Scouts did acquiesce¹⁷. With this one, they haven't been getting outside pressure,

　　so it's a little different, in the sense that they have figured out for themselves,

　　I think, in a very entrepreneurial way, this is what we have got to do to be viable¹⁸ financially.

　　David Crary of the Associated Press, thank you very much. Thank you. undefined

1 scout   

n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索

参考例句：

• He was mistaken for an enemy scout and badly wounded.他被误认为是敌人的侦察兵，受了重伤。
• The scout made a stealthy approach to the enemy position.侦察兵偷偷地靠近敌军阵地。

2 scouts   

侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员

参考例句：

• to join the Scouts 参加童子军
• The scouts paired off and began to patrol the area. 巡逻人员两个一组，然后开始巡逻这个地区。

3 scouting   

守候活动，童子军的活动

参考例句：

• I have people scouting the hills already. 我已经让人搜过那些山了。
• Perhaps also from the Gospel it passed into the tradition of scouting. 也许又从《福音书》传入守望的传统。 来自演讲部分

4 coveted   

adj.令人垂涎的；垂涎的，梦寐以求的v.贪求，觊觎(covet的过去分词)；垂涎；贪图

参考例句：

• He had long coveted the chance to work with a famous musician. 他一直渴望有机会与著名音乐家一起工作。
• Ther other boys coveted his new bat. 其他的男孩都想得到他的新球棒。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 cub   

n.幼兽，年轻无经验的人

参考例句：

• The lion cub's mother was hunting for what she needs. 这只幼师的母亲正在捕猎。
• The cub licked the milk from its mother's breast. 这头幼兽吸吮着它妈妈的奶水。

6 stabilized   

v.（使）稳定， （使）稳固( stabilize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The patient's condition stabilized. 患者的病情稳定下来。
• His blood pressure has stabilized. 他的血压已经稳定下来了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

7 entity   

n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物

参考例句：

• The country is no longer one political entity.这个国家不再是一个统一的政治实体了。
• As a separate legal entity,the corporation must pay taxes.作为一个独立的法律实体，公司必须纳税。

8 annoyance   

n.恼怒，生气，烦恼

参考例句：

• Why do you always take your annoyance out on me?为什么你不高兴时总是对我出气？
• I felt annoyance at being teased.我恼恨别人取笑我。

9 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。

10 covert   

adj.隐藏的；暗地里的

参考例句：

• We should learn to fight with enemy in an overt and covert way.我们应学会同敌人做公开和隐蔽的斗争。
• The army carried out covert surveillance of the building for several months.军队对这座建筑物进行了数月的秘密监视。

11 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

12 buddies   

n.密友( buddy的名词复数 )；同伴；弟兄；（用于称呼男子，常带怒气）家伙v.（如密友、战友、伙伴、弟兄般）交往( buddy的第三人称单数 )；做朋友；亲近（…）；伴护艾滋病人

参考例句：

• We became great buddies. 我们成了非常好的朋友。 来自辞典例句
• The two of them have become great buddies. 他们俩成了要好的朋友。 来自辞典例句

13 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

14 livelihood   

n.生计，谋生之道

参考例句：

• Appropriate arrangements will be made for their work and livelihood.他们的工作和生活会得到妥善安排。
• My father gained a bare livelihood of family by his own hands.父亲靠自己的双手勉强维持家计。

15 viability   

n.存活(能力)

参考例句：

• What is required to achieve or maintain such viability? 要达到或维持这种生存能力需要什么？
• Scientists are experimenting to find ways to ensure the viability of seeds for even longer periods of time. 正如我们所说，科学家正在试验努力寻找让种子的生命力更加延长的方法。

16 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 acquiesce   

vi.默许，顺从，同意

参考例句：

• Her parents will never acquiesce in such an unsuitable marriage.她的父母决不会答应这门不相宜的婚事。
• He is so independent that he will never acquiesce.他很有主见，所以绝不会顺从。

18 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。