VOA慢速英语 2007 1001a

This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

The project known as One Laptop Per Child has a new campaign to bring its computers to children in developing countries.

The campaign will urge people in the United States and Canada to spend just under four hundred dollars for two laptops. One will go to a child in a poor country. The other will go to the buyer.

The "Give One, Get One" campaign will start on November twelfth for two weeks only. Project officials think the donations¹ may help persuade governments of developing countries to buy more. 

The green-and-white machines are specially² designed for children in the developing world. The laptop, called the XO, does not use very much power. And if no electricity is available, users³ can charge the battery by hand by turning a crank.

The computer uses the free, open-source operating system Linux. The color display can change to a black-and-white image so users are able to see it even in bright sunlight.

Also, the laptops are able to connect wirelessly⁴ to each other, as well as the Internet if local service is available. They have a camera. And they are built to resist dirt and moisture⁵.

Mass production is expected to begin in October, once a final design is approved. The XO laptop is currently⁶ being tested in Cambodia, Thailand, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Uruguay, Brazil and Peru.

Walter Bender is head of software and content for the nonprofit One Laptop Per Child project. He says officials hope to establish a process through the United Nations for countries to make proposals⁷ to get free laptops.

Donations may be necessary to launch⁸ a laptop program in some poor countries, he says, but governments are needed to keep it going. Partnerships⁹ between nations could also help. Italy, for example, has agreed to buy fifty thousand laptops for Ethiopia.

The project is led by Nicholas Negroponte, the founding director of the Media Laboratory¹⁰ at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was waiting for three million orders, but so far that has not happened.

In two thousand five he announced the idea for a computer that would cost one hundred dollars. Right now, the cost is almost one hundred ninety dollars.   

Several countries in Africa and South America have already placed orders. Walter Bender says countries that buy laptops could still receive others through donations. 

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jill Moss¹¹. I’m Steve Ember.

1 donations   

n.捐赠( donation的名词复数 )；赠送；捐款；捐赠物

参考例句：

• The hospital receives a good deal of money in donations. 这家医院收到捐赠来的大笔款项。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The charity is completely reliant on public donations. 这一慈善团体完全依靠公众捐款。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。

3 users   

用户，使用者( user的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The new software will prove a boon to Internet users. 这种新软件将会对互联网用户大有益处。
• Ramps should be provided for wheelchair users. 应该给轮椅使用者提供坡道。

4 wirelessly   

不用电线的，用无线电波传送的

参考例句：

• I heard it on the wireless. 我是从无线电收音机里听到的。
• There are a lot of wireless links in a radio. 收音机里有许多无线电线路。

5 moisture   

n.水分；降雨量；水气；湿气

参考例句：

• This tree drank up more moisture than that one.这棵树吸收的水分比那棵树多。
• The moisture in the air makes it humid today.今天空气中水气大，天气很潮湿。

6 currently   

adv.通常地，普遍地，当前

参考例句：

• Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
• Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。

7 proposals   

n.提议( proposal的名词复数 )；推荐；求婚；赞成提案

参考例句：

• The director has given her assent to the proposals. 负责人已表示同意提案。
• The police gave the proposals their full backing. 警方对这些提案给予全力支持。

8 launch   

vt.发动，推出；发射；n.发射，下水，投产

参考例句：

• The makers are about to launch out a new product.制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。
• Would it be wise to launch into this rough sea?在这样汹涌的大海中游泳明智吗？

9 partnerships   

n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 )；合伙人身份；合作关系

参考例句：

• Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句

10 laboratory   

n.实验室，化验室

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a laboratory.她捐款成立了一个实验室。
• Our laboratory equipment isn't perfect,but we must make do.实验室设备是不够理想，但我们只好因陋就简。

11 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。