VOA常速英语2008年-British PM and Pop Singer Shakira Lead Educatio

By Kent Klein
Washington
21 April 2008

Grammy-winning pop singer Shakira is teaming up with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to call for more global help in sending poor children to school. VOA's Kent Klein reports from Washington.

The glamorous¹ Colombian singer and the quiet British leader are working together to persuade developed countries to help finance an effort to provide a basic education for every child in the world.

Shakira is the honorary chairman of a week of events to publicize the cause of an advocacy group called the Global Campaign for Education.

She says one of the group's goals is to get more help from world leaders in paying for primary education for 72-million children, ages six to 12, who cannot attend school because of poverty.

"From 1999, there were 96 million children around the world who were not enrolled² in any kind of education, and the number has decreased to 72 million, so, yeah, it is working, but we still have to do so much more," said Shakira.

The group also wants to help some 226 million older children who miss out on school.

British Prime Minister Brown joined with Shakira in a telephone conference on Monday, to push for the effort.

"I want to see us become the first generation in history to ensure that every child goes to school and that we develop the potential of not just some of the world's children but all of the world's children," said Gordon Brown. "If we meet our goals in education, we will not just transform those children's lives for good. By consigning³ childhood illiteracy⁴ to history we will help make poverty history too."

As British treasury⁵ chief in 2006, Mr. Brown pledged $15 billion over 10 years for education in the developing world. Last month, Britain and France each agreed to support the education of eight million children in Africa by 2010.

Britain's commitment in this area dwarfs⁶ that of the United States, whose funding for global education aid is $465 million a year. Shakira will meet with U.S. lawmakers on Capitol Hill Tuesday to persuade them to pass a bill, which members of both parties have endorsed⁷, to increase U.S. aid for education in developing countries to $3 billion a year by 2012. The Education For All Act was introduced last May, but has not passed either house of Congress.

Another event sponsored by the Global Campaign for Education this week will have an estimated five million students from more than 100 countries take part Wednesday in an effort to break the world record for the largest simultaneous lesson.

1 glamorous   

adj.富有魅力的；美丽动人的；令人向往的

参考例句：

• The south coast is less glamorous but full of clean and attractive hotels.南海岸魅力稍逊，但却有很多干净漂亮的宾馆。
• It is hard work and not a glamorous job as portrayed by the media.这是份苦差，并非像媒体描绘的那般令人向往。

2 enrolled   

adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起

参考例句：

• They have been studying hard from the moment they enrolled. 从入学时起，他们就一直努力学习。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He enrolled with an employment agency for a teaching position. 他在职业介绍所登了记以谋求一个教师的职位。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 consigning   

v.把…置于（令人不快的境地）( consign的现在分词 )；把…托付给；把…托人代售；丟弃

参考例句：

• By consigning childhood illiteracy to history we will help make poverty history too. 而且，通过将儿童文盲归于历史，我们也将改变贫穷的历史。 来自互联网

4 illiteracy   

n.文盲

参考例句：

• It is encouraging to read that illiteracy is declining.从读报中了解文盲情况正在好转，这是令人鼓舞的。
• We must do away with illiteracy.我们必须扫除文盲。

5 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

6 dwarfs   

n.侏儒，矮子（dwarf的复数形式）vt.（使）显得矮小（dwarf的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Shakespeare dwarfs other dramatists. 莎士比亚使其他剧作家相形见绌。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The new building dwarfs all the other buildings in the town. 新大楼使城里所有其他建筑物都显得矮小了。 来自辞典例句

7 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》