VOA标准英语2010年-Community Group Continues King Legacy

Metropolitan¹ Inter-Faith Association helps to improve the lives of thousands of people in Memphis, Tennessee

February is Black History Month in the United States. The national observance pays tribute² to people and events that have helped to shape African American history. In April 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, the preeminent³ leader of the country's civil rights movement, was assassinated⁴ in Memphis, Tennessee as he worked to eliminate poverty in the city. After his death, community leaders formed a group to address the lingering⁵ economic inequities in the city.

Bill and Lee McWaters are on the front-line of helping⁶ to improve the lives of thousands of people in Memphis, Tennessee. They are volunteers with MIFA, the Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association. It is one of the city's largest community service organizations with thousands of volunteers. The group makes daily deliveries of hot meals to some 2,400 homebound senior citizens.

Warren Franklin, 87, is one of them.

"All of them that come to bring me food they always ask me, 'Mr. Franklin can I help you, or is there anything I need to do?' And I appreciate that, you know," he said.

Lee McWaters says he and his dad are gratified they have the time to help people.

"Dad and I only spend a couple hours a week doing this and it is no sweat for us. But it means the world to them to be able to get a hot meal," he said.

MIFA has a long history of lending a helping hand. Community leaders formed the organization five months after Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis in April 1968.

When Dr. King came to Memphis he was not only concerned about the racial harmony but about the level of poverty. Forty-two years after his death, Memphis still struggles with that problem. One in four people living in this city live below the poverty level.

In addition to providing hot meals to the elderly, MIFA also offers financial, legal and housing assistance to the poor in Memphis. Executive⁷ Director Margaret Craddock explains what motivates MIFA's volunteers.

"It is a calling for so many people. It gives the volunteers a way to put their faith into action and to serve just as Dr. King would have wanted them to," she said.  "You know we will help you. You have a loss of income you haven't been getting paid."

Today, MIFA has nine different programs to help seniors and families in crisis⁸. Tamaki Dale lost her job in August and is seeking financial assistance.

"I appreciate it. Without them [MIFA] a lot of us would be homeless," Dale said.

In the past year, MIFA has paid out nearly a million dollars to help people with their bills.

"We use to see single people coming in for assistance, a mother with her children. But now we are seeing families, more of the working poor, a husband and wives coming in," said Phyllis Phillips, the group's emergency services director.

Executive Director Craddock says MIFA is looking for new ways to help people.

"There are so many efforts that are going into this fight. So it is a all hands on deck effort. We know that some things are improving. It's just not as rapidly as we would like but we are all trying," she said.

The people at MIFA say they will continue to build upon Martin Luther King's legacy⁹ of helping people who need it the most, while doing their part to solve the city's lingering economic and social inequities. 

 

1 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。

2 tribute   

n.颂词，称赞，(表示敬意的)礼物；贡品

参考例句：

• She accepted their tribute graciously.她慈祥地接受了他们的致意。
• Many conquered nations had to pay tribute to the rulers of ancient Rome.许多被征服的国家必须向古罗马的统治者朝贡。

3 preeminent   

adj.卓越的，杰出的

参考例句：

• Washington was recognized as the preeminent spokesman of American Negroes by 1895. 到1895年,华盛顿被公认为美国黑人的卓越代言人。
• He is preeminent because his articles are well written. 他的文章写得很漂亮,卓尔不群。

4 assassinated   

v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏

参考例句：

• The prime minister was assassinated by extremists. 首相遭极端分子暗杀。
• Then, just two days later, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. 跟着在两天以后，肯尼迪总统在达拉斯被人暗杀。 来自辞典例句

5 lingering   

a.拖延的，依依不舍的

参考例句：

• a painful and lingering death 痛苦而拖延时日的死亡
• Unemployment and lingering disease cooperated to make his family broken. 失业加上长期的疾病，使他倾家荡产。

6 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。

7 executive   

adj.执行的，行政的；n.执行者，行政官，经理

参考例句：

• A good executive usually gets on well with people.一个好的高级管理人员通常与人们相处得很好。
• He is a man of great executive ability.他是个具有极高管理能力的人。

8 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

9 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。