VOA标准英语2010年-Hunger-Fighting Charities Win World Fo

The heads of two U.S.-based charity organizations are this year's winners of the World Food Prize, the prestigious¹ $250,000 award honoring accomplishments² that have improved the global food supply.

This year's World Food Prize went to David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, and Jo Luck, CEO of Heifer International. It's the first time the award has gone to leaders of non-governmental organizations.

The award citation³ lauds⁴ Luck for her leadership of Heifer International, which it describes as, "one of the premier⁵ hunger-fighting non-profit organizations anywhere in the world."

Heifer International
Jo Luck leads Heifer International, which helps people out of poverty and hunger with gifts of livestock⁶.

'Passing on the gift'

Heifer International begins helping⁷ people out of poverty and hunger with gifts of livestock. Along with the gift comes extensive training in how to raise the animals and lead the community. The animals provide food as well as income. And recipients⁸ then pass on the animals' offspring to other members of the community.

Jo Luck says "passing on the gift" is the most important part of Heifer's work.

"People pass on their gifts of not just animals," she says. "They pass on those gifts of training and leadership. We've seen cases where we've been gone five and 10 years and we go back and they've developed roads and built schools and they have other communities receiving the animals and the training. You just give them those resources, that training and opportunity and you can't hold them back."

Goat power

She tells the story of a Chinese man who received a set of rabbits from Heifer. He went on to become a millionaire raising rabbits and helped bring water and schools to his village.

In another example, a woman born in a poor village in Zimbabwe went on to earn a doctorate⁹ degree in the United States. Luck says her success was funded in part from income her aunt earned from a milk goat she received from Heifer.

"That's what a goat did," she says. "That's one example. The animal's only the catalyst¹⁰. That's the beginning of many other things that follow."

Respecting culture and economics

While Heifer works to bring opportunities to women, Luck says it's important to respect the local culture.

She describes working with the Masai in east Africa. The women tended the livestock, but the men managed the income. When she suggested the women should receive training in animal husbandry from Heifer, Luck says the chief initially¹¹ said no.

"And I said I would never disrespect your culture. I'm a guest in your home. But I do think you could triple the liters of milk. I do think you could double the offspring. We were beginning to talk economics. In about a month or so, he decided¹² to try it. And the women were so successful, so that the men have been empowering them and joining them in partnership¹³."

Bread for the World
David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, leads a grassroots effort to lobby the US Congress to help the poor.

Grassroots advocacy

Sharing this year's World Food Prize with Heifer's Luck is David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World. The prize committee cited the impact Beckmann's leadership of the non-profit group has had on U.S. policies fighting global hunger and poverty.

Bread for the World's highly successful grassroots lobbying campaigns recruit hundreds of thousands of people from churches across the United States. They call, write and visit their members of Congress to support policies that help the poor.

The World Food Prize citation credits these efforts over the past decade for quadrupling U.S. aid to Africa and more than doubling aid to needy¹⁴ families in the United States. Beckmann points to the tripling of US global development assistance, to $22 billion this year, as one of the organization's biggest successes.

"I think that wouldn't have happened without the advocacy of hundreds of thousands of people and churches that are part of Bread for the World and that keep the pressure on their members of Congress."

Pastor¹⁵ works with many faiths

Beckmann, a Lutheran pastor, is an economist¹⁶ who spent 15 years with the World Bank before joining Bread for the World.

He also has worked with groups of many other faiths, and non-denominational organizations, to support policies that end poverty and hunger.

"People have different ideas about God," he says, "but if a mother can't feed her children, and five or 10 years later she can feed those kids and they're in school, then clearly, by anyone's religion, that is something sacred and wonderful."

The World Food Prize Committee said that, in choosing Bread for the World's David Beckmann and Heifer International's Jo Luck to receive the $250,000 prize, it was recognizing the critical work that non-governmental organizations do to fight hunger worldwide.

The World Food Prize was established 25 years ago by the late Norman Borlaug. The American plant scientist won the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize for his work breeding new varieties of crops that dramatically increased wheat and rice production. Borlaug's work is credited with ushering¹⁷ in the so-called Green Revolution in agriculture and averting¹⁸ famine in Asia in the 1960s.
 

1 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。

2 accomplishments   

n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就

参考例句：

• It was one of the President's greatest accomplishments. 那是总统最伟大的成就之一。
• Among her accomplishments were sewing,cooking,playing the piano and dancing. 她的才能包括缝纫、烹调、弹钢琴和跳舞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 citation   

n.引用，引证，引用文；传票

参考例句：

• He had to sign the proposition for the citation.他只好在受奖申请书上签了字。
• The court could issue a citation and fine Ms. Robbins.法庭可能会发传票，对罗宾斯女士处以罚款。

4 lauds   

v.称赞，赞美( laud的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The work lauds the victor, Liu Bang. 该曲歌颂了胜利者刘邦。 来自互联网
• The modern world lauds them for their vigor and intensity of purpose, and for their accomplishment. 诸君之祖先曾以大无畏之精神，冒不可思议之困难，筚路褴褛以开发新大陆。 来自互联网

5 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

6 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

7 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。

8 recipients   

adj.接受的；受领的；容纳的；愿意接受的n.收件人；接受者；受领者；接受器

参考例句：

• The recipients of the prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者的姓名登在报上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The recipients of prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者名单登在报上。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

9 doctorate   

n.(大学授予的)博士学位

参考例句：

• He hasn't enough credits to get his doctorate.他的学分不够取得博士学位。
• Where did she do her doctorate?她在哪里攻读博士？

10 catalyst   

n.催化剂，造成变化的人或事

参考例句：

• A catalyst is a substance which speeds up a chemical reaction.催化剂是一种能加速化学反应的物质。
• The workers'demand for better conditions was a catalyst for social change.工人们要求改善工作条件促进了社会变革。

11 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

12 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

13 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

14 needy   

adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的

参考例句：

• Although he was poor,he was quite generous to his needy friends.他虽穷，但对贫苦的朋友很慷慨。
• They awarded scholarships to needy students.他们给贫苦学生颁发奖学金。

15 pastor   

n.牧师，牧人

参考例句：

• He was the son of a poor pastor.他是一个穷牧师的儿子。
• We have no pastor at present:the church is run by five deacons.我们目前没有牧师：教会的事是由五位执事管理的。

16 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

17 ushering   

v.引，领，陪同( usher的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• They were right where the coach-caller was swinging open a coach-door and ushering in two ladies. "他们走到外面时，叫马车的服务员正打开车门，请两位小姐上车。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Immediately the two of them approached others, thanking them, ushering them out one by one. 他们俩马上走到其他人面前，向他们道谢，一个个送走了他们。 来自辞典例句

18 averting   

防止，避免( avert的现在分词 )； 转移

参考例句：

• The margin of time for averting crisis was melting away. 可以用来消弥这一危机的些许时光正在逝去。
• These results underscore the value of rescue medications in averting psychotic relapse. 这些结果显示了救护性治疗对避免精神病复发的价值。