VOA标准英语2010年-World Food Prize Laureate Encouraged b

The winner of the 2010 World Food Prize says eradicating¹ hunger is within reach. The comment came as the United Nations prepares to hold its summit next week (9/20-22) on the Millennium² Development Goals.

Rev³. David Beckmann says he's encouraged by efforts to achieve the MDGs – especially the first goal, to eliminate extreme poverty and hunger.

"I take a lot of encouragement from the fact that the world's been making some progress against hunger, poverty and disease. (We're) almost surely not going to hit all the Millennium Development Goals in all the countries of the world. But we have seen remarkable⁴ progress against hunger and poverty," he says.

Beckmann, who's president of Bread for the World, says a lot of progress can be seen in sub-Saharan Africa.

"There are 30 million more kids in school than 10 years ago. Although the rate of hunger is still way too high in Africa, about half the countries in Africa in fact have made really significant progress against poverty over the last 10 years or so," he says.

Get involved

But he says to eradicate⁵ hunger and poverty requires everyone's participation⁶, starting with world leaders at the U.N. summit.

"It takes political commitment. So it's good to get all these heads of government to come together in New York because it makes them focus on poor people. The people who run governments have a lot of other pressures and they usually don't focus on poor people. So, it's good for them, but it's also good for us because it makes you and me talk and your listeners listen and think about what can happen to reduce poverty, hunger, disease. Because I think a lot of the action really is in our hands," he says.

 

Bread for the World
David Beckmann, Bread for the World
The U.N. summit will also be used to launch a global campaign to end childhood hunger and malnutrition⁷. Some are calling it the thousand day campaign. Beckman says recent studies have shown the importance of good nutrition at a very early age.

"The most important lesson from all these studies is...that to have a high impact you've got to focus on babies and pregnant women. So the thousand days between conception and age two. That's the highest impact time to make sure that a child has good food, enough food, good nutrition. If we miss that window, the child's health and intellectual capacity will be less for the rest of his or her life," he says.

Not just a job

For Beckman, the effort to eradicate hunger and poverty is a spiritual one.

"I'm a preacher, a Christian⁸ preacher. So, when I see the fact that hundreds of millions of people have escaped from poverty, I think this is God moving in our time," he says, adding, "It's something that we can do that God wants to have happen that, you know, kids ought to have enough to eat. Every kid in the world ought to have enough to eat. That's actually within reach now over the next couple of decades."

He says having enough food is a basic human right.
 

1 eradicating   

摧毁，完全根除( eradicate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Objective: To study the acute and chronic toxicity of Ten-flavor-acne eradicating-capsule. 目的：探讨复方中药合剂十味平痤胶囊的急性及慢性毒性。
• We are on the verge of eradicating polio in the world. 我们已在世界消除小儿？痹症的边缘了。

2 millennium   

n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世

参考例句：

• The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
• We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。

3 rev   

v.发动机旋转，加快速度

参考例句：

• It's his job to rev up the audience before the show starts.他要负责在表演开始前鼓动观众的热情。
• Don't rev the engine so hard.别让发动机转得太快。

4 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

5 eradicate   

v.根除，消灭，杜绝

参考例句：

• These insects are very difficult to eradicate.这些昆虫很难根除。
• They are already battling to eradicate illnesses such as malaria and tetanus.他们已经在努力消灭疟疾、破伤风等疾病。

6 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

7 malnutrition   

n.营养不良

参考例句：

• In Africa, there are a lot of children suffering from severe malnutrition.在非洲有大批严重营养不良的孩子。
• It is a classic case of malnutrition. 这是营养不良的典型病例。

8 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。