VOA标准英语2011--Teleconferencing Promotes Sense of Commu

Teleconferencing Promotes Sense of Community Among Hmong

Call-in radio
Each day around the world, thousands of Southeast Asians pick up their telephones to listen to the radio.
They tune¹ in to one of at least 20 different teleconferences, which broadcasts programming similar to traditional radio stations. But instead of flipping² a switch to pick up the signal, they make a call.
A woman in California sings to hundreds of people on one teleconference line. The song encourages youth to keep Hmong culture alive.
Cher Vang listens in her living room in Washington state. She's middle-aged³ and, like many Hmong people, war has scattered⁴ her family.
"My family went everywhere on earth," says Vang. "I have three brothers. They live in Australia. I haven't seen them in 30 years. My older sister lives in California. One sister lives in Laos, my country."
Easing⁵ sense of isolation⁶
When Vang arrived in America, she felt isolated⁷.
"I came to the United States and married my husband in 1986," she says. "I didn't know how to speak English. I didn't know how to drive. It was very, very hard for me."
That's where the teleconferences come in. One of the purposes of the programming is to connect isolated Hmong people - especially people like Vang, who never got to go to school or learn to use computers.
Washington state has a small Hmong community but, when Vang calls into a teleconference line, she can connect to a much bigger group.
Tseng Yang is one of the founders⁸ of a teleconference line called LongCheng Radio. The station offers 24-hour-a-day programming featuring music, ghost stories, economic news and more.
Yang estimates⁹ 3,500 people call to listen to LongCheng Radio every day. The nightly news is the station's most popular show. The hosts translate global news into Hmong, Yao and Laotian.
Sharing milestones¹⁰
But the teleconferences are also a global forum¹¹ for Hmong people around the world to share their own local news with one another. People can call in to report important events, like the death of a community leader.
"If something happen, you know, important elderly for the Hmong community who pass away in Salt Lake City, nobody know, right? So we also open for them to tell us," says Yang.
Longcheng Radio is based in Minnesota, but its programs include reports from Hmong communities in Europe and Southeast Asia.
"They just have like half an hour of news telling what they're doing down there, planting crop, corn and weather," says Yang.
Today, Cher Vang participates on the teleconferencing line by singing a traditional love song from home.
She says sharing with others over the phone helps her connect to people who have gone through the same challenges, like losing their family to war and trying to make a new life in a foreign country.
"Me, I was so mad. I felt so bad for myself. Sometimes I would just go crazy," she says. "Thinking about everything too much, remembering. I was thinking, thinking, ‘Oooh, maybe I'm the only one in the world who has these problems. Maybe there's no one like me, no one's life is like mine.'"
But realizing that everyone on the phone line understands her life, she says, makes her feel better and makes her happy.

1 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

2 flipping   

讨厌之极的

参考例句：

• I hate this flipping hotel! 我讨厌这个该死的旅馆！
• Don't go flipping your lid. 别发火。

3 middle-aged   

adj.中年的

参考例句：

• I noticed two middle-aged passengers.我注意到两个中年乘客。
• The new skin balm was welcome by middle-aged women.这种新护肤香膏受到了中年妇女的欢迎。

4 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

5 easing   

松开，放松

参考例句：

• Eucalyptus oil is good for easing muscular aches and pains. 桉树油可以很好地缓解肌肉的疼痛。
• Everywhere at about the same time the work was easing off. 几乎在同一时候，到处工作都搞完了。 来自英汉文学

6 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

7 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

8 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

9 estimates   

估计

参考例句：

• Unofficial estimates put the figure at over two million. 非官方的估计数字为200万以上。
• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 milestones   

n.重要事件( milestone的名词复数 )；重要阶段；转折点；里程碑

参考例句：

• Several important milestones in foreign policy have been passed by this Congress and they can be chalked up as major accomplishments. 这次代表大会通过了对外政策中几起划时代的事件，并且它们可作为主要成就记录下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dale: I really envy your milestones over the last few years, Don. 我真的很羡慕你在过去几年中所建立的丰功伟绩。 来自互联网

11 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。