VOA标准英语2012--After 100 Years, Girl Scouts Still Thrive in US

After 100 Years, Girl Scouts² Still Thrive in US

Singing campfire songs has always been a big part of Girl Scouts. It is a key component³ of the outdoor activities, like camping and hiking that are central to scouting⁴.
Those are activities that Girl Scout¹ Cassidy Lee Brookes, 10, of New Orleans likes.
"We go canoeing, we go camping, we do sing-alongs, we do all kinds of stuff," Brookes said.
Like all the scouts, Brookes wears a vest that is covered in badges she has earned by learning new skills. One she earned for going on a camping trip.
"If you do camping you get badges and all kinds of stuff for cooking and cleaning, because you have to do everything on your own," Brookes added. "You have to cook the food, you have to serve it. So it is really fun."
The scouting focus on the outdoors has remained for 100 years, but as women's role in society has changed, so too have the Girl Scouts.
Mania⁵ Gaver, 15, says scouting helps her get on the career ladder.
"It is giving us all of these different job options," said Gaver. "To get patches you have to interview different people in different jobs, you can shadow like museum curators and stuff like that. There are a lot of trips you can go on, service-wise and a lot of volunteer opportunities."
Juliette Gordon Low founded Girl Scouts in the U.S. in 1912, a few years after the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides organizations began in England. Her goal was to help girls develop physically⁶, mentally, and spiritually by bringing them out of isolated⁷ home environments and into community service and the open air.
Girl Scout Council chief executive Lidia Soto-Harmon says the founder⁸ faced many challenges.
"There were people that did not believe that girls should do anything more than learn how to bake and be at home, and here she was taking girls camping," noted⁹ Soto-Harmon. "We have pictures of her with girls and machetes because when they would go camping, they really went out into the wilderness¹⁰."
Soto-Harman says the development of Girl Scouts has not been easy, but she says despite the odds¹¹, the movement has survived and thrived.
Today more than 10 million girls participate in 145 countries from Argentina to Zambia. There are 3 million girls and adult volunteers involved in Girl Scouts in the United States.
As Girl Scouts in the U.S. mark their 100th year, she says it is time to celebrate the past and look to the future.
"As we approach this 100th anniversary we are just bursting at the opportunity we have to really inspire a new generation of girls with the message of leadership, with the message of caring for the environment, with the message of being kind to others, respecting country. These are values that we all share and that we need to celebrate," Soto-Harmon added.
She says there is a whole new century of Girl Scouts on its way.

1 scout   

n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索

参考例句：

• He was mistaken for an enemy scout and badly wounded.他被误认为是敌人的侦察兵，受了重伤。
• The scout made a stealthy approach to the enemy position.侦察兵偷偷地靠近敌军阵地。

2 scouts   

侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员

参考例句：

• to join the Scouts 参加童子军
• The scouts paired off and began to patrol the area. 巡逻人员两个一组，然后开始巡逻这个地区。

3 component   

n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的

参考例句：

• Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
• Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。

4 scouting   

守候活动，童子军的活动

参考例句：

• I have people scouting the hills already. 我已经让人搜过那些山了。
• Perhaps also from the Gospel it passed into the tradition of scouting. 也许又从《福音书》传入守望的传统。 来自演讲部分

5 mania   

n.疯狂；躁狂症，狂热，癖好

参考例句：

• Football mania is sweeping the country.足球热正风靡全国。
• Collecting small items can easily become a mania.收藏零星物品往往容易变成一种癖好。

6 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

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 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

9 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

10 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

11 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？