VOA标准英语2013--US Muslims Challenged to Steer Youth Away From Violence

 

US Muslims Challenged to Steer¹ Youth Away From Violence

The involvement of two young Muslim men in the Boston Marathon bombing was a stark² reminder³ to American Muslims that young kids in their community could be used to spread terror and violence. Many analysts⁴ believe community leaders need to play a role in keeping kids off the violent path. Imam Johari of Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center in suburban⁵ Washington said he and leaders like him are spreading the message of non-violence.

"I tell the legacy⁶ to young people about the African Americans. If we can create social change, and it was not violence that freed the Negros," he said. "It was the willingness of the whites, the blacks and religious people and government leaders to join together and say this system is against the American Constitution and against God. And we did that."

Peter Skerry of the Brookings Institution recently wrote an article on the challenges of assimilating Muslim youth. Speaking by Skype from Boston, he said, "Muslim American leaders are not positioning themselves very well to speak to Muslim American youth or to Muslim Americans generally. "They are twisting and contorting themselves in several different directions that just undermines their position."

But Imam Johari said the challenge of keeping youth away from violence requires the whole society to come together.

"There’s no such thing as a Muslim cancer, there’s no such thing as Muslim hypertension and there’s no such thing as Islamic violence," he said." These are young people who have been caught up in something that has something to do with their own personal, emotional problems. We’re all doing what we can, but we can’t do enough. This has to be a problem that all of us solve together."

Experts believe parents are supposed to be the first ones to notice if their children are getting in touch with any radical⁷ groups or following them on the Internet. Masood Khan and his wife have four young kids, and he said his family is aware of that danger.

"My wife is very strict on these things, and we know what they’re doing," he said. "All of my four kids, two daughters and two sons, what they’re doing on the Internet and on computer, they’re being monitored. We know what they’re doing."

Khan said parents should remain engaged with their children and that the kids should be encouraged to maintain a balance between their religious and social activities.

1 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

2 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

3 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

4 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

5 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

6 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。

7 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。