VOA慢速英语--难民当选蒙大拿州小城市
时间：2019-01-03 作者：英语课 分类：2017年VOA慢速英语(十一)月
Small Montana City Elects Former Refugee 1 as Mayor 2
Voters in Helena, Montana, have elected Wilmot Collins as their new mayor. Collins is a former refugee from Liberia. He is also the first black mayor in the state of Montana.
The story of his success in America has created interest around the world.
“There are no limits,” Collins told VOA. “I arrived in this country with 25 cents in my pocket. Do you think I was thinking of ever running for mayor? No! But I worked hard and I had the support of my family and my community.”
Collins says he tells his children with those things in place, “There is no reason why you can’t succeed at what you attempt to do.”
Collins and his wife, Maddie, were part of a large group of Liberians that fled the civil war in that country in the early 1990s. Two of his brothers were killed in the war. The couple escaped to Ghana but were starving there.
So, Maddie Collins reached out to an American family she had lived with as an international high school student in Helena. As a result, she was offered a college scholarship in the same town.
About two weeks before leaving Ghana for the United States, the Collins learned 3 that they were expecting a baby. They decided 4 that Maddie should still go to the U.S. Wilmot would follow as soon as possible.
He tried to get a visa but was denied. After several more failed attempts, Wilmot Collins requested refugee status through the United Nations High Commission 5 for Refugees 6.
“When I was finally allowed to come to America, my little daughter was turning two years old. That was the first time I had ever seen her. That was February 17, 1994.”
He was 31 years old when he finally reached America. The mayor-elect Collins says he realized immediately that the “real America” was very different from what he had seen in movies back home.
He says when he heard the pilot announce that it was “warm” at one degree Celsius 7, he thought the man was crazy. Collins laughs at that memory.
He says he was even more surprised to learn there were almost no black people in Montana. The state is 92 percent white and five percent Native American. The remaining three percent are listed as “other.” He says the realization 8 gave him a lonely feeling, but that he was happy to be with his family again.
Two weeks later, Collins got a job cleaning a local school. He says it is not true when people say refugees do not offer any community service. “I didn’t get anything for free,” he argues.
Collins believes he and his wife were among the first refugees ever to settle in the Helena area. And soon, he says, he would try to persuade people in Helena that his family was in the country legally.
“Your government accepted us here,” he told local people who did not believe them.
Collins has two university degrees and is working on a doctorate 9. Before his election 10, he worked as a child protection specialist with Montana’s Department of Health and Human Services.
He also told his story in talks at high schools.
Collins believes that, generally, when people hear a person’s life story, it can change their mind. Some people realized, “Okay, this guy is just like us,” he said.
But, Montana is a traditionally conservative 11 state and not everyone is accepting of Collins or others like him. Collins says this causes him worry, especially considering the state's very permissive gun laws.
“It makes me and my family nervous because… there are crazy people out there, and someone may not want me to do this. Everybody in Montana carries a gun.”
Even with those concerns, Collins said he feels ready to begin leading Helena.
“The voters spoke 12 and they said, ‘Hey, you know, with your story and with your experience, it’s you we want.’”
As mayor-elect, Collins is excited by the opportunity to “give back" to the community.
“If I can just give back half of what this community gave me, my life is complete, just half. I’ll be thankful.”
His goals include improvements 13 to the fire department, police department and other emergency services. He also plans to establish low-cost housing 14 for homeless veterans 16 and young people because, he says, years ago, he too was homeless.
I’m John Russell.
And I’m Alice Bryant.
Words in This Story
refugee – n. someone who has been forced to leave a country because of war or for religious or political reasons
congratulate – v. to tell someone that you are happy because of his or her success or good luck
scholarship - n. an amount of money that is given by a school, an organization, etc., to a student to help pay for the student's education
status – n. the official position of a person or thing according to the law
degree – n. n official document and title that is given to someone who has successfully completed a series of classes at a college or university
veteran 15 – n. someone who fought in a war as a soldier, sailor or some other position
- The refugee was condemned to a life of wandering.这个难民注定要过流浪的生活。
- The refugee is suffering for want of food and medical supplies.难民苦于缺少食物和医药用品。
- The new mayor said he would clean the city up.新市长说，他要整顿本市。
- The mayor hurried into his office,brushing off the reporters.市长赶快走进办公室，拒不接见记者。
- He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
- In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。
- 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。
- The salesman can get commission on everything he sells.这个售货员能得到所售每件货物的佣金。
- The commission is made up of five people,including two women.委员会由五人组成，其中包括两名妇女。
- The UN has begun making airdrops of food to refugees. 联合国已开始向难民空投食物。
- They claimed they were political refugees and not economic migrants. 他们宣称自己是政治难民，不是经济移民。
- The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
- The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。
- We shall gladly lend every effort in our power toward its realization.我们将乐意为它的实现而竭尽全力。
- He came to the realization that he would never make a good teacher.他逐渐认识到自己永远不会成为好老师。
- 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？
- There is no doubt but that he will win the election.毫无疑问，他将在竞选中获胜。
- The government will probably fall at the coming election.在即将到来的大选中，该政府很可能要垮台。
- He is a conservative member of the church.他是一个守旧教会教友。
- The young man is very conservative.这个年轻人很守旧。
- They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
- The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
- improvements in efficiency at the factory 工厂效率的提高
- They've spent a lot of money on home improvements. 他们花了很多钱装修家居。
- Do you think our housing sales will turn around during this year?你认为今年我们的住宅销路会好转吗？
- The housing sales have been turning down since the summer.入夏以来，房屋的销售量日趋减少。
- My grandfather is a veteran of the Second World War.我祖父是二战时的老兵。
- We often asked the veteran workers for advice.我们常常向老工人求教。