时间:2019-01-14 作者:英语课 分类:VOA标准英语2010年(十一)月


英语课

When President Barack Obama visits Indonesia this month (November 9-10), he is expected to recognize the work of Peace Corps 1 volunteers as a model for cultural and educational exchanges between the United States and the largest Muslim majority country. So far, the program has been successful in helping 2 dispel 3 stereotypes 4 about Islam and the West.

What Nisha Skariah, a recent university graduate from the U.S. state of Texas, lacks in experience, she makes up for with enthusiasm.

"I am hoping within these two years I can just get them more excited about learning in general, maybe not just English but to pursue their education a little bit more actively," she explains.

Skariah is six months into her two-year Peace Corps commitment to work as a teacher in a rural area of eastern Java. Peace Corps is a U.S. government assistance program that places teachers and development workers in developing countries. Skariah and 17 others are the first Peace Corps volunteers working in Indonesia in 45 years. Jakarta expelled the Peace Corps in 1965, in part because of anti-American protests from the Indonesian Communist Party and false rumors 5 that volunteers were working for the CIA.

SkepticismToday some anti-American sentiment still exists in Indonesia. It is driven in part by Islamic groups critical of U.S. foreign policy in Israel and the war in Iraq.

But with the election of President Barack Obama, who lived in Indonesia as a child, and a new U.S. emphasis on engagement with Asia, economic and political ties are growing between two of the largest democracies in the world.

President Obama's visit to Indonesia will highlight a number of areas where the two countries are working together, especially on security and economic issues. But Anies Basewedan, the president of Paramadina University in Jakarta, says education is the best investment the U.S. can make in Indonesia.

"If the U.S. is interested in making sure Indonesia is a successful democracy, put priority on education. Support Indonesia on ensuring access to education and to quality education is there," Basewedan said.

Positive thinking While it is too early to evaluate the Peace Corps's impact, Skariah's teaching partner, Ayu Lestari Puspita Dewi, says her energy and motivation has already made a difference.

"She really helps me in the classroom because she brings lots of new ideas about teaching methods and new things just like, how to be more creative in the classroom and how to be more on time," Dewi said.

The Peace Corps experience in Indonesia is also about increasing understanding between the Islamic world and America. The volunteers live with families, and try to become part of the community where they live. Travis Bluemling says playing sports like volleyball has helped him feel accepted. Before coming to Indonesia, Bluemling says he was concerned, that as an American, he might not be welcomed in a Muslim community.

"However, I could not have been more wrong," Bluemling said. "They have allowed me to enter their house. I join them in their Muslim meetings. I joined them with fasting and I even entered the mosque 6." Changing minds Some school officials say the American volunteers are more tolerant and cooperative than they anticipated. But Bluemling's teaching partner Hadi Purwanto says there has also been criticism that he is trying to implement 7 change too quickly.

He says they had teachers complaining about that but they try to look at the bright side, because with Travis here they can learn from his discipline.

Bluemling says he too has much to learn about Indonesian life and language but as he becomes more involved in the community, the cultural differences become less important.



n.(通信等兵种的)部队;(同类作的)一组
  • The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
  • When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时,他自愿参加了海军陆战队。
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
vt.驱走,驱散,消除
  • I tried in vain to dispel her misgivings.我试图消除她的疑虑,但没有成功。
  • We hope the programme will dispel certain misconceptions about the disease.我们希望这个节目能消除对这种疾病的一些误解。
n.老套,模式化的见解,有老一套固定想法的人( stereotype的名词复数 )v.把…模式化,使成陈规( stereotype的第三人称单数 )
  • Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
  • It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调,我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 );[古]名誉;咕哝;[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 );[古]名誉;咕哝;[古]喧嚷
  • Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》
n.清真寺
  • The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
  • Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前,清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。
n.(pl.)工具,器具;vt.实行,实施,执行
  • Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划,除非你能完成这项计划。
  • The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。
学英语单词
-hemia
a basket
apophylactic phase
Arts and Crafts Movement
auricular gangrene
banker's draught
Beeroth of the children of Jaakan
beish
Bereznik
bubble proof
cabtire cord
centerboards
chorales
classicals
closes out
cochloitis
comparative income statement
contractibleness
cottonmouth moccasins
crebs
cubicula
cut the grass under someone's feet
Denmark Str.
disdainingly
due west
earth pressure
eccentric error
echo flutter
employee withholding payable
family dactylopteridaes
five-layer
Foucault rotating-mirror method
gas-phase chemiluminescence
grazing facilitation
hangtime
heat of mixture
horsewhips
hypertonia hypertropy
I spy
ILS terrian clearence
inharmonious fold
integrity vs. despair
interest upon loans
intraosteal
key-sequenced data set
Maradah
medical supplies
melchisedec
message separation function
micronizers
microphytophagous mites
monestrous
moving spirit
multi- resistance
multi-shuttle ribbon loom
mus tenellus
neutron leakage spectrum
old women's fable story
on-let
out-length
output formatter
Pan'kova Zemlya, Poluostrov
partial differential equation
pentamerus
phenolphthalein test
pitch accents
Pleasant Dale
potein-free solution
protein-free filtrate
prototyping technique
re-record
reticular part
revolving line of credit
Rooker
row-bowls
separating sieve
simulately
Singapore Shipping Association
smoothline
straight debt value
stress fracture of fibula
stretto by diminution
suspended camera
system tester
tere
tetraiodotetrachlorofluorescein
Thomas' pessary
to consist of
town-centre
TPT (time priority table)
training board
trevalion
triple deck screen
unbung
vertebrochondral
vestibule train
vibration isolating material
victomycin
West New Britain Prov.
whamo
yuglon
Zirobwe