VOA标准英语2012--'Decorate a Vet' Helps Military Families on the Holidays
时间：2019-01-14 作者：英语课 分类：VOA标准英语2012年(十二月)
'Decorate a Vet 1' Helps Military Families on the Holidays
The volunteers do everything from fixing patios 2, to clearing out tree branches, to mulching garden beds. Then they put up Christmas decorations.
Today, they're working at the Spraul family's house.
Angela Spraul and her husband are both in the military, but he is disabled. It means a lot to her to have the volunteers helping 3 her family.
"The girls love the holidays," said Spraul. "They're young. It's really nice to be able to do something fun for them and have the help. Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to do this."
Her husband, Wes, is suffering from a painful genetic 4 spinal 5 cord disorder 6.
"I think it's unbelievable that other people are so passionate 7 about helping other people out," Wes Spraul added.
Volunteer Mary Thiebault, whose son is in the military, came to support the Sprauls.
"It's exciting to see that a family will have such joy for the holiday season," Thiebault said.
Jeff Jones, founder 8 of Decorate a Vet, says that's the spirit of his organization. Jones is not a veteran, but his father and grandfather were in the military, and he wanted to honor their memory.
"I think it's important to clean the outside of the homes and decorate for Christmas because it's the time of year when people are trying to give back, and it also happens to correspond with the time of year when houses are starting to look a little sloppy 9 with leaf debris," Jones explained.
Wayne Parks and a group of colleagues from his workplace helped out by clearing out overgrown trees at the home of a woman with three small children whose husband is serving overseas.
"They need all the help they can get, especially when our servicemen are far away and can't help out their families back at home," Parks noted 10. "This is just our way of giving back a little bit the best we can."
Sadly, one WW II veteran did not live to see his home spruced up because he had passed away three weeks earlier. His widow, Carol Keister, was amazed at all the work the volunteers had done at her home. Keister says the decorations lifted her spirits.
Decorate a Vet is the only program of its kind helping veterans in the United States. But founder Jeff Jones says he would like to see his idea spread across the country, and to help veterans of other nations as well.
- I took my dog to the vet.我把狗带到兽医诊所看病。
- Someone should vet this report before it goes out.这篇报道发表之前应该有人对它进行详查。
- Concrete slab for making pathways or patios. 用于建造通道或天井的混凝土板。 来自互联网
- Typically, houses with patios crowd along narrow streets around a mosque with a square minaret. 沿着狭窄的街道是拥挤的带有天井的房子，环绕着一个有正方形尖塔的清真寺。 来自互联网
- 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。
- It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
- Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。
- After three days in Japan,the spinal column becomes extraordinarily flexible.在日本三天，就已经使脊椎骨变得富有弹性了。
- Your spinal column is made up of 24 movable vertebrae.你的脊柱由24个活动的脊椎骨构成。
- When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
- It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。
- He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
- He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。
- 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。
- If you do such sloppy work again,I promise I'll fail you.要是下次作业你再马马虎虎，我话说在头里，可要给你打不及格了。
- Mother constantly picked at him for being sloppy.母亲不断地批评他懒散。