評論
打印
1.VOA常速
【EU Oil Embargo on Iran Goes into Effect Sunday】
TEXT:The world runs on oil, much of it transported on ships from countries in the Middle East, including Iran. But the European Union has all but stopped its imports from Iran, and the flow will stop completely by Sunday.
The move was expected to be costly, resulting in an increase in the price of oil. Instead, the price has dropped by 20 percent since April.
"What has happened is that Libyan production is coming back, Saudi production has been increased, Nigerian production went up and Iraq has also increased output. And the net increase has been half a million barrels a day," said Leo Drollas of London’s Center for Global Energy Studies.
No need for Iran's oil
Drollas says the world has so much oil that it doesn’t need Iran’s output. And Iran’s rival Saudi Arabia appears eager to keep it that way.
That is bad news for Iran, where international sanctions have caused a 20 percent inflation rate, with food prices rising more than twice that fast.
Now, the situation will only get worse, according to Iran expert Mark Fitzpatrick at London’s International Institute for Strategic Studies.
"More sanctions will be imposed on the Iranian economy, not just the ones that have already been agreed, that fall due on July 1st, but more on top of that. It won’t be a pleasant place to live, in Iran, in the months to come," he said.
Fitzpatrick believes the sanctions will get worse because negotiations to curb Iran’s nuclear fuel enrichment program appear to be in trouble. Recent talks in Moscow produced no move toward compromise. Iran says its program is for peaceful uses but foreign experts say it could easily lead to the production of a nuclear bomb.
Resilient economy
Still, Fitzpatrick says Iran’s economy is strong enough to withstand the pressure of sanctions at least for a little longer.
"It won’t fall to its knees immediately," he said. "But the pressure on the Iranian consumers, is only going to get worse. And what for? What is the purpose of all this pain? So that Iran can have an enrichment program to produce a nuclear weapon in the future, that if they ever took that step the United States will go to war against Iran? It doesn’t make any sense.”
Fitzpatrick does not expect military action as long as negotiations continue. But later this year, if talks fail, he says Israel could attack Iran’s nuclear facilities, and that could trigger a wider war.
2.VOA慢速
【Using Student Writing to Teach Global Issues】
TEXT:This is the VOA Special English Education Report.
One World Education is a nonprofit group based in Washington. The group has a program in which teachers develop curriculum based on student writing. The students are in middle and high school and write essays about culture and global issues.
Students are invited to write about an issue they find important. Then professionally developed learning materials based on chosen essays are used in schools to teach other students.
Eric Goldstein is the executive director of One World Education.
ERIC GOLDSTEIN: "Over the last four years, we have worked with over fifteen hundred student writers and we have worked with almost three hundred twenty-five teachers accessing the One World curriculum."
He says the essays can serve as a writing and learning guide for thousands of students.
ERIC GOLDSTEIN: "It is truly the only online academic arena for young people to share and publish their writings in a way [that] it serves as a teaching tool for other students."
Mr. Goldstein is himself a former classroom teacher. He and another teacher, Emily Chiariello, began forming plans for One World Education in two thousand six.
The group publishes a study unit each month from August through May. Each unit of curriculum starts with a chosen essay, called a "One World Reflection." The subjects have ranged from single parenthood to protecting rainforests to exploring Arab cultures, says Mr. Goldstein.
ERIC GOLDSTEIN: "We have had students writing One World Reflection s on women in the Muslim world, on Islamic media, on Arab media, on Arab identity. One student [wrote] about being Muslim and how she is perceived in her neighborhood."
Laila Kunaish of Washington wrote about her feeling that the media in the United States are often unfair to Muslims. A learning activity based on her reflection called for students to collect examples of media stories and discuss whether or not that was true.
Laila was chosen as a One World Student Ambassador last year. Twelve are chosen each year. Their reflections are published on the group's website, along with learning activities linked to common reading and writing standards used for testing.
Isabel Nampakwa Kapotwe of Lusaka, Zambia, was also chosen as a student ambassador. She wrote about Zambia's cultural traditions, its languages, religions and tourist attractions. But she also wrote about poverty and disease, and how, after her parents died, her grandmother made a home for the remaining family. One activity based on her reflection called for research into the care given by grandparents as heads of households in today's society.
And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. Go to 51voa.com to find a link to the One World Education website, where you can read some of the student reflections. I'm Jim Tedder.
參考譯文:這里是美國之音慢速英語教育報道。
寰宇一家教育是總部設在華盛頓的非盈利組織，該組織設有一個教師根據學生寫作而開發的課程，學生是中學生和高中生，他們寫作關于文化和全球問題的文章。
老師要求學生寫他們認為重要的問題，然后根據選出的文章中開發學習材料，用來教其他學生。
Eric Goldstein是寰宇一家教育的執行董事。
ERIC GOLDSTEIN: “在過去四年間，通過寰球一家課程，我們同1500多名學生作者和325名教師進行了合作。”
他說，這些文章可為數千名學生提供寫作和學習指導。
ERIC GOLDSTEIN: “對年輕人來說，這確實是唯一的在線學術平臺，可以分享和出版自己的作品，并為其他學生提供教學工具。”
Goldstein本人曾是一名任課老師，他和另一位老師Emily Chiariello于2006年開始制定寰球一家的計劃。
該組織每年8月到次年5月每月都會出版一部作品集，每個課程單元都以一篇名為“寰球一家思考”的文章。Goldstein說，文章的課題涵蓋單親家庭、保護熱帶雨林和開發阿拉伯文化等。
ERIC GOLDSTEIN: “有的學生給‘寰球一家思考’寫了文章，涉及穆斯林世界婦女、伊斯蘭媒體、阿拉伯媒體、阿拉伯認同感。一名學生寫了自己作為穆斯林，鄰居對自己的看法。”
華盛頓的Laila Kunaish寫了自己的感受，稱華盛頓的媒體通常對穆斯林不公正。一項基于她的思考的學習活動呼吁學生們收集媒體故事，并討論是否屬實。
去年，Laila被選為寰球一家學生大使，每年都要選出12名學生。他們的思考發表在該組織的網站上，一起發布的還有用于測試的閱讀及寫作標準相關的學習活動。
來自贊比亞盧薩卡的伊莎貝爾也當選為學生大使，她寫了有關贊比亞文化傳統、語言、宗教和旅游名勝的文章。
她的文章還涉及貧困和疾病，以及父母雙亡后，祖母如何為家人撐起重負。一個基于她的思考的活動呼吁對當今社會這樣祖父母當家的家庭進行研究。
本VOA慢速參考譯文由可可英語Sunny提供
