VOA标准英语135.docx

VOA标准英语135.docx

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VOA标准英语135

1.ByMostAccounts,YiddishisDying

Afunnythingishappeningintheworldoflanguageinstruction. Onlyit'snotfunnyatallforonelanguageinparticular.

Becauseofthegrowingimportanceofglobalcommerceandcontact,foreignlanguageinstructionisboomingatU.S.colleges. Butbecauseofthetighteconomy,manycollegesareeliminatingfulltimelanguage-teachingpositionsorfillingthemwithcheaperlecturerswhoarenotfacultymembersatall.

LibraryofCongress

This1917poster,urgingimmigrantAmericanstocutdownontheiruseofwheatsoitcouldbeshippedtoAlliesfightinginWorldWarI,iswritteninYiddish

ThisisthecaseattheUniversityofMaryland'sflagshipCollegeParkcampus,aprestigiousstate-runschoolintheeasternUnitedStates. Tosavecosts,theuniversityplanstocutitsoneYiddish-teachingposition. It'sthelatestblowinwhathasbeenasteadydeclineinthestudyanduseofYiddish,whichbeganamongEuropeanJewsintheMiddleAgesasaconversationalGermaniclanguagethatusesHebrewcharacters.

Atonepoint,beforetheNazigenocideofJewsinEuropeduringtheHolocaustofthe1940s,anestimated10millionEuropeanJewsspokeYiddishastheireverydaylanguage,whileworshipinginformalHebrew. YiddishthrivedamongJewishimmigrantstotheUnitedStates,includingfamouscomicswhobroughtcolorful,consonant-ladenYiddishwordsintothegreaterEnglishvocabulary. Schlep,forexample. Toschlepistowalkorcarrythingsclumsily.

WikipediaCommons

JonathanWinterswasoneofmanyBorschtBeltcomedianswhoperformedatclubscateringtoaworking-classJewishclienteleinNewYork'sCatskillMountains

Today,Yiddishisstrugglingtosurvive. It'sthoughtthatfewerthan500,000people,mostlytheelderly,speakitworldwide. Mostyoung,acculturatedJewsspeakonlytheircountries'principallanguage,plusHebrewduringworship.

TheHolocaustMuseumarchiveinWashington,D.C.,isfullofYiddishmaterials,UniversityofMarylandlanguageprofessorMiriamIsaacstoldtheBaltimoreSunnewspaper. Whoisgoingtoreadthem?

ReadmoreofTed'spersonalreflectionsandstoriesfromtheroadonhisblog,TedLandphair'sAmerica.

2.StampedeKills7atHinduFestivalin

OfficialsinWestBengalstatesaythetragedyoccurredearlyThursday,whenhundredsofdevoteesscrambledtotakethefirstboatservicetoSagarIsland-thevenueforaHindureligiousfestivalknownastheGangasagarMela.

AnjanaPasricha|NewDelhi14January2010

Hindudevoteesgatherforaholydipat'Sangam,'theconfluenceofriversGangesandYamunaonMakarSankrantifestivalinAllahabad,India,14Jan2010

IneasternIndia,sevenHindupilgrimshavebeenkilledand20othersinjuredinastampedeatareligiousfestival.AtaseparatevenueinnorthernIndia,athree-monthreligiousfestival-billedastheworld'slargestreligiousgathering-hasbegun.

OfficialsinWestBengalstateintheeastsaythetragedyoccurredearlyThursday,whenhundredsofdevoteesscrambledtotakethefirstboatservicetoSagarIsland-thevenueforaHindureligiousfestivalknownastheGangasagarMela.

TheywereheadingtotheislandtotakeadipintheGangesRiver,consideredsacredbyHindus.

WestBengalPoliceInspectorGeneralSurojitKarPurokayasthatoldVOAthatahugecrowdhadpiledupaftertheferryservicetotheislandwassuspendedforsometime,becauseoflowtide.

"Peoplehadgatheredonthissideoftheriver. Whenthelowtidewasoverandthelaunchesstartedplying,therewasasuddenrushofpilgrimstowardsthelaunches,"hesaid.

Purokayasthasaysthestampedeoccurredaftersomepilgrimstrippedandfell. Hesaysmostofthevictimswerewomen.

"Outofseven,sixwereoldwomen,outofwhichthreearemorethan70,"hesaid.

Manydevoteesbelievethatanearly-morningbathismoreauspiciousandstartliningupbeforesunrisetotaketheirturn.

HindusbelievethatadipintheGangesRiverwashesawayallsins. TheriverflowsfromtheHimalayasintotheBayofBengalintheeast. And,bathingritualsareheldatseveralpointsalongtherouteoftheriverforHindupilgrimsatthistimeoftheyear.

ThebiggestfestivalistheKumbhMela,whichgotunderwayonThursdayinthenortherncity,Haridwar.Itisamassivereligiousgatheringheldeverythreeyearsandattractsseveralmillionpeopleduringthe12weeksthatitisheld.

Atopofficialorganizingthereligiousevent,ChandraShekharBhatt,saystheyhavegearedupforthemassivenumbersexpectedatthisyear'sfestival.

Bhattsaystheyhavemadeelaboratearrangementsandarepreparedtodealwithasmanypilgrimsasdecidetocome.

DespitethecoldtemperaturesprevailinginnorthernIndia,hundredsofthousandsofdevoteesturnedupforadipintheriveronThursday,whichmarksoneoffourparticularlyauspiciousbathingdatesintheHinducalendar.

3.PirateAttacksOffSomaliaNearlyDoub

TheInternationalMaritimeBureauinLondonreportspiracyincidentsonthehighseasincreasednearly40percentin2009fromayearago. PirateactivitiesoffthecoastofSomaliaaccountedformorethanhalfofallattacksworldwide.

Initsannualreport,themaritimewatchdogsaidthenumberofattacksoffthecoastofSomaliadoubledin2009from111to217.  Accordingtothebureau,piratessuccessfullyhijacked47ofthosevesselsandtook867crewmembershostage,earningthemuntoldmillionsinransompayments.

ThedirectoroftheInternationalMaritimeBureau,CaptainPottengalMukundantellsVOAthatalthoughthenumberofattackswassignificantlyhigher,thenumberofsuccessfulhijackingswereproportionatelylowerthanthepreviousyear. 

"IntheGulfofAden,fromthe8thofJulyuntilthe28thofDecember,therewerenovesselshijackedalthoughtheattackscontinued. Andthatisbecauseoftheactionstakenbythenavalforcesthereandsecondly,becauseofthemaneuveringandself-protectionmeasurestakenbyshipsgoingthroughthatarea,"hesaid.

TheGulfofAden,oneofthebusiestshippinglanesintheworld,wasthemaintargetofSomalipiratesin2008. RelentlesspirateattacksanddozensofhijackingsintheareapromptedtheUnitedStates,theEuropeanUnion,China,Russia,IndiaandothernationstosendwarshipstoprotectcommercialandprivatevesselstransitingthenarrowwaterwaybetweenSomaliaandYemen. 

Asmanyas30warshipsnowpatrolthegulfatanygiventime.

ButthefocusonprotectingtheGulfofAdenhashadanegativeeffectintheIndianOcean,particularlyoffthesouthernandeasterncoastsofSomalia.  

Usinghijackedvesselsas"motherships"totowfastskiffsandtoutilizeasfloatinghomes,piratescanoperatefarfromshoreforweeksatatime. SinceOctober,theInternationalMaritimeBureauhasrecorded33attacksonshipsintheIndianOcean. Thebureausays13vesselshavebeenseized.

MukundansayshebelievesfightingpiracyinthevastIndianOceanrequiresadifferentapproach.

"Itisthekeyriskarea,wherewedonothavethenavalprotectionthatwehaveintheGulfofAden,"hesaid. "Inthatenvironment,itappearsthatthetacticalresponseisverystrong,robustactiontobetakenagainstthemotherships,whichlaunchtheseattacks. Andmoreeffortshouldbemadetoidentifyclustersofthesemotherships. Weneedassetstoboardthem,toinspectthemandnotallowthemtocarryonwiththeseillegalactivities. Thatiswhatisrequired."

MukundansayspiracyinotherAfricanwatersisalsoontherisewith28attacksreportedoffthecoastofNigeriain2009.

4.ReportSaysImpunityinNepalBlocksP

TheInternationalCrisisGroupsaysboththeNepalesegovernmentandtheMaoistshavemadecommitmentstoinvestigatedisappearancesandaddresshuman-rightsissues,butthegroupsaysnoactionhasbeentaken.

SelahHennessy|London14January2010

AnewreportsaysNepal'speaceprocessisindangerbecauseofafailuretoaddresscrimescommittedduringthecountry'sdecade-longcivilwar. TheresearchorganizationInternationalCrisisGroupsaysprosecutionofthoseresponsibleforthemostseriousatrocitiesmustbeoneofthecountry'stoppriorities. 

InternationalCrisisGroupAsiaProgramDirectorRobertTemplarsaysimpunityisamajorprobleminNepal.

"Therehasbeenareallackofaccountabilityfollowingthesigningofthepeaceprocess,"hesaid."Andthatlackofaccountabilityonbothsidesrisksworseningtheproblemswiththatpeaceprocess,whichatthemomentisinatenseanddelicatestage."

About13,000peoplewerekilledandmorethan1,000disappearedduringNepal'sdecade-longcivilwar,whichendedwithapeaceagreementin2006.

TheInternationalCrisisGroupsaysboththeNepalesegovernmentandtheMaoistshavemadecommitmentstoinvestigatedisappearancesandaddresshuman-rightsissues,butthegroupsaysnoactionhasbeentaken.

Itsaysthetopprioritiesneedtobeprosecutingthemostseriouscrimes,investigatingdisappearances,andvettingstateandMaoistsecurityforces. Itsays,theUnitedNationsneedstodomoretoleadthewaytowardsbringinganendtoimpunity.

TheU.N.MissioninNepalwassetupin2007tosupportandmonitorthepeaceprocess. ButTemplartoldVOAtheinternationalorganizationislosingitscredibilityinthecountry.

"LargenumbersofNepaliofficersjoininternationalpeacekeepingmissionsaroundtheworld.Inmanycasesthosesameofficershavebeenaccusedofabusesathome,"hesaid."IdonotthinkitisacceptablefortheU.N.tobegivingoftenverylucrative,veryprestigiouspositionstopeoplewhohaveabusedtheirowncitizensathome."

CharuLataHogg,NepalanalystatLondon-basedresearchgroupChathamHouse,saysbringingthoseresponsibleforabusesinNepaltoju