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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.
参考译文:这里是美国之音慢速英语教育报道。
寰宇一家教育是总部设在华盛顿的非盈利组织，该组织设有一个教师根据学生写作而开发的课程，学生是中学生和高中生，他们写作关于文化和全球问题的文章。
老师要求学生写他们认为重要的问题，然后根据选出的文章中开发学习材料，用来教其他学生。
Eric Goldstein是寰宇一家教育的执行董事。
ERIC GOLDSTEIN: “在过去四年间，通过寰球一家课程，我们同1500多名学生作者和325名教师进行了合作。”
他说，这些文章可为数千名学生提供写作和学习指导。
ERIC GOLDSTEIN: “对年轻人来说，这确实是唯一的在线学术平台，可以分享和出版自己的作品，并为其他学生提供教学工具。”
Goldstein本人曾是一名任课老师，他和另一位老师Emily Chiariello于2006年开始制定寰球一家的计划。
该组织每年8月到次年5月每月都会出版一部作品集，每个课程单元都以一篇名为“寰球一家思考”的文章。Goldstein说，文章的课题涵盖单亲家庭、保护热带雨林和开发阿拉伯文化等。
ERIC GOLDSTEIN: “有的学生给‘寰球一家思考’写了文章，涉及穆斯林世界妇女、伊斯兰媒体、阿拉伯媒体、阿拉伯认同感。一名学生写了自己作为穆斯林，邻居对自己的看法。”
华盛顿的Laila Kunaish写了自己的感受，称华盛顿的媒体通常对穆斯林不公正。一项基于她的思考的学习活动呼吁学生们收集媒体故事，并讨论是否属实。
去年，Laila被选为寰球一家学生大使，每年都要选出12名学生。他们的思考发表在该组织的网站上，一起发布的还有用于测试的阅读及写作标准相关的学习活动。
来自赞比亚卢萨卡的伊莎贝尔也当选为学生大使，她写了有关赞比亚文化传统、语言、宗教和旅游名胜的文章。
她的文章还涉及贫困和疾病，以及父母双亡后，祖母如何为家人撑起重负。一个基于她的思考的活动呼吁对当今社会这样祖父母当家的家庭进行研究。
本VOA慢速参考译文由可可英语Sunny提供
