YouthInvolvement Critical to Addressing WorldProblems

　　Washington— If the future lies with the young, why wait for the future?

　　Thatseems to be the new tack the U.S.Department of State is taking by engaging youngpeople in its diplomacy.

　　“Webelieve that young people are critical to addressing many of the world’s mostpressing problems, and we think our work is stronger when young people areinvolved, ” says Zeenat Rahman, who serves asSecretary of State John Kerry’s special adviser on global youth issues.

　　Asdirector of the Office of Global Youth Issues, a position she assumed in June2012, she says: “The core message that I have foryoung people is that you matter to the Department of State.”

　　“Weare growing in leaps and bounds inimproving the way that we engage with young people, ” Rahman said. “Since Ibegan my tenure, we’ve doubled the number of Embassy and Consulate-facilitatedYouth Councils, we’ve engaged the private sector partners to see how we canimprove economic opportunities for young people, and we’ve worked really hardto engage in an actual two-way dialogue with young people, and facilitatingopportunities to develop their skills and networks.”

　　Thereare currently 61 U.S. Embassy and Consulate-facilitated Youth Councils. They serve, according to Rahman, to connect U.S. diplomats tomotivated young people who drive the development of their own action plans ontopics such as youth employment, civic and political engagement, conflictresolution, women’s empowerment, civilian security, and education byidentifying issues and concerns that resonate with their peers and the localcommunity.

　　“Manyof these councils are fairly new, ” Rahman said, “but Youth Council members arecollaborating to create positive changes in their societies.

　　“Forexample, the council in Madagascar designed and conducted public opinionsurveys about ethics in politics and used the responses to draft a Code ofConduct for politicians. Youth Councils in Latvia and Macedonia are connectingthrough an exchange program that examines solutions to youth unemployment inboth countries.

　　“InAlgeria, council members arranged a workshop to teach youth résumé-writing andjob interview skills. Youth Council members in Nepal have increased awarenessabout the work of young community activists and the legal rights of Nepalesewomen via weekly radio programs.

　　“InMexico, Youth Councils in Monterrey and Nuevo Laredo are working to preventat-risk youth from joining gangs, while the council in Cambodia willcollaborate with the private sector to focus on enhancing employmentopportunities and internships for youth.

　　“Whatmakes these councils sustainable, ” Rahman said, “is that the young peoplethemselves are leading on these initiatives in partnership with U.S. diplomatswho are committed to youth empowerment.”

　　Mindfulthat some 75 million young people around the world are without jobs, PresidentObama has highlighted entrepreneurship as a pillar of U.S. global engagement,underscoring the importance of entrepreneurship as one of the most powerfulways for individuals to improve their economic circumstances, Rahman said.Using social media tools and workshops, the State Department works to assistyoung people in attaining the business skills they need to be successfulentrepreneurs, such as how to develop innovative ideas, build a business planand win over potential investors.

　　TheState Department, Rahman said, launched the Startup Youth Initiative inDecember 2012 at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Dubai and reached 200young people. “Through the initiative, ” she said, “we have directly impactedyoung entrepreneurs through hands-on skills building [workshops], but we arealso highlighting some of the rising entrepreneurial stars in each geographicregion, providing role models for other youth, driving additional resourcestowards building leadership and entrepreneurship capacity among them, andproviding a positive narrative that frames youth as part of the solution tomany of the economic problems that face young people.”

　　重点词汇

　　1. sector

　　n. 部门;扇形，扇区;象限仪;函数尺vt. 把…分成扇形

　　2. civic

　　adj. 市的;公民的，市民的

　　3. investor

　　n. 投资者

　　4. awareness

　　n. 意识，认识;明白，知道

　　5. engage

　　vt. 吸引，占用;使参加;雇佣;使订婚;预定vi. 从事;答应，保证;交战;啮合

　　6. tack

　　n. 大头钉;粗缝;行动方针;食物vt. 附加;以大头针钉住vi. 抢风航行;作文字形移动

　　7. partnership

　　n. 合伙;[经管] 合伙企业;合作关系;合伙契约

　　8. initiative

　　n. 主动权;首创精神adj. 主动的;自发的;起始的

　　9. geographic

　　adj. 地理的;地理学的

　　10. entrepreneur

　　n. 企业家;承包人;主办者

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　　译文：

　　年轻人的参与是解决全球问题的关键

　　齐纳特?拉赫曼(State Dept.)

　　齐纳特?拉赫曼担任国务卿克里的全球青年事务特别顾问及全球青年事务办公室主任。

　　华盛顿——如果未来是属于年轻人的，那又何必要等到未来呢?

　　这看来是美国国务院(U.S.Department of State)目前采取的让年轻人参与外交的新策略。

　　国务卿克里(Secretaryof State John Kerry)的全球青年事务特别顾问齐纳特·拉赫曼(Zeenat Rahman)说：“我们相信青年是解决世界上许多最紧迫问题的关键，而且我们认为年轻人的参与能使我们的工作更有效力。”

　　拉赫曼于2012年6月就任全球青年事务办公室(Officeof Global Youth Issues)主任。她表示：“我想传递给年轻人的核心信息是你们对国务院很重要。”

　　拉赫曼说：“我们在改善与年轻人的交流互动方面正在取得突飞猛进的进展。自从我就任以来，得到大使馆及领事馆协助的青年理事会(YouthCouncils)的数目翻了一番，我们让私营部门合作伙伴参与探讨如何能为年轻人改善经济机会，我们切实努力与年轻人进行真正的双向对话，并协助增进有助于发展他们的技能和社会关系网的机会。”

　　目前共有61个得到大使馆和领事馆协助的青年理事会。据拉赫曼介绍，它们致力于在美国外交人员与积极进取的年轻人之间建立联系，这些年轻人通过识别在同龄人中间和当地社区引起共鸣的问题和担忧，在青年发展、公民及政治参与、冲突解决、增强妇女自主权、平民安全及教育等问题上主导推行自己的行动计划。

　　拉赫曼说：“很多理事会才刚刚起步，但是青年理事会成员为了在他们的社会中实现积极的变革正在协同努力。”

　　国务卿克里与中美洲青年大使见面(State Dept.)

　　国务卿克里与中美洲青年大使见面。青年大使项目是国务院旨在培养年轻人的领导能力并鼓励他们参与社区事务的项目之一。

　　她说：“例如，马达加斯加的青年理事会拟定并开展了有关政治道德的民意调查，并利用调查结果为从政人员制定了行为守则。拉脱维亚和马其顿的青年理事会正在通过一项交流项目建立联系，探讨两国青年失业问题的解决方案。”

　　她接着说：“在阿尔及利亚，理事会成员举办培训班，向阿尔及利亚年轻人传授写简历和求职面谈的技巧。尼泊尔的青年理事会通过每周播出的广播节目提高了社会对青年社会活动人士所做的努力以及尼泊尔妇女的法律权利的意识。”

　　她还说：“在墨西哥，蒙特雷(Monterrey)和新拉雷多(NuevoLaredo)的青年理事会正在努力防范高危青少年加入帮派，而柬埔寨的理事会将与私营部门协作并把重点放在增加年轻人的就业和实习机会上。”

　　拉赫曼指出：“这些理事会能够持续发展的原因在于，年轻人自己在这些与美国外交人员合作展开的行动计划中发挥着主导作用。”

　　拉赫曼说，考虑到全球约有7500万年轻人没有工作，欧巴马总统(PresidentObama)着重强调创业并将其作为美国全球参与的一个支柱，并强调创业作为个人改善经济状况的最强有力的途径之一的重要性。国务院利用社交媒体手段及开办培训班，努力帮助年轻人获得他们成为成功的创业家所必备的商业技能，例如如何拿出新创意、制定经营计划以及如何赢得潜在投资者。

　　拉赫曼说，国务院于2012年12月在迪拜的全球创业峰会(GlobalEntrepreneurship Summit)上启动了“青年创业行动计划”(StartupYouth Initiative)，并吸引了200余名年轻人参与。她说：“在这项行动中，我们通过旨在培养实践能力的[培训班]已直接影响了青年创业者。我们还在每个地区突显一批创业家新星，为其他年轻人树立榜样，并促使将更多的资源投入于在他们中间打造领导力和创业能力，以此宣讲青年一代能为解决年轻人所面临的经济问题作出贡献的意义。”

　　“青年创业行动计划”的下一次活动将于4月在印度举行。

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　　The house style that dominated American housing during the 1880s and 1890s was known as Queen Anne, a curious name for an American style. The name was, in fact, a historical accident, originating with fashionable architects in Victorian England who coined it with apparently no reason other than its pleasing sound. The Queen Anne style was loosely based on medieval structures built long before 1702, the beginning year of Queen Anne’s reign.

　　A distinctive characteristic found in most Queen Anne houses is the unusual roof shape --- a steeply pitched, hipped central portion with protruding lower front and side extensions that end in gables. It is often possible to spot these distinctive roof forms from several blocks away. Another feature of this style is the detailing, shown in the wood shingle siding cut into fanciful decorative patterns of scallops, curves, diamonds, or triangles. Queen Anne houses are almost always asymmetrical. If you draw an imaginary line down the middle of one, you will see how drastically different the right and left sides are, all the way from ground level to roof peak. A final characteristic is the inviting wraparound porch that includes the front door area and then extends around to either the right or left side of the house.

　　Queen Anne houses faded from fashion early in the twentieth century as the public’s taste shifted toward the more modern Prairie and Craftsman style houses. Today, however, Queen Anne houses are favorite symbols of the past, painstakingly and lovingly restored by old-house buffs and reproduced by builders who give faithful attention to the distinctive shapes and detailing that were first popularized more than one hundred years ago.

　　1. Why does the author use the word curious in describing the name of an American style?

　　A.The style was invented before Queen Anne’s reign.

　　B.The name was accidentally misspelled.

　　C.The style was more popular in Victorian England.

　　D.The name did not originate in American.

　　2. The word it in paragraph 1 refers to

　　A. style

　　B. name

　　C. accident

　　D. England

　　3. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a characteristic feature of Queen Anne houses?

　　A. decorative windows

　　B. wood shingle exterior walls

　　C. large porch

　　D. steeply pitched roof

　　4. Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph 2 about the Queen Anne style?

　　A. the Queen Anne style combined several other styles.

　　B. the Queen Anne style had to be built in the city.

　　C. the Queen Anne style was elaborate and ornate.

　　D. the Queen Anne style was not very popular.

　　5. The word buffs in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to

　　A. experts

　　B. sellers

　　C. critics

　　D. painters

　　6. Can you predict the main element which the architects will concern for next generation of house style? Write an essay to give your opinions.

　　答案：

　　1.D 　2.B 　3.A 　4.C 　5.A

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　　The medieval artists didn’t know about perspective; they didn’t want to make their people look like real, individual people in a real, individual scene. They wanted to show the truth, the eternal quality of their religious stories. So these artists didn’t need to know about perspective.

　　In the European Renaissance period, artists wanted to show the importance of the individual person and his or her possessions and surroundings. A flat medieval style couldn’t show this level of reality and the artists needed a new technique. It was the Italian artist Brunelleschi who discovered the technique of perspective drawing. At first the artists of the Renaissance only had single-point perspective. Later they realized that they could have two-pointed perspective and still later multi-point perspective.

　　With two-point perspective they could turn an object (like a building) at an angle to the picture and draw two sides of it. The technique of perspective which seems so natural to us now is an invented technique, a part of the “grammar of painting”. Like all bits of grammar there are exceptions about perspective. For example, only vertical and horizontal surfaces seem to meet on eye level. Sloping roof tops don’t meet on eye level.

　　For 500 years, artists in Europe made use of perspective drawing in their pictures. Nevertheless, there are a range of priorities that artists in displaying individual styles. Crivelli wanted to show depth in his picture and he used a simple single-point perspective. Cezanne always talked about space and volume. Van Gogh, like some of the other painters of the Impressionist period, was interested in Japanese prints. And Japanese artists until this century were always very strong designers of “flat” pictures. Picasso certainly made pictures which have volume and depth. However, he wanted to keep our eyes on the surface and to remind us that his paintings are paintings and not illusions.

　　It is technically easy to give an illusion of depth. However, a strong two dimensional design is just as important as a feeling of depth, and perhaps more important.

　　1 The passage mainly discusses

　　(a) the difference between medieval and Renaissance art

　　(b) how the technique of perspective influenced the modern art

　　(c) the discovery of the technique of perspective

　　(d) the contribution of Renaissance artists

　　2 The word “eternal” in line 3 is closest in meaning to

　　(a) timeless

　　(b) infinite

　　(c) frequent

　　(d) constant

　　3 According to the passage, which is the main concern for medieval artists?

　　(a) the individual person and his/her possessions and surroundings

　　(b) real people, real scenes

　　(c) eternal timeless truth of the earth

　　(d) themes of religious stories

　　4 The discovery of perspective was the result of

　　(a) Renaissance artists’ to prove that the medieval artists could show level of reality

　　(b) the need to turn an object at an angle and draw more than one side of it

　　(c) the subject being shifted from religious stories to individual person and surroundings.

　　(d) natural evolution of human senses

　　5 The word “it” in line 12 refers to

　　(a) the picture

　　(b) perspective

　　(c) angle

　　(d) the object

　　6 The word “Grammar ” in line 13 is closest in meaning to

　　(a) construction

　　(b) grammatical rules

　　(c) rules and regulations

　　(d) tones and volume

　　7 The author’s purpose to give the example in line14-15 is to

　　(a) explain how perspective work in painting

　　(b) support two-pointed perspective

　　(c) illustrate that there are exceptions about perspective

　　(d) point out that the technique of perspective though seems so natural is an invented technique

　　8 The following artists’ priorities in style shift away from perspective except

　　(a) Crivelli

　　(b) Cezanne

　　(c) Japanese artists

　　(d) Brunelleschi

　　9 The word ”Illusion” in line 25 is closest in meaning to

　　(a) deception

　　(b) photograph

　　(c) decoration

　　(d) illustration

　　10 It can be inferred from the passage that Renaissance artists

　　(a) embraced the medieval style of eternal truth

　　(b) needed to develop a new approach towards painting to show a new level of reality

　　(c) were inspired by vertical and horizontal surfaces in inventing the technique of perspective

　　(d) saw two dimensional design more important than a feeling of depth

　　参考答案：1.b 2.a 3.d 4.c 5.d 6.c 7.c 8.d 9.a 10.b