20180425: 美国之音(voa)慢速英语 30分钟

Original littleflute 漂泊者乐园 2021-10-05

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美国之音(voa)慢速英语 30分钟

(1) Saudi Women Buying More Makeup

(2) China’s Communist Party at Universities Worldwide

(3)The Making of a Nation ( no script)

(1)Saudi Women Buying More Makeup

In this Thursday, April 19, 2018 photo, Bahraini singer Jihan Sheib tries on a shade of blue lipstick from Rihanna's new Fenty line that debuted across the kingdom in Sephora stores in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Here, where most women cover their faces and hai

Eighteen-year-old Shahad al-Qahtani is excited about sales of Rihanna’s makeupproducts in Saudi Arabia.

Rihanna, known for her hit songs and fearless spirit, is popular among Saudi women. Many are expected to buy her new makeup, called “Fenty.”

Rihanna and other personalities like Kim Kardashian, who experiment with their looks, are well-known in Saudi Arabia. A lot of Saudi women follow them on social media websites like Instagram and Snapchat.

Their looks and clothing, however, are far different from the way most Saudi women appear in public. Many wear black veils over their head and shoulders. Women in Saudi Arabia must also wear long black robes, known as abayas, over their clothes in public.

Al-Qahtani spoke to the Associated Press at a Sephora makeup store. The teenager said she had tried Rihanna’s products in Dubai. “I came here to buy the things that were sold out there,” she added.

Al-Qahtani said she likes to experiment with her physical appearance. She wears colorful makeup at gatherings where women and men are separated.

While most women cover their face and hair in public, Saudi women spend a lot of money on makeup. This is partly because of the increasing number of Saudi women who now work and have their own money to spend.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has pushed through a number of social reforms in recent months. Those measures are said to have limited the influence of very conservative Saudis.

Religious police no longer watch women when they visit stores, looking for signs of colorful makeup or women’s faces showing.

Unlike in many Western countries, women across Arab Gulf countries often wear bright, colorful makeup. Many carry eye-catching accessories as a way to offset the black of their veils and abayas.

“As Gulf women, we love beautiful things,” said Najla Sultan bin Awwad, a mother of two in her 30s. She started working for the first time last year at Sephora. She added that Saudi women do not need a special event to wear makeup.

In this Thursday, April 19, 2018 photo, Najla Sultan bin Awwad works at Sephora in Riyadh. The mother of two in her 30s started working for the first time a year ago at the store, says even women who cover their face with a veil are becoming bolder in public.

Women usually do not leave their homes without makeup, bin Awwad noted. She said woman are putting on colorful contact lenses and using eyeliner the way they want.

Before working at Sephora, she said she used to spend nearly all her money on makeup.

“The reason my husband agreed to me working is because he sees how much I love makeup and how much I used to spend on it,” she said, laughing.

Marketing research group Euromonitor International reports that rising employment has increased the ability of Saudi women to buy beauty and personal care products. Store sales of makeup in Saudi Arabia rose from $410 million in 2012 to $576 million last year, the group said.

In 2012, then-Saudi King Abdullah approved a decision to let women work in makeup and lingerie stores. His decision led to thousands of women getting jobs.

Many Saudis welcomed the move. But some ultraconservatives criticized the decision. They said permitting women to work in stores would open the door to immoral actions and wrongdoing.

Before the King’s decision, a women who wanted to buy makeup would have to deal with men, mostly lower-wage workers from the Philippines.

It created difficulties for women. Often a woman wanted to try on a new color makeup, but could not lift her face veil in front of the salesman or let him touch her skin. The reason: Islamic rules about the separation of men and women.

“It’s hard to buy makeup when a man is trying it out for me, testing it on my hand or my face,” said Haifa Alwathlan. She started working in clothing and makeup stores in Saudi Arabia soon after women were given the right to work.

Alwathlan said that since starting work at Sephora, not only has she learned how to use makeup better, but she has learned how to deal with different kinds of people.

Letting more women get jobs is believed to be important for the Saudi economy. It will help create additional jobs for the millions of young Saudis who will be seeking employment in the next few years.

Prince Mohammed is trying to make it easier for young Saudis to enjoy their lives and increase what they spend on fun and recreation. He hopes this will help the economy as oil prices remain low.

He also decided to end a ban on women driving cars, which will let women get to work easily. Earlier, women had to ask male relatives to drive them.

Other reforms include the return of musical performances and shows that were banned only a few years ago.

Last week, Saudi Arabia opened its first movie theater, showing the film “Black Panther” to a small group.

I'm Susan Shand.

The Associated Press reported this story. Susan Shand adapted the report for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.

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Words in This Story

makeup – n. substances (such as lipstick or powder) used to make someone's face look more attractive

personality – n. a person who is famous

veil – n. a piece of cloth or net worn usually by women over the head and shoulders and sometimes over the face

robe – n. a long, loose piece of clothing that is worn on top of other clothes

accessory – n. something added to something else to make it more useful, attractive, or effective

lingerie – n. women's underwear and clothing that is worn in bed

contact lens – n. a thin piece of plastic which, when placed directly on the surface of the eye, improves eyesight.

offset – v. to serve as a balance for something

(2) China’s Communist Party at Universities Worldwide

Performers hold flags of the Communist Party of China during an event to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the party, at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai, on June 30, 2011. (Reuters/Carlos Barria)

China’s Communist Party is reportedly expanding activities aimed at Chinese university students in America and other nations.

Radio Free Asia, or RFA reports the expansion is an effort to keep the party’s ideology in the minds of Chinese citizens studying abroad. It also seeks to defend against “bad ideas” picked up in other countries that could influence the students.

The Communist Party is organizing at overseas universities in a similar way it operates in China, RFA reports. The efforts are part of an ideological campaign called United Front, which aims to bring specific groups of people into the party.

The foreign branches are reportedly used to spread the party's ideological message worldwide. One such branch was set up last year by Chinese students in an exchange program at the University of California, Davis in northern California.

China’s University of Science and Technology, in the northeastern city of Dalian, reported on its website that seven Chinese students had set up the party branch at the U.S. university.

Hospitality staff members pose for a selfie near the portrait of Chinese leader Mao Zedong during the opening session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) held in Beijing's Great Hall of the People, Saturday, March 3, 2018. (A

The group – made up of students from several different universities – held its first meeting in November 2017, the website reported. It added that the first meeting centered on teaching students ways to fight “various kinds of negative influences” on their thinking while overseas.

The group was expected to meet twice a month to study “the latest ideological thinking” of the Communist Party, Hong Kong’s Ming Paonewspaper reported. The organization also aimed to provide "care and warmth" to Chinese students abroad.

A recent report in the U.S.-based publication Foreign Policy said party branches have been set up by Chinese at universities in several states. These include Illinois, Ohio, New York, Connecticut, North Dakota and West Virginia.

A Communist Party branch was set up in July 2017 by a group of nine Chinese students and teachers from China’s Huazhong University of Science and Technology, the publication reported.

The students were taking part in a summer program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The group held meetings to discuss party teachings and provide “ideological guidance” to the Chinese students, Foreign Policy reported.

Chinese students wait outside the U.S. Embassy for their visa application interviews in Beijing, China.

A photo of the group was posted on the Huazhong University website along with a report about its activities.

Last October, a newspaper in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang reported “temporary party branches” had been set up in Canada, Singapore and New Zealand.

The Zhejiang Daily News said the branches were created by Yiwu Industrial & Commercial College to serve its overseas students. The party’s goal was to provide services to educate and manage foreign students, the newspaper reported.

RFA reports many of those operating the party branches are Chinese teachers sent to overseas universities as part of educational exchange programs.

About 350,000 Chinese students are studying at U.S. universities, the Institute of International Education estimates. This makes up about 35 percent of the nearly 1 million foreigners studying in the U.S.

Chinese intelligence on American campuses

In February, FBI Director Christopher Wray told the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee the FBI has investigated possible Chinese intelligence operatives at American colleges and universities. He said the FBI had monitored visiting Chinese “professors, scientists and students” across the U.S.

The director described China as using many “nontraditional collectors” of intelligence and technology, both in the business community and at universities. He said he believes many U.S. university officials have been “naive” about these activities.

Wray noted that he thinks such intelligence gathering takes advantage of the openness in research and development found at U.S. universities.

Wray also expressed concerns about Chinese-run Confucius Institutes at many American universities. The institutes offer courses in language and culture for American students. China says the program is designed to inform about Chinese language and culture in educational settings around the world.

But Wray said the FBI is currently monitoring the development of the institutes and in some cases had taken “investigative steps.”

A 2017 report by the U.S.-based National Association of Scholars accused the Confucius Institutes of limiting educational freedom and teaching “a distorted view” of Chinese history and culture.

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on a report from Radio Free Asia and other sources. Hai Do was the editor.

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