VOA AsItIs20180424：Saudi Women Buying More Makeup

Original littleflute 漂泊者乐园 2021-10-05

漂泊者乐园 VOA慢速英语听力

(1)Former President George H.W. Bush Recovering from Infection

(2) Chinese Companies, Government Accused of Sex Discrimination in Hiring

(3)Muppets Bring Middle East Version of ‘Sesame Street’ to Refugee Children

(4) Saudi Women Buying More Makeup

(1)Former President George H.W. Bush Recovering from Infection

Former Presidents George W. Bush, left, and George H.W. Bush arrive at St. Martin's Episcopal Church for a funeral service for former first lady Barbara Bush, Saturday, April 21, 2018, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip )

Former United States President George Herbert Walker Bush is in a hospital in Houston, Texas. He is sick with sepsis, an infection of the blood.

A spokesman said Bush was admitted for medical treatment Sunday, the morning after the funeral of his wife, Barbara.

On Monday, spokesman Jim McGrath wrote on Twitter that the 93-year-old former president is "responding to treatments and appears to be recovering."

Barbara Bush was buried on Saturday. Mrs. Bush was 92 years old. She and her husband had been married 73 years — the longest presidential marriage in U.S. history.

Three other former presidents and their wives joined George H.W. Bush at the funeral. The three are their son, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Melania Trump, wife of President Donald Trump, also was among the mourners.

Former U.S. Presidents and former U.S. first ladies Laura Bush, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, and first lady Melania Trump pose with former U.S. President George H.W. Bush at the funeral of Barbara Bush in Houston

George H.W. Bush uses a wheelchair and an electric scooter to move around after he developed a form of Parkinson's disease. He has needed hospital treatment several times in recent years for breathing problems.

Monday night, McGrath would not provide details on Bush's condition. He said additional information would be provided as needed. He also said the 41st president was eager to get well so he can get to his summer home in Maine.

McGrath said Bush is firm about meeting goals.

George H.W. Bush served as president from 1989 to 1993. Born June 12, 1924, in Milton, Massachusetts, he also served as a congressman, director of the Central Intelligence Agency and Ronald Reagan's vice president.

I'm Jonathan Evans.

VOA News reported this story. Caty Weaver adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

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Words in This Story

eager - adj. feeling a strong and impatient desire to do something

respond - v. to have a good or desired reaction to something

scooter - n. a small personal vehicle used to move about

(2) Chinese Companies, Government Accused of Sex Discrimination in Hiring

FILE - Visitors use their smartphones underneath the logo of Tencent at the Global Mobile Internet Conference in Beijing, May 6, 2014.

A new report accuses top Chinese technology companies and the Chinese government of sex discrimination in hiring.

The report concerns the advertising of jobs. It says discriminatory ads are linked to a shrinking percentage of women in the labor force.

Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent Holdings Ltd are among the companies whose ads most dissuade female interest in jobs, says Human Rights Watch. The organization released the report on Monday.

Many of the ads described having “beautiful girls” at the company workplace. Others included height, appearance and personality requirements for women. The qualities that were sought were unrelated to those needed for the work, the report said.

The company Tencent has answered the report. It said, “We have investigated these incidents and are making immediate changes.” The company also apologized and promised actions to prevent a repeat of the behavior.

A spokesperson for Alibaba said the company would do more careful examinations of employment advertisements to make sure they observe company policy.

FILE - People sit in front of the company logo of Baidu at its headquarters in Beijing, China, Dec. 17, 2014.

A Baidu spokesperson described the advertisements as “isolated instances.”

A movement against discrimination and sexual harassment is growing in China. The worldwide #MeToo movement has helped support it. However, Chinese internet officials have blocked much of the #MeToo related material online.

The worldwide movement began last year as victims of sexual harassment used social media to share their stories under the hashtag #MeToo.

American technology companies have since been accused of discriminatory behavior. This helped turn the focus to technology companies worldwide.

Human Rights Watch examined 36,000 Chinese job advertisements. Most of them were posted in 2013 or after.

The report also found sexist job advertisements for government workers, construction workers and teachers.

It said that 19 percent of the Chinese civil service job ads it examined from this year were “men only” or men-favored. Only one job posting this year sought a female candidate over a male candidate.

The Reuters news agency requested a comment from the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, an agency that was noted in the report. It did not provide an answer.

Alibaba employees attend a mass wedding at their headquarters in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, May 10, 2017.

Human Rights Watch said some businesses used code words in ads to suggest favoritism for males. One used the Chinese word for south, which is said in the same way as the Chinese word for male.

In addition, the report said that sexist hiring behavior was a major reason for the lower numbers of women in the workforce and unfairness of pay between the sexes.

Chinese laws ban discrimination based on gender. However, Human Rights Watch said, “enforcement is low and Chinese authorities rarely proactively investigate companies that repeatedly violate relevant laws.”

The Human Rights Watch report received little attention on Chinese social media after its release.

Chinese social media companies are often required to restrict civil rights discussions, including past Human Rights Watch findings and posts related to the #MeToo movement.

I’m Ashley Thompson.

Reuters reported this story. Caty Weaver adapted it for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor.

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Words in This Story

hire - v. to give work or a job to (someone) in exchange for wages or a salary

isolated – adj. happening just once

harassment – n. the act of annoying or bothering (someone) in a constant or repeated way

focus – n. a subject that is being discussed or studied : the subject on which people's attention is focused — usually singular

code – n. a set of letters, numbers, symbols, etc., that is used to secretly send messages to someone

authorities – n. people who have power to make decisions and enforce rules and laws

relevant – adj. the act of annoying or bothering (someone) in a constant or repeated way

instance – n. an occasion of something happening

construction – n. the business of building things

(3)Muppets Bring Middle East Version of ‘Sesame Street’ to Refugee Children

Elmo visits a young girl in a refugee camp. Sesame Workshop, together with the International Rescue Committee, have teamed up in an effort to provide quality education to young children displaced by conflict and persecution. (Photo courtesy of Sesame Workshop)

Conflicts across the Middle East have had a major effect on children.

Millions of boys and girls now live in refugee camps after escaping fighting in places such as Syria and northern Iraq. They have had to spend their early years dealing with the terrible effects of war.

An American non-profit organization, called Sesame Workshop, is trying to help these refugees. The group is sending its lovable Muppets to the Middle East to help bring laughter and build strength in the affected children.

Shari Rosenfeld works for Sesame Workshop, which produces the children’s television show Sesame Street.

She says her group is working with the International Rescue Committee to provide early education to help children and families overcome the trauma of conflict. She told VOA about “a new educational broadcast that will reach 9.4 million children across Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria." Rosenfeld also spoke about plans for direct, in-person services for 1.5 million of the children most in need of help.

In December 2017, Sesame Workshop and the International Rescue Committee received a donation of $100 million to pay for the project. The money came from the MacArthur Foundation's 100&Change program.

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is one of the largest private foundations in the U.S. The 100&Change program was set up to support activities that promise measurable progress in solving a problem.

Rosenfeld said the donation will pay for a Middle East version of Sesame Street. She said the goal is to provide appealing, educational messages about reading, mathematics, languages and social skills.

Students watch "Sesame Square" with their teacher in a school in Ijebu-Lekki, Nigeria, February 2012.

Character customization

Many Americans have no problem recognizing Elmo, Big Bird and other stars of Sesame Street. But these characters will have different names in the new show. They will have Arabic or Kurdish names and will speak those languages.

Rosenfeld said the shows will be made available through traditional television and on computer software programs like WhatsApp.

The Sesame Workshop project also will support children and parents at learning centers with material for play-based learning, she added. Its trained workers will give home visitation and caregiving classes to nearly 800,000 caregivers to help lessen the effects of trauma on children up to age 3.

A condition known as "toxic stress" happens when a child's brain development is affected by prolonged hardship. It can lead to problems such as self-harm, aggressive behavior and suicide attempts.

The rights group Save the Children reported last year that millions of Syrian children may now suffer from toxic stress. It said these boys and girls need help to keep the damage from becoming permanent.

The United Nations’ children's agency (UNICEF) estimates that 1.75 million Syrian children are not in school. It reported that 2.6 million Syrian children are refugees or are on the run for their safety.

In neighboring Iraq, UNICEF said, more than 1 million children lost their homes and 4 million are in need of aid because of fighting with the Islamic State (IS) group.

In this Monday, July 10, 2017 photo, Sesame Street's new Afghan character, a 4-year-old Afghan puppet boy called Zeerak, is seen during a recoding a segment for Afghan version of Sesame Street called Baghch-e-Simsim

Affected children

Iraqi officials said they are concerned about children who went to IS schools. Anti-terrorism officials have listed about 2,000 children that need mental health services after having been influenced or brainwashed by the group’s supporters.

Rights organizations say most children affected by extreme violence do not receive education and mental health services.

The International Rescue Committee estimates that only about two percent of all humanitarian aid is spent on education or child development.

Rosenfeld of Sesame Workshop said the group's project would help the children by showing understanding, respect, inclusion and diversity, among other social skills.

If the program is successful, the organization may try to expand it for other crises.

Sesame Workshop has created local versions of Sesame Street in other areas, such as Afghanistan, Nigeria, the Palestinian territories, Israel and Kosovo.

I'm Susan Shand.

Rikar Hussein reported this story for VOA News. Susan Shand adapted it for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

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