听力文本

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health and Lifestyle report.

Many people around the world leave their home country for a better education and better job in another country.

A woman from Sri Lanka named Ashanthi Mathai has a story like that.

Ms. Mathai came to the United States from Sri Lanka in the early 1990s. She had a clear idea of what she wanted -- a good education. Ms. Mathai went to Princeton University in New Jersey and got a degree in chemical engineering. She continued her education at Stanford Business School in California. Then, she began her career in the health care industry.

Now, Ms. Mathai has another goal -- helping Sri Lanka.

Four years ago, Ashanthi Mathai was visiting Sri Lanka for her job. During the trip, someone asked her if she would be willing to collect used eye glasses in the United States. The donated glasses were to be used for a Sri Lankan program on preventing blindness.

"When I got that request, given I have a background in healthcare consulting in the U.S., I decided to take a look at the problem."

She learned there was a great need in Sri Lanka. She says many people in the country have vision problems that go untreated because of the high cost of eye care services.

Ms. Mathai notes a 2012 study.

"In Sri Lanka 50 percent of the population lives on less than (one) dollar 82 cents a day, on average."

Eye glasses can cost between 50 and 100 U.S. dollars. So, they are out-of-reach to most of the population. But instead of recycling used glasses, Ms. Mathai took a different approach.

"I realized that it is actually possible to source new custom made eye glasses for just six US dollars."

A non-profit company gives the gift of eye care

Ashanthi Mathai founded So Others May See or SOMS. The non-profit company helps people who need eye care in Sri Lanka. To date, SOMS has helped about 24,000 adults with eye exams and new eye glasses.

So Others May See also partners with Sri Lanka's Ministry of Health to provide free eye care for children.

Dr. Asela Abeydeera is the Ministry's spokesperson. He says the three-year-old partnership has created many successful programs. One program sends mobile health centers to schools across Sri Lanka to carry out eye examinations. The service has changed the lives of the 900,000 students examined so far. He says some children are able to see the world again.

Ashanti Mathai says there is still more that needs to be done. She says she wants her non-profit, SOMS, to treat more complex cases and to prevent vision problems. She says she is also planning to expand the service to another part of the population. She says she wants to include people who may not be very poor but who still cannot afford to buy glasses.

Ms. Mathai understands how poor eyesight can affect a person's life. She has used reading glasses from an early age. That poor eyesight has given her clearer insight on a world where everyone can see.

I'm Anna Matteo.

词汇解释

1.blindness n. 失明；无知；盲区

She was disabled by blindness.
她因失明而丧失视力2SLjKN8tx3j%=a^。

2.vision n. 视力；美景；眼力；幻象；想象力 vt. 想象；显现；梦见

I have a vision of a society that is free of exploitation and injustice.
我憧憬一个没有剥削和不公的社会FL9HcDVO3bW^@ei~。

参考译文

这里是美国之音慢速英语健康和生活方式报道puDFiJ5&|Y!RdvCqZ。

全世界有很多人为了在外国得到更好的教育和工作机会离开本国TIeJlg+tlyy。

一名来自斯里兰卡名叫Ashanthi Mathai的妇女也有类似的经历uR5n0-tJ-n6_。

Mathai于20世纪90年代初从斯里兰卡来到美国，她很清楚自己想要的是什么，那就是良好的教育roG1am0&k5。她来到新泽西州的普林斯顿大学，获得了化学工程学位vgP8[8XDAY,oE8HZ。她在加州的斯坦福商学院继续深造，然后开始了在护理产业的职业生涯7Ra#;[y)8]07h。

现在，Mathai有了另一个目标，那就是帮助斯里兰卡VnnT)5;^ahIDIBP。

4年前，Ashanthi Mathai为了工作访问斯里兰卡zFAm=M+6-@。在那次旅行期间，有人问她是否愿意在美国收集用过的眼镜Os5~&NqR!&TPk。这些捐赠的眼镜被用在斯里兰卡一个预防眼盲的项目上_LfnzL4K+G#5M;ZIGX。

“因为我有美国护理咨询方面的背景，他们就来请求我，于是我决定了解下这个问题d=T+J_v-jd4p&#p4,r。”

她了解到斯里兰卡对此的需求很大，她看到这个国家有很多有视力问题的人，但因为眼睛护理服务很昂贵，很多人都没有得到治疗t~=sspEnRx&m^7。

Mathai注意到2012年的一项研究8KFzBxHDN8ff5m。

“在斯里兰卡，有一半的人平均每天的生活成本不到一美元82美分P.So2*qWGDis。”

而眼镜的价格在50到100美元之间，所以大多数人都用不起眼镜，但Mathai没有采取回收旧眼镜的办法，而是采取别的方法XZ!WMr4t#~n80CGw。

“我意识到事实上可以以6美元的价格来定制全新的眼镜v~pMx9O]AA。”

Ashanthi Mathai建立了So Others May See公司，简称SOMS，这家非盈利公司帮助斯里兰卡需要眼睛护理的人们IZ^I#S6MbJzdf^。到目前为止，该公司已经为2.4万成年人提供了眼睛检查服务并提供了新眼镜3~89%IaF][%Z。

因此该公司和斯里兰卡卫生部合作为儿童提供免费眼睛护理服务kT^C(l|S9;|s。

Asela Abeydeera博士是卫生部发言人，他说这个历时三年的伙伴关系已经创建了很多成功的项目qMutWs*cw+%。一个项目给斯里兰卡各地提供流动医疗中心，来提供眼科检查服务NGB=)DsKlpElMI&。到目前为止，这项服务改变了90名接受检查的学生的人生，他说有的学生现在能再次清晰地看到世界了uM#qI7F_&NN。

Ashanti Mathai说还有很多工作要做，她说她希望自己的非盈利公司SOMS能治疗更多复杂的病例，并预防视力疾病MJ&+a2KmuhLy~。她说她还计划将该服务推广到另一部分人口，她说希望将那些不是非常贫困但仍无法买得起眼镜的人囊括进来&|r.1r(kn-]0dt*j。

Mathai明白视力不佳如何影响一个人的人生，她很早就戴眼镜读书，糟糕的视力使她对这个人人都能看到的世界有更深的洞察力PSnqTqwtZ[CEn,uuJ[xb。

我是安娜·马特奥UwWJ&M=dYP。

译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！