VOA慢速英语新闻报道与练习：MostUSFront-LineWorkersAreWomen,Minorities（学案）

1 VOA 慢速英语听力练习（学案） Most US Front-Line Workers Are Women, Minorities Step 1 Words in This Story front line(s) – n. the most important and active position in a job or field of activity essential – adj. extremely important and necessary pandemic – n.an occurrence in which a disease spreads very quickly and affects a large number of people over a wide area or throughout the world invisible – adj. impossible to see delivery – n. the act of taking something to a person or place tendon – n. a tough piece of tissue in your body that connects a muscle to a bone customer(s) – n. someone who buys goods or services from a business insurance – n. an agreement in which a person makes regular payments to a company and the company promises to pay money if the person is injured or dies, or to pay money equal to the value of something (such as a house or car) if it is damaged, lost, or stolen quarantine(d) – v. to keep (a person or animal) away from others to prevent a disease from spreading anxiety – n. fear or nervousness about what might happen pistol(s) – n. a small gun made to be aimed and fired with one hand Step 2 Listen and fill in the missing words. It is becoming clear that the coronavirus crisis has had a major effect on the people working on the front lines. 2 They have been collecting and transporting supplies, caring for 1 ________________________, and keeping streets and buildings clean. They have watched their co-workers get sick. Thousands have gotten sick themselves. Many 2 __________________. Front-line workers in the United States are mostly women and 3 __________________, and are more likely to be immigrants. Workers who have been declared “essential” during the crisis are also 4 __________________ than the general population to live at or below the federal poverty line. That information comes from 5 __________________ by The Associated Press, or AP. AP reporters looked at population data from the country’s 100 largest cities. “What is important about this pandemic is that it has shined a spotlight on workers who have always been essential but before this 6 __________________,” said David Michaels. He is a professor of environmental and occupational health at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University. Born homeless in New York City, Courtenay Brown is no stranger to life’s struggles. She and 7 ______________________ both work at an Amazon Fresh storage center in New Jersey. They live together in the city of Newark. In most major cities, more than 60 percent of storage business and delivery workers are people of color. In Newark, that number is 8__________________. Brown is among them. When the pandemic began, Brown worked extra hours at her job as a supervisor to get the $2 hourly pay increase. Soon, several of her co-workers 9 __________________. Others, she said, did not come into work at all. One day, Brown felt very tired and in pain from a tendon condition. She did not feel like going into work. So, she stayed home. That morning, her phone rang 10 __________________. She threw it across the room. “I thought, ‘This just isn’t worth it,’” she told the AP. Of the many kinds of front-line workers in America, 11 __________________are among the most visible. Jane St. Louis works at a Safeway food store in Damascus, Maryland. She has worked there for 27 years, and knows many store customers. Some have brought her sweet treats during the pandemic. But other customers have not been so nice. One woman 12 __________________ for not wearing protective coverings on her hands. Nationally, at least 16 percent of food store employees are estimated to live below the federal 13__________________. Fifteen percent lack health care insurance. The virus has killed at least 30 members of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, which represents 900,000 people. Another 3,000 have either gotten sick or been told to 14 __________________, the workers’ rights group says. When St. Louis gets home, she removes her shoes and changes clothing. She cleans her shoes with special chemicals. Her work clothes immediately go in the 15 __________________, and she washes her body. She does not want to risk infecting her husband or her 15-year-old granddaughter, who lives with the couple. “I didn’t know 16 __________________ until this started,” St. Louis said. Juan Giraldo and his wife nearly lost their home after he 17__________________ during the 2008 financial crisis. A refinancing deal saved them from losing their home. But they were left deep in debt. Giraldo, who is based in Los Angeles, California, drives a truck for a living. He has seen his work hours reduce as imports slow. He gets fewer than four deliveries a week, 18__________________ at least 3 12 in normal times. He used to make $3,500 a month. Now, he is earning about $1,500. More than 85 percent of warehouse and delivery workers in the Los Angeles area are people of color and 53 percent are foreign-born. Giraldo 19 __________________ in Colombia by his grandparents after his father left the war-torn country to find work in California. Giraldo did the same in his early 20s. As a contract worker, the father of four gets no paid sick leave and 20 __________________ California’s state health insurance program. “They are calling us heroes,” Giraldo said, “but it’s like they are sending us to World War II with wooden pistols.” I’m Pete Musto. Step 3 Write down the following words according to the English explanation. __________________ – n. the most important and active position in a job or field of activity __________________– adj. extremely important and necessary __________________– n.an occurrence in which a disease spreads very quickly and affects a large number of people over a wide area or throughout the world __________________– adj. impossible to see __________________– n. the act of taking something to a person or place __________________– n. a tough piece of tissue in your body that connects a muscle to a bone __________________– n. someone who buys goods or services from a business __________________– n. an agreement in which a person makes regular payments to a company and the company promises to pay money if the person is injured or dies, or to pay money equal to the value of something (such as a house or car) if it is damaged, lost, or stolen __________________– v. to keep (a person or animal) away from others to prevent a disease from spreading __________________– n. fear or nervousness about what might happen __________________– n. a small gun made to be aimed and fired with one hand