英语日常会话：妇女与教育 [含声频]

来自世界不同地方的六位学生在美国相遇。他们都是交换学生，到美国大学就读一个学期，学习英语，了解美国文化，同时修专业课程。英语“日常会话” (Everyday Conversations)系列围绕这六位学生在美国的经历展开。这套材料适于中级或中级以上英语水平的学生使用。

今天，三个学生（Ajay, Lucía and Jana）谈到世界各地女童和妇女受教育的重要性。

Ajay: I think women and girls have equal access to education in most parts of the world.

Jana: In some parts of the world, that’s true. Sadly, this is not true for many parts of the world.

Lucía: I agree. For much of the world, especially in developing countries, there are more boys in primary school than girls.

Jana: And there’s a gap between girls and boys in terms of literacy. There are more illiterate girls than boys. Ajay: That’s depressing. I don’t understand why girls aren’t being educated in the same numbers as boys, everywhere in the world.

Lucía: There are a lot of factors that contribute to girls dropping out of school.

Jana: For starters, early marriages and childbirth, trafficking and disease.

Ajay: Well, it seems like communities should help get more girls in school. Educated girls help boost the economic future of a country.

Lucía: Absolutely. Education is the key to a better future, for everyone.

让我们来学习一些词语（也可阅读英文解释）：

Equal access to education：受教育的同等机会

A developing country：发展中国家

Primary school：小学，学生年龄通常在5-11岁。受小学（初级）教育：receive primary (elementary) education

在以上对话中， a gap 是指两个人、两组人或两件事之间的差距。

Literacy：识字能力

如果说一个人是 illiterate, 即意味着他（她）是文盲。

Contribute to：为某事贡献力量

To drop out of school：辍学

For starters：（口语）首先，一上来

Trafficking：走私物品或贩运人口

To boost：增添力量 ，鼓劲

有兴趣听更多英语对话吗？请浏览“英语学习”专题网页。