VOA慢速英语:A New Invention: Shoes that Grow with a Child(翻译)

Children grow quickly, especially their feet.
儿童成长速度很快，尤其是他们的脚更为明显。

But many families cannot buy new shoes each time a child needs them.As a result, about 300 million children around the world go barefoot.Those children risk picking up diseases and parasites from the soil.
然而很多家庭没有能力每次都给孩子买双需要的新鞋。这就导致了如今全世界大约有3亿儿童只能赤脚走路的情况。而这些的孩子身体健康可能面临着很大的风险，比如感染从土壤中传播的疾病或者寄生虫。

An American man may have a solution for those barefoot kids—a shoe that grows with the child.
一位美国人也许能为这些赤脚的孩子们想到解决办法——比如发明一双能随孩子的脚一起长大的鞋子。

VOA correspondent June Soh traveled to Idaho to interview Kenton Lee.We bring that story to our Learning English audience.
VOA记者琼·苏曾前往爱达荷州对肯顿·李进行采访。我们还将这个故事带回给“学英语”栏目的听众们。

Kenton Lee is the creator of The Shoe That Grows.He explains how the shoe works and how it is able to last so long.
肯顿·李就是这双“可以长大的鞋”的设计者。他向我们解释了这双鞋的原理及其能够穿着多年的方法。

“So, it grows in three places: the front; it can also grow on the side with Velcro; and on the back with our buckle.It can last up to five years.The bottom is compressed rubber like tire rubber.The top is just high-quality leather.”
“这双鞋有三个地方是可调节的：一处在前面；另一处是调节侧面的移动尼龙搭扣；最后一处是调节脚后跟的搭扣。这双鞋能穿五年。鞋底是类似轮胎的压缩橡胶质地。鞋面则是优质皮革。”

The shoe comes in two sizes: small that fits children aged 4 to 9 and large for children aged 9 to 14.
这双鞋总共有两种尺寸可选：其中小码适合4到9岁的儿童，大码适合9到14岁的孩子。

Lee says he got the idea for the shoe while working as a volunteer in an orphanage in Kenya.
李称当时冒出这个想法的时候，自己正在肯尼亚的一家孤儿院做志愿者。

“... and there was a little girl in a white dress walking next to me.And I just remember looking down and seeing how small her shoes were.They were the way too small for her feet.They were so small, she had to cut open the front of her shoes to let her toes stick out.And I just remember thinking, wouldn’t it be nice if there were a pair of shoes that could grow with her feet.”
“……一个身穿白色连衣裙的小女孩正从我身边走过。我记得当时自己低头看了两眼，然后发现她脚上的鞋子实在是太小了。她的脚比鞋子大那么多。因为鞋子太小，她不得不把鞋子前面割开，把脚趾头露出来。我记得当时自己心里想的是，要是市面上能有一双随孩子的脚一起长大的鞋子，那可真是太棒了。”

However, Lee says it was not easy to turn his idea into a reality.
不过李表示，要把自己的想法转化成现实可真不是件容易的事。

“I kept writing down. Well, I should do this because of this or because of that.All these reasons why it really was important for me to try to make the shoes that could grow and try to help.”
“我总是在纸上写，因为这个我应该做这件事，因为那个我也应该做。我写下了所有原因，全部都是解释为什么设计出对孩子有帮助的“能长大的鞋”对我如此之重要。”

Finally, in 2009 Lee founded a non-profit organization called Because International.In the office of Because International, Lee keeps a pair of his own shoes to help him remember his promise.
终于在2009年时，李创立了一个名叫Because International的非盈利性组织。在机构办公室中，李一直存放着自己的一双鞋子，这样他就能时刻谨记自己曾经许下的承诺。

“I told myself I would not get new shoes until the idea was done.So, those are the shoes that I wore for a little over five years.But once we finally made The Shoe That Grows happen, then I finally got some new shoes.”
“当时我告诉自己，在这个想法付诸实践之前，我是绝不会买新鞋子穿的。所以这双鞋我一共穿了5年多。不过后来我们真的生产出了这双“能长大的鞋子”，我也终于能给自己添置几双新鞋了。”

Because International works with several partner organizations.Together, they have sent more than 50,000 pairs of shoes to 70 countries.
Because International与几个伙伴机构一同努力。而今它们已经向70个国家送去了五万多双鞋子。

“The majority of our shoes are going to East Africa—so, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia.And then also a lot of our shoes go to Haiti, Nicaragua, some of the Central American countries as well.”
“大部分鞋子都被送去了东非——比如肯尼亚、乌干达和埃塞俄比亚。还有一大批是送到了海地、尼加拉瓜以及中美洲的一些国家。”

Lee says many of these areas do not have good sanitation.As a result, illness spreads easily.
李表示，以上这些国家大部分地区卫生条件都很差。因此疾病也很容易蔓延。

Children pick up diseases and parasites through the soles of their bare feet and fall sick.
儿童通过裸露的脚底板感染上各种疾病和寄生虫之后，便由此患病。

“It’s really heartbreaking.They stay sick for a long time.They’re not able to afford the medical care.So, a lot of them just really fall behind.They don’t go to school.And they don’t learn and grow as a child should.”
“真挺让人心碎的。他们患病之后很长时间都无法康复。因为家中无力负担医疗费用。就这样，很多孩子干脆就把学业落下了。因为他们没办法去学校。这些孩子本来应该好好上学，平安健康的成长，但现在却没有机会了。”

A pair of shoes, he says, gives more than protection.It gives a child self-worth and more chances to succeed.
他表示，孩子穿上鞋之后，所得到的不只是对双脚的保护。还有随之而来的自我价值感以及更多成功的机会。

“Because it’s a small thing that really does make a big differenceto keep them healthy and happy and having more chances to succeed.”
“因为这一件小事的确会造成很大的差异，让他们的健康得到了保证，生活更幸福，成功的机会也大大增加。”

Kenton Lee adds that his goal is to help get The Shoe That Grows to as many children as he can around the world.
肯顿·李又补充说，他的目标就是将这双“可以长大的鞋”带给全世界更多有需要的孩子们。

For the Health & Lifestyle report, I’m Anna Matteo.
健康生活报道，安娜·马泰奥为您播报。