节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-01-27
难易度:Medium
关键字:needy, guideline, registered, cause
(Music).
Welcome back.
I am investigating a charity that I just might want to give money to.
It's important to check their websites but also to check another place,
even government websites, to make sure they are registered and that you can
trust them.
We have a few more tips on our guideline to help you choose the right charity.
Join us on line 8.
How to Choose a Charity You Can Trust.
There are also some non-government websites like Charity Navigator that focus on
rating charities.
This website rates charities based on both their efficient use of money and
their ability to make a positive difference.
The site also offers an interactive world map that lists charities by country.
Look for charities that use most of the money they collect for their causes.
Badly managed charities often give a fraction of donations to their causes while
spending the majority of money on salaries.
So you need to make sure that your charity is registered.
What else can we go?
Well, there are also some non-government websites like Charity Navigator that
focus on rating charities.
What does that mean, to rate a charity?
Well, if you "rate" something, it means that you put it in order of how good it
is.
In this case, Kaylah, it's probably talking about how trustworthy charities are.
So these are non-government - which means they are not controlled by the
government - websites that rate them for you.
Now do you know... are these rated by people that use the charity or by the
charities themselves?
Well, you'd want to make sure that they are rated by people that use the
charity.
And that way you're getting true opinions.
Because if the charities went in and said, "Well, you can trust us. We're OK,"
they could still be lying.
That's right.
This website rates charities based both on their efficient use of money and
their ability to make a positive difference,
which are the two most important factors when you choose a charity.
Exactly. You want to make sure the charities that you are donating to are using
your money properly and they're really making a difference.
That's right. You don't want to be giving money to someone who uses the money
well but isn't doing anything good.
Exactly, yeah.
They could be, like you said, using money the right way and they're getting
enough money from people that are giving it.
But they're not really making a positive difference.
And that means they're not really helping as well as you would like them to.
Well, the site also offers an interactive world map that lists charities by
country.
Now I think this is a wonderful idea because, Ryan, I know when I choose a
charity, the two things I think about are:
What do I want to support, and where do I want to support it?
Exactly. Yeah. Who do you want to help?
Now earlier this month we were talking about TOMS, a company that was giving
away shoes first in Argentina.
And so if you decided, you know there are poor people in Argentina, you could
use this site to look up charities that are giving to people there.
That's right. But just like TOMS, a lot of charities give to countries around
the world.
TOMS, as we learned, gives in both Asia and Central and South America and
Africa.
So that's a lot of countries that you could give to.
So when you look up your charity, which countries do you want to be influencing?
Yes. And you can use Charity Navigator to look up which charity you would like
to give to.
Well, look for charities that use most of the money they collect for their
causes.
So we're going on in our guidelines.
And one of them is to look for how much money they're putting into the cause.
Exactly. Now a "cause" is talking about their uses or the reason that something
happens.
Usually when we're talking about a cause with a charity, it means the difference
they are trying to make.
That's right. Also, it refers to what the problem is in the first place.
So we see a problem; it has become a problem.
Now we want to fix it.
So our desire to help them is caused by our desire to fix whatever problem was
there.
That's right.
Now "organizations or charities that are using this money most effectively."
That means they are actually able to bring in a lot of money from people that
are giving and use it properly.
That's right.
When they are collecting, a lot of times, unfortunately there can be problems.
Right. Badly managed charities often give a fraction of donations to their
causes while spending the majority of money on salaries.
This is a very big problem.
If you choose a charity, you want to help somebody, not pay somebody's paycheck.
Right. Yeah, this is a very bad problem.
You use the word "paycheck," Kaylah.
And also it means the same thing as salaries.
That is the money that people are paid for working at a company or an
organization.
So really, what is happening here is people at some charities are just taking
the money that people are giving for themselves.
I think something interesting to look at here is that even though this is a
problem for them at their own company, we don't want to be giving to them,
it also shows you that they are not honest people.
Even if they were using the money correctly, they might not be honest in how
they give the money.
So you want to watch for charities that are lying; because if they lie in one
area, they are most likely lying in another.
Exactly.
Now Kaylah, these people that are lying... in fact, "some of these charities are
only giving a fraction of the money they're bringing," it says.
What does that mean?
Well, we learn this term in math. A "fraction" is a part of something.
So 1/4. That is a fraction.
That is if you divide one into four little pieces, one of those is a fraction of
it.
It is a small part of an entire whole.
Yeah. And that's exactly what that means.
And I guess sometimes when we use this word in English, we're saying they give
very little.
So they're just giving a small amount of the money that they are... that people
are giving, and they are only giving away that small amount.
And that is very sad.
So make sure as you're checking your charities, you check government websites,
websites like Charity Navigator that can help you choose your country and your
charity wisely.
Exactly. Follow this guideline, and you too can find a charity that you trust.
Well, join us tomorrow as we continue talking about some rules that you can use
to find a good charity.
Before we go today, let's visit the Chat Room.
Hi, Ken.
Did you finish all of these books?
Actually, no.
I only finished two of them.
I was too busy to do much reading this week.
Well, even finishing two books is quite an accomplishment.
My house is full of books and I've only read a fraction of them.
A fraction? I know that "factions" are numbers devided by other numbers.
I didn't know you were interested in math.
Oh, no. You're right to think of math.
But when we say a fraction of something, we're referring to a very small amount
of that thing.
Oh. So you've only read a small number of your books.
That's right, Ken.
So could I say only a fraction of people in Mr. Reed's class are awake?
Yes, but I would change it slightly to only a fraction of "the" people in Mr.
Reed's class are awake.
OK. Are there any other common ways to use this phrase?
Sure. This phrase is commonly used to describe the prices of things.
For example, when you get a big discount on an item, you might say: I bought
this for a fraction of the original price.
I wish I could buy a tablet computer at a fraction of its listed price.
Me too.
I don't have $400 to spend on one of those.
You might also hear this phrase used when talking about votes.
Oh, right! I've heard of people in elections winning only a fraction of the
votes.
Hey, how about the word "portion"?
Could we say someone won a portion of the votes?
Yes, you could.
But since a portion can be either big or small, it wouldn't be as precise as
saying they won a fraction of the votes.
Got it. Thanks for the tip.
And next time, I'll only check out a few books at a time.
And that'll make my job easier.
(Chinese).
(Chinese).
And I guess it's time for us to say goodbye.
Take care, and I'll see you tomorrow.
Well, it's true, not all charities are created equal.
As a matter of fact, some charities aren't even charities at all.
It's sad, but the fact is there are a lot of scams out there, people.
That's why when someone asks you for money over the phone, through the mail, on
the street, face-to-face or over the Internet,
it's important that you take the time to investigate where your money is going.
Remember, you want to make every penny you give count.
OK, we have three more tips for wise giving tomorrow.
Until then, give wisely, give freely and have a great day. Bye-bye.