PBS高端访谈:特朗普向学校施压,要求在今年秋天恢复授课

JUDY WOODRUFF: The summer surge of COVID-19 is raising more and more questions about reopening schools this fall. That issue was at the forefront today, even as daily deaths nationwide rose to nearly 1,000, the most in weeks. White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor begins our coverage¹.

MIKE PENCE, Vice² President of the United States: It's time for us to get our kids back to school.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: President Trump³ and federal officials are stepping up pressure on schools to push them to get back to in-person classes. Today, Vice President Pence and several top administration officials repeatedly stressed that students need to be in school this fall. Pence called it essential to nationwide learning. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos joined in:

BETSY DEVOS, U.S. Education Secretary: It's not a matter of if schools should reopen. It's simply a matter of how. They must fully⁴ open and they must be fully operational.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: And Labor⁵ Secretary Eugene Scalia argued, the economy cannot fully recover if schools stay closed.

EUGENE SCALIA, U.S. Secretary of Labor: It's very important as well to keep men and women across the country who need to be able to structure their workdays in a predictable manner, in the expectation that schools will be open.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: The briefing came hours after President Trump tweeted a threat to cut off federal funding for schools that do not reopen. The vice president said, President Trump was just trying to incentivize schools. President Trump also criticized the Centers for Disease Control. He tweeted he disagreed with the agency's -- quote -- "very tough and expensive guidelines for opening schools." He claims the CDC is requesting schools to do -- quote-- "impractical⁶ things." The CDC rules include enforcing masks for students and staff, cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched surfaces, and spacing desks at least six feet apart, when possible. At today's briefing, Vice President Pence said the CDC will be issuing new guidance as a result of the president's criticisms of the current ones.

MIKE PENCE: The president said today, we just don't want the guidance to be too tough. And that's the reason why, next week, the CDC is going to be issuing a new set of tools, five different documents that will be giving even more clarity on the guidance going forward.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Critics say, President Trump pushing to reopen schools too quickly could be dangerous.

LILY ESKELSEN GARCIA, President, National Education Association: Because if you don't get this right, if there's an oops here, it probably means somebody died. When that starts to happen, they will close schools down again. That will impact the economy. That will impact the funding for public school. It will be a vicious, vicious cycle.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Meanwhile, local officials are making their own plans for the upcoming school year. Today, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that, starting this fall, most schools in the city will open for part of the week.

BILL DE BLASIO (D), Mayor of New York: Two or three days in the classroom, in the school, the other days, remote learning. Of course, we understand some families will choose remote learning as the only option.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: At the collegiate level, Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology sued the Trump administration over its decision to deport⁷ international students who study at universities that are offering online-only schooling⁸. The lawsuit⁹ says -- quote -- "The effect or even the goal is to create as much chaos¹⁰ for universities and international students as possible." All of this as infections are still rising in 36 states, including Texas, which had a record 10,000 new cases as of Tuesday. Another hot spot, the state of Florida, reported almost that many. But, at the same time, labs nationwide are reporting testing backlogs¹¹ and supply shortages. Officials warn, the backups may increase as more states lift restrictions¹². Still, Vice President Pence said today there are hopeful signs.

MIKE PENCE: We're actually seeing early indications of a percent of positive testing flattening¹³ in Arizona and Florida and Texas.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Around the world, infections across Africa have now topped half-a-million, with South Africa confirming it has 100,000 cases. Officials say a shortage of testing supplies means the actual number of cases are likely higher. For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Yamiche Alcindor.

JUDY WOODRUFF: The nation's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, was not at today's Coronavirus Task Force briefing. He told CBS that he was told not to attend. On Tuesday, President Trump rejected Fauci's view that the country is still -- quote -- "knee-deep" in the pandemic's first wave. The White House said that the president values his advisers¹⁴, but does not always agree with them.

1 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

2 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

3 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

4 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

5 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

6 impractical   

adj.不现实的，不实用的，不切实际的

参考例句：

• He was hopelessly impractical when it came to planning new projects.一到规划新项目，他就完全没有了实际操作的能力。
• An entirely rigid system is impractical.一套完全死板的体制是不实际的。

7 deport   

vt.驱逐出境

参考例句：

• We deport aliens who slip across our borders.我们把偷渡入境的外国人驱逐出境。
• More than 240 England football fans are being deported from Italy following riots last night.昨晚的骚乱发生后有240多名英格兰球迷被驱逐出意大利。

8 schooling   

n.教育；正规学校教育

参考例句：

• A child's access to schooling varies greatly from area to area.孩子获得学校教育的机会因地区不同而大相径庭。
• Backward children need a special kind of schooling.天赋差的孩子需要特殊的教育。

9 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

10 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

11 backlogs   

积压未办之事( backlog的名词复数 )； 没交付的订货； 备用； 备用物

参考例句：

• "You'll need kindling and medium wood and logs and backlogs. “点火柴、引火柴、原木、垫底的，你都用得着。” 来自名作英译部分
• Our manufacturers have heavy backlogs on their hands. 我们的生产厂商手头有许多积压而没有交付的订单。

12 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

13 flattening   

n. 修平 动词flatten的现在分词

参考例句：

• Flattening of the right atrial border is also seen in constrictive pericarditis. 右心房缘变平亦见于缩窄性心包炎。
• He busied his fingers with flattening the leaves of the book. 他手指忙着抚平书页。

14 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。