新奇事件簿 英国经济紧缩 校长穷成学校清洁工

Times are hard for schools in England because they have so little money to spend. They have to cut back on many things. There is austerity in the UK so the government has cut school budgets. One head teacher at a school in London does not have enough money to pay for cleaners or canteen staff. This means¹ she has to help to clean the toilets and serve students in the school cafeteria². Ms Siobhan Lowe is head of Tolworth Girls' School in south London. She recently told reporters that she was embarrassed³ because her school did not have enough money to support students. Ms Lowe said she has sold school land, cut subjects and fired her deputy-head teacher to keep her school open.

英国学校越来越艰难了，因为他们的经费非常少。他们不得不在很多事情上缩减开支。由于英国经济紧缩，所以政府削减了学校预算。伦敦一间学校的校长连请清洁工或餐厅员工的钱都没有。这意味着她不得不帮助清理学校厕所并在学校餐厅给学生打餐。西沃恩·洛女士是伦敦西南部Tolworth女子学校的校长。近期她告诉记者，她感到很尴尬，因为她的学校没有足够的钱支持学生。洛女士表示她变卖了学校土地、减少了课程并解雇了她的副校长才能让学校继续运转。

The south London school is typical of many schools in the UK. Thousands of head teachers have to make difficult decisions about how to spend their school's money. More than 7,000 head teachers recently wrote to 3.5 million parents to explain why the schools have no money. Many parents have become volunteers at schools to help the children. Some schools have asked parents to provide toilet paper and other basics for the school toilets and classrooms. One school only has enough money to give students one sheet of A4 paper a month. Head teachers want to meet the UK's education secretary, but he refused to meet them. The UK's Department for Education said funding for education was a government priority⁴.

伦敦南部学校是英国众多学校的典型。数千名校长不得不在学校经费开支上做出艰难的选择。近期七千多名校长给3500万家长写信解释了学校没有经费的原因。很多家长成为学校自愿者来帮助孩子们。一些学校要求父母们提供厕纸以及学校厕所教室所需的基本物品。一间学校的经费只够给学生每月一张A4纸。校长们想和英国的教育部长见面，但是他拒绝会见他们。英国教育部表示教育资金是政府的重中之重。

1 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

2 cafeteria   

n.自助餐厅

参考例句：

• In the cafeteria we serve ourselves.在自助餐馆我们是自己拿菜的。
• I can't stand eating in the cafeteria.我实在不想在自助食堂吃了。

3 embarrassed   

adj.尴尬的，不好意思的

参考例句：

• He was very embarrassed to hear people speak so highly of him.他听见别人这样夸他,感到很难为情。
• He is somewhat embarrassed.他稍微有点窘迫。

4 priority   

n.优先处理的事，居先，优先（权）

参考例句：

• The development of the national economy is a top priority.发展国民经济是应予以最优先考虑的事。
• Things should be taken up in order of priority.办事应有个先后次序。