英语访谈对话 410 School Uniforms

 　　Todd: Marion, at the school you work at, do the children wear uniforms?

　　Marion: Yes they do.

　　Todd: Ah, that's terrible.

　　Marion: Do you think so?

　　Todd: Yeah.

　　Marion: I think it's a good thing that they wear uniforms. For them, and for their parents too.

　　Todd: Why?

　　Marion: Well, because when they wake up in the morning, they don't have to think about what they wear for that day. So, it saves time, they can have extra time in bed maybe, and for their parents it saves them a lot of money, I think.

　　Todd: See, I disagree. First of all, when children are young, they're starting to be creative for the first time. So, just by choosing what they're going to wear every day, they're can show their creativity¹, or their individuality, you know? Also, it helps students learn to make choices, to make decisions, to make decisions for themselves. I don't know, like a uniform you take that away from children.

　　Marion: I think they can learn how to choose in other ways, maybe, I don't know the accesories they wear, but basically² that everybody is in the same clothes I think is really good, just to make everybody equal. Did you wear a uniform when you were at school?

　　Todd: No I didn't. And looking back, I'm glad I didn't, because you know, your clothes reflect your personality³, and I think that it's important for kids to be able to show how they are as a person, through their clothes.

　　Marion: But maybe if you can show your personality through your personality, and you don't need your clothes to show your personality, then that's a bit better, I think.

　　Todd: That's a good point. I guess I just can't imagine wearing a uniform every day. Plus, I mean if you wear a uniform every day it must get really old, really repetitive, the same thing again and again and again. And I think that mentally⁴, that can be tiring.

　　Marion: I think that it might be tiring, or worrying mentally if you, for example, if you see other children in your school who have nicer clothes, more expensive clothes, and your parents can't afford those kind of clothes. Then, it makes you feel left out when you're a child, and that's really, really awful if you feel that way as a child, just because of clothes and money I think.

　　Todd: Well, did you wear a uniform?

　　Marion: Yes.

　　Todd: Did you feel that way?

　　Marion: I went to school in Ireland⁵, so almost all schools have uniforms, so for us it felt very normal, that when I was in primary school we had a uniform, and then in secondary⁶ school a different uniform, and my brother's school had a uniform, so it's normal for us. So, I thought it was OK, sometimes you do get bored, but I think overall⁷ it saved us time in the morning, which is good.

1 creativity   

n.创造力，创造

参考例句：

• There is limited scope for creativity in my job.我的工作中发挥创造力的空间有限。
• She got an unusually low score for creativity.在创造力方面，她得了异乎寻常的低分。

2 basically   

adv.基本上，从根本上说

参考例句：

• His heart is basically sound.他的心脏基本上健康。
• Basically I agree with your plan.我基本上同意你的计划。

3 personality   

n.个性，人格，名人

参考例句：

• Einstein was a great personality.爱因斯坦是个伟大的人物。
• She has a powerful personality.她有坚强的个性。

4 mentally   

adv.精神上，理智上，在心中

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Male nurses are often employed in hospitals for the mentally ill.精神病院常雇用男护士护理精神病人。

5 Ireland   

n.爱尔兰(西欧国家)；爱尔兰岛(西欧)

参考例句：

• Ireland lies to the west of England.爱尔兰位于英格兰之西。
• Dublin is the capital of Ireland.都柏林是爱尔兰的首都。

6 secondary   

adj.中级的，中等的，次要的；n.次要位置，副手

参考例句：

• It's a question of secondary importance.这是个次要的问题。
• Secondary school means junior school and high school.中学是指初中和高中。

7 overall   

n.工作服，工装裤；全面的，全体的

参考例句：

• The shop assistant was wearing a white overall.那店员穿着白色的工作服。
• How much will it cost overall?一共多少钱？