英语访谈对话 524 High School

 　　Todd: So, Tres can you talk about American high school. What was high school like for you? What is American high school like?

　　Tres: That’s a very good question. When one says “an American high school”, to some people maybe movies that depict¹ high school life come to mind. But the most thing I would like people to keep in mind is that depending on the school district, the state, the area of the state in which you live, the high school you go to can vary² extremely. There are many poor schools in poor districts. And there are very rich schools similar to the “Beverly Hills 90210” television show, that’s quite popular around the world. I was fortunate to go to a high school that was a public school under a magnet³ program. And the idea was that you have a test to get in to the school. You have to excel⁴ academically. And the school would try to suck in, or attract students from all over the state, students that excelled⁵ in the math and sciences, sports, English, literature, foreign languages, and tried to bring those students together. Not only that, the idea of the school was to create an atmosphere that was “biologically diverse”. That just sounds better than “racially diverse”. So we had students of various socioeconomic backgrounds, meaning we had students of various races. Even though I don’t think “race” truly exist. But sociologically⁶ speaking, we had students of various races. At the school you could take classes from Italian to classical English. Many of our teachers had Ph.D.s so it was just a great academic atmosphere to be in. And then, we had a lot of fun on top of that. The first few years I went there, we had an open campus⁷, which meant that during our lunch, we were able to get in our cars because we all drove to school. Get in our cars and drive home or drive to our friend’s house or drive to a restaurant during our lunch period. So we didn’t have to stay at school for lunch. We were completely free. And the school was very liberal⁸. So the teachers had a very open idea of how students learn, and they wanted to make sure that we were learning⁹ in a way that was best for us. Now that doesn’t mean that they were not strict on us. When we did something bad, when we were in trouble, they let us know. But still many of our teachers were very open, and they would give us hugs if we needed hugs.

　　Todd: The teachers would give you hugs.

　　Tres: Yes, I know some schools, many teachers would want to keep that professional

　　distance. But I think when you’re working with children, always keep in mind that they are young adults. And they need to be taught a good model to fit into society. I think one of those models is reaching out to others when they are in trouble. Sometimes you know, a student may need a hug, be it your friend or be it a teacher. So I really enjoyed getting hugs from my principal¹⁰, so I always give hugs to everybody.

　　Todd: Wow, that’s a lot different from my high school.

1 depict   

vt.描画，描绘；描写，描述

参考例句：

• I don't care to see plays or films that depict murders or violence.我不喜欢看描写谋杀或暴力的戏剧或电影。
• Children's books often depict farmyard animals as gentle,lovable creatures.儿童图书常常把农场的动物描写得温和而可爱。

2 vary   

vi.变化，有不同；vt.改变，使不同

参考例句：

• Cherries vary in colour from almost black to yellow.樱桃的颜色由近乎黑到黄各不相同。
• Old people don't like to vary their habits.老年人不喜欢改变他们的习惯。

3 magnet   

n.有强大吸引力的人或物；磁铁，磁体

参考例句：

• He picked all the pins up with a magnet.他用磁铁捡起了所有的大头针。
• Dalian is a magnet for tourists.大连是吸引游客的地方。

4 excel   

v.胜过，优于，杰出，善于，擅长于

参考例句：

• If your talent combines with diligence,you can excel in your pursuit.如果你把天赋与勤奋结合起来，你所追求的事业便会出类拔萃。
• He is working hard to excel his predecessors.他正努力超越他的前任。

5 excelled   

优于，擅长( excel的过去式和过去分词 )； 胜过平时

参考例句：

• She has always excelled in foreign languages. 她的外语从来都是出类拔萃。
• Solomon excelled in wisdom. 所罗门智慧过人。

6 sociologically   

在社会学上地

参考例句：

• Sociologically speaking, this is an interesting phenomenon. 从社会学角度说，这是种有趣的现象。
• Taboo words can be analyzed historically and sociologically. 摘要禁忌语的产生有着明显的历史和社会根源。

7 campus   

n.大学校园，学校校园；大学　

参考例句：

• They spoke of the old days on the campus.他们谈起昔日的校园生活。
• The campus covers an area of twenty square kilometres.这个校园占地二十平方公里。

8 liberal   

adj.心胸宽阔的；自由(主义)的；慷慨的

参考例句：

• He has a liberal attitude to divorce and remarriage.他对离婚和再婚看得很开。
• This country adopts a liberal foreign policy.该国采用的是开放的外交政策。

9 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

10 principal   

adj.主要的；n.负责人，校长，资本

参考例句：

• When he saw the principal,he raised his hand in salutation.他看到校长时举手敬礼。
• Their school gave a reception to their new principal.他们学校为新校长举办了一个招待会。