VOA慢速英语2020 2020年对教师和学生来说都是艰难之年（在线收听）

At the beginning of 2020, the problems faced by American schools and colleges included issues like slavery, school shooting, sexual assault and the use of technology.

在2020年初，美国中小学和大学面临的问题包括奴隶制度、校园枪击、性侵犯和技术使用等问题。

That all changed in March.

三月份一切都变了。

The coronavirus pandemic sent students and teachers home, forcing schools in the U.S. and around the world to move classrooms online.

新冠病毒大流行让学生和教师都回家了，迫使美国和世界各地的学校将教室搬到网上。

Asha Choksi is head of research for Pearson Education. She saw the move to online learning as a chance to improve higher education. "What it's done is, it's actually given a lot more power to students in terms of how, when and where they learn," she said.

阿莎·乔是培生教育出版集团的研究主管，她认为在线学习是提高高等教育水平的一个机会。“它所做的实际上是赋予学生更多的权利，选择怎样、何时、何地学习

However, Stephanie Hall of the policy research group The Century Foundation argued that online education can never really replace in-person learning in fields like healthcare and teaching.

然而，政策研究组织世纪基金会（theCenturyFoundation）的斯蒂芬妮·霍尔认为，在医疗和教学等领域，在线教育永远无法真正取代面授式教学。

Hall said, "Students need to experience...what it is they're learning about, reading about or hearing about in the classroom. And I don't know yet the degree to which technology can facilitate that."

霍尔说：“学生需要体验在课堂上学习、阅读或听到的内容。我还不知道技术能在多大程度上推动这一点。”

The health crisis also made it difficult for international students to stay in the United States. And it prevented U.S. students from studying in other countries.

健康危机还让留学生难以留在美国，也使美国学生无法到其他国家学习。

Bryan Alexander is a professor at Georgetown University. He said the experience could push more colleges to develop online education. He warned, however, that might not happen if students have "poor online experiences, or if the coronavirus fades into being just another flu strain."

布莱恩·亚历山大是乔治敦大学的教授，他说，这一经历会推动更多大学发展网络教育。然而，他警告说，如果学生“网络体验差，或者新冠病毒逐渐变成另一种流感病毒株”，这种情况则可能不会发生

Hardship for rural and disadvantaged students

As the year went on, it became clear that low-income communities and students in rural areas were not equipped for online education.

随着时间的推移，乡村地区的低收入社区和学生显然没有能力接受在线教育。

Only half of the students in the city of Philadelphia had computers and home internet service. It took some time but officials and businesses finally stepped in to provide equipment and service. In rural areas of South Carolina without internet service, the state sent buses equipped with wi-fi internet to help.

费城只有一半的学生有电脑，能在家上网。这花了一些时间，但官员和企业最终介入提供设备和服务。对于南卡罗来纳州没有互联网服务的乡村地区，该州派出配备无线网络连接的公交车提供帮助。

Students around the world faced similar problems.

全世界的学生都面临着类似的问题。

UNESCO reported in April that only half of the world's learners could take part in distance learning. In places like Bangladesh and Afghanistan, lack of electricity and internet service kept students from continuing their studies at home.

联合国教科文组织在四月份报告表示，世界上只有一半的学生能参加远程学习。在孟加拉国和阿富汗等地，由于电力和互联网服务的缺乏，学生们无法在家继续学习。

Many countries, including Sri Lanka, Columbia, Ecuador, Chile and Haiti used radio and television broadcasts to provide education for at-home students.

包括斯里兰卡、哥伦比亚、厄瓜多尔、智利和海地在内的许多国家，利用广播和电视广播为在家学习的学生提供教育。

Diana Lopez is a teacher in Funza, a town near Bogota with 10,000 public school students. She said, "The radio lessons give children a space to develop their reading and writing skills and also show them that their teachers are still with them."

戴安娜·洛佩兹是波哥大附近一个名叫芬扎的小镇的老师，这个小镇有一万名公立学校学生。她说：“广播课程给孩子们提供了发展阅读和写作技能的空间，也向他们表明老师仍然和他们在一起。”

Mental health and pandemic effects

Educators, however, worried about the mental health of students who could not attend school or see their friends.

然而，教育工作者担心那些不能上学或不能见朋友的学生的心理健康。

Frank Chen is a psychiatrist who has worked with college-age young adults. He said college can be a difficult experience for students with or without mental health issues, as they balance work, studies and personal relationships. A major event like the pandemic makes it very difficult to predict what the long-term psychological effects might be.

弗兰克·陈是一位精神科医生，曾与大学年龄段的年轻人共事。他说，不管学生是否患有心理健康问题，大学生活可能是一段艰难的经历。因为他们要平衡工作、学习和人际关系。像这次的疫情等重大事件，很难预测对学生们产生的长期心理影响。

"I don't think that there's another event in the history of the people who are alive now that can really measure up to this," said Chen.

陈说：“我不认为现在健在的人遇到过有同样影响的事情。”。

In the state of Virginia, fifth-grade teacher Aileen Watts said she and other teachers built in activities to help students reduce anxiety. Classes took "brain breaks," which meant stopping the lesson to play a short game or even do a dance. And, if a child was feeling anxious, he or she could partner with someone to help calm those emotions.

在弗吉尼亚州，五年级教师艾琳·沃茨说，她和其他老师一起设立活动帮助学生减少焦虑。课程采取“脑力休息”的方式，即停止上课，玩一个简短的游戏，甚至跳一支舞。而且，如果一个孩子感到焦虑，他或她可以与别人合作，帮助他们平息这些情绪。

Back into the classroom

In August, parents, teachers and politicians debated on whether U.S. schools should reopen. Meanwhile schools in countries where the pandemic was under more control, such as in Europe, South Korea and Vietnam, were able to reopen successfully.

今年八月，家长、老师和政客们就美国学校是否应该重新开学展开辩论。与此同时，在疫情得到控制的国家，如欧洲、韩国和越南，学校得以顺利重新开学。

As U.S. schools reopened, the tragic result was the death of teachers and infection of children with COVID-19. In the state of Mississippi, there were 604 cases among school teachers and workers by mid-September.

随着美国学校重新开放，悲惨的结果是教师死亡和儿童感染新冠病毒。在密西西比州，截至九月中旬，学校教师和员工中出现604例病例。

Randi Weingarten is president of the American Federation of Teachers. She said, "If community spread is too high, as it is in Missouri and Mississippi, if you don't have the infrastructure of testing, and if you don't have the safeguards that prevent the spread of viruses in the school, we believe that you cannot reopen in person."

兰迪·温加滕是美国教师联合会主席，她说：“社区传播率太高时，就像密苏里州和密西西比州那样，如果没有检测设施，没有防止病毒在学校传播的保障措施，我们认为不能重新开学。”

Words in This Story

facilitate – v. to make something easier

fade – v. to lose force or strength

strain – n. a specific kind of closely related living things including germs

psychological – adj. of or relating to the mind

anxiety - n. fear or nervousness about what might happen

infrastructure - n. the basic equipment and structures (such as roads and bridges) that are needed for a country, region, or organization to function properly