EDUCATION REPORT - Teach for America

EDUCATION REPORT
–
May 23, 2002: Teach for America

By Jerilyn Watson

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

Teach for America is one of the nation’s most successful educational programs. This year, a record fourteen-

thousand recent college graduates have asked to join the program. More than one-thousand-seven-hundred young
men and women will be chosen for their intelligence¹ and strong personal skills. They will receive special
training. Then they will teach children from poor families in schools in seventeen areas of the country. They will
teach for two years.

A student at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey², had the idea for Teach
for America in nineteen-eighty-nine. Wendy Kopp recognized that children from
poor families have more problems learning³ than other children do. She wrote a
paper proposing⁴ a national teaching⁵ organization.

People soon supported her idea. Money from major companies helped launch⁶ the
program. About five-hundred young people began teaching in the program in
nineteen-ninety.Today, Mizz Kopp still leads the organization. Over the years,
eight -thousand teachers in the program have taught more than one -million children.

Teach for America has received money from individuals, organizations, companies and the federal⁷
government.Money also comes from individuals and businesses in communities where the teachers work.
Sometimes the Teach for America teachers organize events to help provide money for supplies for their
classrooms. Many of their schools do not have enough money for supplies.

School officials praise the Teach for America teachers. Sixty percent of the teachers continue in educational work
after finishing their two years. Most express satisfaction at having made a difference in children’s lives.

For example, Nicole Sherrin taught mathematics⁸ to teenage⁹ students in Phoenix¹⁰, Arizona. When she began, her
one-hundred-twenty students were the least successful students in the area. Mizz Sherrin developed ways to get
her students to do well in math. She organized them into groups and gave them special things when all the
members succeeded. She got to know her students and their families outside of school as a way of gaining their
trust.

By the end of the year, two-thirds of her students performed at the highest level on a special math test.

This VOA Special English Education Report was written by Jerilyn Watson.

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1 intelligence   

n.智力，聪明，智能；情报

参考例句：

• He was a man of intelligence and of firmness of will.他是个聪明而又意志坚定的人。
• He equals me in strength but not in intelligence.他和我力气相等，但智力不同。

2 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

3 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。

4 proposing   

v.提议，建议( propose的现在分词 )；打算；提供（解释）；提出（行动，计划或供表决的方案等）

参考例句：

• The bridegroom ended his speech by proposing a toast to the hosts. 新郎向主人敬酒结束了他的讲话。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He acted as pioneer in proposing the method. 他是率先创导这一方法的人。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。

6 launch   

vt.发动，推出；发射；n.发射，下水，投产

参考例句：

• The makers are about to launch out a new product.制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。
• Would it be wise to launch into this rough sea?在这样汹涌的大海中游泳明智吗？

7 federal   

adj.联盟的；联邦的；(美国)联邦政府的

参考例句：

• Switzerland is a federal republic.瑞士是一个联邦共和国。
• The schools are screaming for federal aid.那些学校强烈要求联邦政府的援助。

8 mathematics   

n.（用作单）数学；（用作单或复）计算(能力）

参考例句：

• He has come out in front in the study of mathematics.他在数学方面已名列前茅。
• She is working at a difficult problem in mathematics.她在做一道数学难题。

9 teenage   

adj.青少年的；十几岁的

参考例句：

• His voice is very high for a teenage boy.对一个十几岁的男孩来说，他的嗓音很尖。
• He is too old now for teenage parties.他年龄太大了，不适于参加少年聚会。

10 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。