VOA慢速英语20060504b

EDUCATION REPORT - Maryland Educator Is Named National Teacher of the YearBy Nancy Steinbach

Broadcast: Thursday, May 04, 2006

I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Education Report.

A twenty-nine-year-old kindergarten teacher from Maryland has been named National Teacher of the Year. On June first she will begin a year as a national and international spokeswoman for education.

Kimberly Oliver is the first National Teacher of the Year from her state. She teaches five-year-old children at a public school in Silver Spring, Maryland, near Washington, D.C. President Bush honored¹ her and other top teachers last week at the White House.


Kimberly Oliver and President Bush on April 26, 2006

Kimberly Oliver says she wants people to understand that the first years of a child's life are the most important for learning². She says investing³ in children at a very young age will result in great gains later in school and in life.

She urges parents to read to children from an early age so they do not fall behind in school. One of the activities at her school is an event called Books and Supper Night. Families read together at the school and receive free books to take home. Parents, children and teachers also eat dinner together.

Broad Acres Elementary School is in a poor area. Many of the parents are immigrants⁴ with limited English. Kimberly Oliver has helped improve learning at her school.

She has received money to buy electronic learning systems, tape players and books in English and Spanish to send home with students. Parents say she has shown them how to help their children at home.

She was born and raised in Delaware. She holds one degree in English and another in elementary education.

Kimberly Oliver will follow in the steps of another teacher from the Washington area as National Teacher of the Year. The current winner, Jason Kamras, was honored for his work teaching⁵ math to middle school students in the nation's capital.

The National Teacher of the Year program began in nineteen fifty-two. It is a project of the Council⁶ of Chief State School Officers, with support from the publisher Scholastic⁷ and the financial services company ING.

A fourteen-member committee chooses from among teachers honored as the best in their state.

This VOA Special English Education Report was written by Nancy Steinbach. Read and listen to our reports at www.unsv.com. Now here is a message for teachers:

If you teach with Special English, let us know. Tell us how, and for what ages and subjects. And don't forget to tell us where you are from. Write to [email protected]. I'm Steve Ember.

1 honored   

adj.光荣的：荣幸的v.尊敬，给以荣誉( honor的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I hope to be honored with further orders. 如蒙惠顾，不胜荣幸。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This is a time-honored custom. 这是一个古老的习俗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 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。

3 investing   

v.投资，花费( invest的现在分词 )；授予；（把资金）投入；投入（时间、精力等）

参考例句：

• He was timid about investing money. 他不敢投资。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Europe also caught the excitement of investing in American railroads. 欧洲人对投资美国铁路也极感兴趣。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

4 immigrants   

n.移民( immigrant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Illegal immigrants were given the opportunity to regularize their position. 非法移民得到了使其身份合法化的机会。
• Immigrants from all over the world populate this city. 这个城市里生活着来自世界各地的移民。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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 council   

n.理事会，委员会，议事机构

参考例句：

• The town council passed a law forbidding the distribution of handbills.市议会通过法律，禁止散发传单。
• The city council has declared for improving the public bus system.市议会宣布同意改进公共汽车系统。

7 scholastic   

adj.学校的，学院的，学术上的

参考例句：

• There was a careful avoidance of the sensitive topic in the scholastic circles.学术界小心地避开那个敏感的话题。
• This would do harm to students' scholastic performance in the long run.这将对学生未来的学习成绩有害。