2007年VOA慢速英语special200708090041

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

Public schools in New York, America's biggest city, commonly have numbers for names. But this is unusual. In the United States, the process of naming a school often involves parents and the community as well as elected school leaders.

Researchers say school names can show civic¹ values and also shape them. For example, naming a school after a historic² person becomes a way to teach students about that person's importance in history.

A new study examines the naming of American public schools. The study is from the Manhattan Institute, an organization that does public policy research.

The study shows that fewer and fewer schools are being named after people. Instead, more schools are being named after the local area or natural features like hills, trees or animals. The researchers say these changes raise questions about the civic duty of public education.

They looked at seven states with twenty percent of all public school students in the country. They found similar results in every state: new schools are less likely to be named after people.

This is true especially with presidents. For example, in Arizona, public schools in the past twenty years were almost fifty times more likely to be named after such things as landforms or plants.

In Florida, out of almost three thousand public schools, the report says five honor³ George Washington, the nation's first president. Eleven honor the manatee⁴, an endangered sea animal found in that state.

In fact, the study says that today, a majority of all public school districts nationwide do not have a single school named after a president.

School officials say they try to choose names that will not offend⁵ anyone. For example, a few years ago, the city of New Orleans banned the naming of any school after a person who owned slaves. Other school systems have rules against naming new schools after any person, living or dead.

The researchers say naming a school after a person can lead to important debates about democratic⁶ values. They call for more research to identify the causes and effects of the changes in school names.

The causes may include changes in American culture as well as in the political control of school systems. One area worth exploring, they say, is the link between trends in school names and weak results for public schools on measures of civic education.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. I'm Joan Kornblith.

1 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

2 historic   

adj.历史上著名的，具有历史意义的

参考例句：

• This is a historic occasion.这是具有重大历史意义的时刻。
• We are living in a great historic era.我们正处在一个伟大的历史时代。

3 honor   

n.光荣；敬意；荣幸；vt.给…以荣誉；尊敬

参考例句：

• I take your visit as a great honor.您的来访是我莫大的光荣。
• It is a great honor to receive that prize.能拿到那个奖是无上的光荣。

4 manatee   

n.海牛

参考例句：

• We watched dolphin,manatee,sea lion and whale shows.我们看了海豚、海牛、海狮和鲸的表演。
• One of the most extraordinary river creatures is Amazonian manatee.其中河里最特别的生物之一要数亚马孙海牛。

5 offend   

v.犯错误；违犯；犯罪

参考例句：

• He took care never to offend his visitors.他小心谨慎，绝不得罪他的访客。
• I think I never offend you.我想我从没有触犯过你。

6 democratic   

adj.民主的；民主主义的，有民主精神的

参考例句：

• Their country has democratic government.他们国家实行民主政体。
• He has a democratic work-style.他作风民主。