VOA慢速英语--最高法院法官为公民设计游戏

AS IT IS 2016-05-30 Supreme¹ Court Justice Designs Video Game About Civics 最高法院法官为公民设计游戏

The race to win the White House is not just taking place on the political stage, but also in schools across the country.

Like Donald Trump³ and Hillary Clinton, students are competing to become president. But their efforts are playing out in a video game called “Win the White House.”

The game is part of a website-based project called iCivics. Civics is the study of the rights and responsibilities of citizenship⁴. This project is designed to increase civics teaching in U.S. schools.

Teaching civics through video games was the idea of Sandra Day O’Connor, a former member of the U.S. Supreme Court. She launched the iCivics project in 2010.

“iCivics has been an effective way to reach young people and to give them an enhanced capacity to have critical thinking of their own.”

In the game “Win the White House,” students act like presidential candidates. They learn how to compete civilly on many difficult issues, including gun control and immigration.

iCivics has online educational games, teaching materials and products.

The games deal with the U.S. Constitution and all three branches of government: the Judicial⁵, Legislative⁶ and Executive. The website also provides digital tools and lesson plans for teachers and students across the U.S.

Sixth-grader Jaylah Williams likes the games.

“It teaches students how to prepare for the real world and how to prepare, such as if they want to run for president or any debates in school.”

Ariel Bosworth teaches social studies at Future Leaders Institute Charter School in New York City. He also likes the program.

“I really have the opportunity to show them how their voice matters and why it matters. And, I think this, not only the game, but the program, the lessons that go along with it, really do a great job in providing supplementary⁷ material for showing them why their voice is important, and why they need to take an active part in civic² engagement.”

As students play each game, they learn about different parts of government and politics.They also learn about economics at the national, state and local level.

But when it comes to video games in the classroom, it is the teacher who makes the difference.

That is what Dani McPartlin says. She heads the Future Leaders Institute Charter School. She says that putting a student on a computer alone in front of a program might not have the desired effect.

“An online software program is only as good as the teacher teaches into it and is able to make that connection with the students. And when it’s guided by the teacher, they’re more engaged, and they question.”

The iCivics project says middle-school social studies teachers and high-school government and history teachers use its software program. It says the program helps students improve their writing ability and knowledge of civics.

The organization says the games provide equal benefits for students across gender⁸ and race, no matter whether they are rich or poor. That, says Justice O’Connor, is her most important legacy⁹.

Words in This Story

civil – adj. to act with respect for others

supplementary – adj. completing or enhancing something

engagement – n. the act of being involved in something

gender – n. the state of being male or female

legacy – n. something that comes from someone in the past

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 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。

3 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

4 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

5 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

6 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

7 supplementary   

adj.补充的，附加的

参考例句：

• There is a supplementary water supply in case the rain supply fails.万一主水源断了，我们另外有供水的地方。
• A supplementary volume has been published containing the index.附有索引的增补卷已经出版。

8 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

9 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。