VOA慢速英语2019 美国学校系统为学生提供公民活动的休息日

US School System to Give Students a Day Off For Civic¹ Activities

One of the largest public school systems in the United States is about to launch a new policy. Later this month, students attending Fairfax County Public Schools, FCPS, can take time off from school for civic activities.

美国最大的公立学校系统之一即将推出一项新政策。本月晚些时候，就读于费尔法克斯县公立学校（FCPS）的学生可以放学时间参加公民活动。

Fairfax County is in northern Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C. Beginning January 21, FCPS will give students one excused absence each school year for what it calls "civic engagement activities." Students must be in grades seven to 12, meaning most are 12 to 18 years old.

费尔法克斯县位于弗吉尼亚州北部，就在华盛顿特区郊外。从1月21日开始，FCPS将在每个学年为学生提供一个称为“公民参与活动”的休假时间。学生必须是7至12年级的学生，这意味着大多数学生的年龄是12至18岁。

FCPS School Board Chair Karen Corbett Sanders told VOA the idea for the policy comes from a rise in student activism. After 17 people died in a shooting at a Florida high school in 2018, students around the country protested gun violence. Some of the demonstrations² were in Fairfax County.

FCPS学校董事会主席Karen Corbett Sanders告诉VOA，这项政策的想法来自学生激进主义的兴起。在2018年佛罗里达高中的一次枪击中有17人死亡后，全国各地的学生抗议枪支暴力。一些示威游行在费尔法克斯县举行。

Corbett Sanders notes that at the time, school officials wanted to give students a chance to express their concerns.

柯贝特·桑德斯（Corbett Sanders）指出，当时，学校官员希望给学生一个表达他们担忧的机会。

"We gave flexibility³ to students to have their voices heard and to express their concerns about safety and security in their schools."

“我们为学生提供了灵活的表达自己的声音并表达他们对学校安全保障的关注。”

There is no defined list of approved activities; the choice is up to the students. However, they might be participating in marches, sit-in protests or taking time to talk with local or national lawmakers.

没有明确的批准活动清单；选择权取决于学生。但是，他们可能参加游行，静坐抗议或抽空与地方或国家立法者交谈。

Corbett Sanders says living just outside Washington means that many FCPS students are knowledgeable⁴ about national politics.

科尔贝特·桑德斯（Corbett Sanders）说，住在华盛顿以外的地区意味着许多FCPS学生都对国家政治有所了解。

But she says students are not limited to going into the city to become involved in the civic process.

但她说，学生不仅限于进入城市参与公民活动。

"We have students who go down to Richmond, which is where our state legislature is. We have students who have been engaged in climate change rallies here in Fairfax County. And so I think what we're seeing is that young people in general want to be engaged in this civic process, the policy process."

“我们的学生去了里士满，那里是我们的州议会所在地。我们的学生一直在这里参加费尔法克斯县的气候变化集会。所以我想我们看到的是，年轻人普遍参与这个公民过程，即政策过程。”

Corbett Sanders says she has already heard from parents who say their children plan to attend the yearly "March for Life" in Washington. The event is held to protest the 1973 U.S. Supreme⁵ Court ruling on a woman's right to end her pregnancy⁶.

科尔贝特·桑德斯（Corbett Sanders）说，她已经收到父母的来信，父母说他们的孩子计划参加每年一度的华盛顿“生命之行”。举行该活动是为了抗议1973年美国最高法院对妇女终止妊娠权利的裁决。

In years past, if students attended the March for Life, they would have been given an "unexcused absence."

在过去的几年中，如果学生参加“生命的游行”，那将是他们“无故缺席”。

The school system's new policy ties together action and what students learn in their classrooms. Civic engagement is something that is "emphasized in government classes," notes Corbett Sanders.

学校系统的新政策将行动与学生在课堂上学到的东西联系在一起。科尔贝特?桑德斯（Corbett Sanders）指出，公民参与是“政府班级中强调的事情”。

The FCPS policy may find a supporter in U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. In a year-end report on the federal court system, Roberts called for an increase in civic awareness⁷ in the country. "We have come to take democracy for granted, and civic education has fallen by the wayside," he said.

FCPS政策可能会在美国最高法院首席大法官约翰·罗伯茨（John Roberts）中找到支持者。罗伯茨在有关联邦法院系统的年终报告中呼吁提高该国公民的意识。他说：“我们已经把民主视为理所当然，公民教育已经落在了后面。”

Meira Levinson is a professor of education at Harvard University. The policy is a good idea, she told VOA, because when students grow up, they will have civic rights and responsibilities.

梅拉·莱文森（Meira Levinson）是哈佛大学的教育学教授。她告诉美国之音说，这项政策是一个好主意，因为当学生长大后，他们将拥有公民权利和责任。

"And so this policy is good at recognizing that and the importance of preparing young people for that and of honoring their civic participation⁸."

“因此，这项政策善于认识到这一点以及为年轻人做好准备并尊重其公民参与的重要性。”

But she adds giving students just one day off to engage in civic action is only a start. It "cannot be the only thing" that they do to support civic learning.

但是她补充说，给学生只有一天的假期从事公民行动只是一个开始。他们支持公民学习“不是唯一的事情”。

"They also need to provide coursework, they need to support student activism in schools and they need to provide examples of people who are civically⁹ engaged in all sorts of ways."

“他们还需要提供课程，他们需要支持学生在学校的积极性，还需要提供一些以各种方式公民参与的人们的榜样。”

Levinson thinks other school systems around the country will likely approve similar policies.

莱文森认为，全国其他学校系统也可能会批准类似的政策。

However, there is no sign yet that American students will demonstrate as often as Sweden's Greta Thunberg, who just turned 17 years old. In 2018, she started calling attention to climate change by protesting outside the Swedish parliament instead of going to school. She has called on world leaders to take action on climate change and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019.

但是，还没有迹象表明美国学生会像刚满17岁的瑞典人Greta Thunberg一样频繁地进行表演。在2018年，她开始在瑞典议会之外抗议而不是上学，从而引起人们对气候变化的关注。她呼吁世界各国领导人对气候变化采取行动，并于2019年获得诺贝尔和平奖提名。

Greta Thunberg's action led other students to protest climate change around the world.

Greta Thunberg的举动导致其他学生抗议世界各地的气候变化。

Words in This Story

civic – adj. of or relating to a city or town or the people who live there

excused absence – n. officially allowed to be absent, or away from school.

engagement – n. the act or state of being involved with something

flexibility – adj. easily changed

participate – v. to be involved with others in doing something : to take part in an activity or event with others

rallies – n. plural¹⁰ a public meeting to support or oppose someone or something

fallen by the wayside – phrase. failure to continue, drop out

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 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

3 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

4 knowledgeable   

adj.知识渊博的；有见识的

参考例句：

• He's quite knowledgeable about the theatre.他对戏剧很有心得。
• He made some knowledgeable remarks at the meeting.他在会上的发言颇有见地。

5 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。

6 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

7 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

8 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

9 civically   

爱嘲笑地，冷笑地

参考例句：

• "Holding down the receiver,'said Daisy cynically. “挂上话筒在讲。”黛西冷嘲热讽地说。
• The Democrats sensibly (if cynically) set about closing the God gap. 民主党在明智（有些讽刺）的减少宗教引起的问题。

10 plural   

n.复数；复数形式；adj.复数的

参考例句：

• Most plural nouns in English end in's '.英语的复数名词多以s结尾。
• Here you should use plural pronoun.这里你应该用复数代词。