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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Major school districts around the United States are permitting students to attend class without face coverings for the first time in nearly two years. The rules relating to face coverings, or masks, have caused fights among educators, school boards and parents throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
美国各地的主要学区近两年来首次允许学生不戴口罩上课。在整个新冠肺炎大流行期间，口罩相关规定引发了教育工作者、学校董事会和家长之间的争吵。
New York City is the largest school district in the country. It ended its mask requirement on March 7. Philadelphia lifted its school mask requirement on March 9. It joined other big cities such as Houston and Dallas that made similar moves in the past week. Chicago schools ended their mask requirement Monday.
纽约市是美国最大的学区。它于3月7日取消了对口罩的要求。费城于3月9日取消了在学校戴口罩的要求。它加入了休斯顿和达拉斯等其它大城市的行列，这些城市在过去一周也采取了类似的措施。芝加哥学校周一取消了口罩要求。
Parents, teachers and school leaders all must balance the new rules. Some families are happy that their children no longer have to wear masks. But others say they are still worried and are urging their children to continue wearing face coverings for now.
家长、老师和学校领导都必须平衡新规定。一些家庭很高兴他们的孩子不再需要戴口罩。但其他人表示，他们仍然很担心，并督促他们的孩子眼下继续戴口罩。
Educators are caught in the middle.
教育工作者左右为难。
In Anchorage, Alaska, top school official Deena Bishop1 says lifting the mandate2 in the city's nearly 100 public schools was a welcome change. She said there were months of arguments over masks.
在阿拉斯加的安克雷奇，学校高级官员迪娜·毕肖普表示，在该市近100所公立学校中取消这一规定是一项可喜的变化。她说，关于口罩的争论已经持续了好几个月。
"So I'm glad that we've taken that fight away...and now we can go back to focus on learning," Bishop said.
毕肖普表示：“所以我们很高兴我们已经结束了这场争吵，现在我们可以重新专注于学习。”
Falling COVID-19 infection rates and new federal health recommendations3 are leading states to drop the requirements. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently issued new guidelines4 saying most healthy Americans, including students, can safely stop wearing masks.
新冠肺炎感染率下降以及联邦新的健康建议导致各州放弃这一要求。美国疾控中心最近发布了新指南，称大多数健康的美国人，包括学生在内，可以安全地停止戴口罩。
But those who disagree about ending school mask requirements often point to low vaccination5 rates among American children. Only about 25 percent of children ages 5 to 11 have been fully6 vaccinated7 against the coronavirus. Just 58 percent of children ages 12 to 17 are vaccinated, the CDC says.
但是那些不同意学校取消口罩要求的人士经常会指出美国儿童的疫苗接种率很低。美国疾控中心表示，在5到11岁的儿童中，只有大约25%已经完全接种过新冠疫苗。只有58%的12到17岁儿童接种了疫苗。
New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Illinois and Delaware recently lifted their statewide school mask requirements. New Jersey8 and Rhode Island officially dropped theirs last Monday. California, Oregon and Washington all dropped their statewide mandates9 on March 12.
纽约、康涅狄格、马萨诸塞、伊利诺伊以及特拉华州最近取消了在全州范围学校戴口罩的要求。新泽西州和罗得岛州上周一正式取消了他们的要求。加州、俄勒冈州以及华盛顿州都在3月12日取消了全州范围内的规定。
In many places, the decisions are being made at the local school district level.
许多地方是由当地学区来做决定。
Officials in many large cities, such as Boston, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., have said they will keep mask rules for now. Officials say that could change if vaccination rates rise among their students or if they can reach agreements with teachers unions. Unions have been strong supporters of keeping the mask requirements in place.
波士顿、洛杉矶以及华盛顿特区等许多大城市的官员都表示，他们眼下将保留口罩规定。官员们表示，如果学生的疫苗接种率上升，或者他们可以与教师工会达成协议，这种情况可能会改变。工会一直是保留口罩规定的坚定支持者。
Chicago schools announced last week that masks will no longer be required starting March 14. The city's teachers union then promised to take officials to court. They said the move will break an agreement with the district to keep the mask rule through the end of the school year.
芝加哥学区上周宣布，从3月14日起不再要求戴口罩。该市的教师工会随后放言要将有关官员告上法庭。他们说，此举将违反工会与学区达成的将口罩规定保留到学年结束的协议。
In New York City, elementary school student Jack10 Jalaly stopped wearing his mask when they became optional. For children, "it's really great because you can see the way words are pronounced and you can see spellings," said Jack's mother, Andrea.
在纽约市，小学生杰克·贾拉利在不强制要求时就不再戴口罩。对于孩子来说，“这真的很棒，因为你可以看到单词的发音和拼写方式，”杰克的母亲安德莉亚这样说。
But third-grad student Derrick Carter-Jacob kept his mask on even after New York removed the requirement.
但是即使在纽约取消了这项规定之后，三年级学生德里克·卡特-雅各布仍然戴着口罩。
"Leave it on. There's no reason for him to take it off until basically everybody is safe," said his parent, Michael Jacob.
他的父亲迈克尔·雅各布表示：“戴着吧。在大家都基本安全之前，他没有理由把口罩摘下来。”
John Bracey is a Latin teacher at Belmont High School near Boston, Massachusetts. He said he will keep wearing his mask through the end of the academic year, even if district officials decide to end the mandate.
约翰·布雷西是马萨诸塞州波士顿附近贝尔蒙特高中的拉丁语老师。他说，即使学区官员决定取消规定，他也会在学年结束前继续戴口罩。
"I have major concerns on so many levels," Bracey said. "I just can't find a public health or moral justification11 for removing them."
布雷西表示：“我在很多层面上都很担心。我找不到取消规定的公共卫生或道德理由。”
Melissa Bello is a parent in Needham, Massachusetts, outside Boston. She said her two children were among those who happily removed their masks last week.
梅丽莎·贝洛是波士顿郊外的马萨诸塞州尼达姆市的一位家长。她说，她的两个孩子上周都很开心可以摘掉口罩。
She said her 8-year-old son has hearing loss and has had trouble understanding what people are saying when they wear masks.
她说，她8岁的儿子听力有问题，无法领会人们戴着口罩时在说什么。
"He's working harder every day in school and coming home more tired," Bello said. "There's not enough consideration for those kinds of tradeoffs in these mask mandates."
贝洛表示：“他在学校每天都要更努力，回家时更累。在这些口罩规定中，没有对这类权衡做足够考虑。”
收听单词发音 |
1
bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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2
mandate
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| n.托管地；命令，指示 | |
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3
recommendations
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| n.推荐( recommendation的名词复数 )；推荐信；正式建议；提议 | |
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guidelines
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| n.指导方针，准则 | |
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vaccination
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| n.接种疫苗，种痘 | |
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6
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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7
vaccinated
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| [医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的 | |
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jersey
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| n.运动衫 | |
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9
mandates
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| 托管（mandate的第三人称单数形式） | |
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10
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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justification
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| n.正当的理由；辩解的理由 | |
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