美国自然科学课堂抨击达尔文进化论

 

Darwin Under Attack In US Science Classroom

美国自然科学课堂抨击达尔文进化论

 

The US constitution guarantees separation of church and state. This means among other things that religious beliefs cannot be taught at public schools.

 

Charles Haynes: We can teach about religion, under the First Amendment¹. We can’t have religious indoctrination. But in the science classrooms public schools must teach science as defined by the science community.

 

Charles Haynes is a legal scholar at the First Amendment Center in Arlington, Virginia. He says an American high-school curriculum typically includes Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, which is based on the notion that living beings developed as a result of biological chain reactions caused by natural selection. But many religious Americans who believe that God created life object to their children learning evolution. Educators often succumb² to their pressure, says David Jackson, professor of science education at the University of Georgia.

 

David Jackson: In some school districts in the United States - probably most, but not all of them in the southern United States - it is fairly frequent that evolution is either de-emphasized or not taught at all, or that religious ideas are in fact presented alongside scientific ideas in science class, even though that’s not part of the official curriculum.

 

For example in 2002, schools in Cobb County Georgia, in suburban³ Atlanta, added a disclaimer to ninth-grade biology textbooks that says in part: "Evolution is a theory, not a fact regarding the origin of living things." This month a federal judge in Atlanta ordered the stickers removed as unconstitutional, but appeals are sure to follow, says Professor Jackson.  Similar disputes have arisen in 40 other states in the past decade.

 

In 1991, Phillip Johnson, a retired⁴ professor of law published the book "Darwin on Trial" in which he claims that complex forms of life cannot be a result of natural process alone. 

 

Phillip Johnson: The basic unit of life – the cell – is not as it was believed to be in Darwin’s day a simple blob of jelly-like matter.

 

Professor Johnson, whose book has revived an old argument that at least some forms of life must be a result of a deliberate intelligent design rather than random⁵ natural selection, as evolution indicates.

 

Creationists have embraced this theory because it postulates⁶ that behind an intelligent design there must be an intelligent creator, i.e. God.  And if science can prove it, there is no reason why it cannot be taught at schools.

 

Discovery Institute in Seattle, a private research organization, sponsors scientists who are looking for ways to determine whether some forms of life could be a product over intelligent cause rather than evolution.  

 

John West is Director for Science and Culture at the Institute.

 

John West: Part of the research that goes on is looking at (the question) is chance and necessity selection plus random mutation⁷.  What’s the probability that that can produce the sort of systems we see.

 

A school board in Dover, Pennsylvania, last year used the argument to introduce intelligent-design theory into its science curriculum.  The decision is now challenged in court by parents who believe that intelligent design theory is just another name for creationism.  School boards in some other communities are coming under pressure to add intelligent design to their science curriculum. 

 

Margaret Young, director of the board of education in Charles County, Maryland, says her group has not discussed the idea yet, but if it comes up, she will have an open mind about it.

 

Margaret Young: Science is not stagnant⁸. There are always advances in science, and there may be – I am not saying that there is, I am not saying that there isn’t – there may be more scientific evidence today to support intelligent design theory.

 

Observers outside the US are curious if not bewildered that such a controversy⁹ over teaching evolution occurs in one of the most scientifically and technologically¹⁰ advanced countries in the world. But in contrast to many other countries, parents in the United States have a say in what their children learn at school and what goes into textbooks.

 

It is part of our democracy, says Margaret Young, a member of the school board in Maryland’s. But as Charles Haynes of the First Amendment Center says, democracy also means a respect for the constitution and separation of state in religion is an important part of it.

 

注释：

indoctrination [in5dCktrineitFEn] n. 教导，教化

curriculum [kE5rikjulEm] n. 课程

succumb to 屈服于

de-emphasized 不再强调

disclaimer [dis5kleimEr] n. 拒绝，不承认，放弃

unconstitutional [5QnkCnsti5tju:FEnEl] adj. 违反宪法的

revive [ri5vaiv] v. 使回想，使苏醒

random [5rAndEm] adj. 任意的，杂乱的，随机的

Seattle [si5Atl] n. 西雅图

mutation [mju:5teiFEn] n. 变化，转变

creationism [kri:5eiFEnizEm] n. 创造宇宙说，特别创造说

stagnant [5stA^nEnt] adj. 停滞的

bewilder [bi5wildE] vt. 使迷惑，使不知所措

1 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

2 succumb   

v.屈服，屈从；死

参考例句：

• They will never succumb to the enemies.他们决不向敌人屈服。
• Will business leaders succumb to these ideas?商业领袖们会被这些观点折服吗？

3 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

4 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

5 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

6 postulates   

v.假定，假设( postulate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They proclaimed to be eternal postulates of reason and justice. 他们宣称这些原则是理性和正义的永恒的要求。 来自辞典例句
• The school building programme postulates an increase in educational investment. 修建校舍的计画是在增加教育经费的前提下拟定的。 来自辞典例句

7 mutation   

n.变化，变异，转变

参考例句：

• People who have this mutation need less sleep than others.有这种突变的人需要的睡眠比其他人少。
• So far the discussion has centered entirely around mutation in the strict sense.到目前为止，严格来讲，讨论完全集中于围绕突变问题上。

8 stagnant   

adj.不流动的，停滞的，不景气的

参考例句：

• Due to low investment,industrial output has remained stagnant.由于投资少，工业生产一直停滞不前。
• Their national economy is stagnant.他们的国家经济停滞不前。

9 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

10 technologically   

ad.技术上地

参考例句：

• Shanghai is a technologically advanced city. 上海是中国的一个技术先进的城市。
• Many senior managers are technologically illiterate. 许多高级经理都对技术知之甚少。