VOA标准英语2014--石油繁荣让北达科他州学校拥挤起来

 

Oil Boom Crowding North Dakota Schools 石油繁荣让北达科他州学校拥挤起来

WILLISTON, NORTH DAKOTA — The oil boom in North Dakota and Montana has brought a flood of people to once sparsely-populated rural towns.  The rapid pace of expansion in the town of Williston, North Dakota is putting pressure on all kinds of local services -- from fire and emergency response to road construction and utilities. The increased number of students in the public school system in Williston is crowding its now outdated¹ facilities.

Through oil boom and bust², and now boom again, John Monger says life’s been a roller coaster in his hometown of Williston.

“Born and raised here.  Been living in this town for 47 years,” he said.

Monger is now in his 24th year teaching at Hagan Elementary, the last three of them spent working in a temporary modular trailer attached to the school.

“The modular classrooms are smaller than the regular classroom," he said. "Right now I have 18 students, and I started the year out with 16 students.”

The oil boom in North Dakota is attracting an overwhelming number of job seekers whose children are crowding the halls of Hagan Elementary.

“We’ve increased enrollment³ of over 1,000 students in the past four to five years," said Viola LaFontaine, superintendent⁴ of Williston Public Schools. "And a majority of them are elementary students, about 70 percent of them are elementary students.”

LaFontaine is the administrator⁵ of the smallest but fastest-growing public school district in the state of North Dakota.  She says it's also one of the state's most international.

“I believe its seven different languages that we have spoken in school now," she said. "A majority are Spanish, but we have Cantonese, and French.”

While teachers like Monger cope with the challenges of larger class sizes, smaller classrooms, and foreign languages, they are dealing⁶ with a constantly changing student body.

“The greatest challenge is the students coming in an out and throughout the entire school year, as well as students leaving throughout the school year,” LaFontaine said.

LaFontaine says other big challenges are recruiting qualified⁷ teachers and financing construction of new facilities to accommodate Williston’s rapidly-growing population.  Though the state of North Dakota is awash in oil revenue, LaFontaine says, it is not providing the funds she needs.

“North Dakota’s always been conservative. I don’t think that’s a bad thing," she said. "But now that you’ve got ample resources, let us have some of it.  Whether it’s grants or loans or preferably grants that you could use to really support your schools.”

“We would definitely like to see another school put in place in the town because we definitely need one," said Monger. "Where I teach right now, and a lot of the other teachers, the classrooms are a lot smaller than the regular.”

Voters in Williston will soon get the chance to take the matter into their own hands.  A referendum to raise taxes to fund construction of new school facilities is on the ballot⁸ in June.  But it’s not the first time -- a previous referendum failed in 2012.

1 outdated   

adj.旧式的，落伍的，过时的；v.使过时

参考例句：

• That list of addresses is outdated,many have changed.那个通讯录已经没用了，许多地址已经改了。
• Many of us conform to the outdated customs laid down by our forebears.我们许多人都遵循祖先立下的过时习俗。

2 bust   

vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部

参考例句：

• I dropped my camera on the pavement and bust it. 我把照相机掉在人行道上摔坏了。
• She has worked up a lump of clay into a bust.她把一块黏土精心制作成一个半身像。

3 enrollment   

n.注册或登记的人数；登记

参考例句：

• You will be given a reading list at enrollment.注册时你会收到一份阅读书目。
• I just got the enrollment notice from Fudan University.我刚刚接到复旦大学的入学通知书。

4 superintendent   

n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长

参考例句：

• He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
• He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。

5 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。

6 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

7 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

8 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。