新奇事件簿 英国家长因孩子上课迟到而受到罚款

Parents in the U.K. face being punished if their children are continually late for school. Britain's Education Secretary Michael Gove has announced he will crack down on what he terms "problem parents". He said too many families fail to "face up to their responsibilities" by ensuring their children get to school on time, and are "ready to learn and show respect for their teacher". Parents are already slapped with a 60 ($100) fine if their child is repeatedly late for school. However, 20,000 of these penalties were unpaid¹ last year, prompting Mr Gove to announce a tougher penalty system. There will also be fines for parents who withdraw their children during term time to take them on cheaper family vacations.

如果孩子经常上学迟到，英国的父母就会受到惩罚。英国教育大臣迈克尔戈夫宣布，他将打击“问题父母”。他说，太多家庭没能履行自己的职责来确保他们的孩子按时上学，也没有让自己的孩子懂得尊敬他们的老师。如果孩子多次迟到，那么孩子的父母将被罚款60(100美元)。然而,去年有20,000例这样的处罚没有得到支付，这促使戈夫先生宣布一项更严厉的惩罚制度。如果家长在孩子学习期间让孩子旷课，而带孩子去参加比较廉价的家庭度假，家长也会被处以罚款。

Mr Gove said his plans were all part of raising standards in education, creating a bigger incentive² for parents to ensure their children get to school, and tackling the problem of "habitual³ truancy⁴". Gove also hit back at his critics, accusing them of adhering to policies that set pupils up to fail and of promoting "a diet of dumbed-down courses". He said opposition⁵ politicians shied away "from anything which might require grit⁶". Gove warned their policies would send children to school "without daring to think they might be intellectually curious and capable of greatness, denying them access to anything stretching or ambitious, and setting expectations so low you can never be surprised by someone's potential".

戈夫先生说,他的计划都是为了提高教学标准，更大程度上激励家长保证孩子去上课，解决“习惯性旷课”的问题。戈夫也回击对他的批评者,指责他们坚持那些让学生失败的政策，并且鼓励那些“低能课程”的行为。他说,反对派政客对那些任何需要勇气的方面避而不谈。戈夫警告称，他们的政策只是把孩子送到学校，而并没有大胆设想孩子们可能很好学，并且能力很强。家长不认为孩子们有雄心壮志，对于孩子的期望太低，以至于家长永远不会对孩子的潜能感到吃惊。

1 unpaid   

adj.未付款的，无报酬的

参考例句：

• Doctors work excessive unpaid overtime.医生过度加班却无报酬。
• He's doing a month's unpaid work experience with an engineering firm.他正在一家工程公司无偿工作一个月以获得工作经验。

2 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

3 habitual   

adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的

参考例句：

• He is a habitual criminal.他是一个惯犯。
• They are habitual visitors to our house.他们是我家的常客。

4 truancy   

n.逃学，旷课

参考例句：

• Schools need to reduce levels of truancy.学校需要减少旷课人数。
• It was a day for impulse and truancy.这是个适于冲动或偷懒的日子。

5 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

6 grit   

n.沙粒，决心，勇气；v.下定决心，咬紧牙关

参考例句：

• The soldiers showed that they had plenty of grit. 士兵们表现得很有勇气。
• I've got some grit in my shoe.我的鞋子里弄进了一些砂子。