EDUCATION REPORT - Teacher of the Year

EDUCATION REPORT
–
May 2, 2002: Teacher of the Year

By Jerilyn Watson

This is the Special English Education Report.

A social studies teacher from the state of California has been honored² as the National Teacher of the Year.
President Bush presented the award to retired³ Army officer Chauncey Veatch at a ceremony at the White House
last week. The president praised Mister⁴ Veatch for serving both the children and the nation well.

In accepting his award, Mister Veatch urged others to become teachers. He praised teaching⁵ as a way to become
part of America’s future. He spoke⁶ in English and Spanish.

Mister Veatch teaches at Coachella Valley High School in Thermal⁷, California. Most of his students have
families who speak Spanish. Many of the families are farm workers who move from place to place to pick grapes.
Mister Veatch is the son of a military family who also moved often. As a child he once attended five different
schools in four states during a single school year.

Mister Veatch’s students have won competitions in science, spelling and mathematics. They also have earned
scholarships --money to attend universities. This year, half of his thirty-four students said they want to become
teachers.

Mister Veatch is fifty-four years old. Before becoming a teacher, he served for twenty-two years as an Army
officer. He was a medical administrator⁸. After retiring from the Army in Nineteen-Ninety-Five, he became
interested in teaching.

He asked the local school system if he could be a substitute⁹ teacher. He had never taught before. Still, the school
system gave him a job teaching science and mathematics to middle -school students. Mister Veatch attended
university classes at night, on weekends and during the summers. After three years, he completed the training
required to become a permanent teacher.

Mister Veatch will spend the next year away from his classroom. He will spread the message about the
importance of teaching.

American presidents have presented the Teacher of the Year Award to the country’s finest teachers every year
since Nineteen-Fifty-Two. The goal is to honor¹ teaching and show support for education. President Bush also has
expressed special support for a program called Troops to Teachers. This program places retired members of the
military in public school teaching jobs.

This VOA Special English Education Report was written by Jerilyn Watson.

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1 honor   

n.光荣；敬意；荣幸；vt.给…以荣誉；尊敬

参考例句：

• I take your visit as a great honor.您的来访是我莫大的光荣。
• It is a great honor to receive that prize.能拿到那个奖是无上的光荣。

2 honored   

adj.光荣的：荣幸的v.尊敬，给以荣誉( honor的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I hope to be honored with further orders. 如蒙惠顾，不胜荣幸。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This is a time-honored custom. 这是一个古老的习俗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 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。

4 mister   

n.(略作Mr.全称很少用于书面)先生

参考例句：

• Mister Smith is my good friend.史密斯先生是我的好朋友。
• He styled himself " Mister Clean ".他自称是“清廉先生”。

5 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 thermal   

adj.热的，由热造成的；保暖的

参考例句：

• They will build another thermal power station.他们要另外建一座热能发电站。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

8 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。

9 substitute   

n.代理，代理人，代用品，代替物；vt.代替；vi.替代，取代

参考例句：

• Can you substitute for the singer who is ill?你能替一下那位得了病的歌手吗？
• Yogurt is a perfectly acceptable substitute for cream in cooking.酸奶是烹饪用的特别受欢迎的奶油替代品。