听播客学英语 203 不穿衣服节

 　　Most British children wear school uniform to go to school. They have to. The school rules say that the children have to wear school uniform at school.

　　What sort of school uniform? Well, my younger children are both at secondary¹ school. My daughter has to wear a dark green skirt or trousers, a white blouse, a dark green jumper, and black shoes and socks or tights. The Moslem² girls at her school may wear a head-scarf, but it must be dark green or white or black.

　　My son wears black trousers, a white shirt, a school tie and a dark blue jumper.

　　At some schools, the pupils wear blazers – that is, a jacket in school colours with the school badge³ on the pocket.

　　In most other European countries, children do not wear uniform to go to school. They just wear their normal clothes. People in Germany and Scandinavia, for instance⁴, think that British school uniforms are very strange.

　　So what do British children think? Generally, they don’t mind wearing school uniform. After all, all their friends have to wear school uniform too. And many parents are happy, because there are no arguments with their children about what they may wear for school; and less pressure from their children to buy expensive new clothes because their school friends have them.

　　But sometimes it is nice not to have to wear school uniform. About 2 or 3 times a year, many British schools have a “no uniform day” as a way of raising money for charity⁵. The children come to school wearing their normal clothes, and give some money to the charity. Often the children themselves help to choose which charity they will support.

　　Today, 17 November, lots of schools have a no uniform day, to raise money for the BBC⁶ Children in Need appeal. So my children have gone to school today wearing jeans and trainers and t-shirts.

　　So why is this podcast called “no clothes day”? Well, a young friend of my children once told us excitedly that “tomorrow is a no clothes day at school”. We laughed and said that it was a “no uniform day”, not a “no clothes day”. But ever since then, in our family, we have talked of “no clothes day”.

1 secondary   

adj.中级的，中等的，次要的；n.次要位置，副手

参考例句：

• It's a question of secondary importance.这是个次要的问题。
• Secondary school means junior school and high school.中学是指初中和高中。

2 Moslem   

n.回教徒，穆罕默德信徒；adj.回教徒的，回教的

参考例句：

• Moslem women used to veil their faces before going into public.信回教的妇女出门之前往往用面纱把脸遮起来。
• If possible every Moslem must make the pilgrimage to Mecca once in his life.如有可能，每个回教徒一生中必须去麦加朝觐一次。

3 badge   

n.徽章，证章，标记，标识，象征

参考例句：

• Every student should carry a school badge.每个学生都应该佩带校徽。
• The olive leaf is a badge of peace.橄榄叶是和平的象征。

4 instance   

n.例，例证，实例

参考例句：

• Can you quote me a recent instance?你能给我举一个最近的例子吗？
• He's a greedy boy,yesterday,for instance,he ate all our biscuits!他是个贪吃的孩子――比如，他昨天把我们的饼干都吃了！

5 charity   

n.慈悲，博爱，慈善团体，施舍

参考例句：

• He founded the charity in memory of his late wife.他兴办那个慈善机构以纪念他已故的妻子。
• He gave a handsome sum of money to charity.他向慈善团体捐了一笔相当可观的钱款。

6 BBC   

abbr.（=British Broadcasting Corporation）英国广播公司

参考例句：

• She works for the BBC.她为英国广播公司工作。
• The BBC was founded in 1922.英国广播公司建于1922年。