VOA慢速英语2015 美国新教育法赋予各州更大的控制权利

New US Education Law Gives States More Control 美国新教育法赋予各州更大的控制权利

States and local communities in the United States gained more control over education standards and testing last week.

上周美国各州及当地社区在教育标准和测试方面赢得了更多控制权。

U.S. President Barack Obama signed the education reforms into law last week.

美国总统奥巴马上周签署了教育改革方案，使其成为一项新的立法。

After more than 10 years, members of Congress from both parties have come together to revise our national education law, Obama said. "This law focuses on a national goal of ensuring that all of our students graduate prepared for college and future careers."

“十几年来，议会两党成员一致努力修订我国教育法，”奥巴马说，“该项法律的重点在于保证所有学生做好充分准备迎接大学和未来的就业。”

The new education reform law urges the 50 state governments to limit how many and how often students take tests. The law limits the high-stakes nature of the testing for underperforming schools. And the national government will not be able to tell states and communities how to evaluate schools and teacher performance.

新的教育改革敦促50个州的政府限定学生测试的次数和频率。该法律限制了考试对表现不佳的学校的高风险性。而且中央政府不能插手各州和社区如何评判学校和教师的表现。

But states and schools must still give reading and math exams in grades three through eight, and in high school. The states will have more authority in setting standards for the tests.

但是各州和学校必须给三到八年级及高中学生安排阅读和数学考试。各州在设定考试标准方面将会有更大权限。

Congress passed the measure easily. Republicans and Democrats¹ supported it.

该改革措施很顺利地在议会通过。共和党和民主党都支持该项改革。

The new law replaces the No Child Left Behind measure approved in 2002. It called for extensive testing and standards set by the national government.

此项教育法将会取代2002年颁布的《不让一个孩子掉队法》。之前这项法律要求进行广泛测试并采用中央政府设定的标准。

Parents, teachers and lawmakers found that policy unworkable. They said it gave Washington bureaucrats³ too much control over the country’s 100,000 public schools.

家长、老师和立法者随后发现这项法律并不可行。他们认为这给予了华盛顿官僚太多的控制权，控制全国10万所公立学校。

This bill makes long overdue⁴ fixes to the last education law. It replaces a one-size-fits-all approach to reform, Obama said.

“这项新法案对之前的教育法进行了姗姗来迟的修订。取代了之前万金油版不重视因材施教的教育方法。

Republican Senator Lamar Alexander is one of the measure’s chief authors. He said, "This new law will result in fewer and better tests because states and classroom teachers will be deciding what to do about the results of the tests."

共和党参议员Lamar Alexander是该法案主要撰写者之一。他说：“新法案会让考试向少而精的方向发展，因为各州和老师来决定怎么样才能达到测试的效果。”

The law’s other key sponsor is Democratic Senator Patty Murray. She said the new focus will be on early childhood education. She added that minority and poor children will benefit, and get a better start in their earliest years of school.

该法案的重要支持者还有民主党参议员Patty Murray。她表示新法案还将重点放在早教上。少数族群及贫困家庭的孩子将大大受益，并在上学的起步阶段获得更好的开始。

Words in this Story

bureaucrat² – n. a person who is one of the people who run a government or big company and who does everything according to the rules of that government or company; a person who is part of a bureaucracy

high-stakes adj. - used to describe a ?situation that has a lot of ?risk and in which someone is likely to either get or ?lose an ?advantage, a lot of ?money, etc.:

one-size-fits-all – adj. suitable for everyone or every purpose

1 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 bureaucrat   

n. 官僚作风的人，官僚，官僚政治论者

参考例句：

• He was just another faceless bureaucrat.他只不过是一个典型呆板的官员。
• The economy is still controlled by bureaucrats.经济依然被官僚们所掌控。

3 bureaucrats   

n.官僚( bureaucrat的名词复数 )；官僚主义；官僚主义者；官僚语言

参考例句：

• That is the fate of the bureaucrats, not the inspiration of statesmen. 那是官僚主义者的命运，而不是政治家的灵感。 来自辞典例句
• Big business and dozens of anonymous bureaucrats have as much power as Japan's top elected leaders. 大企业和许多不知名的官僚同日本选举出来的最高层领导者们的权力一样大。 来自辞典例句

4 overdue   

adj.过期的，到期未付的；早该有的，迟到的

参考例句：

• The plane is overdue and has been delayed by the bad weather.飞机晚点了，被坏天气耽搁了。
• The landlady is angry because the rent is overdue.女房东生气了，因为房租过期未付。