VOA慢速英语2016--美国的顶尖学校有什么共同点

What America’s Top Schools Have in Common 美国的顶尖学校有什么共同点

Four public high schools named as the best in the United States have much in common.

All four high schools have high academic requirements for students interested in admission. The four also offer a mix of challenging courses. And they all have a large percentage of Asian-American students.

The top schools were chosen by the Niche¹.com website. Niche.com says it examined nearly 24,000 U.S. public high schools. It rated the schools based on quality of their education programs and teachers, as well as student and parent comments.

The top four schools are: Stuyvesant High School in New York City; High Technology High School in New Jersey²; Staten Island Technical High School in New York City; and Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Virginia.

The fifth best high school is Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Illinois, according to Niche.com. Stevenson is the only school among the top five that does not limit admissions. The school is open to all students in its community, near Chicago.

Enrollment³ of Asian-Americans at the top high schools continues to grow.

At Stuyvesant, 73 percent of students are Asian-Americans. The rate is 63 percent at Thomas Jefferson, 52 percent at High Technology, 41 percent at Staten Island Technical and 21 percent at Stevenson.

At the top four schools, officials say there is only one reason for so many students being Asian-American. They say the Asian-American students are getting much better test scores.

At Stuyvesant, Staten Island Technical and High Technology, students are chosen based on how they do in mathematics and verbal⁴ admission tests. At Jefferson, students are asked to take a test and write a paper.

Only a small percentage of the boys and girls get accepted. At Stuyvesant, 28,000 students apply for 935 openings.

Eliza Noh teaches at California State University in Fullerton. She talked about the success of Asian-American students with VOA.

“If Asian-American parents emphasize education, it has more to do with their perception⁵ that education can help them overcome existing barriers in the labor⁶ market,” she said.

The children who get into these top schools have many advantages. For example, classes at Stuyvesant are similar to “those of a small college,” according to InsideSchools.org. The website reports on New York City’s public schools.

InsideSchools says Stuyvesant offers sights of New York Harbor and has a large swimming pool.

“Stuyvesant has long been known as a math-science school, but its English and social studies classes are among the school’s strongest,” it says.

Going to school with so many gifted students can push teenagers to do their best. But it can also put students under a lot of pressure to keep up.

“Stuyvesant is a hard place for a “B’’ student, wrote InsideSchools. “A” is the top grade at many schools. “F” is the lowest.

Harvey Blumm is a guidance counselor⁷ at Stuyvesant. He says the school works directly with students to help them deal with pressure.

Sometimes, he says, school officials “have to ask” parents not to put too much pressure on their children.

“I tell them that if their child gets a 92 (out of 100) in a test, that it is very good and they should not criticize,” Blumm said. “They should offer praise. Ninety-two is a very good grade.”

Elise Hauptman has three children at Stevenson High School in Illinois – the number five rated public high school, according to Niche.com.

What she likes about Stevenson is that the school’s counselors⁸ and teachers “work hard” to serve all students, “not just those with the best grades.”

“It is not just the top students or those facing the most challenges,” Hauptman tells VOA. “They don’t want students in the middle to get lost.”

The quality education offered at Stevenson makes Hauptman question why some parents choose to spend a lot of money to send children to private schools.

Words in This Story

challenging – adj. difficult in a way that is usually interesting or enjoyable

academic – adj. relating to schools and education

admissions – n. the act of admitting someone into a school or program

apply – v. to seek admission to a school or a job

emphasize – v. to give special attention to something

perception – n. the way you think about or understand someone or something

advantage – n. something that helps to make someone or something better or more likely to succeed than others

guidance counselor – n. a school official who offers advice to students on a range of academic and emotional issues

1 niche   

n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等)

参考例句：

• Madeleine placed it carefully in the rocky niche. 玛德琳小心翼翼地把它放在岩石壁龛里。
• The really talented among women would always make their own niche.妇女中真正有才能的人总是各得其所。

2 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

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 verbal   

adj.口头的，用言辞的，用文字的，动词的

参考例句：

• Verbal statements are no guarantee.口说无凭。
• I delivered a verbal protest against their brutal acts.我对他们的暴行提出口头抗议。

5 perception   

n.感知，感觉，觉察(力)；认识，观念，看法

参考例句：

• What's your perception of the matter?你对此事有什么看法？
• He was a man of keen perception.他是一个感觉敏锐的人。

6 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

7 counselor   

n.顾问，法律顾问

参考例句：

• The counselor gave us some disinterested advice.顾问给了我们一些无私的忠告。
• Chinese commercial counselor's office in foreign countries.中国驻国外商务参赞处。

8 counselors   

n.顾问( counselor的名词复数 )；律师；（使馆等的）参赞；（协助学生解决问题的）指导老师

参考例句：

• Counselors began an inquiry into industrial needs. 顾问们开始调查工业方面的需要。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We have experienced counselors available day and night. ) 这里有经验的法律顾问全天候值班。） 来自超越目标英语 第4册