VOA慢速英语2017--Teaching American Students About US Founding Documents

 

Should American high school students know at least as much about their country’s historic documents as immigrants seeking citizenship¹? Many states and schools are asking that question.

People who want to become American citizens must know about the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Federalist papers. These documents were written in the late 1700s by some of the founders² of the country.

But, some experts say American students generally know little about these founding documents. They say if students do not understand the documents, they cannot know how the American system of government operates.

So, an increasing number of American schools are requiring students learn about these documents before they can graduate. Individual states are using different methods for teaching the subject.

Since 2012, Kentucky, Arkansas and at least 12 other states put into effect such requirements. Students in those states learn about the founding documents as part of their social studies classes.

But lawmakers in other states -- including Minnesota -- want to give students a greater understanding of the documents. They want schools to teach a separate course about them.

Maida Buckley is a retired³ history and government teacher in Fairbanks, Alaska. Last year, she spoke⁴ at a meeting of state legislators studying the issue of civics education. She supports expanded study of the founding documents.

Buckley says, “when you have a system of government that is based on ideas -- espoused⁶ in the Declaration of Independence and carried out with a working document in the Constitution -- those ideas need to be taught.”

In many states, Republicans and Democrats⁸ support the teaching of the documents, although their reasons may differ. Some are concerned about the lack of public involvement in school boards and town halls. Others are worried about the way Republican President Donald Trump⁹ and his supporters use their power.

Gregg Amore is a member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives. He also has taught history classes in high schools for many years. He supports a bill that says the “survival of the republic” depends on Americans understanding their country’s principles and history.

He says “we clearly have seen there is a serious civics deficiency in this country, all the way up to the top -- the very top.”

The Joe Foss Institute is a non-profit civics education group based in Arizona. It is campaigning to persuade states to pass laws requiring their students to know the answers to the questions on the citizenship test.

But some supporters of civics education do not support such laws.

Charles Quigley is the executive director of the Center for Civic⁵ Education. He says students take too many tests already.

Quigley’s group developed “We the People,” a nationwide civics education program. Some teachers at North Smithfield High School in Rhode Island are using the “We the People” curriculum to teach about the founding documents. The curriculum calls for students to take part in a national competition in which they must defend their ideas.

Recently, students debated whether police may search a suspect’s smart phone without receiving permission from a judge. They talked about the Constitution’s limits on searches. And they discussed the past opinions of Supreme¹⁰ Court justices about searches.

Natalie O’Brien is the teacher. She tells her students to think about the more than 200 years of American history and legal thought.

Megan Skinner is a 15-year-old student at the school. She says she did not think about politics before she took O’Brien’s class. But she says now she uses the founding documents when her family and friends talk about President Trump’s administration.

“It gives us an entirely¹¹ new perspective on all the events that are going on,” Skinner says. “You see all these things in the news, and especially about the election, and all the things that are going on with the executive orders he (signed), the travel bans. Before this class, we wouldn’t have understood these things.”

I’m Caty Weaver¹².

Words in This Story

civics – n. a social science dealing¹³ with the rights and duties of citizens

espouse⁷ – v. to take up and support as a cause

republic – n. a form of government with a chief of state who has term limits

principle – n. a rule, policy or value

deficiency – n. the state of lacking some necessary quality

perspective – n. the ability to understand what is important; the direction in which someone looks at an object

1 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

2 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

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 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。

5 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

6 espoused   

v.（决定）支持，拥护（目标、主张等）( espouse的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They espoused the notion of equal opportunity for all in education. 他们赞同在教育方面人人机会均等的观念。
• The ideas she espoused were incomprehensible to me. 她所支持的意见令我难以理解。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 espouse   

v.支持，赞成，嫁娶

参考例句：

• Today,astronomers espouse the theory that comets spawn the swarms.如今，天文学家们支持彗星产生了流星团的说法。
• Some teachers enthusiastically espouse the benefits to be gained from educational software.有些教师热烈赞同可以从教学软件中得到好处的观点。

8 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》

9 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

10 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

11 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

12 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

13 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。