VOA标准英语2008年-Paris Middle Schoolers Earn Acclaim for Film Ro

By Lisa Bryant
Paris
27 May 2008

Students from a tough middle school in Paris are earning accolades¹ after a movie they acted in won the top prize at the Cannes film festival Sunday. From Paris, Lisa Bryant reports the celebrations shed a rare, positive light on diversity in France and troubles in the country's education system.

Students from the Francoise Dolto school in northeastern Paris came home to a hero's welcome this week, after a semi-documentary film about their institution won the coveted² Palme d'Or at the Cannes film festival.

Titled, Entre les Murs, The Class in English, the movie is about the relationship between a teacher and his students. While the movie is based on a book, the school is real and the students play themselves.

Francoise Dolto is not just any middle school. It is considered a ZEP - a French acronym³ for a tough and needy⁴ school - and it has a high percentage of ethnic-immigrant students.

One Francoise Dolto student told French radio the film showed that students going to such difficult schools are capable of great things.

France's roughest schools have struggled against negative stereotypes⁵. Some of their students were blamed for rioting in France's poorer, ethnic-immigrant suburbs that shook the country in 2005. Teachers and other experts often point to their low success rates.

Activists⁶ like Mouloud Aounit hope The Class will help erase⁷ these assumptions.

Aounit, who heads the French anti-discrimination group MRAP, says the film exposes the real France - a country that is complex and ethnically⁸ diverse. He says it is a diversity that is still not visible enough in politics, business, and the media.

France Education Minister Xavier Darcos has hailed the movie for testifying to the difficult conditions French teachers must often work under. But the celebrations occur during student and teacher protests of government plans to cut more than 11,000 teaching posts.

Several French schools have also been at the forefront of another movement - to prevent the government from deporting⁹ illegal immigrants who count among their student bodies. And The Class has unwittingly brought up this subject as well - one Congolese student who acted in the movie is living illegally in France.

1 accolades   

n.（连结几行谱表的）连谱号( accolade的名词复数 )；嘉奖；（窗、门上方的）桃尖拱形线脚；册封爵士的仪式（用剑面在肩上轻拍一下）

参考例句：

• Unlike other accolades for literature which tend to value style or experimentation. 有别于其他偏重风格活实验性的文学奖项。 来自互联网
• Build your trophy room while amassing awards and accolades. 建立您的奖杯积累奖项和荣誉。 来自互联网

2 coveted   

adj.令人垂涎的；垂涎的，梦寐以求的v.贪求，觊觎(covet的过去分词)；垂涎；贪图

参考例句：

• He had long coveted the chance to work with a famous musician. 他一直渴望有机会与著名音乐家一起工作。
• Ther other boys coveted his new bat. 其他的男孩都想得到他的新球棒。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 acronym   

n.首字母简略词，简称

参考例句：

• That's a mouthful of an acronym for a very simple technology.对于一项非常简单的技术来说，这是一个很绕口的缩写词。
• TSDF is an acronym for Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facilities.TSDF是处理，储存和处置设施的一个缩写。

4 needy   

adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的

参考例句：

• Although he was poor,he was quite generous to his needy friends.他虽穷，但对贫苦的朋友很慷慨。
• They awarded scholarships to needy students.他们给贫苦学生颁发奖学金。

5 stereotypes   

n.老套，模式化的见解，有老一套固定想法的人( stereotype的名词复数 )v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
• It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调，我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 erase   

v.擦掉；消除某事物的痕迹

参考例句：

• He tried to erase the idea from his mind.他试图从头脑中抹掉这个想法。
• Please erase my name from the list.请把我的名字从名单上擦去。

8 ethnically   

adv.人种上，民族上

参考例句：

• Ethnically, the Yuan Empire comprised most of modern China's ethnic groups. 元朝的民族成分包括现今中国绝大多数民族。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• Russia is ethnically relatively homogeneous. 俄罗斯是个民族成分相对单一的国家。 来自辞典例句

9 deporting   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的现在分词 )；举止

参考例句：