新西兰英语 761 Teachers march
英语课
More than 10,000 teachers marched this morning as a protest 1 against education changes. About 4,000 protested 2 in Auckland and 2,000 in Wellington. All around the country, in 26 towns, groups of teachers marched in protest. The protest was organised by the primary teachers’ union, NZEI (New Zealand Education Institute).
What were they protesting 3 about? There were many things; some of these things have worried teachers for the last two or three years. National standards are still a concern. Some teachers say that national standards will label some children as failures. Another concern is that different teachers judge the national standards in different ways. A third concern is that the government wants to make league tables which show the schools failures. Also, more time is now spent on those subjects which are tested like reading, writing and mathematics and less time on other subjects like science, social studies, art and music.
Perhaps the main concern is that the government wants to set up charter 4 schools. These will be private and many will be run by religious groups. Teachers are worried about time spent on religious education and about government money going to private schools.
Listen to August 3rd 2012 to hear more about charter schools and October 28th 2009 to hear more about national standards.
Vocabulary
concern – things that worry people
league tables – lists of all schools which show the number of students who have passed the standards
v.反对，抗议；宣称；n.抗议；宣称
- I can't pass the matter by without a protest.我不能对此事视而不见，我要提出抗议。
- We translated his silence as a protest.我们把他的沉默解释为抗议。
v.声明( protest的过去式和过去分词 )；坚决地表示；申辩
- He protested he was being cheated of his rightful share. 他提出抗议说他被人骗取了他依法应得的份额。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Amy protested she was being cheated of her rightful share. 艾米提出抗议，说有人骗取了她依法应得的份额。 来自《简明英汉词典》
v.声明( protest的现在分词 )；坚决地表示；申辩
- They were formally protesting. 他们正式提出抗议。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- They were protesting soaring prices. 他们抗议物价暴涨。 来自辞典例句