新西兰英语 818 School wins court case
英语课
Phillipstown primary school won a High Court case today to stay open. Earlier this year, the Minister of Education, Hekia Parata, decided 1 to close a number of primary schools in Christchurch including Phillipstown school. The school was very unhappy with this decision and took the case to the High Court.
The school has 165 pupils. It is a decile 1 school which means 2 it is in a very poor area. Many parents do not have a car. If the school closes, the children will have to walk 1.6km on a busy road to Woolston school which has about 300 pupils.
The school is important to the community of Phillipstown and this was one of the reasons the judge agreed that it should not close. The other reason is that the Ministry 3 of Education did not give detailed 4 information about the financial reason for closing and this made it impossible for the school to argue their case. The Minister said she would consult 5 with schools but in this case, the judge said she did not consult properly. The judge also said the school should not pay the court costs.
Hekia Parata said she needed to read what the judge said before she could make a comment and she will consult the school. Although the school won today, the future is still uncertain.
Listen to February 19th 2013 to hear more about closing Christchurch schools.
Vocabulary
decile 1 – parents’ income are in lowest 10% of the population
consult – listen to each other; exchange views
1 decided
adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的
- This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
- There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
2 means
n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富
- That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
- We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。
3 ministry
n.(政府的)部；牧师
- They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
- We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。
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新西兰英语