原文標(biāo)題：
School catch-up after covid-19
Mountains to climb
America risks fumbling its chance to help schoolchildren catch up
新冠后的學(xué)校補(bǔ)習(xí)
需要征服的高山
美國(guó)可能會(huì)錯(cuò)過(guò)幫助學(xué)生趕上進(jìn)度的機(jī)會(huì)

Enormous extra funding is not all being well spent
額外巨資沒(méi)有花在刀刃上

[Paragraph 1]
HAVING STRUGGLED through some of the rich-world’s longest school closures, America’s pupils have fallen far behind.
在發(fā)達(dá)國(guó)家中，美國(guó)學(xué)校關(guān)閉的時(shí)間最長(zhǎng)，該國(guó)學(xué)生成績(jī)已經(jīng)遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)落后了。

Nationally representative data released by the government on October 24th show that, since the start of the pandemic, scores in reading and maths have dropped back to levels of 20 years ago (see chart).
10月24日，政府發(fā)布的具有全國(guó)代表性的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，自新冠開(kāi)始以來(lái)，閱讀和數(shù)學(xué)成績(jī)已降至20年前的水平（見(jiàn)圖表）。

Numeracy has suffered its biggest decline since comparable testing began in the early 1990s.
自20世紀(jì)90年代初有測(cè)試數(shù)據(jù)以來(lái)，計(jì)算能力下降幅度最大。

Miguel Cardona, President Joe Biden’s education secretary, told journalists the numbers were “appalling and unacceptable”.
喬·拜登總統(tǒng)的教育部長(zhǎng)米格爾·卡多納告訴記者，這些數(shù)字“駭人聽(tīng)聞，難以接受”。

How America responds, he said, will affect its “standing in the world”.
他說(shuō)，美國(guó)的應(yīng)對(duì)方式將影響它的“世界地位”。

[Paragraph 2]
The depressing findings of this year’s National Assessment of Educational Progress, tests that are sometimes called “the nation’s report card”, outline the grim task facing America’s schools.

今年的國(guó)家教育進(jìn)步評(píng)價(jià)（有時(shí)被稱為“國(guó)家成績(jī)報(bào)告單”）的結(jié)果令人沮喪，這表明美國(guó)學(xué)校面臨嚴(yán)峻的考驗(yàn)。

Although lawmakers have sent them historic amounts of money, not all of it is being well spent.

盡管立法者已經(jīng)向他們發(fā)放了破歷史記錄的資金，但并非所有資金都花在刀刃上。

Over the summer analysts at NWEA, a test provider, reported that learning is starting to recover.

測(cè)試提供商N(yùn)WEA的分析師報(bào)告稱，今年夏天學(xué)習(xí)才開(kāi)始慢慢恢復(fù)。

But they guess it could take three to five years for grades in elementary schools across the country to return to pre-pandemic levels, and longer for older kids.

但他們猜測(cè)，全國(guó)小學(xué)生可能需要3-5年才能恢復(fù)到新冠前的水平，而高年級(jí)學(xué)生的恢復(fù)時(shí)間則更長(zhǎng)。

Millions of youngsters will have aged out of school—or dropped out—before then.
在恢復(fù)之前，期間將有數(shù)百萬(wàn)年輕人或畢業(yè)或輟學(xué)。

[Paragraph 3]
Financially, at least, America’s schools have been fairly well supported.
美國(guó)學(xué)校至少在財(cái)政上得到了撥款支持。

Some $190bn of federal relief money has flowed to schools since the start of the pandemic, equal to about one-quarter of what America spends on public schooling in a normal year.
自新冠開(kāi)始以來(lái)，聯(lián)邦政府向?qū)W校發(fā)放了約1900億美元的救濟(jì)資金，相當(dāng)于美國(guó)一年公共教育支出的四分之一。

More than one-third of this was used setting up remote learning, and on safety measures (such as masks and screens) that teachers and many parents deemed essential for classrooms to reopen.
其中三分之一以上的資金用在遠(yuǎn)程學(xué)習(xí)和保障措施上（如口罩和屏幕）。教師和許多家長(zhǎng)認(rèn)為想要重新開(kāi)放教室，保障措施則必不可少。

[Paragraph 4]
The pressing question is how school districts should invest a $122bn windfall which Mr Biden signed off in March 2021. It is meant to be spent by the end of 2024.
迫切的問(wèn)題是，學(xué)區(qū)應(yīng)該如何使用1220億美元的意外資金。這筆資金是拜登在2021年3月簽署同意的，且需要在2024年底前用掉。

But there are few rules about what it may be used for, notes Vladimir Kogan at Ohio State University. Only 20% of it has to go on schemes that aim to get children’s learning back on track.
但俄亥俄州立大學(xué)的弗拉基米爾·科根指出，幾乎沒(méi)有明文規(guī)定這筆資金的用途。其中只有20%的資金必須用在幫助孩子們學(xué)習(xí)恢復(fù)正常的計(jì)劃上。

[Paragraph 5]
School districts that are taking catch-up seriously have converged on similar strategies.
認(rèn)真對(duì)待學(xué)習(xí)進(jìn)度的學(xué)區(qū)也采取了類似的策略。

Some 70% of districts have created or expanded summer-school programmes at some point during the past two years, says Heather Schwartz of RAND, a think-tank.
蘭德智庫(kù)的希瑟·施瓦茨表示，在過(guò)去兩年中的某個(gè)時(shí)候，大約有70%的學(xué)區(qū)創(chuàng)建或擴(kuò)大了夏校項(xiàng)目。

They are hiring more counsellors and social workers to help children who have lost interest in their studies.
他們多雇了輔導(dǎo)員和社會(huì)工作者來(lái)幫助學(xué)生找回學(xué)習(xí)興趣。

They are often investing in tutoring, by far the surest way of accelerating learning.
他們經(jīng)常投資請(qǐng)私教，這是目前最可靠的快速提升學(xué)習(xí)進(jìn)度的方式。

[Paragraph 6]
Yet some good ideas are going begging.
然而，一些好想法不盡如人意。

Not many districts have chosen to add hours to the school day or weeks to the school calendar, according to RAND’s study.
根據(jù)蘭德智庫(kù)的研究，并沒(méi)有多少學(xué)區(qū)選擇在教學(xué)日中增加學(xué)時(shí)或在校歷中增加周數(shù)。

That is a missed opportunity: in many bits of America the school year is short by international standards.
這是一個(gè)失掉的機(jī)會(huì)：按照國(guó)際標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，美國(guó)許多地方的學(xué)年都很短。

Schools are also swiftly discovering that there are not nearly enough temporary tutors and substitute teachers available for cleverer catch-up schemes to work on the scale that is required.
學(xué)校也很快發(fā)現(xiàn)，學(xué)習(xí)進(jìn)度追趕計(jì)劃無(wú)法達(dá)到所需的規(guī)模，因?yàn)?/span>沒(méi)有足夠的臨時(shí)私教和代課老師參與。

In that context, paying existing staff for more work seems smart.
在這種情況下，為現(xiàn)有員工支付加班費(fèi)用似乎是明智之舉。

（恭喜讀完，本篇英語(yǔ)詞匯量519/950左右）
原文出自：2022年10月29日《TE》United States版塊。
精讀筆記來(lái)源于：自由英語(yǔ)之路
本文翻譯整理: Irene本文編輯校對(duì): Irene
僅供個(gè)人英語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)交流使用。

【補(bǔ)充資料】（來(lái)自于網(wǎng)絡(luò)）
美國(guó)“國(guó)家教育進(jìn)步評(píng)價(jià)”（National Assessment of Educational Progress，NAEP）也被稱為“國(guó)家成績(jī)報(bào)告單”，是美國(guó)國(guó)內(nèi)唯一長(zhǎng)期的且具有全國(guó)代表性的教育評(píng)價(jià)體系，在美國(guó)教育領(lǐng)域占據(jù)著獨(dú)特的地位，在世界范圍內(nèi)也產(chǎn)生了重要影響，成為其他國(guó)家建立教育質(zhì)量監(jiān)測(cè)體系的榜樣，被多個(gè)國(guó)家借鑒和模仿。NAEP的主要評(píng)價(jià)包括全國(guó)評(píng)價(jià)和州評(píng)價(jià)，旨在檢測(cè)全國(guó)及各州學(xué)生在核心學(xué)科領(lǐng)域知道什么、能做什么。全國(guó)評(píng)價(jià)每年實(shí)施一次，以4、8、12年級(jí)學(xué)生為樣本，評(píng)價(jià)內(nèi)容包括閱讀、數(shù)學(xué)、科學(xué)、寫(xiě)作、美國(guó)歷史、經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)、公民學(xué)、地理和藝術(shù)等9個(gè)科目，但每輪評(píng)價(jià)只選擇其中的兩到三個(gè)科目和兩個(gè)年級(jí)的學(xué)生參加。州評(píng)價(jià)每?jī)赡陮?shí)施一次，以4、8年級(jí)學(xué)生為樣本，評(píng)價(jià)內(nèi)容為數(shù)學(xué)、閱讀、科學(xué)和寫(xiě)作4個(gè)科目。數(shù)學(xué)和閱讀評(píng)價(jià)各州必須參加，其他兩個(gè)科目則遵循各州自愿的原則。

夏校(Summer School)是美國(guó)學(xué)校為學(xué)生提供暑期學(xué)習(xí)機(jī)會(huì)而設(shè)置的，其目的在于讓學(xué)生能夠利用暑假的時(shí)間完成一部分課程，提前修得學(xué)分，并提前完成學(xué)業(yè)。隨著國(guó)際化進(jìn)程，現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)有越來(lái)越多的美國(guó)學(xué)校接受海外學(xué)生參加夏校項(xiàng)目，使得海外學(xué)生們也能夠利用假期體驗(yàn)美國(guó)一流大學(xué)的校園生活，同時(shí)豐富個(gè)人的國(guó)際化背景，提升各方面的軟實(shí)力。夏校的申請(qǐng)開(kāi)始日期通常在前一年的12月份或是當(dāng)年的一月份，截止日期集中在夏校開(kāi)設(shè)當(dāng)年的四、五月份(通常五月份很多項(xiàng)目就名額已滿)，開(kāi)課時(shí)間通常為每年的六月下旬至八月末。夏校課程可以分為學(xué)分課程、非學(xué)分課程和語(yǔ)言課程。

【重點(diǎn)句子】（3?個(gè)）
Although lawmakers have sent them historic amounts of money, not all of it is being well spent.
盡管立法者已經(jīng)向他們發(fā)放了破歷史記錄的資金，但并非所有資金都花在刀刃上。

They are hiring more counsellors and social workers to help children who have lost interest in their studies.
他們多雇了輔導(dǎo)員和社會(huì)工作者來(lái)幫助學(xué)生找回學(xué)習(xí)興趣。

Yet some good ideas are going begging.
然而，一些好想法不盡如人意。