6 Reports Say Poor Quality Education Costing Billions Every Year 报道称低质量的教育每年消耗数十亿

仔细听

Recently，there have been efforts to make sure children in Africa get a good strong education.But a new report says governments are losing about $ 129 billion every year on poor quality education.As a result，about one in four students in poor countries cannot read a complete sentence，that represents about 175 million young people.

近来有不少致力于为非洲儿童提供良好教育的努力，但有新的报道称，政府每年会因教育质量差损失约1290亿美元。其后果是，大致有四分之一贫困国家的学生，也就是约1.75亿年轻人，读不出一个完整的句子。

词汇宝典：lose...on...的意思是“由某事物导致损失或变差”，如：We lost a lot of money on that deal.我们因为那笔生意赔了一大笔钱。lose...by doing sth.指“因为做某事导致损失”，如：What do you have to lose by giving up that fear？放弃克服某种恐惧会让你失去哪些东西？

仔细听

The report comes from UNESCO—the United Nations Educational，Scientific and Cultural Organization.It says poor teacher training and spending cuts are just two of the reasons for underperforming school systems.

这篇报道来自UNESCO——联合国教科文组织，报道称，落后的教师培训和削减开支是教学系统表现不佳的两个原因。

词汇宝典：spending cuts的意思是“削减开支”，spending既是spend的现在分词，同时也具有名词词性，通常特指政府或组织的开支，如：It is said the government has put forward a plan to increase military spending.据说，政府提出了一个增加军费开支的计划。

仔细听

Pauline Rose，an education specialist directed the report.She says more teachers are needed across Africa，especially in countries south of the Saharan desert.She says the area would need about 225，000additional teachers a year to guarantee a primary school education for all boys and girls by 2015.

Miss Rose says governments like to save money by using contract teachers.These educators are not government employees but work under a special agreement.Contract teachers can be easily dismissed if found to be underperforming.They also earn far less money than teachers working for the government.Contract teachers represent more than half of the teaching work force in many West African countries.

宝莲·罗斯是指导这篇报告的一位教育专家，她说，非洲需要更多教师，特别是撒哈拉沙漠以南的国家。她说，到2015年，这个地区需要每年增加约225，000位教师才能保障所有孩子的小学教育。

罗斯小姐说，政府喜欢通过聘用合同制教师来节省开支。这些教育者不是政府的雇员，而是签了一份特殊的协议。解雇表现不佳的合同制教师是很容易的，他们赚的钱也远远低于为政府工作的教师。在非洲西部许多国家的教师中，一半以上是合同制的。

听力破解：if found出现连读现象，读作[ifaund]，此外，播音员重读了far less money和half，当出现比较级时往往隐含重要信息，类似half，twice表示倍数的词也应该引起注意。

词汇宝典：represent的意思有“代表，描绘，相当于”，在这里可以理解为“相当于，对应”，如：A wage rise of 6% represents an annual increase of 300pounds for the workers.工资提高6%对工人来说相当于全年收入增加300英镑。

仔细听

Pauline Rose says teachers need to have a strong desire to help children learn.She says they should want to be in the classroom instead of doing other jobs.In recent years，financial support for education has gone down or stayed the same in many countries. The UNESCO report says governments will need to increase spending on education.

宝莲·罗斯说，教师要有帮助学生学习的强烈意愿，他们应该想要待在教室里而不是去做其他工作。近年来，许多国家针对教育的财政补贴都有所下降或是维持原状。联合国教科文组织的报道指出，政府应该增加在教育上的开支。

听力破解：播音员重读了a strong desire 和 classroom，强调教师教育意愿的重要性；另外，stayed the same被连读作[′steiðə′seim]，不要误听为stay the same。

学着说一说

1.make sure确保

▶新闻中 make sure是“确保”的意思，后面跟了一个从句。

▶make sure 还有“查明，核实”的意思，如：

I think the light has been turned off，but I'd better go and make sure.

我想灯已经关了，但是我最好还是去确认一下。

▶be sure to do sth.的意思是“务必做某事”，如：

A：Be sure to keep touch with me！务必要联系我！

B：Absolutely，I'll keep it in my mind.当然了，我会记住的。

2.guarantee保证

▶guarantee的意思是“保证，担保”，如：

A：What guarantee can you offer？你能提供什么样的担保？

B：We guarantee to refund your money if you're not delighted with

your purchase.

如果您对这次购买不满意，我们保证退款。

3.have a strong desire to do...有强烈的意愿去做……

▶desire 有“要求，欲望”的意思，还可以与 for 连用，如：

A：I really admire him because he studies so hard.

我真佩服他学习那么用功。

B：You're right！ He has a strong desire for knowledge.

你说对了！ 他有很强的求知欲。

▶have a yen for 是口语化的表达，也表示“有强烈愿望做……”，如：

I really have a yen for a nice，juicy apple.

我真想吃一个味甜多汁的苹果。