这里是美国之音慢速英语教育报道。
An unusual high school in Texas recently welcomed a special visitor. President Obama visited Manor New Technology High School near the city of Austin. The visit was part of what the White House called a "Middle Class Jobs and Opportunity Tour."
德克萨斯州一家不同寻常的高中最近迎来了一位特殊的访客。奥巴马总统参观了奥斯汀市附近的马诺新科技高中。这次访问是白宫所谓的“中产阶级就业与机会之旅”的一部分。
Manor New Technology High School seeks to help prepare students to meet the increasing demand for technology workers. The school has gained nationwide recognition for its program. It focuses less on teacher lectures, and more on student projects in so-called "STEM subjects" -- Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
马诺新科技高中旨在帮助学生满足社会对技术工人不断增长的需求。学校因为其课程获得了全美国的认可，该校不注重教师讲课，而是注重于被称为STEM学科的课程设计，即科学、技术、工程和数学。
Most of the teachers who helped start the school six years ago were graduates of a program called "UTeach" at the University of Texas in Austin. They are still working at the high school today. Lawrence Abraham is one of the directors of the "UTeach" program, he praises the program and the teachers at Manor New Technology High School.
大部分六年前帮助开办这一学校的教师都毕业于奥斯汀市德克萨斯大学的UTeach项目。今天他们仍在这所高中任教。劳伦斯·亚伯拉罕（Lawrence Abraham）是UTeach项目的董事之一，他赞扬了马诺新科技高中的课程和师资。
"They put together the curriculum, which has elevated this school, among all the new tech schools in the network around the country, to be the premier site, and we think it is the marriage of the UTeach program, which prepares teachers and encourages teachers to teach in a project-based way, with the new tech curriculum model, which is designed to incorporate that."
他说，“他们把全部课程归纳起来，使得该校在全国所有新科技学校的网络中成为最好的。我认为它是UTeach项目的紧密结合，它鼓励教师以基于项目的方式，通过旨在结合这点的新科技课程模式来教学。”
Manor New Technology has 332 students, 68 percent are from ethnic or racial minorities, and 52 percent are from poor families. The Texas school sent 97 percent of its graduates to college in 2011 and all of its graduates in 2012. Most schools, however, do not have the financial support that Manor New Technology receives. It gets help from private organizations and state and federal funding. And technology schools are sometimes criticized for not paying enough attention to the arts and social sciences.
马诺新科技高中有332名学生，其中68%是少数民族，同时52%来自贫困家庭。这所德克萨斯州的学校2011年有97%的毕业生进入了大学，2012年所有毕业生都进入了大学。然而大多数学校不具备马诺新科技高中拥有的财政支持。该校得到了私营机构以及州和联邦资金的支持。而科技学校有时候被批评不够重视艺术和社会科学。
Last year, Texas governor Rick Scott proposed an end to state financial aid to university programs in subjects like psychology and anthropology. The goal was to put more money into STEM programs that he said that would provide people with jobs. But some educators say that kind of thinking ignores the gains possible with the learning.
去年，德克萨斯州州长里克·斯科特（Rick Scott）提出停止心理学和人类学一类大学课程的国家财政援助。目的是把更多的钱投入到他所说的能够为人们提供就业岗位的STEM课程。但一些教育工作者表示，这种想法忽略了学习可能的收获。
University of Texas history professor Jeremi Suri says the goal of education goes beyond preparation for employment.
德克萨斯大学历史教授杰芮米·苏瑞（Jeremi Suri）表示，教育的目标不仅仅是为就业做准备。
"Obviously science and math literacy are crucial, but democratic citizenship requires that people have a sense of our historical background as a society, a sense of how our society functions and an understanding of what democracy looks like in theory and in practice."
他说，“显然，科学和数学素养是至关重要的，但民主公民权要求人们对我们的历史背景、对我们的社会功能有所了解，对民主在理论和实践上的表现有所领悟。”
Professor Suri says today more than ever, workplace success depends on good communication, and ability to work well with others as a team.
苏瑞教授表示，如今职场成功比以往任何时候都更依赖于良好的沟通能力，以及和他人协同工作的能力。
(51VOA.COM对本文翻译保留全部权利，未经授权请勿转载，违者必究！)