[ti:Teaching American Students About US Founding Documents] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]Should American high school students know at least as much [00:06.08]about their country's historic documents as immigrants seeking citizenship? [00:15.12]Many states and schools are asking that question. [00:21.60]People who want to become American citizens [00:25.68]must know about the Declaration of Independence, [00:30.88]the Constitution and the Federalist papers. [00:36.06]These documents were written in the late 1700s [00:41.48]by some of the founders of the country. [00:45.81]But, some experts say American students generally know little [00:52.72]about these founding documents. [00:55.84]They say if students do not understand the documents, [01:02.12]they cannot know how the American system of government operates. [01:08.92]So, an increasing number of American schools are requiring [01:16.64]students learn about these documents before they can graduate. [01:23.24]Individual states are using different methods for teaching the subject. [01:30.96]Since 2012, Kentucky, Arkansas and at least 12 other states [01:39.56]put into effect such requirements. [01:43.91]Students in those states learn about the founding documents [01:49.44]as part of their social studies classes. [01:52.99]But lawmakers in other states -- including Minnesota [01:58.76]-- want to give students a greater understanding of the documents. [02:04.56]They want schools to teach a separate course about them. [02:10.56]Maida Buckley is a retired history and government teacher in Fairbanks, Alaska. [02:18.20]Last year, she spoke at a meeting of state legislators [02:24.04]studying the issue of civics education. [02:28.88]She supports expanded study of the founding documents. [02:34.01]Buckley says, "when you have a system of government that is based on ideas [02:42.16]-- espoused in the Declaration of Independence [02:46.12]and carried out with a working document in the Constitution [02:51.20]-- those ideas need to be taught." [02:56.16]In many states, Republicans and Democrats support the teaching of the documents, [03:03.16]although their reasons may differ. [03:06.78]Some are concerned about the lack of public involvement in school boards and town halls. [03:15.19]Others are worried about the way Republican President [03:20.28]Donald Trump and his supporters use their power. [03:26.04]Gregg Amore is a member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives. [03:31.28]He also has taught history classes in high schools for many years. [03:38.84]He supports a bill that says the "survival of the republic" [03:44.16]depends on Americans understanding their country's principles and history. [03:51.95]He says "we clearly have seen there is a serious civics deficiency [03:59.44]in this country, all the way up to the top -- the very top." [04:05.52]The Joe Foss Institute is a non-profit civics education group based in Arizona. [04:15.12]It is campaigning to persuade states to pass laws requiring their students [04:22.32]to know the answers to the questions on the citizenship test. [04:28.04]But some supporters of civics education do not support such laws. [04:35.20]Charles Quigley is the executive director of the Center for Civic Education. [04:42.82]He says students take too many tests already. [04:48.62]Quigley's group developed "We the People," [04:53.12]a nationwide civics education program. [04:58.48]Some teachers at North Smithfield High School in Rhode Island [05:03.64]are using the "We the People" curriculum to teach about the founding documents. [05:10.51]The curriculum calls for students to take part in a national competition [05:17.64]in which they must defend their ideas. [05:23.24]Recently, students debated whether police may search [05:28.16]a suspect's smart phone without receiving permission from a judge. [05:34.60]They talked about the Constitution's limits on searches. [05:40.07]And they discussed the past opinions of Supreme Court justices about searches. [05:48.16]Natalie O'Brien is the teacher. [05:52.84]She tells her students to think about the more than 200 years [05:58.88]of American history and legal thought. [06:03.92]Megan Skinner is a 15-year-old student at the school. [06:10.08]She says she did not think about politics before she took O'Brien's class. [06:17.37]But she says now she uses the founding documents [06:23.52]when her family and friends talk about President Trump's administration. [06:29.56]"It gives us an entirely new perspective on all the events that are going on," [06:37.40]Skinner says. "You see all these things in the news, [06:42.56]and especially about the election, and all the things [06:47.08]that are going on with the executive orders he (signed), the travel bans. [06:52.52]Before this class, we wouldn't have understood these things." [06:57.65]I'm Caty Weaver.更多听力请访问51VOA.COM