新西兰英语 731 Christchurch schools

 　　As a result of the earthquakes in Christchurch, many families in the residential¹ red zones have moved. Red zones are those areas where the land has been badly damaged by the earthquakes and the houses will be demolished³ after July. There have been big changes to school rolls. Schools in or near red zones have lost students. Many families have already moved outside the city, south, north or west.

　　First, the Minister of Education, Hekia Parata, announced that the government will build five new schools in Canterbury, outside Christchurch, in those areas where families have moved to.

　　Next is the problem of closing schools in Christchurch. Last September, the Minister said that 31 schools would close or merge⁴ with another school.

　　Listen to September 17th 2012 to hear more about this.

　　Teachers and parents were very upset at this news. They were given a chance to write to the Minister and explain why their school should stay open. Yesterday the Minister said she has listened to what teachers and parents were saying and she has changed her mind about some schools. Twelve of those schools will stay open. Seven will close and 12 will merge together.

　　Some principals⁵ and teachers will lose their jobs, and many children will have to travel further to another school.

　　Vocabulary

　　?residential – where people live

　　?zone – area

　　?demolish² – destroy, push down

　　?school roll – list of students, number of students

　　?merge – join together

　　?upset – very unhappy

　　Grammar

　　Note use of present perfect tense (have moved) to show an action that started in the past and is true today.

　　Question

　　Does it matter if children have to change schools?

1 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

2 demolish   

v.拆毁(建筑物等)，推翻(计划、制度等)

参考例句：

• They're going to demolish that old building.他们将拆毁那座旧建筑物。
• He was helping to demolish an underground garage when part of the roof collapsed.他当时正在帮忙拆除一个地下汽车库，屋顶的一部份突然倒塌。

3 demolished   

v.摧毁( demolish的过去式和过去分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光

参考例句：

• The factory is due to be demolished next year. 这个工厂定于明年拆除。
• They have been fighting a rearguard action for two years to stop their house being demolished. 两年来，为了不让拆除他们的房子，他们一直在进行最后的努力。

4 merge   

v.(使)结合，(使)合并，(使)合为一体

参考例句：

• I can merge my two small businesses into a large one.我可以将我的两家小商店合并为一家大商行。
• The directors have decided to merge the two small firms together.董事们已决定把这两家小商号归并起来。

5 principals   

n.负责人( principal的名词复数 )；[法律]本人；主要的人（或物）

参考例句：

• I must consult my principals. 我得同委托人商量一下。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The subsequent rapport between the two principals assisted the transition process. 这两位首脑在这次会谈后所建立的和谐关系帮助了交接工作的进行。 来自辞典例句