美国国家公共电台 NPR Child Care: 1 More Way Some Federal Workers Struggle During Shutdown

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

In this country, a partial government shutdown goes on. And it's affecting hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors¹ across the U.S. It's also affecting some of their kids. That's because many child care centers inside federal buildings have closed. From member station WYPR in Baltimore, here's Mary Rose Madden.

MARY ROSE MADDEN, BYLINE²: It's 10 o'clock in the morning, and Austin Lanham should be working at the Goddard Space Flight Center - part of NASA.

AUSTIN LANHAM: I work on the computers that make the satellite work - you know, routing communication through the satellite to where it needs to go, you know, that sort of thing.

MADDEN: But with the government shutdown, he's not working. Deadlines are slipping. He's not getting paid, and the preschool his two sons go to is shut down because it's on federal property.

LANHAM: Now I'm just a full-time³, stay-at-home dad.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #1: Kylo Ren is on this book, too.

MADDEN: But while he's home with his twin 4-year-old boys not receiving a paycheck, he still had to pay the child care bill. Lanham says he loves spending time with the boys. They set up their favorite "Star Wars" figures and watch cartoons. But he and his wife know they're missing out on essential time in pre-K.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #2: These were my daddy's "Star Wars" toys when he was a kid.

MADDEN: As federal child care centers are forced to close their doors, they still need to pay their employees, pay their rent and all the other costs incurred⁴ in running a business.

UNIDENTIFIED TEACHER: You want to pick a song you want to sing?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #3: "Wheels On The Bus."

UNIDENTIFIED TEACHER: "The Wheels On The Bus." Yes.

MADDEN: Meanwhile, other federal child care centers are getting creative trying to accommodate families. Take the one inside the National Archives and Records Administration in College Park, Md. When the director there, Shanelle Patterson, was forced to shut her doors, she joined forces with the director of another center about seven miles away in Silver Spring, Md.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN: (Singing) The windows on the bus go open and shut.

MADDEN: Now Patterson's showing me around her new space.

SHANELLE PATTERSON: This is the 2-year-old classroom. So we have - two of the Silver Spring teachers are in here right now. And this lady over here is actually from our College Park center.

MADDEN: The two directors wanted to stay in compliance⁵ with state regulations and make adjustments so their centers could consolidate⁶. Now there are more than a hundred families in one facility. And the director here, Tara Phillips, says their children need to stay close to their regular routines.

TARA PHILLIPS: We have - about 25 percent of our students are special needs. So you have to be very careful with the environment, the furniture, the lighting⁷, the people, the noise level.

MADDEN: Phillips says they also had to borrow and buy extra cots for naps. The cots at the National Archives Administration Center were property of the federal government. There was more food to cook in the kitchen, and there were more dietary restrictions⁸ to keep track of. They had to start using a public park down the street. The center's playground was too small for all the extra kids. For the most part, Phillips says, they're collaborating⁹ and cooperating, which is kind of what preschool is all about. For NPR News, I'm Mary Rose Madden.

(SOUNDBITE OF DENNIS SHEPERD'S "INFINITY (ORIGINAL MIX)"

1 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

4 incurred   

[医]招致的，遭受的； incur的过去式

参考例句：

• She had incurred the wrath of her father by marrying without his consent 她未经父亲同意就结婚，使父亲震怒。
• We will reimburse any expenses incurred. 我们将付还所有相关费用。

5 compliance   

n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从

参考例句：

• I was surprised by his compliance with these terms.我对他竟然依从了这些条件而感到吃惊。
• She gave up the idea in compliance with his desire.她顺从他的愿望而放弃自己的主意。

6 consolidate   

v.使加固，使加强；(把...)联为一体，合并

参考例句：

• The two banks will consolidate in July next year. 这两家银行明年7月将合并。
• The government hoped to consolidate ten states to form three new ones.政府希望把十个州合并成三个新的州。

7 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

8 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

9 collaborating   

合作( collaborate的现在分词 )； 勾结叛国

参考例句：

• Joe is collaborating on the work with a friend. 乔正与一位朋友合作做那件工作。
• He was not only learning from but also collaborating with Joseph Thomson. 他不仅是在跟约瑟福？汤姆逊学习，而且也是在和他合作。