考研英语一 Text 1 逐题精讲|2023真题:气候变化该不该进课堂

每日英语 · 第 10 期# 考研英语

📖 原文全文（Text 1）

¶1　The weather in Texas may have cooled since the recent extreme heat, but the temperature will be high at the State Board of Education meeting in Austin this month as officials debate how climate change is taught in Texas schools.

¶2　Pat Hardy, who sympathized with views of the energy sector, is resisting the proposed change to science standards for pre-teen pupils. These would emphasise the primacy of human activity in recent climate change and encourage discussion of mitigation measures.

¶3　Most scientists and experts sharply dispute Hardy's views. "They casually dismiss the career work of scholars and scientists as just another misguided opinion," says Dan Quinn, senior communications strategist at the Texas Freedom Network, a non-profit group that monitors public education. "What millions of Texas kids learn in their public schools is determined too often by the political ideology of partisan board members, rather than facts and sound scholarship."

¶4　Such debate reflects fierce discussions across the US and around the world, as researchers, policymakers, teachers and students step up demands for a greater focus on teaching about the facts of climate change in schools.

¶5　A study last year by the National Center for Science Education, a non-profit group of scientists and teachers, looking at how state public schools across the country address climate change in science classes, gave barely half of US states a grade B+ or higher. Among the 10 worst performers were some of the most populous states, including Texas, which was given the lowest grade (F) and has a disproportionate influence because its textbooks are widely sold elsewhere.

¶6　Glenn Branch, the centre's deputy director, cautions that setting state-level science standards is only one limited benchmark in a country that decentralises decisions to local school boards. Even if a state is considered a high performer in its science standards, "that does not mean it will be taught", he says.

¶7　Another issue is that while climate change is well integrated into some subjects and at some ages — such as earth and space sciences in high schools — it is not as well represented in curricula for younger children and in subjects that are more widely taught, such as biology and chemistry. It is also less prominent in many social studies courses.

¶8　Branch points out that, even if a growing number of official guidelines and textbooks reflect scientific consensus on climate change, unofficial educational materials that convey more slanted perspectives are being distributed to teachers. They include materials sponsored by libertarian think-tanks and energy industry associations.

🔑 逐题精讲（21-25）

🧱 长难句拆解

These would emphasise the primacy of human activity in recent climate change and encourage discussion of mitigation measures.

译：这些（新标准）将强调人类活动在近期气候变化中的首要作用，并鼓励讨论减缓措施。

🔧 主语 These 指代上文的 science standards；primacy of...（…的首要性）；mitigation measures 减缓措施——气候话题高频词。

What millions of Texas kids learn in their public schools is determined too often by the political ideology of partisan board members, rather than facts and sound scholarship.

译：数百万德州孩子在公立学校学到什么，往往由党派委员的政治意识形态决定，而非事实与严谨的学术。

🔧 What 引导主语从句；rather than 表对比取舍；sound scholarship（可靠的学术研究）里 sound 是"健全可靠的"，不是"声音"。

Glenn Branch... cautions that setting state-level science standards is only one limited benchmark in a country that decentralises decisions to local school boards.

译：格伦·布兰奇提醒道，在这个把决策权下放给地方学校董事会的国家，制定州级科学标准只是一个有限的衡量基准。

🔧 caution that...（警告/提醒）；decentralise... to...（把…下放给…）； Benchmark 基准。考研最爱考的"专家观点句"。

🧠 高频词清单

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