(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
From VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report.
In some ways, the high school girls at the Pretoria Hospital School seem like many other girls their age.
But there is a major difference -- most of them will become mothers by the end of this year.
South African researchers say about 30 percent of girls in the country become pregnant by the time they are 19 years old. Only one-third of these girls stay in school while they are pregnant or after their babies are born.
The Pretoria Hospital School is the only school in South Africa with a special division for pregnant girls. One hundred pregnant girls are currently taking classes there. Most were forced to leave traditional schools because of peoples' treatment of them.
"I thought they would judge me, and that's why I left. When I was at grade 9, there was a girl in grade 10 who got pregnant. When we walked through the halls, girls would go like, ‘Look, she was pregnant, she's pregnant!' So that's why also I didn't want to stay, cause I know what the people think -- and they judge easily."
Sometimes South African schools expel pregnant girls, although the action violates the law. Many pregnant teenagers never finish their secondary education. More than 30 percent of students leave high school without finishing because of pregnancy.
Dorothy came close to being in that group. She was expelled from school when she got pregnant. She spent months at home searching for another school that would accept her. She arrived at Pretoria Hospital School earlier this year and praises the environment.
"I began to feel welcome and not discriminated against, and it was, it was lovely, because we could all share about the same thing -- no one was going to judge you. They are all mothers, we share the same pain, the same joys and, yes, the teachers don't constantly tell us about what a bad deed we do, we did, and they support us."
School principal Rina Van Niekerk says it is most important to raise every student to the correct educational level and keep them there.
"There's no cutoff date for them to enroll at our school. So you will find that learners land up with you in the 3rd term of the year. But they're behind the work schedule that we are following. So you need to get those girls on par with the rest of the girls. Another challenge that we have is high absenteeism rates amongst the girls."
She noted that the girls also often miss school because of health problems linked to pregnancy.
Pretoria Hospital School opened the program for pregnant teenagers in the middle 1980s. It remains the only such school in South Africa.
That's the VOA Learning English Education Report. I'm Jerilyn Watson.
文本来自51voa，译文属可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载
词汇解释
1.expel vt. 驱逐；开除
More than five-thousand high school students have been expelled for cheating.
五千多名中学生因考试作弊而被开除。
2.discriminate vt. 歧视；区别；辨别 vi. 区别；辨别
They believe the law discriminates against women.
他们认为这项法律歧视妇女。
3.absenteeism n. 旷工；旷课；有计划的怠工；经常无故缺席
His boss discharged him for habitual absenteeism.
他的老板因他习惯性旷工而解雇了他。
内容解析
1.So you need to get those girls on par with the rest of the girls.
on par with 与…平分秋色； 与…势均力敌，不分上下
I don't think his ability is on a par with yours.
我认为他的能力不能与你的能力相媲美。
Dubai has a pulsating nightlife, on par with many big cities around the world.
迪拜有着繁华的夜生活丝毫不逊色于世界各大都市。
参考译文
美国之音慢速英语教育报道。
在某些方面，比勒陀利亚医院学校的高中女生和很多同龄人没什么差别。
但是有一个很大的不同，她们中的大多数人在年底之前就要做妈妈了。
南非研究者称该国约有30%的女孩在19岁之前就怀孕了，只有三分之一的女孩在怀孕期间或生孩子后仍留在学校。
比勒陀利亚医院学校是南非唯一一所为怀孕少女划分特殊分部的学校，目前有100名怀孕女孩在这里学习，其中大多数因为别人对她们的态度而离开学校。
“我想他们会对我指指点点，所以就离开了。我上九年级的时候，有个10年级的女孩怀孕了，每当我们在hall走过时，就有女孩说，‘看，她怀孕了，她怀孕了！’因此我不想留下，我知道人们会怎么看待，她们就喜欢说三道四。”
有时南非学校会驱逐怀孕女孩，尽管这样会违反法律。很多怀孕少女根本没有初中毕业，30%以上的学生因为怀孕就高中辍学。
多萝西差点就成为其中之一，她怀孕后被从学校赶出。她在家里呆了数月，寻找愿意接收她的学校。今年年初她来到比勒陀利亚医院学校，她称赞那里的环境。
“我开始感到自己受欢迎，不再被歧视，这点很好，因为我们同病相怜，没人会说你什么。她们都是母亲了，我们有着同样的痛苦和欢乐，是的，老师们不再总说我们做了坏事，她们会支持我们。”
学校校长丽娜·文尼克说，更重要的是让每个学生都维持在一定教育水平上。
“她们入读我们学校没有截止期，你会发现第三学期时有人和你坐在一起，但她们学业落后了。所以你需要让这些女孩子赶上其他人，另一个问题就是女孩们的缺席率很高。”
她说女孩们总是因为与怀孕有关的健康问题而缺席。
比勒陀利亚医院学校在20世纪80年代中期开设了怀孕女孩项目，目前仍是南非唯一一所此类学校。
这就是美国之音慢速英语教育报道，我是杰瑞琳·沃森。
