(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Indian Couple Teach Outdoor Classes for Poor Students
On a quiet road in India's capital, some children are learning again after the government closed schools because of the COVID-19 crisis.
The children, ages 4 to 14, carry their books more than 2 kilometers from their homes in a poor neighborhood near the Yamuna River. They gather at a point along the road, where they receive free math, science, English and physical education classes.
A singer and her husband, a former diplomat, are the teachers in this outdoor "school.”
It all began with Veena Gupta's housecleaner, Dolly Sharma. She lives in the same area as the children. She said that with schools shut, children there were running wild and wasting time.
"If they stayed at home doing nothing, they'd become drifters,” Sharma said.
Drifter is a term that describes a person who moves from place to place with no purpose or plan.
Veena and Virendra Gupta decided that they should help the young people continue learning until schools reopen.
"They don't have access to internet, their schools are shut and they don't have any means to learn,” said Veena.
She bought books, pencils, notebooks and other teaching materials.
It was Veena who set up the small, open-air learning site under a tree.
India shut schools across the country in late March. Most remain closed as the number of Covid-19 cases has gone past 5 million. India is currently the second worst-hit country in the world after the United States.
Many of India's private schools turned to distance learning and online classes. But children in most government-run schools do not have that choice because they cannot buy the necessary equipment, like computers and phones.
Nitin Mishra is in Virendra's math class. Mishra's mother is a part-time housecleaner and his father is out of work. The health crisis has severely damaged India's economy.
"There is only one mobile phone in my family and it is usually with my father. I can't study online,” Mishra said.
The number of students who gather under the tree has grown over time. Now the Guptas — with help from their driver, Heera — teach three different groups three times a week, morning and evening. Veena also makes sweet treats and drinks for the children to enjoy after their classes.
The Guptas say that teaching the children makes them feel closer to their own grandchi ldren, who do not live in India.
"My father would make me spend my summer vacation learning the next year's curriculum,” said Virendra, who served as Indian ambassador to several countries including South Africa.
"That really boosted my confidence and made me interested in schoolwork. And that is what I am trying to do with these children, so when their school reopens, they are slightly ahead of their class.”
Veena said she hopes to find more volunteers to teach the street-side classes.
"It is not about the money that people can … give, it is about their time,” she said. "They should take out (a) little bit of their time, an hour or so, if not every day, every alternate day, and come and help these children.”
I'm John Russell.
重点解析
重点讲解：
1. more than 超过；不止；
He has been mugged more than once.
他已是不止一次被抢劫了。
2. have access to 有权使用；可以接近；
They now have access to the mass markets of Japan and the UK.
他们现在进入了日本和英国的大众市场。
3. over time 随着时间的推移；久而久之；
Over time, the technology is diffused and adopted by other countries.
久而久之，这项技术传播到了其他国家并得到利用。
4. or so 左右；大概；
He will return in a week or so.
他在一星期左右以后回来。
参考译文
印度夫妇为贫困学生开设户外课程
在印度首都一条安静的路上，一些孩子在政府因新冠病毒危机关闭学校后重新开始学习。
这些4至14岁的孩子们背着书，从亚穆纳河附近的一个贫困社区离家2公里多远，聚集在路边的一个地点，在那里免费上数学、自然科学、英语和体育课。
一位歌手和她曾是外交官的丈夫是这所户外“学校”的老师。
一切都是从维娜·古普塔的清洁工多莉·夏尔玛开始的。夏尔玛和那些孩子们住在同一个地区，她说，由于学校停课，孩子们到处乱跑，浪费时间。
“如果他们呆在家里无所事事，就会变成盲流，”夏尔玛说。
盲流是用来描述一个人在没有目的或计划的情况下，从一个地方搬到另一个地方的术语。
维娜和维伦德拉·古普塔决定，他们应该帮助年轻人继续学习，直到学校重新开学。
“他们不能上网，学校关闭了，他们没有任何方式可以学习，” 维娜说。
她买了书、铅笔、笔记本和其他教材。
维娜在一棵树下建起一个小型露天学习点。
印度在三月底关闭了全国各地的学校。由于新冠肺炎病例数已超过500万，大多数学校仍处于关闭状态。印度目前是世界上第二大受灾国，仅次于美国。
印度许多私立学校转为远程教育和在线课程，但大多数公立学校的孩子没有这样的选择，因为他们买不了必要的设备，比如电脑和电话。
尼汀·米什拉在上维伦德拉的数学课。米什拉的母亲是一名兼职清洁工，他的父亲失业了。这次的健康危机严重损害了印度的经济。
“我家只有一部手机，平时都是爸爸带着。我不能上网学习，”米什拉说。
聚集在树下的学生人数随时间的推移而增加，现在，在司机希拉的帮助下，古普塔一周教三个不同的小组，早晚各一次。维娜还为孩子们制作甜食和饮料，供他们课后享用。
古普塔说，教孩子们让他们感觉更接近自己的孙子孙女，他们的孙子孙女不住在印度。
“我父亲会让我暑假学习下一年的课程，”曾担任印度驻南非等多个国家大使的维伦德拉说。
“这真的增强了我的信心，让我对功课产生了兴趣。这正是我想对这些孩子们做的事情，这样他们的学校重新开学时，他们在班上能稍微领先一点。”
维娜说，她希望能找到更多的志愿者来教授街头课程。
“这不是人们能给多少钱的事，而是时间，”她说。“他们应该抽出一点时间，一个小时左右，如果不是每天，可以每隔一天，来帮助这些孩子。”
约翰·拉塞尔报道。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
