高温致美国学生无法专心上课

Did you realize this? July was Earth's hottest month on record.你意识到了吗? 七月是地球有史以来最热的一个月。Yeah. Now, not many days later, students across the United States are returning to school. 是的。之后，没过几天，美国各地的学生们都返回了学校。Millions of those students take class in buildings that have poor air conditioning or none at all.数百万的学生在空调制冷差或压根没有空调的楼房里上课。How does that affect their learning? 这对学生的学习有什么影响？NPR education reporter Sequoia Carrillo is here. Good morning, Sequoia.NPR教育记者塞阔雅·卡里略将带来报道。早上好，塞阔雅。Good morning, Steve.早上好，史蒂夫。I hope you were able to stay cool enough while reporting this story. 我希望你在报道这个故事的时候能保持冷静。But what do teachers observe about kids in an overheated classroom?孩子们待在过热的教室里，老师们观察到了什么？Well, first and foremost, when you're dealing with kids around this time of year, focus is challenging. 首先，每年的这个时候和孩子们打交道，集中注意力具有挑战性。Ask any teacher. On the best of days, some kids will still have trouble focusing.随便问一个老师。即使在最好的日子里，有些孩子尚且无法集中注意力。But when you introduce a very hot classroom to the equation, it just kicks everything up a notch.当把一间炎热的教室引入这个复杂局面时，这等于把一切都提升了一个档次。A study out of Harvard in 2016 looked at data from students in New York City public schools. 2016年哈佛大学的一项研究调查了纽约市公立学校学生的数据。It found that kids are more likely to fail an exam on a hot day, like 90 degrees, than on a 72-degree day. 研究发现，孩子们在90华氏度(32.2摄氏度)这样的炎热天气比在72华氏度(22.2摄氏度)的天气更容易挂科。And in speaking with teachers around the country over the last couple of weeks, they say sometimes it's so hot in these classrooms that no one even wants to move, much less try to learn.在过去几周, 我采访了全国各地的老师，他们说有时候教室里太热了，没有人想动，更不用说学习了。Yeah, and we should emphasize there are some schools around the country, some even connected with my family, that have already been back for a couple of weeks. 是啊，我们应该强调的是，全国各地有一些学校，一些甚至与我的家人有关，已经开学几周了。So the temperatures of the last few weeks are real for kids. 过去几周的高温环境对孩子们来说是真实存在的。But how many schools are we talking about here?不过，我们说的这样的学校有多少所?So the Government Accountability Office set out in 2020 to look at the state of public school infrastructure around the country. 美国政府问责局于2020年开始调查全国公立学校基础设施的状况。And they found complaint after complaint about one thing, heating, ventilation and cooling - or HVAC systems. 他们发现了一起又一起关于供暖、通风和制冷(暖通空调系统)的投诉。The GAO found that an estimated 41% of districts need to update or replace HVAC systems in at least half of their schools. 美国政府问责局发现，估计41%的地区中至少有一半的学校需要更新或更换暖通空调系统。So we're talking about around 36,000 schools here.我们说的这样的学校大约有36000所。I should note that, that study was conducted pre-pandemic. 我应该指出，这项研究是在疫情前进行的。So since then, schools have received a lot of emergency relief funding. 自那以后，学校收到了大量的紧急救援资金。And in an ideal world, it would be used for HVAC repairs. But sometimes it's more complicated than that.在理想的情况下，这笔资金将用于暖通空调维修。但有时事情远远复杂得多。What do you mean?你是什么意思?So I spoke with one teacher in Philadelphia. 我采访了费城的一位老师。His name is Eric Hitchner and he's a high school English teacher. 他叫埃里克·希契纳，是一名高中英语老师。His classroom is on the fourth floor of an 111-year-old building without A/C. And of course, heat rises.他上课的教室是在一栋有着111年历史、没有空调的大楼的四楼。当然，热气会上升。When he came back to his classroom after teaching from home during COVID, he did see some upgrades, but it wasn't what he'd been hoping for. 疫情期间居家教学结束后，他回到了教室，他确实发现了一些升级，但这并不是他所希望的。He got a SmartBoard, which is like an interactive blackboard. 他得到了一块智能板，与互动黑板类似。