VOA慢速英语:Should All Students in US Learn the Same Things?

短语讲解：

1. More than forty of the fifty American states have approved what are known as the common core state standards.

be known as被认为是
例句：Mrs Brown is known as a social climber
布朗太太是有名的趋炎附势的人。

2. These are lists of content that students are supposed to learn at each grade level from kindergarten to high school.

be supposed to 应该,被期望
例句：We are supposed to be here at seven.
我们应该七点到这儿。

3. State governors and schools chiefs led the effort to develop the standards.

lead to导致；引起
例句：Heart failure led to her father's death.
心力衰竭导致她父亲的死亡。

4. Supporters say the standards provide clear goals to prepare students to succeed in college and in jobs.

succeed in在…中获得成功
例句：He is bound to succeed in his study.
他在学业上一定会成功。

5. But critics of national standards say the idea goes against one of America's oldest traditions -- local control of education.

go against违背, 作对
例句：That'll go against the traffic regulations.
那要违反交通规则的。

6. Yet it was a Republican president, George W. Bush, who expanded testing requirements to show that public schools are making yearly progress.

make progress前进,进步
例句：Instead of make progress, my work actually seem to is go backwards. 
我的工作不但没有进步, 实际上像是在倒退。 

7. They say the idea does not make sense for a country as large and diverse as the United States.

make sense有道理；有意义；讲得通
例句：This sentence doesn't make any sense.
这个句子没有意义。

8. Most changes, most positive influences have bubbled up from below.

bubble up往上冒泡；像泡一样冒起；噗噗地往上冒
例句：The warm gases bubbled up through the water.
暖气从水里噗噗地冒了出来。

9. So it's closing the door on innovation by locking in a national, uniform bureaucratic system.

close the door on拒绝接纳，排斥, 拒之门外
例句：If God were to close the door on you, He would leave a window open.
上帝为你关了这扇门必会为你再开一口窗。

10. But the states don’t have a problem in setting their curriculum -- they’ve been doing it ever since there've been public schools.

ever since自从；自…以后；从…起
例句：He has disappeared for ever since then.
从那以后，他就永远地失踪了。

11. He says schools should worry less about a common curriculum and more about improving teacher quality.

worry about担忧, 烦恼
例句：He worried about how to make his living.
他为如何谋生发愁。