媒体英语
Covid-19: The challenges of home-schooling 英国学生肺炎疫情期间居家上学的挑战
自 2020 年 3 月以来，英国已经几度实行全国性封锁，以控制疫情。在此期间，英国家长需要帮助孩子参与学校组织的线上课。但一些家庭没有足够的电子设备和良好的无线网络环境，所以不具备远程学习的条件。
Google Classroom, Zoom lessons and Microsoft Teams are some of the ways in which schools are continuing their pupils’ education during lockdown, though without a device or wi-fi, learning from home is extremely challenging.
谷歌教室、Zoom（视频通讯软件）课程和 Microsoft Teams（微软团队协作软件）是学校在新冠肺炎封锁期间继续为学生提供教学工作的一些方式，即便如此，在没有设备或无线网络的情况下，在家学习是极其困难的。
Ofcom estimates as many as 1.8 million children in the UK currently do not have access to a device, and almost 900,000 have to rely on mobile internet, which can be costly.
英国通信管理局（Ofcom）估计，目前英国有多达180万儿童没有使用相关设备的条件，近90万儿童不得不依赖移动互联网学习，而移动互联网的成本可能很高。
Legal campaigners, the Good Law Project, argue the answer is not for those children to be forced to go to school and have threatened legal action. In response, the government says more than half of the one million laptops bought for disadvantaged children and young people have already been delivered and it’s working with the mobile network operators to provide free data at home.
法律倡导者 “良法项目（Good Law Project）” 认为，解决问题的办法不是强迫这些孩子去上学，并威胁要采取法律行动。作为回应，政府表示，为弱势儿童和年轻人购买的100万台笔记本电脑中，有一半以上已经交付。同时，政府正与移动网络运营商合作，为在家学习的儿童提供免费数据流量。
词汇表
device 设备
learning from home 在家学习
challenging 有难度的，具有挑战性的
have access to 有机会使用，可以利用
rely on 依靠，依赖
mobile internet 移动互联网
costly 高成本的，昂贵的
legal action 法律诉讼
network operator 网络运营商
阅读理解：请在读完上文后，回答下列问题。
1. True or false? Learning from home is not easy without a device or wi-fi.
2. According to Ofcom’s estimate, how many children in the UK do not have access to a device?
3. What is the downside of having to rely on mobile internet to study, according to the text?
4. How many of the one million laptops bought for disadvantaged children and young people have been delivered, according to the government?
答案
1. True or false? Learning from home is not easy without a device or wi-fi.
True. Although schools have ways to continue pupils’ education during lockdown, without a device or wi-fi, learning from home is extremely challenging.
2. According to Ofcom’s estimate, how many children in the UK do not have access to a device?
As many as 1.8 million children in the UK currently do not have access to a device.
3. What is the downside of having to rely on mobile internet to study, according to the text?
The downside is it can be costly.
4. How many of the one million laptops bought for disadvantaged children and young people have been delivered, according to the government?
According to the government, more than half of the one million laptops have been delivered.
