Текст 6. 'no time for movies' as California governor gets down to business

'NO TIME FOR MOVIES' AS CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR GETS DOWN TO BUSINESS

Duncan Campbell in Los Angeles

The governor-elect of California. Arnold Schwarzenegger, is to ask President Bush for financial assistance to deal with the state's budget crisis It is the first indication of how the actor's election could have a part to play in next year's Presidential election.

He [Mr Bush] promised me that he will do everything possible to help California, so I'm looking forward to working with him and asking tor a lot - a lot -

offavours." said Mr Schwarzenegger at a press conference held in the LA hotel where he had celebrated his victory the previous night.

The Guardian October 10, 2003

When people callthis beast to mind They marvel more and more

At such alittle tail behind.

So large a trunk before

The Guardian

Упражнение II. Прочтите тексты 7, 8 и 9 и объясните на русском языке, что такое "school voucher reform", которую предлагают ввести в штате Огайо, какая тому причина, какие трудности возникают с претворением этой реформы в жизнь.

(voucher - официальное разрешение на получение денег для каких-либо целей)

Текст 7

US public school system remains a disgrace. Only a third of its pupils make it to the end of the course. Two numbers hang over it as a constant reprimand: one and 14 The city's public-school children have less than a one-in-14 chance of graduating on time and being able to perform adequately at basic subjects. But they have a more than one-in-14 chance of being a victim of crime dining their years in school.

America's mayors are belatedly trying to take direct control of schools And George Bush has just pushed through an education bill that should eventually make schools more accountable for their results. The so-called vouchers represent the biggest potential for reform.

The Economist

February 23, 2003

Текст 8 HANDS UP FOR VOUCHERS

The Cleveland (Ohio) voucher programme was originally set up as a response to the catastrophic failure of the city's public schools.

The state decided on a modest experiment: to give parents a voucher that could be used to send their children to a range of schools, including local religious schools.

The vouchers allow poor parents to choose where to spend the money the city or the state allots for their children's education. In particular, they can take their children nut of failing public schools and put them into private ones

Supporters have hailed the scheme as the best chance of reforming America's lousy public school system. But there is a hitch. In Cleveland, as in most big cities in America, most private schools are faith-based ones. Opponents of vouchers claim that spending public money at these schools violates the constitution's separation of church and state. Moreover, the separation of church and state is a good thing: the events of September 11th have certainly not lessened our desire to keep religious zealotry out of classrooms. And far more serous is a worry that the more children quit the public system, the worse the remaining public schools will become.

The bitter debate over faith-based schools should not be allowed to obscure the central rationale for vouchers: to improve the wretched education that too many poor American children receive. That is a credo that all Americans, whatever their beliefs.

can rally round.

The Economist February23,2001

Текст 9

The United States Supreme Court began to hear arguments in the Cleveland school-voucher case, in which it must decide whether state-supplied vouchers can be used in religious schools despite the constitutional separation of church and state.

The Economist Decembers, 2003

Упражнение III. Переведите тексты 10, 11 и 12 с листа без предварительной подготовки:

Текст 10