71-11-342
'We know what's going on. We e-mail, volunteer on a weekly basis. I ask a lot of questions,' she says. 'I'm not there to push my children into things they're not ready for. The teachers are the experts. We've had such great experiences with the teacher because we create that experience, because we're involved. We don't just get something home and say, 'What's this?''
Parents seeking to stay on top of what's happening in class don't have to wait for the report card to arrive. 'Now it's so easy for the parents through the Internet to get ahold of us, and they expect an immediate response,' notes Michael Schaffer, a classroom veteran who teaches AP courses at Central Academy in Des Moines, Iowa. 'This e-mail'How's my kid doing?'could fill my day. That's hyperbole. But it's a two-edged sword here, and unfortunately it's cutting to the other side, and parents are making demands on us that are unreasonable. Yeah, they're concerned about their kids. But I'm concerned about 150 kids. I don't have time during the day to let the parent know when the kid got the first B.' As more districts make assignments and test scores available online, it may cut down on the 'How's he doing' e-mails but increase the 'Why did she get a B?' queries.

A. 어휘
expert 전문가. involve 참여하다. on top of 가까이에.
don't have to ...할 필요가 없다. report card 통지표, 성적표.
ahold 붙잡기. get ahold of ...을 잡다, 연결짓다.
AP course =Advanced Placement course 越班(월반)과정(우수 고등학생에게 대학과목을 가르치는 과정). hyperbole 과장법, 과장표현.
a two-edged sword 양날의 칼. district 學區(학구). assignment 과제, 숙제.
assignments and test scores 숙제 점수와 시험점수.
available 閱覽(열람)이 가능한, 이용할 수 있는. cut down on (수량을) 줄이다.
query 질문.

B. 구문
-This e-mail'How's my kid doing?'could fill my day.
[‘우리 아이 학교생활을 어떻습니까?’라는 e-mail들이 저의 하루를 다 뺏어 갑니다]

71-12-343
Beneath the ferocious jostling there is the brutal fact that outside of Lake Wobegon, not all children are above average. Teachers must choose their words carefully. They can't just say, 'I'm sorry your child's not as smart as X,' and no parent wants to hear that there are five other kids in the class who are a lot smarter than his or hers. Younger teachers especially can be overwhelmed by parents who announce on the first day of school that their child is going to be the smartest in the class and on the second day that he is already bored. Veteran teachers have learned to come back with data in hand to show parents who boast that their child scored in the 99th percentile on some aptitude test that 40 other students in the class did just as well.
It would be nice if parents and teachers could work together to improve the system for everyone, but human nature can get in the way. Both sides know that resources are limited, and all kinds of factors play into how they are allocatedincluding whose elbows are sharpest. Many schools, fearful of 'bright flight,' the mass departure of high-achieving kids, feel they have no choice but to appease the most outspoken parents. 'I understand, having been a parent, the attitude that 'I don't have time to fix the whole systemI don't have time and energy to get rid of systemic injustice, racism, poverty and violenceI have to get what's right for my kid,'' says Syracuse's Sapon-Shevin. 'But then the schools do educational triage. They basically attend to the most vocal, powerful people with more resources. They say, 'Don't get angry. We'll take care of this issue.' And they mean, 'We'll take care of it for your child. We'll get your kid out of the class with the bad teacher and leave the other kids in there.''

A. 어휘
ferocious 엄청난, 凶暴(흉포)한. jostle 떠밀다, 찌르다, 부딪치다.
brutal 잔인한, 야만적인. overwhelm ...을 壓倒(압도)하다, 당황하게 하다.
bore-bored-bored 지겹게 하다. boast 자랑하다. aptitude test 適性檢査(적성검사).
get in the way 방해하다. resources 방책, 수단, 자원, 財源(재원).
factor 요인. allocate 配分(배분)하다, 할당하다.
whose elbows are sharpest 가장 적극적이고 공격적인 사람.
bright flight 우수한 학생들이 다른 학교로 전학해 가는 것.
mass departure 대규모로 떠나가는 것.
no choice but to+V ...할 수밖에 없다, ...하는 것 외에는 선택의 여지가 없다.
appease 달래다, 진정시키다. outspoken 거침없이 마구 말하는. fix 고치다.
get rid of 제거하다. injustice 不正(부정), 불법.
racism 인종주의, 민족적 우월감, 인종차별.
triage (시장으로 낼 농작물의) 등급매기는 절차, 최하등급의 커피 열매.
take care of 돌보다, 처리하다.

B. 구문
- not all children are above average
[모든 아동이 평균점수를 넘어서는 것은 아니다(부분부정)]
- having been a parent→as I was a parent.
cf. 완료분사구문: 본동사 보다 한 시제 앞선다.
ex. As I am a parent, I understand the attitude.
→Being a parent, I understand the attitude.
As I was(have been) a parent, I understand the attitude.
→Having been a parent, I understand the attitude.
- I have to get what's right . . . powerful people with more resources.
[나는 내 아이에게 좋은 것을 받아들일 수밖에 없다. . . 그러나 그렇게 되면 학교는 교육적으로 최하등급의 일만 하게 된다. 학교는 기본적으로 가장 목소리가 크고 재력이 있는 강력한 사람들의 비위만 맞추게 될 것이다.]