媒體英語
Covid-19: The challenges of home-schooling 英國學生肺炎疫情期間居家上學的挑戰
自 2020 年 3 月以來，英國已經幾度實行全國性封鎖，以控制疫情。在此期間，英國家長需要幫助孩子參與學校組織的線上課。但一些家庭沒有足夠的電子設備和良好的無線網絡環境，所以不具備遠程學習的條件。
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（視頻通訊軟件）課程和 Microsoft Teams（微軟團隊協作軟件）是學校在新冠肺炎封鎖期間繼續為學生提供教學工作的一些方式，即便如此，在沒有設備或無線網絡的情況下，在家學習是極其困難的。
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.
英國通信管理局（Ofcom）估計，目前英國有多達180萬兒童沒有使用相關設備的條件，近90萬兒童不得不依賴移動互聯網學習，而移動互聯網的成本可能很高。
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.
法律倡導者 “良法項目（Good Law Project）” 認為，解決問題的辦法不是強迫這些孩子去上學，并威脅要采取法律行動。作為回應，政府表示，為弱勢兒童和年輕人購買的100萬臺筆記本電腦中，有一半以上已經交付。同時，政府正與移動網絡運營商合作，為在家學習的兒童提供免費數據流量。
詞匯表
device 設備
learning from home 在家學習
challenging 有難度的，具有挑戰性的
have access to 有機會使用，可以利用
rely on 依靠，依賴
mobile internet 移動互聯網
costly 高成本的，昂貴的
legal action 法律訴訟
network operator 網絡運營商
閱讀理解：請在讀完上文后，回答下列問題。
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.
