今日导读
2011 年，印度电影《三傻大闹宝莱坞》在国内上映，在营造喜剧氛围之余也揭露、批评了印度教育系统的刻板与高压，鼓励由兴趣主导的、快乐的学习方式。而在现实中，近期德里地方政府出台了一项新的政策，尝试在强调书本知识、追求考试高分之余关心学生们的心理健康。这个政策具体是什么样的呢？它的效果又如何？一起来看这篇华盛顿邮报的报道。
带着问题听讲解
Q1: "mafia"如何理解？
Q2: “巩固中产阶级的地位”用英文如何表达？
Q3: 你可以举出哪些形容印度教育体系特点的说法？
新闻正文
India, which has long focused on student success, now offers 'happiness' classes
长期以来注重学生成绩的印度如今开设“幸福”课程
After the summer break, Delhi's children returned to school this month and found a new class added to their schedules: happiness.
本月暑假结束后，德里的孩子们回到学校，发现课程表上多了一门新课：幸福课。
It wasn't a welcome-back joke. In a country where top universities demand average test scores above 98 percent and where cheating on final high school exams is organized by a "mafia" that includes teachers and school officials, the Delhi government's initiative marks a shift of emphasis from student performance to well-being.
这并非一个欢迎学生返校的玩笑。在印度，顶尖大学要求学生平均成绩高于 98%，组织高中最终考试作弊的团伙中包括了教师与学校官员。而德里政府的新方案标志着从学生成绩到身心健康的重心转移。
"We have given best-of-the-best professionals to industry," said Manish Sisodia, Delhi's education minister, "…But have we been able to deliver best-of-the-best human beings to society, to the nation?"
“我们向行业输送了最最优秀的专业人才，”德里的教育部长马尼什·西索迪亚说道，“但我们能给社会、给国家输送最最优秀的人么？”
Sisodia's happiness classes represent a radical experiment in a country known for its rigid, bookish education system, which has helped cement a new middle class over the past three decades but is also criticized for encouraging rote learning and triggering high stress levels. Under the program, 100,000 Delhi students spend the first half-hour of each school day without opening a textbook, learning instead through inspirational stories and activities, as well as meditation exercises.
西索迪亚提出的幸福课程代表着一次激进的实验，它发生在这个以严苛、注重书本知识的教育系统闻名的国家。这一教育系统在过去的三十年中帮助巩固了新中产阶级的地位，但也被批评是在鼓励死记硬背的学习方式，以及引发了较高的心理压力。在这个项目中，十万名德里学生在每一个教学日最初的半小时内都不会打开课本，而是通过启发式的故事与活动，以及冥想练习来学习。
Some teachers, though, remain unconvinced. For one thing, they say, the public schools are too crowded for a curriculum based so heavily on classroom interaction. Others doubt that the happiness classes can change the culturally entrenched emphasis on exams and memorization. Geeta Gandhi Kingdon, chair of education, economics and international development at University College London, said that there haven't been any studies to assess their workability. "Anecdotally, I know in some schools they are just another box-ticking exercise," she said.
尽管如此，一些老师仍持怀疑态度。比如说，他们认为，公立学校对于这样一个高度依赖课堂互动的课程而言太过于拥挤了。其他人还怀疑幸福课究竟能否改变在文化上根深蒂固的、对考试和背诵的强调。伦敦大学学院的教育、经济和国际发展系主任吉塔·甘地·金登表示，还没有任何研究来评定课程的可操作性。“据传言，我听说在一些学校中，这些课程只不过是又一个例行公事的工作。”她说。
重点词汇
mafia /ˈmɑːfiə/
n. 黑手党式犯罪组织；（会施加危险影响的）无形集团
initiative /ɪˈnɪʃətɪv/
n. 新方案
radical /ˈrædɪkl/
adj. 极端的，激进的
e.g.
a radical change/reform
rigid /ˈrɪdʒɪd/
adj. 严格的，僵硬的
e.g.
His rigid adherence to the rules made him unpopular.
bookish /ˈbʊkɪʃ/
adj. 注重书本知识的
cement /sɪˈment/
v. 巩固，加强
e.g.
cement the alliance between the two countries
rote /roʊt/
n. 死记硬背
e.g.
to learn by rote
meditation /ˌmedɪˈteɪʃn/
n. 冥想
for one thing
比如说（用于举出多个理由中的一个）
e.g.
"Why don't you drive?" "For one thing, I don't have a car, and for another, I can't drive."
entrenched /ɪnˈtrentʃt/
adj. 根深蒂固的
e.g.
entrenched attitudes/opposition
Sexism is deeply entrenched in our society.
workability /ˌwɜːrkəˈbɪləti/
n. 有效性（workable adj.）
anecdotally /ˌænɪkˈdoʊtəli/
adv. 据传言地（anecdote n.）
box-ticking /bɑːks ˈtɪkɪŋ/
n. 例行公事
e.g.
the box-ticking culture
minister
部长、大臣
curriculum
课程
memorization
记忆
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