4兴趣班
孩子们相聚很开心，绕着桌子转圈追逐，威廉面带笑容，慈祥地看着她们玩耍。
“How many kids do you have（你有几个孩子）?”我随口问道。
“The oldest one is in university，and what about you（最大的一个在上大学，你呢）?”
“I have two，and the older is in primary school（大一点的在上小学）. ”
“Yeah,all kinds of them（各种兴趣班都有）. It’s the same,just like the Chinese（与中国的情况一样）.”威廉强调，
“You mean the deveolpment of body and mind（你的意思是身体和精神的发展）?”凡追问道。
“Exactly（很准确）, ”他补充说，
“To my understanding（据我所知）”,我深有同感，
“doing what you like is the best way to find confidence（做自己喜欢的事是找到自信的最好方法）.”
“Then which interest class is the most popular（哪种兴趣班最受欢迎）? ”对于这个问题我也很感兴趣。
“So do I（我也这样想）. ”
“What do children learn from interest classes（孩子从兴趣班上学到了什么）?”
develop interest（发展兴趣），responsibility（建立责任心）,time management skills（管理时间能力）,and team spirit（团队精神）.
我其实还是有一点不理解，有这么多好处吗？
“Yeah,and most children retain at least two interest classes,
他顿了顿，若有所思，
The school coach suggested that he need targeted training and competition（学校教练说他需要针对性训练和比赛）.”
and now he is highly praised in the university（他现在大学备受推崇）.”
“Really（真的吗）?”
“It's my son.（他是我儿子）”
“Wow!you are a good father（你是个好父亲）.”
besides private swimming pools（还有私家泳池）,
“Great（不错）”我们还是很感慨。
“No sports kids，no friends（不运动的孩子交不上朋友）.”威廉脸上诡异地滑过一丝笑容。
5“美国教育现状”
“Now the competition for children is very close（现在孩子的竞争很激烈）,”
我很想知道美国的教育状况，“How about American children?”
威廉点头回应,淡淡地笑着说:“same.”
他收起笑容，正视我的眼神: “It’s complicated（一言难尽）.”
“you know,American education depends on different school districts（美国的教育取决于不同的学区），
“Overall,the competition of good schools is much more close,that's why I said‘same’（总体来说，好学校竞争更加激烈）.
“What’s the difference between public and private schools（公立学校和私立学校有什么区别）? ”凡也很想了解情况。
“Slow learning and the opposite（公立学校学习进度缓慢，私立学校刚好相反）. ”
“For instance,in a public school they can wait（公立学校中他们可以等）.”
“What are they waiting for（等什么）?” 我好像反应有点迟钝。
“On average,60% of high schoolstudents go to colege（平均来说，60%的高中生可以升入大学）,
of course,it's more expensive（当然也更昂贵),
“middle class”，威廉举例说明，
“Little by little,the division of the school district become apparent（渐渐地学区的分化就很明显）.”
“How to understand the idea of American education（如何理解美国教育的理念）? ”凡提出了自己思考更多的问题。
“How can we develop children's independence and creativity(我们如何才能培养孩子的独立性和创造性)?”我觉得这是个老生常谈的问题。
“One or the most important thing we need to do,（我们最需要做的一件事）,”他以戏谑的口吻说，“guess(猜)?”
威廉起身，再次和我击掌，“let go（放手）”。
延伸阅读：
社会环境，犯罪率，周边学校的基础设施完备程度等等都有着密切的联系。
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