【时文阅读训练】萨尔瓦多大力整顿校园纪律-El Salvador cracks down on discipline in schools

El Salvador cracks down on discipline in schools   (25th August 2025)

El Salvador is cracking down on school discipline. President Nayib Bukele has appointed a former army captain, Karla Trigueros, as education minister. She has started inspecting schools wearing army fatigues. Ms Trigueros is also a physician and was head of the country's vaccination logistics during the coronavirus pandemic. One of her first edicts was to require all school principals to become role models. School heads will be required to greet students as they come through the school gates each morning. They will also scrutinize pupils' haircuts and uniforms. Trigueros warned schools that: "Failure to comply with these provisions…will be considered a serious breach of administrative responsibility."

The main focus of El Salvador's new education initiative is on appearance and conduct. In particular, boys are required to have closely-cropped, military-style haircuts, while all students must wear tidy uniforms and greet all teachers respectfully. There has been mixed reaction to the new policy. A leading teachers' union called it a "regrettable militarization" of schools. It was concerned that the country was veering back to the days of military dictatorship. It said: "We are concerned that the already [endemic] abuses of power against students will increase." However, many parents are supportive of the new rules. One said: "That's how you straighten children out from a young age."

Paragraph 1

1.	cracking down	a.	A doctor.
2.	inspecting	b.	Using strong action to stop something bad.
3.	fatigues (noun)	c.	Special clothes soldiers wear for work.
4.	physician	d.	Look at something very closely.
5.	logistics	e.	Do what a rule or order says.
6.	scrutinize	f.	Looking at something carefully to check it.
7.	comply	g.	The planning of moving and supplying things.

Paragraph 2

8.

initiative (noun)

h.

Changing direction.

9.	conduct (noun)	i.	Correct someone’s bad behaviour.
10.	cropped	j.	Something common in a certain place or group.
11.	veering	k.	Cut very short.
12.	dictatorship	l.	A government where one person has all the power.
13.	endemic	m.	A new plan or action to solve a problem.
14.	straighten out	n.	The way someone behaves.

【答案】

2. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if “1-8” below are true (T) or false (F).

1. El Salvador's education minister used to be an army captain.      T / F
2. El Salvador's education minister visits schools dressed in army uniform.    T / F
3. El Salvador's education minister wants all students to be models.      T / F
4. School principals must check students' haircuts every morning.      T / F
5. Schoolboys and girls in El Salvador must have very short hair.      T / F
6. A teachers' union is fully behind El Salvador's new education policy.      T / F
7. The teachers' union is concerned schools are being militarized.      T / F
8. A parent said it is not the job of schools to straighten students out.      T / F

【答案】

3. SYNONYM MATCH: (The words in bold are from the news article.)

1. cracking down on
2. former
3. logistics
4. greet
5. breach
6. initiative
7. cropped
8. regrettable
9. abuses
10. supportive

1. planning
2. misuses
3. violation
4. unfortunate
5. strategy
6. one-time
7. in favour
8. trimmed
9. getting tough on
10. welcome

【答案】

4. READING COMPREHENSION: MULTIPLE CHOICE
1) What was the education minister's former role in the army?
a) sergeant   b) major   c) captain                 d) general
2) What did the education minister wear when she visited schools?
a) army fatigues  b) a suit   c) a professor's gown d) jeans and a t-shirt
3) What does the education minister want school principals to become?
a) happy        b) future government ministers
c) leaders in IT      d) role models
4) What will principals check as they greet students at the school gates?
a) attendance       b) haircuts and uniforms
c) homework       d) student lunches
5) What will failure to follow the new rules be a serious breach of?
a) the law        b) the rules              

c) administrative responsibility   d) morality

6) What kind of haircut are schoolboys required to have?
a) fashionable haircuts     b) closely-cropped, military-style haircuts
c) nice haircuts      d) any styles the boys like
7) What kind of reaction has there been to the new rules on discipline?
a) plenty of reaction b) furious reaction c) none    d) mixed reaction
8) Who likened the rules to a "regrettable militarization of schools"?
a) the army       b) a leading teachers' union
c) a parents' association     d) school principals
9) What is a union worried the country is veering back towards?
a) military dictatorship     b) the Stone Age
c) the turn of the century     d) a lack of education
10) What did a parent say the rules will do to children?