Lettera al direttore: anticipare l'inizio delle lezioni (A letter to the editor)
QCER B2374 parole
To the Editor: Your paper reported on Thursday that the council intends to bring the start of the school day forward by fifty minutes, so that lessons would begin at twenty to eight. I have taught in this town for twenty-two years, and I want to set out, as calmly as I can, why I think the change would cost us more than it saves.
The argument I keep hearing is that children will simply go to bed earlier. They will not. A fourteen-year-old does not fall asleep at nine o'clock because a timetable says so; the body decides that, and it decides it late. What happens instead is that fifty minutes are taken off one end of the night and never put back at the other. Early in my career I taught eight o'clock lessons in another town, and I know what they look like: a room of polite, well-behaved pupils who are not really there.
The case for the change is not a foolish one, and I would not want readers to think it is. An earlier finish frees the buildings for adult classes, lets one fleet of buses serve two schools instead of one, and makes the afternoon easier for working parents. In a year in which this council has had to cut three teaching posts, savings of that kind deserve to be taken seriously.
But savings are never free; somebody pays for them, and here the bill falls on the first lesson of the day, which in most timetables is where the exam subjects go. Move the clock and those fifty minutes are not taken from heating and lighting. They are taken from mathematics, five days a week, and from the pupils who can least afford to lose them.
There is another way of reaching the same savings, and it is not new: leave the clock where it is and stagger the finishing times, so that the buses and the sports halls are shared after lessons rather than before. I am not asking the council to abandon the plan tomorrow. I am asking it to cost that second option properly, and to publish the figures before it votes next month.
Yours faithfully, a teacher of mathematics. Name and address supplied.
Parole che forse non conosci
- councilcomune, consiglio comunale
- to bring forward (a time)anticipare (un orario)
- timetableorario delle lezioni
- foolishinsensato, sciocco
- a fleet of busesuna flotta di autobus
- teaching postposto di insegnante
- the billil conto; qui, il costo che qualcuno finisce per pagare
- exam subjectsmaterie d'esame
- to stagger (times)scaglionare
- to cost (a plan)calcolare il costo di
- Yours faithfullydistinti saluti (chiusura formale di una lettera)
- name and address suppliednome e indirizzo in redazione (formula delle lettere pubblicate senza firma)
Domande
Si risponde con il testo davanti. Non è memoria: è capire.
What exactly is the council planning to do?
Start the school day fifty minutes earlier — Quello che si sposta è l'ora di ingresso: «bring the start of the school day forward by fifty minutes», cioè alle otto meno venti. La giornata non si allunga né si accorcia: si anticipa soltanto.
The writer accepts that pupils will simply go to bed earlier.
False — Falso. Quell'argomento viene citato solo per smontarlo: «They will not». L'orario non decide il sonno di chi ha quattordici anni; decide il corpo, e decide tardi.
Why does the writer describe an eight o'clock lesson as a room of polite, well-behaved pupils who are not really there?
To show that good behaviour is not the same as being able to learn — L'elogio è la trappola: sono educati e si comportano bene, eppure non ci sono. La frase dice che un'aula tranquilla può essere un'aula addormentata, e questo da un ufficio non si vede.
What is the writer doing in paragraph 3?
Admitting that the other side has real arguments, before answering them — È una concessione, non un cambio di schieramento: i risparmi sono reali e «deserve to be taken seriously». Si ammettono prima per poterli confutare nel paragrafo seguente, che inizia con «But».
According to the letter, the real cost of the change falls on the ___ lesson of the day.
first — «the bill falls on the first lesson of the day», che è proprio dove di solito stanno le materie d'esame. Per questo il risparmio non è gratis: lo paga quella prima ora.
What is asked of the council at the end of the letter?
To work out the cost of the other option and make the figures public — Il finale abbassa i toni di proposito: «I am not asking the council to abandon the plan tomorrow». Si chiede di calcolare il costo dell'altra opzione e pubblicare le cifre prima del voto.