车轮上的教室

王磊

华盛顿特区组织了一个移动木工项目，目的是向青少年和年轻人传授木工和成品木工技能。这个项目是在一个被安置在卡车里的木工车间里进行的，这个木工车间被当地人称为“车轮上的教室”。

1Handing power tools over to young studentscould result in some disastrous situations. But ifthose tools are combined with effective supervisionand teaching， the students can learn valuable newskills and might even find a new career path.

2One such program， in Washington， D.C.， aims to teach woodworking and finished car?pentry skills to teens and young adults. It includes a woodshop， completely housed inside atruck， which acts as a kind of“classroom on wheels”.

3The Mobile Woodshop program was started by the non⁃profit Zenith Community ArtsFoundation. Its director Goldberg is an artist and wood sculptor. She had long dreamed ofcreating a mobile woodshop to assist students and that dream finally came true. What madeher happy was that the city gave her a large grant for the program.

4The subjects and skills taught in the program are similar to those offered by a lo⁃cal carpenters’ union that also supports the program. Students can learn the same skillsas a beginning carpenter would. These include cutting， marking， measuring， nailing andhow to use different tools.

5The class textbook provides step⁃by⁃step instructions on how to make things fromsimple wooden birdhouses， to more complex wooden containers and objects. The truck is equipped with all the instructional materials and tools necessary to operate as a completemobile classroom. Mobile workstations are also available so students can work on projectsoutside the truck.

6If students pass the class， they can seek to enter the union apprenticeship program.Instead of a usual four⁃year apprenticeship， graduates of the mobile woodshop can finish inless time.

7Much of the class centers on teaching students soft skills. These are skills that are de⁃sirable in all jobs， such as teamwork， having a strong work ethic， being able to follow in⁃structions and arriving to work on time. Students also learn basic skills like math and howto read a ruler.

8Building⁃related jobs are currently in high demand across the United States. Onestudy found that 2.2 million jobs would be needed by 2024 to keep up with building de⁃mand and more than 89，000 openings for carpenters will be probably created each year inthe US over the next 10 years.

9Goldberg believes woodshop programs can help prepare the next generation of wood⁃workers. She said other schools in Washington， D.C. have expressed interest in the mobilewoodshop and the program might be expanded in the coming years.

Reading Check

Detail

1. What had Goldberg hoped to do for a long time？

A. Provide a new career for her community.

B. Set up a mobile woodshop for students.

C. Raise enough funds to create a program.

D. Assist students to improve practical skills.

Detail

2. When can students start the union apprenticeship program？

A. After passing the class.

B. After leaving for four years.

C. After mastering some skills.

D. After graduating from a woodshop.

Detail

3. What do the students mainly learn in the Mobile Woodshop program？

A. Maths.

B. Practical skills.

C. Soft skills.

D. How to read a ruler.

Inference

4. Whats Goldbergs attitude towards her woodshop program？

A. Hopeful.

B. Uncaring.

C. Negative.

D. Disapproving.

Language Study

Ⅰ. Difficult sentence in the text

The subjects and skills taught in the program are similar to those offered by a localcarpenters union that also supports the program.該项目所教授的课程和技能与支持该项目的一个当地的木匠联盟提供的课程相似。

【点石成金】本句中，taught in the program作后置定语，修饰The subjects and skills;offered by a local carpenters union that also supports the program作后置定语，修饰代词those;此外，that also supports the program为修饰union的定语从句，that在定语从句中作主语。

Ⅱ. Text⁃centered chunks

hand sth over to sb 把某物交给某人

be combined with 与……结合

act as 充当

dream of 梦想

come true 实现

center on 以……为中心

in high demand 高需求

keep up with 跟上