The Texas State Board of Education Mandates Inclusion of Biblical Texts in Public School Curricula.
德州教育委員會強制要求將聖經文本納入公立學校課程
Introduction
The Texas State Board of Education has approved a mandatory reading list for public school students that incorporates passages from the Bible.
德州教育委員會已批准一份公立學校學生的強制閱讀清單,其中包含聖經段落。
Main Body
The legislative action, ratified by a 9-5 vote with one abstention, establishes a required reading list for over 5 million students, comprising approximately 200 texts. This list, which includes secular works such as Dickens' 'Great Expectations' alongside New Testament excerpts, is scheduled for implementation in elementary schools beginning in the 2030-31 academic year. Specific mandates include the study of the Book of Exodus for fifth-grade students and 'The Shepherd’s Psalm' for seventh-grade students. This measure aligns with a 2023 statute requiring at least one literary work per grade level.
此次立法行動由 9 票贊成、5 票反對及 1 票棄權通過,為超過 500 萬名學生制定了一份包含約 200 篇文本的強制閱讀清單。該清單除了包含新約聖經摘錄外,還包括如狄更斯的《偉大的期待》等世俗作品,預計將於 2030-31 學年起在小學實施。具體要求包括五年級學生學習《出埃及記》,七年級學生學習《牧羊人的詩篇》。此舉符合 2023 年一項要求每個年級至少閱讀一部文學作品的法令。
Institutional justifications for this policy emphasize the necessity of engaging with primary historical documents to foster critical thinking. Board member Julie Pickren asserted that such a classical pedagogical approach provides essential insight into the moral and philosophical traditions underpinning Western civilization and the development of the United States and Texas. This decision exists within a broader trajectory of conservative educational reforms in the state, which include the authorization of school chaplains, the mandatory display of the Ten Commandments, and the approval of optional Bible-integrated curricula.
機構對此政策的解釋強調,接觸原始歷史文件對於培養批判性思考至關重要。委員會成員 Julie Pickren 主張,這種古典教學法能為理解西方文明以及美國與德州發展背後的道德與哲學傳統提供必要的洞察。此決定處於該州保守派教育改革的更廣泛趨勢之中,包括授權學校設置隨軍牧師、強制展示十誡,以及批准可選擇納入聖經的課程。
Conversely, opposition to the mandate centers on the perceived erosion of the constitutional separation between ecclesiastical and state authorities. Representatives from the Texas Freedom Network, specifically Elva Mendoza, contended that the list lacks sufficient diversity and restricts pedagogical flexibility. Critics maintain that the prioritization of a single religious text may alienate students of diverse faith backgrounds or those with no religious affiliation. External reactions have varied, with public figures such as NBA athlete Josh Hart expressing approval of the board's determination.
相反,對該指令的反對意見集中於認為這將侵蝕憲法中教會與國家權力分立的原則。德州自由網絡(Texas Freedom Network)代表 Elva Mendoza 主張該清單缺乏足夠的多樣性,且限制了教學靈活性。批評者認為,優先考慮單一宗教文本可能會使具有不同信仰背景或無宗教信仰的學生感到被疏離。外界反應不一,例如 NBA 球星 Josh Hart 等公眾人物對委員會的決定表示贊同。
Conclusion
The Texas State Board of Education has formalized a required reading list including biblical texts, which will be integrated into public school instruction by 2030.
德州教育委員會正式制定了一份包含聖經文本的強制閱讀清單,將於 2030 年前納入公立學校教學。
Vocabulary Learning
The Architecture of Nominalization and 'Institutional Weight'
To bridge the gap from B2 to C2, a student must move beyond describing actions to conceptualizing them. This text is a masterclass in Nominalization—the linguistic process of turning verbs and adjectives into nouns to create an objective, authoritative, and 'dense' academic tone.
🧩 The Linguistic Shift
Notice how the text avoids simple subject-verb-object constructions. Instead of saying "The Board decided to include the Bible," the author writes:
"The legislative action... establishes a required reading list..."
By turning the action (legislating) into a noun (legislative action), the writer shifts the focus from the people doing the act to the concept of the act itself. This is the hallmark of C2-level formal prose.
🔍 Deconstructing the 'Heavy' Phrasing
Look at the following excerpts and see how the noun-heavy structure creates a sense of inevitability and institutional gravity:
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"The perceived erosion of the constitutional separation..."
- B2 approach: People think the separation between church and state is eroding.
- C2 mechanism:
PerceptionErosionSeparation. Three abstract nouns stacked to create a complex conceptual chain.
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"...a broader trajectory of conservative educational reforms..."
- B2 approach: There is a trend of conservatives reforming education.
- C2 mechanism:
TrajectoryandReformsfunction as anchors, transforming a political movement into a geometric/historical path.
⚡ The C2 Power-Move: Precision Adjectives
In high-level academic English, nominalization is paired with precise, low-frequency modifiers to eliminate ambiguity:
- Ecclesiastical (instead of religious)
- Pedagogical (instead of teaching-related)
- Underpinning (acting as a participle describing the foundation of a system)
The takeaway for the aspiring C2 student: To sound truly scholarly, stop focusing on who is doing what. Instead, identify the process (the erosion, the implementation, the authorization) and treat that process as the subject of your sentence.