VOA慢速英语听力：新的美国公民身份测试可能更难 New US Citizenship Test Could Be Harder

VOA慢速英语听力：新的美国公民身份测试可能更难 New US Citizenship Test Could Be Harder

A new United States citizenship test is expected to be launched by late next year. Some immigrants and their supporters worry the updated exam will hurt test-takers with lower levels of English skills.

预计新的美国公民身份测试将于明年年底推出。一些移民及其支持者担心更新的考试会对英语水平较低的考生造成困扰。

The test is one of the final steps to gain American citizenship. The entire process takes months. It also requires legal permanent residency for years before applying.

该测试是获得美国公民身份的最后一步。整个过程需要数月的时间。申请之前还需要拥有多年的合法永久居留权。

The test currently in use was last updated in 2008.

目前正在使用的测试最近一次更新是在2008年。

In 2020, the former presidential administration launched a new citizenship test. It was harder and longer than the test it replaced.

2020年，前总统政府推出了一项新的公民身份测试。与其替代的测试相比，它更难且时间更长。

When President Joe Biden came in to office months later, he ordered an end to that test. The order re-established the former test.

几个月后，乔·拜登总统上任时，他下令终止了那项测试。该命令恢复了以前的测试。

Late last year, U.S. officials announced that the test would be updated.

去年年底，美国官员宣布将更新测试。

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has proposed that the new test update the English-speaking part of the test. It suggests that test givers show images of simple, everyday things like weather or food, and ask the applicant to describe what they see.

美国公民身份与移民服务局建议新的测试更新测试中的英语口语部分。它建议测试人员展示一些简单的日常事物的图片，如天气或食物，并要求申请人描述他们看到的内容。

In the current test, an officer examines an applicant’s speaking ability during the naturalization interview. The examiner asks personal questions that the applicant has already answered in writing, for naturalization documents.

在当前的测试中，官员在入籍面试过程中检查申请人的口语能力。考官会问一些个人问题，这些问题申请人已经以书面形式回答过，用于入籍文件。

“For me, I think it would be harder to look at pictures and explain them,” said Heaven Mehreta. She emigrated from Ethiopia 10 years ago. Mehreta passed the naturalization test in May and, last month, she became a U.S. citizen.

“对我来说，我认为看图片并解释它们会更难，”海文·梅赫塔说道。她十年前从埃塞俄比亚移民到美国。梅赫塔于五月通过了入籍测试，上个月成为了美国公民。

Another proposed change would make the civics section on U.S. history and government multiple-choice. Currently, applicants give spoken short answers.

另一个拟议的改变是将美国历史和政府的公民部分改为多项选择题。目前，申请人需要口述简短答案。

Bill Bliss is a language and civics educator in Massachusetts and a writer of citizenship textbooks. In a blog post, he gave an example of how the test would become more difficult and require more knowledge.

Bill Bliss是麻省的语言和公民教育家，也是公民教科书的作者。在一篇博客文章中，他举了一个例子，说明这项考试将变得更加困难，需要更多的知识。

A current civics question asks the applicant to name a war fought by the U.S. in the 1900s. An applicant only needs to say one out of five correct answers — World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War or Gulf War — to get the question right.

一个当前的公民知识问题要求申请人列举美国在20世纪参与的一场战争。申请人只需要回答五个正确答案中的一个，包括第一次世界大战、第二次世界大战、朝鲜战争、越南战争或海湾战争，就能答对这个问题。

But in the proposed test, the applicant would read that question and mark the correct answer from the following choices:

A. Civil War

B. Mexican-American War

C. Korean War

D. Spanish-American War

但在拟议的考试中，申请人将阅读该问题并从以下选项中选择正确答案：

A. 南北战争

B. 美墨战争

C. 朝鲜战争

D. 美西战争

An applicant must know all five of the wars fought by the U.S. in the 1900s to choose the one correct answer, Bliss said. That requires a much “higher level of language proficiency and test-taking skill.”

Bliss表示，申请人必须知道美国在20世纪参与的所有五场战争，才能选择正确的答案。这要求具备更高水平的语言能力和考试技巧。

Currently, an applicant must answer six out of 10 civics questions correctly to pass. The 10 are among 100 possible civics questions. An applicant is not told which questions will be chosen for their test, but can see and study all the possible questions before taking the test.

目前，申请人必须正确回答十个公民知识问题中的六个才能通过考试。这十个问题是在100个可能的公民知识问题中选取的。申请人在参加考试之前不会被告知选中的问题是哪些，但可以看到并学习所有可能的问题。

Lynne Weintraub is with Jones Library’s English as a Second Language Center in Massachusetts. She said the proposed test for the civics section could make the citizenship test harder for people who struggle with English literacy. That includes refugees, older immigrants and people who have disabilities.

Lynne Weintraub就职于马萨诸塞州琼斯图书馆的英语作为第二语言中心。她表示，针对公民知识部分的拟议考试可能会使那些在英语识读方面有困难的人面临更大的考试难度。这包括难民、年长的移民和残障人士。

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said in a December announcement that the proposed changes “reflect current best practices in test design.”

美国公民和移民服务局在去年12月的声明中表示，这些拟议的改变“反映了当前最佳的考试设计实践”。

Under federal law, most applicants seeking citizenship must show an understanding of the English language. That includes speaking, reading and writing words in normal usage. Applicants must also show knowledge of U.S. history and government.

根据联邦法律，大多数寻求公民身份的申请人必须表现出对英语的理解。这包括能够用正常用法说、读和写单词。申请人还必须展示对美国历史和政府的了解。

The agency said it will hold a nationwide trial of the proposed changes in 2023. Then, a group of experts in the fields of language, civics and test development will review the trial’s results. They will suggest ways to best make changes.

该机构表示，他们将在2023年进行全国范围的拟议改革试验。随后，一组语言、公民学和考试开发领域的专家将审查试验结果，并提出最佳的改变方式。

More than 1 million people became U.S. citizens in the 2022 financial year. That is among the highest number documented since 1907, when officials started keeping such records.

在2022财政年度，超过100万人获得了美国公民身份。这是自1907年官方开始记录以来所记录的最高数量之一。

I’m Dan Novak.

我是丹·诺瓦克（Dan Novak）。

Words in This Story

applicant — n. someone who formally asks for something

interview — n. a meeting at which people talk to each other in order to ask questions and get information

resident — n. someone who lives in a particular place

civics — n. the study of the rights and duties of citizens and of how government works

proficient — adj. good at doing something

reflect — v. to show