[背景了解]
　　今天的文章取自于2003年1月的阅读真题
　　[文章部分]
　　When school officials in Kalkaska, Michigan, closed classes last week, the media flocked to the story, portraying the town’s 2,305 students as victims of stingy (吝啬的) taxpayers. There is some truth to that; the property-tax rate here is one-third lower than the state average. But shutting their schools also allowed Kalkaska’s educators and the state’s largest teachers’ union, the Michigan Education Association, to make a political point. Their aim was to spur passage of legislation Michigan lawmakers are debating to increase the state’s share of school funding.
　　[单词学习]
　　portray vt.描绘
　　victim n.受害者,受骗者,受灾者
　　property n.所有物，财产
　　spur v.鞭策,鼓励，敦促
　　legislation n.法律,法规
　　[课后作业]
　　请翻译下列4个句子
　　1.Dickens portrayed his characters to the life.
　　2.Concern is mounting that the estimated 1.5 million people left homeless will fall victim to epidemics of cholera（霍乱） and other illnesses.
　　3. At the nadir of recession, he had to sell his property and move into his parents' house.
　　4.Their aim was to spur passage of legislation Michigan lawmakers are debating to increase the state’s share of school funding.（提示一下喔，Michigan lawmakers are debating定语从句，修饰passage of legislation ）
　　答案：
　　1.狄更斯把他笔下的人物描绘得栩栩如生。
　　2.人们的担心日甚一日，因为估计有150万人无家可归，霍乱及其他流行病的爆发会危及到他们。
　　3.在景气最低迷时,他必须把产业卖掉搬回去和父母住。
　　4.他们的目的是敦促州政府通过增加办学基金的立法。