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“再苦不能苦孩子”这一理念在当代社会中已是常识，并且“使用未成年人作为劳动力”以及“剥夺未成年人受教育权利”也已被诸多社会和地区视为非法。但事实上，在一千多年前的欧洲，儿童通常被视作“长得较小的成年人”：他们承担着和所有成年人相差无几的工作。经过数代人的努力和奋斗，儿童才得以被社会视作一个需要被特殊关怀的群体，并逐渐形成“儿童”这一概念。这是人类文明史上的一个辉煌进步，设立“六一儿童节”作为纪念也是理所应当的。
英语原文
There is a long tradition of the children of the poor playing a functional role in contributing to the family income by working either inside or outside the home. In this sense children are seen as useful. Back in the Middle Ages, children as young as 5 or 6 did important chores for their parents and, from the sixteenth century, were often encouraged (or forced) to leave the family by the age of 9 or 10 to work as servants for wealthier families or to be apprenticed to a trade.
重点词汇：
playing a functional role in：在…中起到功能性作用（在本文中指“穷人家的孩子在增加家庭收入中起到重要作用；常见固定搭配paly an important role in）
contribute to：为…作出贡献
family income：家庭收入
either…or…：要么…要么…（二者择一）
the middle age：中世纪（欧洲的历史时期，公元500~1450年）
chore：家务活
servant：服务生
apprentice：学徒
根据《1833年工厂法》建立了半日学校，允许孩子一边工作一边读书，但是在19实际40年代，很大部分的孩子们都从未上过学，即使有上，也通常会在10岁或11岁时离开学校，19世纪末英国的情况变得非常不同，学校成为一个“正常童年”的核心标志。
英语原文
The Factory Act of 1833 established half-time schools which allowed children to work and attend school. But in the 1840s, a large proportion of children never went to school^ and if they did, they left by the age of 10 or 11. The situation was very different by the end of the nineteenth century in Britain, The school became central to images of "a normal’ childhood.
重点词汇：
the factory act of 1833：《1833工厂法案》（act作专有名词用时常指“法案“）
a large proportion of：大多数的（proportion：比例）
situation：局势，情况
by the end of：直到…的末期（通常搭配表达时间的词汇使用）
穷人家的孩子参加工作并在工作中有所作用是有悠久的传统历史,通常在外面工作或家里帮工都是有助于家庭收益的。从这个意义上来说孩子被视为有用处的。早在中世纪，他们的父母会让5, 6岁的孩子承担重要的劳务，从十六世纪， 9到10岁的时候经常被鼓励（或强迫）离开家去工作，到赋予的家里做仆人或是在贸易店里做学徒。
英语原文
Industrialization, urbanization and mass schooling also set new challenges for those responsible for protecting children"s welfare^ and promoting their learning* Increasingly^ children were being treated as a group with distinctive needs and they were organized into groups according to their age. For example, teachers needed to know what to expect of children in their classrooms, what kinds of instruction were appropriate for different age groups and howbest to assess children"s progress. They also wanted tools that could enable them to sort and select children according to their abilities and potential.
重点词汇：
industrialization：工业化（词根industry – 工业）
urbanization：城镇化（词根urb – 城市、市区）
mass：形容词，意为“大规模的”
schooling：作名词用，意为“学校教育”
welfare：福利
be treated as：被作为…对待
instruction：名词，意为“指导，教导”
be appropriate for：适合于
assess：动词，意为“评估”（本文中“评估孩子们的progress – 进步”）
sort and select：两个动词，分别意为“分类”和“挑选”
potential：在本文中作名词用，意为“潜力”
本文如果对你有帮助，请点赞收藏《看故事学英语：六一节背后的含义原来这么深？》，同时在此感谢原作者。
