VOA慢速英语2009-Education Report - Studying in the US: High Mark
时间：2019-01-11 作者：英语课 分类：VOA慢速英语2009年（三）月
This is the VOA Special English Education Report.
This week in our Foreign Student Series, we continue our discussion 1 about grades.
Would you want a doctor who got high marks in medical school just for trying really, really hard? Apparently 2 many college students would have no problem with that. They believe students are owed a good grade simply because they put a lot of effort into a class. Or at least that is what they told researchers last year at the University of California, Irvine.
The researchers asked more than eight hundred undergraduates 3 if they agreed or disagreed with some statements. For example: "If I have completed most of the reading for a class, I deserve 4 a B in that course." And: "A professor should not be annoyed with me if I receive an important call during class."
Just sixteen percent thought it was OK to take that phone call. But sixty-six percent agreed that a professor should consider effort and not just the quality of a student's work when deciding grades. And forty percent thought they should get a B, the second highest mark, just because they did most of the reading for class.
The findings 5 appeared in the Journal 6 of Youth and Adolescence 7. The students were ages eighteen to twenty-five.
Some experts are not surprised that students often see no difference between effort and results. Social critics like to say that in children's activities these days, everyone gets an award just for trying, so no one will feel rejected. Or so it may seem.
Yet competition to get into the best colleges is fiercer than ever. Students may worry that low grades will keep them out of graduate school or a good job.
And there may be another explanation: pressure from parents to get a good return on the family's investment 8. These days, college can cost more than a house.
A former teaching 9 assistant recently wrote to the New York Times about his experience with grade expectations. He would try to explain it this way when students asked for a top grade just for studying hard in chemistry class:
What if a baseball player came to spring training and worked harder than all the others, but still could not play well. Would the team accept him anyway, just because he tried so hard?
The students would say no. But most of them would still ask for an A.
And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. Tell us what you think about grades, and read what others have to say, at voaspecialenglish.com. Foreign Student Series. I'm Steve Ember.
- It is certain he will come to the discussion.他肯定会来参加讨论。
- After months of discussion,a peace agreement is gradually taking shape.经过几个月的商讨，和平协议渐渐有了眉目。
- An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
- He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。
- All undergraduates reading English attend a turtorial group each week. 所有攻读英语的本科生每周上一次导师辅导课。
- This is a course for undergraduates. 这是为本科生开的一门课。
- You really deserve a good beating,you naughty boy.你这个调皮孩子真该打。
- I do not deserve all the praises bestowed upon me.我不配得到这些赞扬。
- It behoves us to study these findings carefully. 我们理应认真研究这些发现。
- Their findings have been widely disseminated . 他们的研究成果已经广为传播。
- He kept a journal during his visit to Japan.他在访问日本期间坚持记日记。
- He got a job as editor of a trade journal.他找到了一份当商业杂志编辑的工作。
- Adolescence is the process of going from childhood to maturity.青春期是从少年到成年的过渡期。
- The film is about the trials and tribulations of adolescence.这部电影讲述了青春期的麻烦和苦恼。
- It took two years before I recouped my investment.我用了两年时间才收回投资。
- The success of the project pivots on investment from abroad.这个工程的成功主要依靠外来投资。