英语听力精选进阶版 6395
时间：2019-02-21 作者：英语课 分类：英语听力精选进阶版
Whenever anyone measures educational success, East Asian countries are always top scorers. But in a recent league table, a European country, Finland, was top of the class. South Korea was still in second place, though. Britain was at number 6. What is the secret of Finland and South Korea's success? Time to do some homework.
In Korea the school day is long - typically 7 or 8 hours, followed by hours of private tutoring in the evenings. All this hothousing leaves Korean students so tired, they sometimes fall asleep in class next day. Worries about the effects of late night cramming 1 led the government to force cramming schools to close by 10pm.
Finnish children spend the least time in class in the developed world, often finishing just after lunch, with about one hour of homework a day. Private tuition 2 is uncommon 3. The British school day is quite long in comparison, around 6 hours, and secondary school pupils do 2 or 3 hours of self-study a night.
The Korean education system, like many in Asia, is intensely competitive 4, with students even competing to get into the best cramming schools, to help them get ahead. Finnish education is far less cut-throat. Classes are all mixed ability, and there are no league tables. British schools again occupy the middle ground, with quite high levels of competition for places at university, and schools and universities battling to come top of league tables for everything from exam results to student satisfaction.
Korea and Finland both do well, yet their education systems are so different. So what lessons can Britain learn from these two swots?
Well, there are some similarities in Asia and Finland. In those countries, teachers have high status in society, and education is very highly valued. Those attitudes can't change quickly. But it can be done. They might be the star pupil now, but until the 1970s, Finland's educational system was poor. Their radically 5 different approach to schooling 6 has taken them to the top in just a generation.
Quiz 测验
1. According to the article, who spends more time studying, Korean or Finnish children?
Korean children.
2. Do British schools and universities care about league tables?
Yes, they battle to come top of league tables.
3. Is the following statement true, false or not given? Finnish education was excellent in the 1970s.
False. Education was poor in the 1970s.
4. According to this article, why do Korean children fall asleep in class?
Because they are tired, after hours of private tuition in the evenings.
5. Which rather negative word for private tutoring or tuition is used in the article?
Cramming.
Glossary 词汇表
top scorers 得分最高的人（国家）
league table （学校）排名榜
top of the class 位居榜首
private tutoring 私人课外辅导
hothousing 温室强化式的拔苗助长，超前的
cramming 填鸭式(教育)
private tuition 私人补习
self-study 自学
intensely competitive 竞争激烈的
get ahead 取得进步
cut-throat 残酷的
mixed ability （学生）水平参差不齐的
occupy the middle ground 取中
battling 挣扎
student satisfaction 学生满意度
swots 勤奋刻苦的人（国家）
high status 高（社会）地位
attitudes 态度
star pupil 优秀生
radically different approach 截然不同的方法
schooling 学校教育
generation 一代人
- Being hungry for the whole morning, I couldn't help cramming myself. 我饿了一上午，禁不住狼吞虎咽了起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- She's cramming for her history exam. 她考历史之前临时抱佛脚。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Students can apply for individual tuition.学生可以申请个别指导。
- Is this money enough for the tuition fee?这些钱交学费够吗？
- Such attitudes were not at all uncommon thirty years ago.这些看法在30年前很常见。
- Phil has uncommon intelligence.菲尔智力超群。
- Some kinds of business are competitive.有些商业是要竞争的。
- These businessmen are both competitive and honourable.这些商人既有竞争性又很诚实。
- I think we may have to rethink our policies fairly radically. 我认为我们可能要对我们的政策进行根本的反思。
- The health service must be radically reformed. 公共医疗卫生服务必须进行彻底改革。