【一起听英语】贫穷与教育
人们会有一种错误的印象，是不是贫穷的孩子接受教育的能力更慢一些呢？然而并不是这样...
Dan: Hello, I'm Dan.
Alice: And I'm Alice.
Dan: And this is 6 Minute English! Today we're talking about a new report that
examines how poverty can affect education.
Alice: The report, from the Organisation 1 for Economic Co-operation and
Development – or OECD – studies whether there is an inevitable 2 link between
wealth and academic performance.
Dan: You'd think that children from poorer backgrounds perform less well at school
than children from richer backgrounds, right Alice?
Alice: Well, that makes sense – if you're from a disadvantaged background then 'the
odds 3 are stacked 4 against you' – you're less likely to succeed because the
situation is unfavourable.
Dan: But the OECD report says that in certain countries children from poorer
backgrounds are more likely to achieve good grades and do well academically
despite having the odds stacked against them.
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Alice: So it's easier for poorer school students – or pupils – to achieve high grades in
some countries rather than others then, Dan?
Dan: Exactly. They achieve against the odds. For example, poorer children in
Canada and Japan are more likely to achieve good grades than poor children in
the UK. There's a more level playing field in those countries than in Britain.
Alice: That's a good phrase – a level playing field – it comes from sport; if you're
playing on a level playing field, it's a fair situation for everybody. So where are
poorer pupils most likely to do well then, Dan?
Dan: Ah, well that's this week's question actually, Alice. Which country do you think
came top in the OECD list for pupils doing well, even when the odds are
stacked against them? Was it:
a) Finland
b) Canada
c) South Korea
Alice: And I'll guess…Finland?
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Dan: Well, we'll see if you're right at the end of the programme. Now let's hear from
Professor Yvonne Kelly from the University of Essex. She specialises in how
economic factors can influence childhood development. Here she is talking
about her research in the UK. What factors does she say could be affected 5 by
different levels of family income?
Professor Yvonne Kelly, University of Essex
We compared levels of family income with the likelihood 6 of children having social and
emotional 7 difficulties, and also their cognitive 8 ability skills.
Dan: So the research compared levels of family income – that's how much money a
family earns – with the likelihood of children having social and emotional
difficulties.
Alice: Social here refers to how people live and work together; and emotional refers
to how the children react to their feelings. So the income of a family could
affect whether the children have social and emotional difficulties.
Dan: And the research also looked at children’s cognitive ability skills – that's the
way children learn. Cognitive is a scientific term that refers to how we process
information.
Alice: And what were the findings 9 of this research then, Dan?
Dan: Well Professor Kelly says that children from low-income families were more
likely to show symptoms of social and emotional difficulties. She says they
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can be more fidgety, restless 10 and clingy. Could you explain some of these
terms for us, Alice?
Alice: Sure. Well, to fidget means to make small, quick movements in a nervous way,
so fidgety means moving nervously 11. Being restless means you're unable to
relax, and clingy, well here it means that the child doesn't want to be separated
from their parents.
Dan: OK, let's listen to Professor Kelly again. How many times more likely were
children from poorer backgrounds to suffer from social and emotional
difficulties?
Professor Yvonne Kelly, University of Essex
Children from the poorest households were between seven and eight times more likely to
have social and emotional difficulties – things like being excessively 12 fidgety, restless,
clingy – compared to their better-off counterparts 14.
Dan: So children from poorer backgrounds were seven or eight times more likely to
be fidgety, restless and clingy than their better-off counterparts.
Alice: Better-off here means richer; and a counterpart 13 is a person who's at the same
level, or who does the same job. So the better-off counterparts here are
children of the same age who are from richer backgrounds.
But Dan, did you say that some countries have less of a divide between the
grades of richer pupils and poorer pupils than other countries?
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Dan: That's right, although there's a strong link between family income and how
well pupils perform at school, the report says that the education systems in
some countries are more likely to help students from poorer backgrounds
develop self-confidence and motivation to succeed.
Alice: OK, so don't keep me waiting, Dan – which countries are they?
Dan: Well, I can tell you that South Korea, Finland, Japan, Turkey and Canada are
the most successful countries in terms of poorer pupils achieving high results.
But today's question was which country came top in the OECD list for poorer
students getting higher grades? Was it:
a) Finland
b) Canada
c) South Korea
Alice: And I said Finland.
Dan: Well, in fact it was South Korea. In fact, the top five places by regional and
national school systems are all in Asia: South Korea leads the countries, and
Shanghai, Hong Kong, Macao and Singapore are also in the top five. France,
Australia and the US are around average for pupils succeeding against the odds,
and the UK is - unfortunately - well below average. Well Alice, before we go,
let's hear some of the words and phrases we've used in today's programme:
Alice: OK.
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the odds are stacked against you
pupils
a level playing field
income
social and emotional
cognitive
fidgety
restless
clingy
better-off
counterpart
Dan: Thanks, Alice. I hope you've enjoyed today's programme and you'll join us
again for more 6 Minute English next time.
Both: Bye.
- The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
- His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。
- Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
- The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。
- The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
- Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？
- a table stacked with glasses 摆满了玻璃杯的桌子
- I had stacked my shirts and underclothes in two empty drawers. 我把衬衫和内衣塞进两个抽屉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
- His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。
- We must try our best to reduce the likelihood of war.我们必须尽最大努力减少战争的可能性。
- I don't think there is any likelihood of his agreeing to it.我认为不会有他同意那件事情的可能。
- Emotional people don't stop to calculate.感情容易冲动的人做事往往不加考虑。
- This is an emotional scene in the play.这是剧中动人的一幕。
- As children grow older,their cognitive processes become sharper.孩子们越长越大，他们的认知过程变得更为敏锐。
- The cognitive psychologist is like the tinker who wants to know how a clock works.认知心理学者倒很像一个需要通晓钟表如何运转的钟表修理匠。
- 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 looks like a restless man.他看上去坐立不安。
- He has been very restless all day and he awoke nearly all last night.他一整天都心神不定，昨夜几乎一整夜没有合眼。
- He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇，努力忍着不哭出来。
- He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。
- The doctor advised him not to drink excessively. 医生劝他不要饮酒过度。
- He became excessively annoyed at〔with〕 newspaper reports. 他对报纸上的报道极为恼火。
- Canada's Prime Minister is the counterpart of the U.S. President.加拿大总理相当于美国总统。
- Night is the counterpart of day.黑夜与白天相辅相成。
- Deep-sea valleys are the counterparts of the mountain chains. 深海里的峡谷相当于陆地上的山脉。
- Many states have enacted their own counterparts to RCRA and CERCLA. 许多州都已经针对《资源保护和恢复法》和《综合性环境反应、赔偿与责任法案》制定了他们各自的实施细则。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法