Vocabulary: education: 词汇：教育

Around the world, girls do better than boys at school. These are the findings of a recent study that looked at the test results of 1.5 million 15-year-olds in 74 regions across the globe.

(资料图片仅供参考)

在世界各地，女孩在学校的表现都比男孩好。这些是最近一项研究的结果，该研究调查了全球74个地区150万名15岁青少年的测试结果。

The level of gender equalityin those regions made no difference to the results. Other factors, such as the income levelof the region also had little impact on the findings. In only three regions - Colombia, Costa Rica and the Indian state Himachal Pradesh - was the trend reversedwith boys doing better.

这些地区的性别平等程度对结果没有影响。其他因素，如该地区的收入水平，对调查结果的影响也很小。只有在三个地区——哥伦比亚、哥斯达黎加和印度喜马偕尔邦——这一趋势发生逆转，男孩表现更好。

So what are the causes of girls' stronger performance? In the UK, girls outperform boys in exams that are taken at the age of 15 or 16, called GCSEs. According to education expert Ian Toone, this is down to the way girls and boys are brought up. "Boys are encouraged to be more active from an early age, whereas the restless movements of baby girls are pacified... Hence, girls develop the skill of sitting still for longer periods of time, which is useful for academic pursuitslike studying for GCSEs."

那么，是什么原因导致了女孩更强的表现呢?在英国，女孩在15岁或16岁参加的普通中等教育证书考试中表现优于男孩。根据教育专家伊恩·图恩的说法，这与男孩和女孩的成长方式有关。“男孩从小就被鼓励多动，而女婴的躁动则被安抚……因此，女孩们培养了长时间静坐的技能，这对学习普通中等教育证书(gcse)等学术追求很有用。”

He goes on to say that boys often clustertogether in larger groups than girls. Because of this they are more likely to be influencedby peer pressureand develop a gang mentality. He says that GCSEs require a lot of solowork and are not viewed as 'cool' in a laddishculture.

他接着说，男孩经常比女孩聚集在一起。正因为如此，他们更容易受到同伴压力的影响，形成一种帮派心理。他说，普通中等教育证书需要大量的个人作业，在年轻人的文化中并不被视为“酷”。

This is backed up by research in the UK that says girls are out-performing boys at the age of five. So what is the answer? Should girls and boys be educated separately? Or do exams and school curriculaneed to be changed to better reflect boys' skills? These are the questions facing educators in many countries.

英国的一项研究支持了这一观点，该研究称，女孩在5岁时的表现优于男孩。那么答案是什么呢?女孩和男孩应该分开接受教育吗?或者考试和学校课程是否需要改变以更好地反映男孩的技能?这些都是许多国家的教育工作者面临的问题。

词汇表

gender equality 男女平等

factor 因素

income level 收入水平

to reverse a trend 逆转一种趋势

to pacify 使安静、平定

academic pursuit 学术追求

to cluster （人）聚集

to influence 影响

peer pressure 同龄人压力

gang mentality 帮派心态

solo 单独的，独自地

cool 酷

laddish 幼稚的，孩子气的

school curricula 学校课程

to reflect 反映

测验与练习

1. 阅读课文并回答问题。

1. How many young people were included in the study?2. What are two things that made little or no difference to the results?3. According to Ian Toone, what skill do young girls develop that boys do not?4. What does he say can influence boys?5. What could be changed to include the skills boys have? 

2. 请你在不参考课文的情况下完成下列练习。选择一个意思合适的单词填入句子的空格处。

1. Don’t join the university football team unless you like drinking beer and other _________ behaviour.

peer pressure               cool                         laddish                          academic

2. She’s been learning to fly, and today she had her first _________ flight.

cool                            pacified                     laddish                          solo   

3. The school is adding more science classes to its _________.

gang mentality               gender equality                         factor           curriculum

4. According to this report, the _________ of a country doesn't affect how happy the people are.

income level             academic pursuit                 influence                  gang mentality

5. My paintings _________ the world as I see it.

reverse the trend of            cluster                               reflect                     pacify

答案

1. 阅读课文并回答问题。

1. How many young people were included in the study?1.5 million.

2. What are two things that made little or no difference to the results?Gender equality and income level.

3. According to Ian Toone, what skill do young girls develop that boys do not?Sitting still for longer periods of time.

4. What does he say can influence boys?Peer pressure.

5. What could be changed to include the skills boys have?Exams and school curricula.

2. 请你在不参考课文的情况下完成下列练习。选择一个意思合适的单词填入句子的空格处。

1. Don’t join the university football team unless you like drinking beer and other laddish behaviour.

2. She’s been learning to fly, and today she had her first soloflight.

3. The school is adding more science classes to its curriculum.

4. According to this report, the income levelof a country doesn't affect how happy the people are.

5. My paintings reflectthe world as I see it.

文章来源BBC，侵权删。