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Step by Step2000第四册 06atching Dreams with Education(II

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(单词翻译)

Unit 6 Matching Dreams with Education (II)

Part I Warming up

A.

Tapescript:

There is a great demand for graduates with high-tech1 degrees, but fewer students were going for them. A new study by 'the American Electronics Association found that high-tech degrees declined by 5 percent between 1990 and 1996.

Preliminary findings from 1997 and 1998 indicate the trend is continuing. The Association blames the education system, saying that elementary and secondary schools must do more to get students ready to tackle high-tech education. Among the states, California Colleges awarded the most high-tech degrees. It also had one of the greatest declines, awarding 1,600 fewer degrees in 1996 than in 1990. Nationwide unemployment rate for high-tech careers is extremely low.

B.

Tapescript:

A decade long study has found that students in smaller classes do better than students in bigger classes. The study says that students in classes of 13 to 17 pupils have higher grades, better graduation rates, and they are more likely to attend college. It also says that minority and poor students were helped even more. The study involves Tennessee public school students' who are randomly2 placed in three class-sized groups. The regular size is about 25 students. The Clinton administration and Senate democrats3 are citing the study in their call for nearly one and a half billion dollars more for their plans to reduce class size nationwide.

C.

1. We all tend to be night owls4 around here, so we're more of a night family.

2. Home-school advocates say they have cooperatives where a lot of students gather for sports and other activities.

3. The second thing is that of course you can document that the media stories have become more favorable.

4. Information that researchers gleaned5 from these tests is the closest thing this country has to a national report card on students' academic progress.

5. Private school students outperformed public school students, but math and science scores for private school students have remained flat since 1980.

Part II Home schooling6

Outline

I. Home schooling -- one of the fastest growing trends in American education

Definition: parents teaching children at home instead of sending them off to school

II. People taking part in home schooling

A. Those taking part

1. Twenty years ago: mainly some people who rejected formal education

2. Today: many people from mainstream7 America

B. Number of home schooling students

1. A decade ago: 300,000

2. Today: 1,500,000

III. A specific example about Jean Forbes and her boy

IV. Major arguments against home schooling

A. Standards set by state laws being too relaxed

1. No teacher's certificate or undergraduate degree required

2. Only 26 states requiring an annual standardized8 test

B. Lack of socialization

V. Future of home schooling in Patricia Wines' view: slowly gaining broad acceptance

A. The Gallup poll: ratings going up to support people's right to try home schooling though most Americans still do not really approve of it as an educational method

B. Media stories becoming more favorable

VI. Percentage of home-schooled children in America: 1.5%

B.

Questions Answers

1. What was Jean's opinion of leery / kooks / underground

home schooling? movement / scary

2. Why did Jean choose home dyslexia / school not handling

schooling for her boy Aaron? well / not afford private schools

3. How does Aaron feel about loved it / excited / never wanted

home schooling? to go back

4. What is the schedule like relaxed / night owls / not get up

for Aaron? early / either chores or school

first / no grading system /

different approach

5. Does Jean give any tests to occasionally / not very often

Aaron?

Tapescript:

A--Announcer R--Reporter J--Jean P-- Patricia

A: One of the fastest growing trends in American education is called home schooling. It means that one or both parents teach their children at home instead of sending them off to school.

R.. About twenty years ago, most Americans wouldn't have considered it an option. People who tried it were few and far between, basically some fundamentalist Christians9 and former hippies who, for different reasons, rejected formal education. Today it is legal in every state. The number of home schooling students is estimated at 1.5 million, up from 300,000 a decade ago, and many are from mainstream America.

Jean Forbes, of Alexandria, Virginia, a former actress and mother of two boys, is one of the new generation of home schoolers.

J. I did not know anything about home schooling and I was a little leery. I thought it was a bunch of kooks out there. You know, some underground movement that was a little scary. And I was wrong. I also found out that there are probably almost as many reasons for home schooling as there are home schoolers. People who have ... gifted children who are learning disabled, for instance. It's a huge growing sector10 of the home-school community.

R: Six years ago Jean and her husband, Jan, pulled their boy, Aaron, out of a public school. The boy has dyslexia, a reading disability. Jean Forbes says the school wasn't handling it well at all.

J. We decided11 we maybe could do a better job. We also couldn't afford private schools. So we didn't feel we had a whole lot of options. The only thing left was home schooling.

R: And how does he feel about that?

J: He absolutely loves the idea. He was very excited and every time ... he's now a freshman12 in high school ... we're still home-schooling him as well as his younger brother and he's never ever wanted to go back. Every time I've said, "Hey, is this you, you want to go back to school? .... What, are you kidding?" That's the normal response I get.

R: Tell me about the day, how it starts. Is it like a regular classroom schedule? Do you start 9 o'clock math, 10 o'clock ... you know... ?

J. No, we don't. There are home schoolers I know that do that, because that's what's comfortable for them. We don't do that. We have a much more relaxed schedule. We all tend to be night owls around here, so we're more of a night family. So the kids don't get up out of bed even that early. It's almost 10 o'clock now. They probably won't get out of bed for another half hour or so.

R. And then what happens?

J. And then we decide are we doing chores first this morning, and then school, or the other way around. So, I try to keep a little more relaxed. I don't use a grading system. If you know this material, we go on. If you don't know it, we try to find a different way of approaching it so that you do learn it.

R. Any tests?

J. Occasionally, but not very often.

R. Jean Forbes has a relaxed approach. In fact, one of the major arguments against home schooling is that standards set by state laws are too relaxed. Not one state requires parents to have a teacher's certificate or an undergraduate degree. Only 26 states require students take an annual standardized test.

Another criticism of home schooling is the apparent lack of socialization. Critics say the children don't meet enough people outside the families. Home-school advocates say they have cooperatives where a lot of students gather for sports and other activities. Jean Forbes, for instance, has 40 students in her drama class. And in some states the children even have access to public schools. They can use computer rooms, try out for the football team, even sign up for an advanced science course, like biology or chemistry. Patricia Lines, a senior research analyst13 at the U. S. Department of Education, says that in her view, home schoolers are slowly gaining broad acceptance.

P: Most Americans ... if you look at the Gallup poll on it, : most Americans still do not really approve of home schooling as an educational method, but they do support peoples' right to try it and their ratings are going up gradually. The second thing is that of course you can document that the media stories have become more favorable.

R. Still, a relatively14 small percentage of the nation's children are home-schooled, only about 1.5 percent of the elementary and secondary school population, according to researchers. The fact is, most American parents, men and women, work outside the home, which obviously precludes15 their involvement in home schooling. And most Americans apparently16 remain satisfied with their schools in spite of a mixed academic record and the occasional reports of violence.

In my next report, I'll look at the downside to home schooling.

Part III Education then and now

9-year-olds 13-year-olds 17-year-olds

Science slightly better grasp today scores have stalled

Math a. better (add, subtract, multiply, divide) than 30 years ago

b. more skilled in basic geometry as they get older

Reading a. the 1970s and '80s: scores improved

b. the 1990s: scores dropped & stayed flat

Leading statement:

Today's students are doing better than students from 30 years ago when put in on the same field.

Supporting details:

1. More students taking tougher courses now

a. More 13-year-olds taking algebra17

b. More 17-year-olds enrolling18 in calculus19, biology and chemistry

2. More homework now

4. Sex difference / difference between boys and girls

a. In math: gap disappearing

b. In science:

(1) At the age of 13 and 17: boys better than girls

(2) At the age of 9: no difference

C.

1. What is the information from the tests compared to?

A national report card on student's academic progress.

2. From the reading scores for students in all three age groups in 1990s, what conclusion can be drawn20?

They may have trouble locating and identifying facts from stories or summarizing and explaining what they read.

3. Which three more important reports will come in the near future?

a. new fourth grade reading scores

b. a state by state breakdown21 of math scores

c. the first batch22 of science scores

Tapescript:

For nearly 30 years now, the U.S. government has tested nine-, thirteen-, and seventeen-year-olds in reading, math, and science. The information that researchers gleaned from these tests is the closest thing this country has to a national report card on students' academic progress. Today the Education Department released a lengthy23 study detailing how students have been doing since 1969.

The government's test results are pretty mixed. Today's nine-, thirteen-, and seventeen-year-olds can add, subtract, multiply, and divide better than they could 30 years ago. As they get older, today's students are more skilled in basic geometry, using decimals, percentages, and fractions. In reading, scores improved during the 1970s and '80s. Then they dropped and stayed flat for most of the 1990s. This means kids in all three age groups may have trouble locating and identifying facts from stories or summarizing and explaining what they read. Nine-year-olds today, however, do have a slightly better grasp of science than they did in 1969 when the first science test was given nationwide. But again, science scores for thirteen- and seventeen-year-olds have stalled.

So are students today smarter, better educated than they were 30 years ago? In some way, it's like asking whether baseball players today are better than they were in the past.

"But the trends report puts today's students in on the same field as students from 30 years ago. Today's students are doing better.'

The report points out that a much greater percentage of students today are taking tougher courses. The percentage of thirteen-year-olds taking algebra is up. So is the percentage of seventeen-year-olds enrolled24 in calculus, biology, and chemistry. Kids are even doing more homework than they did 30 years ago. In math, the gap between boys and girls has all but disappeared. In science, thirteen- and seventeen-year-old boys still do better than girls, but at age nine there's no difference.

Private school students outperformed public school students, but math and science scores for private school students have remained flat since 1980. Education Department officials say three more important reports are due. New fourth grade reading scores will be released in February. A state by state breakdown of math scores will be ready by May. And a fresh batch of science scores will follow.
 


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1 high-tech high-tech     
adj.高科技的
参考例句:
  • The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展,这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
  • The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。
2 randomly cktzBM     
adv.随便地,未加计划地
参考例句:
  • Within the hot gas chamber, molecules are moving randomly in all directions. 在灼热的气体燃烧室内,分子在各个方向上作无规运动。 来自辞典例句
  • Transformed cells are loosely attached, rounded and randomly oriented. 转化细胞则不大贴壁、圆缩并呈杂乱分布。 来自辞典例句
3 democrats 655beefefdcaf76097d489a3ff245f76     
n.民主主义者,民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
  • The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
4 owls 7b4601ac7f6fe54f86669548acc46286     
n.猫头鹰( owl的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • 'Clumsy fellows,'said I; 'they must still be drunk as owls.' “这些笨蛋,”我说,“他们大概还醉得像死猪一样。” 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛
  • The great majority of barn owls are reared in captivity. 大多数仓鸮都是笼养的。 来自辞典例句
5 gleaned 83f6cdf195a7d487666a71e02179d977     
v.一点点地收集(资料、事实)( glean的过去式和过去分词 );(收割后)拾穗
参考例句:
  • These figures have been gleaned from a number of studies. 这些数据是通过多次研究收集得来的。
  • A valuable lesson may be gleaned from it by those who have eyes to see. 明眼人可从中记取宝贵的教训。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
6 schooling AjAzM6     
n.教育;正规学校教育
参考例句:
  • A child's access to schooling varies greatly from area to area.孩子获得学校教育的机会因地区不同而大相径庭。
  • Backward children need a special kind of schooling.天赋差的孩子需要特殊的教育。
7 mainstream AoCzh9     
n.(思想或行为的)主流;adj.主流的
参考例句:
  • Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
  • Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。
8 standardized 8hHzgs     
adj.标准化的
参考例句:
  • We use standardized tests to measure scholastic achievement. 我们用标准化考试来衡量学生的学业成绩。
  • The parts of an automobile are standardized. 汽车零件是标准化了的。
9 Christians 28e6e30f94480962cc721493f76ca6c6     
n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
  • His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。
10 sector yjczYn     
n.部门,部分;防御地段,防区;扇形
参考例句:
  • The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
  • The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。
11 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
12 freshman 1siz9r     
n.大学一年级学生(可兼指男女)
参考例句:
  • Jack decided to live in during his freshman year at college.杰克决定大一时住校。
  • He is a freshman in the show business.他在演艺界是一名新手。
13 analyst gw7zn     
n.分析家,化验员;心理分析学家
参考例句:
  • What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务?
  • The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。
14 relatively bkqzS3     
adv.比较...地,相对地
参考例句:
  • The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
  • The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。
15 precludes a6099ad5ef93a1df2eb33804a8db6373     
v.阻止( preclude的第三人称单数 );排除;妨碍;使…行不通
参考例句:
  • Lack of time precludes any further discussion. 由于时间不足,不可能进行深入的讨论。
  • The surface reactivity of many nonblack fillers generally precludes strong bonding with this type of matrix. 许多非碳黑填料的表面反应性一般阻碍与该种基质形成牢固的粘结。 来自辞典例句
16 apparently tMmyQ     
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎
参考例句:
  • 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。
17 algebra MKRyW     
n.代数学
参考例句:
  • He was not good at algebra in middle school.他中学时不擅长代数。
  • The boy can't figure out the algebra problems.这个男孩做不出这道代数题。
18 enrolling be8b886d0a6622fbb0e477f03e170149     
v.招收( enrol的现在分词 );吸收;入学;加入;[亦作enrol]( enroll的现在分词 );登记,招收,使入伍(或入会、入学等),参加,成为成员;记入名册;卷起,包起
参考例句:
  • They lashed out at the university enrolling system. 他们猛烈抨击大学的招生制度。 来自辞典例句
  • You're enrolling in a country club, Billy. 你是注册加入乡村俱乐部了,比利。 来自辞典例句
19 calculus Is9zM     
n.微积分;结石
参考例句:
  • This is a problem where calculus won't help at all.对于这一题,微积分一点也用不上。
  • After studying differential calculus you will be able to solve these mathematical problems.学了微积分之后,你们就能够解这些数学题了。
20 drawn MuXzIi     
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的
参考例句:
  • All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
  • Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。
21 breakdown cS0yx     
n.垮,衰竭;损坏,故障,倒塌
参考例句:
  • She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
  • The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障,但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。
22 batch HQgyz     
n.一批(组,群);一批生产量
参考例句:
  • The first batch of cakes was burnt.第一炉蛋糕烤焦了。
  • I have a batch of letters to answer.我有一批信要回复。
23 lengthy f36yA     
adj.漫长的,冗长的
参考例句:
  • We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
  • The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。
24 enrolled ff7af27948b380bff5d583359796d3c8     
adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 );登记,招收,使入伍(或入会、入学等),参加,成为成员;记入名册;卷起,包起
参考例句:
  • They have been studying hard from the moment they enrolled. 从入学时起,他们就一直努力学习。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He enrolled with an employment agency for a teaching position. 他在职业介绍所登了记以谋求一个教师的职位。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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