剑桥雅思8Test4阅读Passage1原文翻译 Land of the Rising Sum

剑桥雅思8 Test4 Passage1阅读原文翻译

A部分

Japan has a significantly better record in terms of average mathematical attainment than England and Wales. Large sample international comparisons of pupils’ attainments since the 1960s have established that not only did Japanese pupils at age 13 have better scores of average attainment, but there was also a larger proportion of ‘low’ attainers in England, where, incidentally, the variation in attainment scores was much greater. The percentage of Gross National Product spent on education is reasonably similar in the two countries, so how is this higher and more consistent attainment in maths achieved?

日本的平均数学水平要比英格兰和威尔士好得多。自20世纪60年代以来，国际上对学生学业成绩的大量样本比较表明，不仅13岁的日本学生的平均学业成绩更高，而且英格兰“低成绩”学生的比例也更大，同时其成绩差异也更明显。两国在教育上花费的国民生产总值的百分比十分相似，那么数学上更高和更一致的成就是如何获得的呢？

B部分-第1段

Lower secondary schools in Japan cover three school years, from the seventh grade (age 13) to the ninth grade (age 15). Virtually all pupils at this stage attend state schools: only 3 per cent are in the private sector. Schools are usually modern in design, set well back from the road and spacious inside. Classrooms are large and pupils sit at single desks in rows. Lessons last for a standardised 50 minutes and are always followed by a 10-minute break, which gives the pupils a chance to let off steam. Teachers begin with a formal address and mutual bowing, and then concentrate on whole-class teaching.

日本的初中涵盖从7 年级（13岁）到9年级（15岁）的三个学年。目前，几乎所有学生都在公立学校就读：只有3％在私立学校。学校通常采用现代设计，远离道路，内部宽敞。教室很大，学生们成排坐在单张桌子旁。上课时长为标准的50分钟，之后总是有10分钟的休息时间，这使学生有机会发泄精力。教师从正式的问候和互相鞠躬开始，然后专注于全班教学。

B部分-第2段

Classes are large – usually about 40 – and are unstreamed. Pupils stay in the same class for all lessons throughout the school and develop considerable class identity and loyalty. Pupils attend the school in their own neighbourhood, which in theory removes ranking by school. In practice in Tokyo, because of the relative concentration of schools, there is some competition to get into the ‘better’ school in a particular area.

班级很大-通常约为40名学生-并且没有按照成绩分班。在整个学校的所有课程中，学生都待在同一个班级，并培养出可观的班级认同和忠诚度。学生在自己附近的学校上学。从理论上讲，这可以消除学校的排名。在东京的实践中，由于学校相对集中，进入某个特定地区“更好”的学校会有一些竞争。

C部分

Traditional ways of teaching form the basis of the lesson and the remarkably quiet classes take their own notes of the points made and the examples demonstrated. Everyone has their own copy of the textbook supplied by the central education authority, Monbusho, as part of the concept of free compulsory education up to the age of 15. These textbooks are, on the whole, small, presumably inexpensive to produce, but well set out and logically developed. (One teacher was particularly keen to introduce colour and pictures into maths textbooks: he felt this would make them more accessible to pupils brought up in a cartoon culture. ) Besides approving textbooks, Monbusho also decides the highly centralised national curriculum and how it is to be delivered.

传统的教学方法构成了课程的基础，而安静的课堂则记下老师提出的观点和所举的例子。每个人都有自己的中央教育当局（Monbusho）提供的教科书。它们是15岁以下免费义务教育概念的一部分。这些教科书总体上很小，生产成本低廉，但是出发点很好，逻辑流畅。（一位老师特别热衷于将色彩和图片引入数学教科书中：他认为这将使在卡通文化中成长的学生更容易使用它们。）除了批准教科书之外，Monbusho 还决定了高度集中的国家课程以及如何教授这些课程。

D部分-第1段

Lessons all follow the same pattern. At the beginning, the pupils put solutions to the homework on the board, then the teachers comment, correct or elaborate as necessary. Pupils mark their own homework: this is an important principle in Japanese schooling as it enables pupils to see where and why they made a mistake, so that these can be avoided in future. No one minds mistakes or ignorance as long as you are prepared to learn from them.

所有课程都遵循相同的模式。开始时，学生将家庭作业的解决方案写在黑板上，然后老师进行评论，根据需要进行更正或解释。学生批改自己的作业：这是日本学校教育中的一项重要原则，因为它使学生能够了解他们在哪里以及为什么犯错，以便将来可以避免。只要你准备向错误或无知学习，就不会有人介意它们。

D部分-第2段

After the homework has been discussed, the teacher explains the topic of the lesson, slowly and with a lot of repetition and elaboration. Examples are demonstrated on the board; questions from the textbook are worked through first with the class, and then the class is set questions from the textbook to do individually. Only rarely are supplementary worksheets distributed in a maths class. The impression is that the logical nature of the textbooks and their comprehensive coverage of different types of examples, combined with the relative homogeneity of the class, renders work sheets unnecessary. At this point, the teacher would circulate and make sure that all the pupils were coping well.

在讨论完作业后，老师会慢慢地讲解本节课的主题，并进行大量重复和解释。黑板上展示有例子；首先老师与全班一起处理教科书中的问题，然后学生独立完成教科书上的习题。很少在数学课上分发补充练习题。给人的印象是，教科书的逻辑性质以及它们对不同类型例子的全面覆盖，再加上班级的相对同质性，使练习题变得不必要。在这一点上，老师将四处巡视，并确保所有学生都很好地应对。

E部分-第1段

It is remarkable that large, mixed-ability classes could be kept together for maths throughout all their compulsory schooling from 6 to 15. Teachers say that they give individual help at the end of a lesson or after school, setting extra work if necessary. In observed lessons, any strugglers would be assisted by the teacher or quietly seek help from their neighbour. Carefully fostered class identity makes pupils keen to help each other – anyway, it is in their interests since the class progresses together.

值得注意的是，在从6岁到15岁的所有义务教育阶段中，数学课一直采用大型混合能力的班级形式。老师说，他们在课程结束后或放学后会提供个人帮助，并在必要时布置额外的作业。在所观察的课程中，任何挣扎的人都会得到老师的帮助，或者悄悄地寻求邻居的帮助。精心培养的班级认同使学生热衷于互相帮助-无论如何，班级一起进步符合他们的利益。

E部分-第2段

This scarcely seems adequate help to enable slow learners to keep up. However, the Japanese attitude towards education runs along the lines of ‘if you work hard enough, you can do almost anything’. Parents are kept closely informed of their children’s progress and will play a part in helping their children to keep up with class, sending them to ‘Juku’ (private evening tuition) if extra help is needed and encouraging them to work harder. It seems to work, at least for 95 per cent of the school population.

这似乎不足以帮助缓慢的学习者跟上进度。但是，日本人对教育的态度是“只要努力就可以做到几乎所有事情”。父母会密切了解孩子的学习情况，并会在帮助孩子跟上课堂进度。如果需要额外的辅助，他们会将孩子送至“ Juku ”（私人夜间补习），并鼓励他们更加努力地学习。这似乎至少对95％的学校人口都很有效。

F部分-第1段

So what are the major contributing factors in the success of maths teaching? Clearly, attitudes are important. Education is valued greatly in Japanese culture; maths is recognised as an important compulsory subject throughout schooling; and the emphasis is on hard work coupled with a focus on accuracy.

那么，数学教学成功的主要因素是什么？显然，态度很重要。在日本文化中，教育受到高度重视；数学被认为是整个教育过程中的重要必修课；重点是努力学习和准确性。

F部分-第2段

Other relevant points relate to the supportive attitude of a class towards slower pupils, the lack of competition within a class, and the positive emphasis on learning for oneself and improving one’s own standard. And the view of repetitively boring lessons and learning the facts by heart, which is sometimes quoted in relation to Japanese classes, may be unfair and unjustified. No poor maths lessons were observed. They were mainly good and one or two were inspirational.

其他相关要素涉及班级对较慢学生的支持态度，班级内部缺乏竞争，以及积极强调为自己学习和提高自己的水平。涉及到日本课堂时，有时会被引用的观点认为，它主要是无聊的重复和用心背诵事实。但这既不公平也不合理。没有观察到草稿的数学课程。它们大体而言都很好，还有一两个十分具有启发意义。