课文翻译 课后翻译在最后
third grade and fifth grade in Chicago and Minneapolis with counterparts in Beijing, Taipei and Sendai. On a battery of math tests, the Americans did worst at all grade levels.
亚裔年轻人的成绩已经引发了一系列引人注目的研究。也许最令人不安的结果来自于密歇根大学心理学家哈罗德?W?斯蒂文森进行的研究。他将芝加哥和明尼阿波利斯7000多名幼儿园、一年级、三年级和五年级的学生同他们在北京、台北和仙台的同级伙伴作了比较。在一组数学测试中美国学生在所有的年级层次上都考得最差。
Stevenson found no differences in IQ. But if the differences in performance are showing up in kindergarten, it suggests something is happening in the family, even before the children get to school.
斯蒂文森没有发现智商上的差别。 但是如果成绩上的差异在幼儿园就开始显现那就表明事情出在家庭中甚至是在孩子们上学之前。
It is here that various researchers' different studies converge: Asian parents are motivating their children better. "The bottom line is, Asian kids work hard," Stevenson says.
正是在这一点上各研究者的不同研究趋于了一致亚洲的父母在激发孩子的学习动力方面做得更好。“决定的因素是亚洲孩子学习努力。”斯蒂文森说。
The real question, then, is how Asian parents imbue their offspring with this kind of motivation. Stevenson's study suggests a critical answer. When asked why they think their children do well, most Asian parents said "hard work." By contrast, American parents said "talent."
接下来真正要弄清的问题是亚洲父母是如何将这种学习动力灌输给他们的后代的。 斯蒂文森的研究提出了一个重要的答案。当被问及他们认为他们的孩子为什么学得好时大多数亚洲父母说是“用功”。而美国父母则说是“天赋”。
"From what I can see," criticizes Stevenson, "we've lost our faith in the idea that we can all get ahead in life through hard work. Instead, Americans now believe that some kids have what it takes and some don't. So we start dividing up classes into fast learners and slow learners , whereas the Chinese and Japanese feel all children can succeed in the same curriculum."
“依我看”斯蒂文森说“对于我们都能通过艰苦努力在生活中取得成功的观念我们已经不再相信。相反美国人现在认为有的孩子具备成功所必需的素质而有的孩子则不具备。于是我们开始把班级分为‘快班’和‘慢班’而中国人和日本人则认为所有的孩子都能在同一课程中成功。”
This belief in hard work is the first of three main factors contributing to Asian students'
outstanding performance. It springs from Asians' common heritage of Confucianism, the
philosophy of the 5th-century-BC Chinese sage whose teachings have had a profound influence on Chinese society. One of Confucius's primary teachings is that through effort, people can perfect themselves.
这种对于勤奋的信念是促成亚洲学生成绩突出的三大要素中的第一个。它来源于亚洲人共同的儒教传统即公元前5世纪那位中国圣人的哲学思想他的教义对中国社会产生了深远的影响。孔夫子的主要教义之一是人们通过努力能够完善自我。
Confucianism provides another important ingredient in the Asians' success as well. In Confucian philosophy, the family plays a central role — an orientation that leads people to work for the
honor of the family, not just for themselves. One can never repay one's parents, and there's a sense of obligation or even guilt that is as strong a force among Asians as Protestant philosophy is in the West.
儒教也为亚洲人的成功提供了另一个要素。在孔夫子的哲学中家庭起着最重要的作用----这种定向引导人们为家庭的荣誉而学习工作而不仅仅是为了他们自己。一个人永远无法
