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中级英语听力lesson 24

时间:2005-06-14 16:00来源:互联网 提供网友:cuiyfa   字体: [ ]
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    (单词翻译:双击或拖选)

Brigid: Mrs. Kellerman, why is it that some children perform much better than others at school?
Mrs. Kellerman: Obviously, it can't be denied that certain children are brighter than others, but it's not as simple as that. A lot of emphasis is placed on intelligence measured by tests—so-called I.Q. tests, which only measure certain types of intelligence.
Brigid: Such as?
Mrs. Kellerman: Basically linguistic1 and numerical skills—or reading and mathematics, to put it plainly—which is unfortunate because some children are bound to suffer. A good example was a friend of mine's son who was kept out of the top class at school because of his average I.Q.—that's around 100. His father, though he had no idea his son was going to be an architect, always said he was a clever child. Apparently2 he was able to picture things in his mind and draw accurately3 at a very early age. The point is that his university life might not have been so difficult if his ability had been recognized sooner.
Brigid: What you're saying, then, is that some children have abilities that are not easy to measure, that aren't appreciated by many schools.
Mrs. Kellerman: Precisely4. And if these skills are not spotted5 sufficiently6 early, they cannot be developed. That's why, in my view, there are so many unhappy adults in the world. They are not doing the things they are best at.
Brigid: What are these other kinds of intelligence, and how can we recognize them in our children?
Mrs. Kellerman: Well, take musical talent. Many children never get the chance to learn to play an instrument but, while they might not become great artists or composers, they may get a lot of pleasure and satisfaction. Musically gifted children are fascinated by all kinds of sounds—car horns, animal noises and so on. And they can easily recognize tunes7 and sing them in key.

Brigid: How can a parent encourage them?
Mrs. Kellerman: Sing to them and teach them new songs. Buy a piano or even a cheap instrument such as a recorder. If you can afford it, send them to lessons as soon as possible. Play recordings8 of different instruments to them.
Brigid: What about a child who is good at sport? Could that be described as a form of intelligence?
Mrs. Kellerman: Most certainly. We psychologists call it 'motor', or bodily, intelligence. These children move gracefully9 and handle objects skillfully. A child who finds it easy to take things apart and use various tools may well become an engineer with the right encouragement. We should give them models to make and take them to science museums. However, unless these children are also good with words and numbers, they will probably not do well in school examinations.
Brigid: Is there anything a parent can do to help in this case?
Mrs. Kellerman: Yes. It may be worth spending money on private lessons. But, you know, hardly anyone is good at everything. In my opinion a child should be judged on his individual talents. After all, being happy in life is putting your skills to good use, no matter what they are.

Teacher: I think there are a lot of reasons why it's good for children to read. Er ... Not just reading for pleasure, but all of the subjects, no matter what subject it is, involve some reading, even if it's just art. (Mmm.) They have to read the directions to do an art project, and ... ah. Social Studies they have to read. Science they have to read. And the more they read, ah, the easier, ah, the more their vocabulary will expand, and the better the ... they'll do in their other subjects. Erm ... Also for, for pleasure, erm, es, er, especially here in Puerto Ordaz where there aren't very many things to do. In ... instead of being out doing something they shouldn't be doing, ah, they can choose reading as a hobby.
    Erm ... It also improves their language tremendously. I can read a composition that a student has written that has, that reads a lot and I know, er, that he reads a lot by his use of the language and his vocabulary and a lot of advanced sentence structure that someone of that age normally would not, er, be able to handle.
    Erm ... What else? Erm ... Sometimes children who have very limited experiences, whose families don't get out very much, er, maybe not have enough money, er, ah, just stay at home a lot, have real limited experiences and by reading they can expand their experiences about what happens in the world and I've had children who, in a reader, see a picture, an exercise and they see a picture of a lion and they don't know what it is, because either their parents haven't read to them, or they haven't read books, or they haven't been out. And if they haven't been to a zoo to see an actual lion they could have read in a book, or had their parents read to them about, er, lions. And they miss the, the problem, because they may, once you tell them what it is, explain, they can do the exercise, but because they didn't know, didn't have the experience, they weren't able to do it.
    Erm ... er ... For survival later, too. If you can't read, erm, a cook-book or a, a manual to, to repair things, you're lost in that you have to rely on someone else to, always. And you're not, er, independent.

Interviewer: What is it good for children to read?
Teacher: I think children should read everything, that, er, not just limit it to mystery books, or just to science fiction. In fact there are some children who, who say, 'No, no. I just want to read science fiction,' but, er, I think they should read, er, from different areas. Er ... The newspaper, magazines. The School subscribes10 to, even though it's a small school, we've gotten in the budget approved to have fifteen magazines come in, and during their Silent Sustained Reading time can read magazines.
    Erm ... if ... Anything that's written down, I think they should read. Whether a sign or newspaper, textbook, everything, and not just limit it to one or two things. Erm ... I think a lot of parents disagree that children, they say if they're reading comic books they're wasting their time, but if I have a child who's a poor student, if he'll read a comic book, er, I'm happy because he's reading something. Or if he's, while he's eating breakfast he's reading the back of the cereal box he's still reading something and I wouldn't take it away from him and say, 'Stop wasting your time,' Because that is a step to go on to further reading and if you limit it to certain areas, then that will, it sometimes, it will stifle11 them and they'll stop reading completely. And they'll say, 'If I can't read the comic book then I don't want to read anything.' But reading the comic book could, erm, they say, 'Well I enjoyed this and I understood this, er, I think I'll try something else,' and that expands their reading. And they can learn something from a comic book.
    Erm ... It's also important, erm, if a student, if, a lot of the kids want to play games and they don't, it's a new game they don't know how to play, if they can't read the instructions, then they won't be able to play the game. Or, if they have a new toy, erm, if they can't read the instructions, they could possibly break the toy, and, by not learning how to use it properly.

    Ever since you started to school, and perhaps before, you have been given tests. One type of test you have probably taken is an intelligence test, a test designed to determine your ability to learn or your ability to change behavior on the basis of experience.
    It is not just test-givers who make judgements about intelligence, however. Most of us make educated guesses or inferences about how smart or intelligent a person is from the way he does certain things. We usually call people intelligent if they learn quickly, know answers to a lot of questions, and can solve difficult problems. When a psychologist studies intelligence, there are many questions that he wants to answer. But the first question he must ask is: What is intelligence?
    Most people think of intelligence as one ability. We say, "Ann is smart". But is intelligence really that simple? Is it only one ability? In trying to understand these questions, it might be helpful to look at athletic12 ability. If Mitch is a good basketball player, do we say that he is a good athlete? What if he is poor in baseball? What if he can't play football? Even if a person is good at sports, is he equally good in all of them?
    This is the same kind of problem we have when we ask, "What is intelligence?" What if Estelle is very good in math, but very poor in spelling? Is she intelligent or unintelligent? Maybe there is not just one kind of intelligence, but several different kinds. You probably know people who are very good in some subjects, but not good in others, and it is likely that you are the same way. You find some subjects easier than others and you do better in them. Most people are like that—they are not equally good in everything.
    In trying to understand the nature of intelligence, a psychologist tries to find out how various abilities are related to each other. To do this, he devises intelligence tests which have several parts—each part measuring a different ability. The kinds of abilities that these tests measure include:
    1. How well words can be defined and understood;
    2. How well arithmetic problems can be done;
    3. How well facts can be remembered.
    Are these abilities related to each other? If a student is good at solving arithmetic problems, will he also be good at remembering facts? If he can define and understand a lot of words, will he also be good in arithmetic? To find the answers to these questions, the psychologist correlates the scores from each part of the test. A correlation13 is a mathematical way of finding out if these abilities are related to each other. If two abilities are correlated, it means that if you are good at one, you will probably be good at the other—or, if you are poor at one, you will probably be poor at the other. When two abilities are not correlated, it means that they are not related to each other—they do not go together. It means that being good at one has nothing to do with being good at another. For example, success in mathematics is not correlated with success in playing baseball. Some people who are good baseball players are good in math—others are not.
    Think of all the mental and athletic abilities shown by your friends and schoolmates. Can you think of some abilities and skills that seem highly correlated? Can you think of some abilities which do not seem to be correlated? Why do you think some abilities are correlated and others are not?

    There are many factors to keep in mind about intelligence tests. It is especially important to realize that intelligence tests measure how well you do at the time you take the test, but not how well you could do. There are many reasons why a student might not do well on a test in school. A person may do poorly on an intelligence test because he did not have a proper education and not because he is stupid. Also, some of the problems and questions of intelligence tests are not fair to certain groups of people.
    For example, suppose that the problems and questions on a test are about ice cream cones14, baseball, automobiles15 and hot dogs. How would a student from another country, where these things do not exist, do on this test? Could he do as well as an average American boy? What if you took an intelligence test which asked questions about the hibachi, tempura and saki? Any Japanese boy could answer these questions, but you probably couldn't. Does this mean that you are not intelligent? No matter how intelligent a person is, he will not be able to answer questions about things he has never seen or heard of. When a test has a lot of "unfair" questions, do the results tell us much about a person's intelligence? Why not?
    Some questions would be "unfair" to almost all American test takers. How can you tell if a test question is "unfair"? Here is one to consider: Which of the following four musical instruments is different from the others in an important way: VIOLIN, SITAR, KOTO, TRUMPET16.
    What makes this question unfair to most American boys and girls is that two of the four words are from foreign languages. The test taker has no way of knowing what they mean. Therefore, if you don't know what a word means, how can you decide that it is, or is not, different from the other words?
    The same question can be made into a fair intelligence-test question. It can be done very easily by adding pictures next to each word and asking the question again.
    To find out if the question without pictures is "unfair", ask people to answer it. Do not let them see the picture next to each word. Ask them why they gave the answer they did. Now show them the question with the pictures. Do the people who are questioned give correct answers more frequently the first time, without pictures, or the second time, with pictures?
    In what ways do the pictures help people answer the question? Is it true that the question without pictures is "unfair" and the one with pictures is "fair"? Can you think of a question that would be fair to boys and girls all over the world? Intelligence is partly measured by the ability to put information together and use it to answer questions. How does this apply to the question on musical instruments? Can the most intelligent person you know answer this question: What colour hair does each author of this book have?

1. (Politics)
    When a party is elected to Parliament in Britain it may not stay in power for more than five years without calling an election. But—now this is an important point—the Prime Minister may 'go to the country', that's to say call an election at any time before the five years are up. This is important because it gives the Prime Minister in Britain a lot of power—he can choose the best time to have an election for his own party. In many other countries the timing17 of an election is fixed—it must take place on a certain date every four years, or whatever, and this means that in these countries the President or Prime Minister cannot choose the most convenient time for himself, the way a British Prime Minister can.
2. (Medicine)
    One of the most dramatic examples of the effect of advances in medical knowledge is the building of the Panama Canal. In 1881 work was started on this canal under the supervision18 of De Lesseps, the Frenchman who built the Suez Canal. The project had to be abandoned after mosquito-borne diseases of yellow fever and malaria19 had claimed 16,000 victims among the workers. At the beginning of this century, the area was made healthy by spraying the breeding waters of the mosquitoes with petroleum20. Work was able to be started again and the canal was finished in 1914.
3. (Sport)
    By the way, since we have mentioned the Olympic Games, you may be interested to know the following curious fact about the ancient Olympic Games as compared to the Modern Olympics. The ancient games were held every four years without interruption for over 1,000 years. The modern games have already been cancelled three times, in 1916, 1940 and 1944, because of world wars.

4. (Zoology)
    Although it is not strictly21 speaking relevant to our topic, perhaps I might say something about sharks since they are in the news quite a lot these days. Sharks have got a very bad reputation and probably most people think that all sharks are killers22. This is not the case. In fact, the largest sharks of all, I mean the Whale Shark and the Basking23 Shark, are usually harmless to man.

Moon River

        Moon river wider than a mile
        I'm crossing you in style some day
        Old dream maker
        You heart breaker
        Whenever you're going
        I'm going your way
        Two drifters, off to see the world
        There's such a lot of world to see
        We're after the same rainbow's end
        Waiting round the bend
        My Huckleberry friend
        Moon river and me

 


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 linguistic k0zxn     
adj.语言的,语言学的
参考例句:
  • She is pursuing her linguistic researches.她在从事语言学的研究。
  • The ability to write is a supreme test of linguistic competence.写作能力是对语言能力的最高形式的测试。
2 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。
3 accurately oJHyf     
adv.准确地,精确地
参考例句:
  • It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
  • Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。
4 precisely zlWzUb     
adv.恰好,正好,精确地,细致地
参考例句:
  • It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
  • The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。
5 spotted 7FEyj     
adj.有斑点的,斑纹的,弄污了的
参考例句:
  • The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
  • Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。
6 sufficiently 0htzMB     
adv.足够地,充分地
参考例句:
  • It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
  • The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。
7 tunes 175b0afea09410c65d28e4b62c406c21     
n.曲调,曲子( tune的名词复数 )v.调音( tune的第三人称单数 );调整;(给收音机、电视等)调谐;使协调
参考例句:
  • a potpourri of tunes 乐曲集锦
  • When things get a bit too much, she simply tunes out temporarily. 碰到事情太棘手时,她干脆暂时撒手不管。 来自《简明英汉词典》
8 recordings 22f9946cd05973582e73e4e3c0239bb7     
n.记录( recording的名词复数 );录音;录像;唱片
参考例句:
  • a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
  • old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐
9 gracefully KfYxd     
ad.大大方方地;优美地
参考例句:
  • She sank gracefully down onto a cushion at his feet. 她优雅地坐到他脚旁的垫子上。
  • The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line. 新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。
10 subscribes 9b0145af9c3657ee49d881e38790e2a2     
v.捐助( subscribe的第三人称单数 );签署,题词;订阅;同意
参考例句:
  • The library subscribes to 40 magazines. 这个图书馆订购四十种杂志。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • He subscribes to a number of journals concerning his subject. 他订阅了许多与他的学科有关的杂志。 来自辞典例句
11 stifle cF4y5     
vt.使窒息;闷死;扼杀;抑止,阻止
参考例句:
  • She tried hard to stifle her laughter.她强忍住笑。
  • It was an uninteresting conversation and I had to stifle a yawn.那是一次枯燥无味的交谈,我不得不强忍住自己的呵欠。
12 athletic sOPy8     
adj.擅长运动的,强健的;活跃的,体格健壮的
参考例句:
  • This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
  • He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。
13 correlation Rogzg     
n.相互关系,相关,关连
参考例句:
  • The second group of measurements had a high correlation with the first.第二组测量数据与第一组高度相关。
  • A high correlation exists in America between education and economic position.教育和经济地位在美国有极密切的关系。
14 cones 1928ec03844308f65ae62221b11e81e3     
n.(人眼)圆锥细胞;圆锥体( cone的名词复数 );球果;圆锥形东西;(盛冰淇淋的)锥形蛋卷筒
参考例句:
  • In the pines squirrels commonly chew off and drop entire cones. 松树上的松鼠通常咬掉和弄落整个球果。 来自辞典例句
  • Many children would rather eat ice cream from cones than from dishes. 许多小孩喜欢吃蛋卷冰淇淋胜过盘装冰淇淋。 来自辞典例句
15 automobiles 760a1b7b6ea4a07c12e5f64cc766962b     
n.汽车( automobile的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • When automobiles become popular,the use of the horse and buggy passed away. 汽车普及后,就不再使用马和马车了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Automobiles speed in an endless stream along the boulevard. 宽阔的林荫道上,汽车川流不息。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
16 trumpet AUczL     
n.喇叭,喇叭声;v.吹喇叭,吹嘘
参考例句:
  • He plays the violin, but I play the trumpet.他拉提琴,我吹喇叭。
  • The trumpet sounded for battle.战斗的号角吹响了。
17 timing rgUzGC     
n.时间安排,时间选择
参考例句:
  • The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
  • The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。
18 supervision hr6wv     
n.监督,管理
参考例句:
  • The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
  • The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。
19 malaria B2xyb     
n.疟疾
参考例句:
  • He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
  • Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。
20 petroleum WiUyi     
n.原油,石油
参考例句:
  • The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
  • The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。
21 strictly GtNwe     
adv.严厉地,严格地;严密地
参考例句:
  • His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
  • The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。
22 killers c1a8ff788475e2c3424ec8d3f91dd856     
凶手( killer的名词复数 ); 消灭…者; 致命物; 极难的事
参考例句:
  • He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
  • They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。
23 basking 7596d7e95e17619cf6e8285dc844d8be     
v.晒太阳,取暖( bask的现在分词 );对…感到乐趣;因他人的功绩而出名;仰仗…的余泽
参考例句:
  • We sat basking in the warm sunshine. 我们坐着享受温暖的阳光。
  • A colony of seals lay basking in the sun. 一群海豹躺着晒太阳。 来自《简明英汉词典》
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