VOA慢速英语2010年-Lessons From Shanghai's Top Scores on

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

The Program for International Student Assessment¹, or PISA, is a two-hour test that compares the performance of fifteen-year-olds. In the latest test, the countries with the best readers were South Korea and Finland. But students in Shanghai, China, scored the highest of all in reading, mathematics and science.

The next strongest results were in Hong Kong, Singapore, Canada, New Zealand and Japan.

In all, around half a million students in more than seventy economies took the test last year. The test has been given every three years since two thousand. Last year was the first time Shanghai took part.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development just released the results. Andreas Schleicher is director of the Education Indicators² and Analysis Division at the OECD.

ANDREAS SCHLEICHER: "Asian countries value education more than other countries. They have given education a priority³. Every child, every teacher, every parent knows that education is the gateway⁴ to success."

Mr. Schleicher says other education systems can learn from Shanghai. For example, he says education spending in the province has increased, including teacher pay and training. And administrators⁵ are putting teachers into challenging classroom situations to make them better at their jobs.

A child wears toy glasses at the Shanghai World Expo in April

ANDREAS SCHLEICHER: "They are pairing great with poorer schools in a way that is very systematic⁶ and very much focused on improving results."

In the PISA scoring system, Shanghai scored six hundred in math. By comparison, the United States scored four hundred eighty-seven.

Shanghai's reading average was five hundred fifty-six. American fifteen-year-olds scored five hundred, the same as in Iceland and Poland.

In science, Finland was second behind Shanghai. The United States was twenty-third.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan says the results show an urgent need for Americans to do more to remain competitive⁷ in the world economy. He points out that the United States has fallen from first to ninth place in college graduation rates because of gains by other countries.

Mr. Schleicher says international testing experts have investigated and confirmed the Shanghai scores. He says the PISA results are not representative of all of China. But he also says they dispute the common belief that Chinese education is centered on repetition and memorization.

Twenty-five percent of the Shanghai students showed advanced thinking skills to solve difficult math problems. The OECD average was three percent.

1 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

2 indicators   

（仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号

参考例句：

• The economic indicators are better than expected. 经济指标比预期的好。
• It is still difficult to develop indicators for many concepts used in social science. 为社会科学领域的许多概念确立一个指标仍然很难。

3 priority   

n.优先处理的事，居先，优先（权）

参考例句：

• The development of the national economy is a top priority.发展国民经济是应予以最优先考虑的事。
• Things should be taken up in order of priority.办事应有个先后次序。

4 gateway   

n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法

参考例句：

• Hard work is the gateway to success.努力工作是通往成功之路。
• A man collected tolls at the gateway.一个人在大门口收通行费。

5 administrators   

n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 )；有管理（或行政）才能的人；（由遗嘱检验法庭指定的）遗产管理人；奉派暂管主教教区的牧师

参考例句：

• He had administrators under him but took the crucial decisions himself. 他手下有管理人员，但重要的决策仍由他自己来做。 来自辞典例句
• Administrators have their own methods of social intercourse. 办行政的人有他们的社交方式。 来自汉英文学 - 围城

6 systematic   

adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的

参考例句：

• The way he works isn't very systematic.他的工作不是很有条理。
• The teacher made a systematic work of teaching.这个教师进行系统的教学工作。

7 competitive   

adj.竞争的，比赛的，好竞争的，有竞争力的

参考例句：

• Some kinds of business are competitive.有些商业是要竞争的。
• These businessmen are both competitive and honourable.这些商人既有竞争性又很诚实。