过度关注考试成绩有哪些弊端 | 外刊精读

学英语，总会有好事发生的。

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本期精读的文章来自The Economist关于英国教育的一篇报道Should British 11-year-olds be sitting exams?

在不少人的印象中，“应试教育”似乎只是中国特色，英美国家不强调考试，但事实并非如此。最近英国工党领导人Jeremy Corbyn宣布要取消针对英国小学生的标准化测评考试SATS（跟美国的SAT考试不同），理由是不少学校过分关注考试成绩，导致在其他非考试科目中投入时间精力太少。

这篇文章对这一决定的前因后果进行了分析，其中不少句子写得很精彩，我选取了前几段进行分析：

这一段对文章背景进行介绍：英国工党领导人Jeremy Corbyn宣布要取消针对英国小学生的标准化测评考试SATS（Standard Assessment Tests），同时一名官员披露很多学校在复活节期间让小学生备考。

Next month 11-year-olds will sit a series of short tests in maths and English—a fact that causes much unhappiness among England’s teachers.

下个月（英国）11岁的孩子们将会参加一系列关于数学和英语的小考——这一点在英格兰的教师中引发了很多不满。

“参加考试”除了可以说take a test，也可以参考文中的说法写成sit/do a test

这句话第二部分a fact that causes…是同位语成分，它可以用来代替常见的定语从句。举个例子：

Over the past few decades car ownership has been rising in many countries, which causes pollution and traffic problems.

我们也可以借鉴文中句子写成：

Over the past few decades car ownership has been rising in many countries—a fact that causes pollution and traffic problems.

At the National Education Union’s recent conference, Jeremy Corbyn, Labour’s leader, announced to hearty applause that he would scrap these tests, which are known as SATS, and that he would review other primary-school assessments.

在最近一次全国教育联盟会议上，工党领袖杰里米·科尔宾宣布他将取消这些SATS测试，这一决定获得了听众热烈的掌声，而且他还宣布他将评估其他针对小学的测评。

这里有一个值得注意的表达：do something to hearty applause，即“在热烈的掌声中做某事”。例如要表达“他在热烈的喝彩声中离开舞台”，可以说：He left the stage to hearty applause.

At the conference of the NASUWT, another teachers’ union, an official made headlines when he revealed that lots of schools were calling pupils in to prep for the tests over Easter, sometimes with rewards of fun activities or fast food.

在另一个教师工会NASUWT的会议上，一名官员披露许多学校正在让学生在复活节期间准备考试，并且有时候会以有趣的活动或快餐作为准备考试的奖励。这名官员也因此登上了报纸头条。

要表达“某人或某事登上了报纸头条，成为重要新闻”，可以说somebody/something makes / grabs (the) headlines，例如最近复联4很火，我们可以说：

The movie “Avengers: Endgame” has made headlines by breaking a number of box office records in various markets.

意思相近的表达还有：in the limelight，例如：The author has been in the limelight since he published his first novel last month.

这一段指出SATS考试对于学生前途的影响有限，它主要用于帮助老师和学校评估当前的教学情况。

The attention serves as a reminder of the strength of feeling generated by testing young children.

这次对SATS考试的关注提醒人们，当涉及到测验儿童时，人们产生的感情之强烈。

这里有一个值得学习的句型：XX serves as a reminder of… （XX能够提醒人们……），它也可以写成XX acts as a reminder of… 举个例子：

The melting ice caps in Antarctica serve/act as a reminder of the dire consequences of global warming.

Unlike GCSES (taken at 16) and A-levels (at 18), SATS hold little sway over a pupil’s future. At most, they will help determine which academic stream the child enters in their first year at secondary school.

与普通中等教育考试（在16岁时参加）和A-level考试（在18岁时参加）不同，SATS对学生未来几乎没有什么影响。它们最多能够帮助学生确定中学第一年时的分班。

Hold sway是一个固定表达，意思是“对……有支配力量，对……占有重大影响力”（to have power or a very strong influence），XX holds sway over… 即“XX对……有重大影响”，例如：

In China, the National College Entrance Examination holds sway overstudents’ future.

第二句中stream是熟词生义，它是指根据同龄学生智力水平而安排的班级或小组，they will help determine which academic stream the child enters 即“它们能够帮助确定儿童能够进入的班级”。

这一段阐述了老师们对于SATS考试的抱怨。

Teachers nevertheless complain that they are under too much pressure tosqueeze high marks out of their pupils.

然而，教师们抱怨说，他们面临的压力太大，无法鞭策学生考出高分。

这一句的表达很生动，squeeze something out of somebody 是一个固定搭配，意思是“迫使某人做某事，从某人身上获取某事物”，例如：During the negotiations, the union managed to squeeze several concessions out of the management. 谈判期间，工会设法迫使管理阶层做出了几项让步。

squeeze high marks out of their pupils这里可以理解为“鞭策学生考出高分”。

League tables are based on the percentage of children reaching certain standards, the schools inspectorate uses their results to inform its judgments and some teachers are on performance-related pay.

学校排名表是根据达到特定标准的儿童人数百分比来制作。学校监察机构使用考试结果来判断教学好坏，一些教师的薪酬也与学生成绩挂钩。

League table是一个固定表达，意思是“排名表，名次表”，例如 a league table of British schools ranked by exam results. 按考试结果排名的英国学校排行榜

Inform在这里也是一词多义，它的意思不是“告知”，而是“影响”（to influence someone's attitude or opinion）。

“一些教师的薪酬与学生成绩挂钩”这句话我们可能会写成 some teachers are paid according to their performance，但这里作者用了介词形式on performance-related pay，会更加简洁。

这一段阐述了过分强调考试会带来的坏处：学校会缩短与考试科目无关的课程时间。

Another worry is that the emphasis on results has led to a narrowing of the curriculum as schools focus on maths and English, the only subjects tested.

另一个担忧是过度强调考试结果会导致课程内容变窄，因为学校只专注于数学和英语这两门考试科目。

Curriculum是指“学校课程”（the group of subjects studied in a school, college, etc.），这是一个在教育类话题中经常出现的单词，例如要表达“历史在学校课程设置中是一门必修课”，可以说：History is a compulsory subject on/in the school curriculum.

Amanda Spielman, head of Ofsted, the schools inspectorate, has warned that some schools are “mistaking ‘badges and stickers’ for learning and substance”.

学校监察机构Ofsted的负责人阿曼达·斯皮尔曼警告称，一些学校“将'成绩和荣誉'误认为是学习和基础”。

badges and stickers是指学生在学校获得的徽章和贴纸，这里引申为“成绩和荣誉”。