TED演讲:为什么你应该热爱统计学(1)

 Back in 2003, the UK government carried out a survey. 早在2003年，英国政府进行了一项调查。

And it was a survey that measured levels of numeracy in the population. 目的是了解国民的算术能力。

And they were shocked to find out that for every 100 working age adults in the country, 47 of them lacked Level 1 numeracy skills. 结果非常让人吃惊，在英国，每100个正值工作年纪的成人中，47个缺乏一级的算术能力。

Now, Level 1 numeracy skills -- that's low-end GCSE score. 一级算术能力是GSCE考试的低端分数。

It's the ability to deal with fractions¹, percentages and decimals². 它是运算分数、百分数和小数的能力。

So this figure prompted³ a lot of hand-wringing in Whitehall. 这个数据使英国行政部门愈发的担忧。

Policies were changed, investments⁴ were made, and then they ran the survey again in 2011. 他们改变了政策，进行了投资，然后到了2011年，他们再次进行了普查。

So can you guess what happened to this number? It went up to 49. 你们能猜到这一次的数字吗？这次，上升到了49。

And in fact, when I reported this figure in the FT, one of our readers joked and said, "This figure is only shocking⁵ to 51 percent of the population." 事实上，当我在金融时报报道这一数据时，有个读者开玩笑地说，“这个数据只震惊了51%的人口”。

But I preferred, actually, the reaction of a schoolchild when I presented at a school this information, who raised their hand and said,  但我实际上更喜欢一个学生的反应，有一次我在学校展示这一信息时，这个孩子举手说道，

"How do we know that the person who made that number isn't one of the 49 percent either?" “我们怎么知道得出这一数据的人不是49%中的一个呢？”

So clearly, there's a numeracy issue, because these are important skills for life,  很明显，算术能力成了一个问题，毕竟这是生活中的重要技能，

and a lot of the changes that we want to introduce in this century involve us becoming more comfortable with numbers. 更何况我们还想为这个世纪带来许多的改变，这需要我们对数字越来越应用自如。

1 fractions   

n.分数( fraction的名词复数 )；小部分；分裂；[化学]（分）馏（部）分

参考例句：

• Difference of opinion broke up the party into fractions. 意见的分歧使这个党分裂成几个小派别。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Continuous data can be expressed in either fractions or whole numbers. 连数资料可以用分数表示，也可以用整数表示。 来自辞典例句

2 decimals   

n.小数( decimal的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His first small calculator could perform certain computations to eight decimals. 他制造的第一台小型计算器能进行八位数的某些运算。 来自互联网
• T: Who can divide the repeating decimals into two groups? Why? 师：谁能再将上题中的循环小数分成两类？为什么？ 来自互联网

3 prompted   

v.为（演员）提示台词( prompt的过去式和过去分词 )；促使；为（发言者）提示；导致

参考例句：

• His evasive reply prompted me to ask another question. 他的含糊其辞的答复促使我又提了一个问题。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sight of the ships prompted thoughts of his distant home. 看到船使他想起遥远的家乡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 investments   

n.投资( investment的名词复数 )；投资额；（时间、精力的）投入；值得买的东西

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile, investments are at great risk. 由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All their money was tied up in long-term investments. 他们所有的钱都搁死在长线投资上了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 shocking   

adj.令人气愤的；令人震惊的

参考例句：

• His attitude was shocking to her.他的态度令她感到震惊。
• Such behaviour is really shocking.这种行为真不像话。