【英语趣味课堂】错误的表扬-False Praise

Todd: Nydja, we were talking about education and praising students. Do you think that students today are praised too much?

Nydja: I do. I don't think that they need as much praise for poor work. If they're doing good work, then of course they deserve¹ it, but this false sense of success that kids are given is really messing with their heads later on in life.

 

Todd: How so? Like how do you think it affects them later in life if they have this false sense of success as you say?

 

Nydja: Well, when it comes time to really perform and to step up to the plate say in college or in their career in the future, they might not know how to do any of these skills. They've been propped³ up by, you know, compliments⁴ that are just full of air, so they might not really know how to go about doing something. They have a sense of entitlement that they should receive that promotion⁵ or that good grade in college, even though they did nothing to actually achieve it.

 

Todd: Right, so do you actually ... When you were younger did you have teachers who were very strict? So if you failed, they let you know you failed?

 

Yes. Yes. They let you know immediately. I had some teachers who weren't very nice at all, and maybe he polar opposite. Didn't cut you any break either. Let you know that you weren't heading anywhere fast unless you turned it around quick, so they were not about babying me or my classmates at all. It was very hard to get good grades because they graded hard. Very different from my experience with the people who were in school today.

 

重点词汇：

 

Learn Vocabulary from the Lesson

False sense of success

 

Kids have a false sense of success.

 

When people have a false sense of success, everything comes easy to them. They think everything they do is successful or worthy⁶, when in reality it might just be average or worse. Here are a few examples.

 

He has a false sense of success because he was born rich.

People with a false sense of success take failure very hard.

mess with their heads

 

 

Their success is really messing with their heads.

 

When something is messing with someone's head, that means it is doing bad things mentally to them. It is hurting their mental state or keeps them from thinking clearly. Notice the following:

 

My brother keeps messing with my head by playing tricks on me.

This warm winter weather is really messing with my head.

step up to the plate

 

 

When they have to step up to the plate, they fail.

 

Step up to the plate is a baseball term. A batter⁷ in baseball has to step up the the plate (homeplate) to hit the ball. The phrase is used to express a need to take action and perform without fear or hesitation⁸. If you are not stepping up the plate, then you are avoiding something. A few samples are as follows:

 

You need to step up to the plate and take care of your family responsibilities.

Sometimes you step up to the plate and strike out. That's life.

propped up

 

 

They have been propped up by compliments.

 

When something is propped up, that means it is held up or pushed up by something so it does not fall over. If you prop² someone up, you do something so they do not fail naturally. In the example above, a student could be propped up by always hearing nice things about their work, so they do not know they are really failing or underachieving. Here are a few examples:

 

Their marriage was propped up by a common love for their children.

The company was propped up with debt and bad accounting⁹.

 

 

full of air

 

Those compliments are full of air

 

When something is full of air, that means it has no substance or meaning to it. For example, a balloon is full of air. It seems like there is nothing inside. When we say something is full of air, we mean that it is not worth much. Like a balloon, on the outside it looks big, but inside there is nothing. Notice the examples below:

 

He is so full of hot air. Never believe what he says.

His speech made lots of promises that were full of air.

1 deserve   

vt.应受，值得；vi. 应受报答，值得受赏

参考例句：

• You really deserve a good beating,you naughty boy.你这个调皮孩子真该打。
• I do not deserve all the praises bestowed upon me.我不配得到这些赞扬。

2 prop   

vt.支撑；n.支柱，支撑物；支持者，靠山

参考例句：

• A worker put a prop against the wall of the tunnel to keep it from falling.一名工人用东西支撑住隧道壁好使它不会倒塌。
• The government does not intend to prop up declining industries.政府无意扶持不景气的企业。

3 propped   

支撑，支持，维持( prop的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He sat propped up in the bed by pillows. 他靠着枕头坐在床上。
• This fence should be propped up. 这栅栏该用东西支一支。

4 compliments   

n.问候，道贺，致意；赞美（话）( compliment的名词复数 )；向…送礼以表示敬意；问候；致意v.表扬，恭维( compliment的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He ladles out compliments to everyone, but he's not really sincere. 他见人就大加吹捧，但并非出于诚意。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• You pay her a few compliments and she immediately rises above herself. 你只要稍许赞扬她几句，她即会沾沾自喜。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

6 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

7 batter   

v.接连重击；磨损；n.牛奶面糊；击球员

参考例句：

• The batter skied to the center fielder.击球手打出一个高飞球到中外野手。
• Put a small quantity of sugar into the batter.在面糊里放少量的糖。

8 hesitation   

n.犹豫，踌躇

参考例句：

• After a long hesitation, he told the truth at last.踌躇了半天，他终于直说了。
• There was a certain hesitation in her manner.她的态度有些犹豫不决。

9 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。