经济学人:法兰西教育 会考后的忧伤

 　　French education

　　法兰西教育

　　Bac blues¹

　　会考后的忧伤

　　Moves are afoot to reconsider France's harsh grading system

　　法国正在考虑改革它苛刻的成绩评级制度

　　WARY² of competition when it comes to global markets, the French embrace it wholeheartedly in the classroom. As school pupils enjoy the end of their summer holiday, few will relish³ a return to their harsh grading system. Termly reports in secondary schools record pupils' marks, in Cartesian fashion, to the nearest two decimal points. Every child knows how they compare with the average. A result at the school-leaving baccalaureat exam of 16 out of 20 is considered outstanding. For younger children, a dictee to test spelling is marked by progressively deducting⁴ points for every error, which can crush the grade down to zero, or even into negative territory.

　　提到全球市场，就少不了竞争中“战战兢兢，如履薄冰”的心态。而法兰西一心要将这种小心翼翼奉为教育的信条。享受美好假期的孩子们一想到要回到学校那苛刻的分级制度，一个个就像霜打的茄子一样愁容满面。中学记录学生成绩的学期报告会使用笛卡尔的算法，将大家的成绩精确到小数点后两位。毕业会考的成绩在16到20分之间的孩子才会被评为优秀。而对于这些小朋友们来说，拼写测试中的听写就是扣分的战斗机,分数被一个一个的错误蚕食鲸吞，这会使得他们的分数跌至零分甚至是负分。

　　法兰西教育.jpg

　　Benot Hamon, the education minister, thinks the system, at least for younger people, is too harsh. He argues that “in France we are defined by failure”, and this begins with poor grades. He wants schools to “stimulate instead of discourage” and to give pupils more positive feedback. Mr Hamon has launched a review of the national grading system. It is due to report early next year.

　　法国教育部长博努瓦·哈蒙认为，这样的教学体制，最起码对年轻人来说实在是过于苛刻。这位教育部长认为“在法国，我们被定义成了不及格”，并且都始于过低的分数。他希望学校对学生是“鼓舞促进而不是使其丧失信心”，并且希望学校可以给学生更多积极的反馈。哈蒙部长推出了一份关于全国教育分级制度的反思评论，这份检讨将于明年早些时候公诸于世。

　　Mr Hamon's concern seems to be over the stress and anxiety that harsh grading inflicts⁵ on French schoolchildren, and the lack of confidence that this engenders⁶ in a country that is already excessively pessimistic. Fully⁷ 75% of the children say they worry about getting poor marks in maths, for example, according to a study by the Paris-based OECD think-tank—only just less than the figure of 78% in South Korea, and far above the 46% in Sweden.

　　哈蒙部长似乎是想结束苛刻分级制度给法国中小学生造成的紧张与焦虑，并提升因此制度造成国家过于悲观而缺乏已久的自信。例如，根据位于巴黎的经合组织智库发布研究数据，足足有75%的孩子表示他们担心自己的数学成绩会越来越差。在此项调查上法国仅略低于韩国，但是却远远高于瑞典,在韩国，这样的孩子占到78％，而在瑞典，却只有46％。

　　Last year the education ministry⁸ reported on an experiment in middle schools, in which marks out of 20 were abandoned in favour of comments, or vague letter grades. Boys, the report noted⁹, disliked a less competitive environment more than girls; stronger pupils disliked it more than weaker ones. But by creating less stress over failure, the report found, pupils were encouraged to take risks and participate in class, and often became more confident.

　　去年，法国教育部在中学进行了改革实验，在这些学校中，笛卡尔的打分方式被摒弃，取而代之的是评论意见或者是模糊的字母等级。报告指出，和女生相比，男生对于这种竞争压力小的环境并不太感冒；与那些相对弱一些的学生相比，那些成绩优异的学生也不喜欢这样的弱竞争氛围。但是研究者们还发现，及格带来的压力减轻使学生们受到了鼓励，更愿意冒险尝试并且参与课堂活动，并且自信也与日俱增。

　　Curiously¹⁰, it was parents rather than pupils who most resisted the absence of grades. They worried about over-protected children, and the difficulty of judging their progress. If Mr Hamon is to get anywhere, he may find that his biggest obstacle is pushy¹¹ parents.

　　而奇怪的是，最反对模糊分数的不是学生，而是各位小朋友的家长。这些家长担心对孩子的过度保护会难以判断其长进。如果哈蒙部长随处看看，他或许会发现，其实教育中最大的改革就是这些爱出风头的固执父母。

　　1.return to 回到；返回

　　例句:Ford¹² never desisted from trying to persuade him to return to America.

　　福特从未停止过劝说他返回美国。

　　2.come to 苏醒；达到；来到

　　例句:There are thousands of students absolutely gagging to come to this university.

　　肯定有成千上万的学生都渴望到这所大学念书。

　　3.at least 至少；最低限度

　　例句:Try to eat at least four slices of bread a day.

　　每天尽量至少吃4片面包。

　　4.want to 想去；想要

　　例句:When life gets hard and you want to give up, remember that life is full of ups and downs, and without the downs, the ups would mean nothing.

　　当生活很艰难，你想要放弃的时候，请记住，生活充满了起起落落，如果没有低谷，那站在高处也失去了意义。

1 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

2 wary   

adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的

参考例句：

• He is wary of telling secrets to others.他谨防向他人泄露秘密。
• Paula frowned,suddenly wary.宝拉皱了皱眉头，突然警惕起来。

3 relish   

n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味

参考例句：

• I have no relish for pop music.我对流行音乐不感兴趣。
• I relish the challenge of doing jobs that others turn down.我喜欢挑战别人拒绝做的工作。

4 deducting   

v.扣除，减去( deduct的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Deducting drop size and velocity from circular blood stains. 如何从循环的血液中降低血滴的大小和速度。 来自电影对白
• Ordinary shareholders receive dividend from profit after deducting the preference shares dividend. 普通股股东可获派剩馀的盈利为股息。 来自互联网

5 inflicts   

把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Bullfrog 50 Inflicts poison when your enemy damages you at short range. 牛娃50对近距离攻击你的敌人造成毒伤。
• The U.S. always inflicts its concept of human nature on other nations. 美国总是把自己的人权观念强加于别国。

6 engenders   

v.产生（某形势或状况），造成，引起( engender的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Sympathy often engenders love. 同情常常产生爱情。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Some people believe poverty engenders crime. 有人认为贫困生罪恶。 来自辞典例句

7 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

8 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

9 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

10 curiously   

adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地

参考例句：

• He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
• He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。

11 pushy   

adj.固执己见的，一意孤行的

参考例句：

• But she insisted and was very pushy.但她一直坚持,而且很急于求成。
• He made himself unpopular by being so pushy.他特别喜欢出风头，所以人缘不好。

12 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。