pbs高端访谈:体育课帮助学生提高成绩

 　　JUDY WOODRUFF:Finally tonight: teacher-driven success stories in the classroom. That's the focus of tonight's edition of the PBS program "Need to Know."This excerpt¹ tells the story of an academic transformation² that began with a gym teacher.

　　The correspondent is Jon Meacham.

　　JON MEACHAM:At Naperville Central, a public high school of nearly 3,000 students, educators believe exercise will not only get kids fit, but will improve learning and academic performance.

　　And they're putting that idea into practice for a group of students who struggle in reading and in math. At 7:45 a.m., these freshmen³ and sophomores⁴ start the day in the gym.

　　MAN:Get your heart rate up.

　　JON MEACHAM:The key is to get their heart rates up right before their most difficult classes.

　　NADLENE ALNASS,student: Right now, I'm riding the bike to get at least 20 minutes in the zone.

　　MAN:The whole goal is to get them at 145 to 185 beats per minute for their heart rate.

　　JON MEACHAM:Once Nadlene Alnass has hit her target heart rate zone, she heads to a class to improve reading comprehension.

　　TEACHER:Here is an example of a text-to-world connection. And this is what you will be doing in your journals.

　　JON MEACHAM:Then comes pre-algebra.

　　TEACHER:Let's look at number 21. You cross-reduce with the...

　　NADLENE ALNASS:I like gym in the morning, how, like, it refreshes me. Like, I don't doze⁵ off a lot. So, I focus more on to the teacher, more on the lessons, more on everything.

　　PAUL ZIENTARSKI,retired physical education coordinator⁶: Hello. Hello.

　　JON MEACHAM:Paul Zientarski is the brains behind the program. He was the physical education coordinator here for 26 years. He says some teachers were skeptical⁷ when he first came up with the idea.

　　PAUL ZIENTARSKI:They were afraid that the kids would be so hyped up coming out of P.E. going into the next class that they wouldn't be able to teach them well. So, yes, skeptical, absolutely. They thought we were weird⁸.

　　JON MEACHAM:But in the six years since the program began, the results speak for themselves. On average, kids who signed up for physical education directly before reading comprehension read half-a-year ahead of those who opted⁹ out of the exercise program.

　　And in math, the improvements were even more dramatic. Students with the benefit of P.E. before pre-algebra consistently did better, improving two to four times more than their peers on standardized¹⁰ tests.

　　It is something that Zientarski thinks other educators need to know about.

　　PAUL ZIENTARSKI:People are dropping P.E. because test scores are—are failing. That's not the approach. That's—that's the exact opposite of what you need to do to be successful.

　　JON MEACHAM:And he's not just talking about that group of students. When it comes to academics, the district of Naperville is one of the best in the state. Zientarski believes one of the key reasons is that all kids here take a fitness-based P.E. program. And now he's trying to spread that idea to other schools.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF:"Need to Know" airs tonight on most PBS stations.

1 excerpt   

n.摘录，选录，节录

参考例句：

• This is an excerpt from a novel.这是一部小说的摘录。
• Can you excerpt something from the newspaper? 你能从报纸上选录些东西吗？

2 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

3 freshmen   

n.（中学或大学的）一年级学生( freshman的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We are freshmen and they are sophomores. 我们是一年级学生，他们是二年级学生。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• University freshmen get lots of razzing, but they like the initiation. 大一新生受各种嘲弄，但是他们对这种入门经验甘之如饴。 来自辞典例句

4 sophomores   

n.（中等、专科学校或大学的）二年级学生( sophomore的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We are freshmen and they are sophomores. 我们是一年级学生，他们是二年级学生。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Over half the students in the course are sophomores. 听这门课的一大半是二年级学生。 来自辞典例句

5 doze   

v.打瞌睡；n.打盹，假寐

参考例句：

• He likes to have a doze after lunch.他喜欢午饭后打个盹。
• While the adults doze,the young play.大人们在打瞌睡，而孩子们在玩耍。

6 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

7 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

8 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

9 opted   

v.选择，挑选( opt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She was co-opted onto the board. 她获增选为董事会成员。
• After graduating she opted for a career in music. 毕业后她选择了从事音乐工作。

10 standardized   

adj.标准化的

参考例句：

• We use standardized tests to measure scholastic achievement. 我们用标准化考试来衡量学生的学业成绩。
• The parts of an automobile are standardized. 汽车零件是标准化了的。