VOA慢速英语 2007 1108a

EDUCATION REPORT - After 40 Years, Calculators² in School Still Add Up to Debate
By Nancy Steinbach / Broadcast: Wed³, 7 Nov 2007 16:00:00 UTC
This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

Can you do the math: What is one hundred times four, divided by the square root of a hundred? If you know that, then you know the answer to this: How many years ago did three scientists at Texas Instruments invent the handheld electronic calculator¹?

The handheld electronic calculator was invented in 1967

The answer is forty. The scientists were Jerry Merryman, James Van Tassel⁴ and Jack⁵ Kilby. Their first device⁶ could add, subtract⁷, multiply and divide. It had twelve bytes⁸ of memory -- close to nothing compared to today's powerful calculators. And it weighed more than a kilogram.

But it was powered by batteries. That meant it could be taken anywhere. Other electronic calculators had to be plugged into electricity. Not only that, they weighed close to twenty-five kilograms and were almost as big as typewriters.

In the United States, the National Council⁹ of Teachers of Mathematics says teachers at every level should support the use of calculators. Students are even permitted to use them when they take college entrance tests. That may surprise parents who still think of the days of paper-and-pencil only.

Yet after forty years, calculators in the classroom still add up to the same old debate.

Some education experts think calculators are used too much. Children, they say, learn to depend on these electronic brains instead of their own. Calculators may not only give students answers to questions they do not really understand, critics argue. They may also keep them from discovering ideas for themselves. The danger? Students who cannot even do simple addition and subtraction¹⁰.

Other experts, though, say calculators have helped make mathematics more understandable to more students. They say calculators give students more time to understand and solve problems -- and to develop a better sense of what numbers mean. That way, the reasoning goes, they can study higher level ideas than they would otherwise. And they can feel better about their abilities.

What do teachers think? Generally they say calculators can be useful -- especially with more complex math. But they also say that young students should know basic operations before they begin using them.

What do you think of calculators in the classroom? Send your thoughts to [email protected]. Tell us about your own experience. And be sure to include your name and where you are from.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach.

1 calculator   

n.计算者，计算机

参考例句：

• Don't forget to bring your calculator that day.那天你可别忘了带计算器。
• I totaled my expenses with a calculator. 我用计算器算出开支的总金额。

2 calculators   

计算器( calculator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Don't rely on pocket calculators." 不要靠袖珍计算器。” 来自中级百科部分
• The sale of hand-held electronic calculators has increased at a significant rate. 袖珍电子计算器的销售量增加很快。

3 wed   

v.娶，嫁，与…结婚

参考例句：

• The couple eventually wed after three year engagement.这对夫妇在订婚三年后终于结婚了。
• The prince was very determined to wed one of the king's daughters.王子下定决心要娶国王的其中一位女儿。

4 tassel   

n.流苏，穗；v.抽穗， （玉米）长穗须

参考例句：

• The corn has begun to tassel.玉米开始长出穗状雄花。
• There are blue tassels on my curtains.我的窗帘上有蓝色的流苏。

5 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

6 device   

n.器械，装置；计划，策略，诡计

参考例句：

• The device will be in production by the end of the year.该装置将于年底投入生产。
• The device will save much time and effort for us.这种装置会使我们节省大量时间和气力。

7 subtract   

v.减去，扣除

参考例句：

• Subtract four from nine and you have five.九减四得五。
• In their first year at school,most children learn to add and subtract.入学第一年，多数孩子都学加减法。

8 bytes   

字节( byte的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• In order to address 1024 bytes, 10 address lines are needed. 为了对1024个字节寻址，需要10条地址线。
• Binary data that requires two or more bytes for full representation. 需要两个或多个字节来完整表示的二进制数据。

9 council   

n.理事会，委员会，议事机构

参考例句：

• The town council passed a law forbidding the distribution of handbills.市议会通过法律，禁止散发传单。
• The city council has declared for improving the public bus system.市议会宣布同意改进公共汽车系统。

10 subtraction   

n.减法，减去

参考例句：

• We do addition and subtraction in arithmetic.在算术里,我们作加减运算。
• They made a subtraction of 50 dollars from my salary.他们从我的薪水里扣除了五十美元。