字神帝國英語天地

今日主題：Summer-born kids 夏天出生的孩子

派老師推薦：雅思聽力最好的課外教材：BBC
康康精選雅思會考的主題，堅持每天精聽一定會進步的哦!!

建議方法：
1. 先聽兩三遍 (不看文稿)
2. 再一句一句聽寫 (每句都要聽寫數遍，直到寫出85%以上的字)
3. 最後check文稿，看哪聽不出來，單字沒背過，還是發音不熟。
4. 堅持天天聽，就能每天進步哦。

MP3音檔：喜歡的同學，幫忙推或按讚哦~~
http://static.iyuba.com/sounds/minutes/1006.mp3

只有音檔怎夠，聽不懂地方，不用怕，康康幫你準備好中英文稿了：

中英文稿：
Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm Rob...
大家好，歡迎收聽六分鐘英語。我是羅伯。
… and I'm Neil. Hello.
大家好，我是尼爾。
Well Neil I've got a question for you straight away.Were you a summer baby?Were you born in the summer?
尼爾，我現在就有一個問題問你。你是夏天寶寶嗎？也就是說你是夏天出生的嗎？
Um…Yes, I was actually. Late summer.
是的，我是夏末出生的。
OK. And did you go to university?
那你上大學了嗎？
Yes…? Strange questions here, Rob.
上了。好奇怪的問題。
Not really.My questions do make sense because we're talking about the impact when you were born has on how well you perform at school.
其實不奇怪。我的問題很有意義，因為今天我們要討論的是出生的時間和你在學校的表現之間的關係。
OK. Are you calling me stupid here, Rob?
好吧，你是說我很笨麼？
Nothing like that.Well maybe… let's wait and see what the experts have to say. But before that, I've got another question for you.
不是啊。額，也許吧，我們待會看看專家們是怎麼說的。但那之前，我有另一個問題問你。
OK then – let's see if I'm clever enough to answer it!
好的，剛好測試一下我有多聰明，能不能答對。
OK. Well, based on birth records between 1973 and 1999, what is the most common birthday for a person in the United States? Is it:a) 1st Januaryb) 16th Septemberc) 30th March
根據1973~1999年的出生記錄，美國出生率最高的一天是哪一天？a) 1月1日b) 9月16日c) 3月30日
I'm gonna guess 30th March.
我猜是3月30日。
OK. Well, we'll hear the answer at the end of the programme.Another question now.According to research, are summer born babies more likely or less likely to go to university?
好的，節目的最後我們再公佈答案。現在，回到另一個問題上。根據研究，夏天出生的孩子上大學的人數多還是少？
Well, we are going to hear from an expert. Lorraine Dearden, who is Professor of Economics and Social Statistics at University College London (UCL).She was interviewed by the BBC about summer-born babies.She talks about the research, how well do they do in tests. How do they perform?
我們聽聽專家的看法。Lorraine Dearden是英國倫敦大學學院經濟和社會統計教授。她接受了BBC的訪問，談論夏天出生的孩子。她談論其一項研究以及測試中他們表現如何。她們是如何表現的？
All the research has shown that summer born kids perform much worse in tests right through up until the age of eighteenand even … they're less likely to attend higher education.
研究顯示18歲以下夏天出生的孩子在調查中表現較差，而且他們接受最高教育的人數也少得多。
I mean, these are startling statistics 20% are less likely to go to university.
這些數據很令人吃驚，夏天出生的孩子中20%都沒有上大學。
Absolutely.
確實如此。
That was Professor Lorraine Deardon with some really really surprising statistics – startling statistics, in fact.
Lorraine Deardon教授提到了一些非常非常令人驚訝，令人吃驚的數據。
Yes, she says summer born kids perform much worse in tests.
是的，她說夏天出生的孩子在測試中表現較差。
Yes, these summer born kids perform worse at school right through until the age of eighteen when they might be thinking about going to university.
夏天出生的孩子在學校表現較差，直到18歲他們要考慮上大學了。
Yes, university. That's higher education.
是的，大學。那就是高等教育。
So the professor said, according to research, summer babies are less likely to go to university - 20% in fact.
所以教授說，根據調查，夏天出生的孩子中20%上不了大學。
Really? Well, don't forget Rob, I told you I'm a summer baby.Well, I went to university.
真的嗎？但你別忘了，我也是夏天出生的。我上大學了。
Yes, of course. These are just statistics – just figures. But if you are a parent of a child starting school these statistics are worrying.
當然了。這只是統計，只是數字而已。但是，如何你是孩子的父親，孩子到了入學的年齡，這些數據很讓人擔憂。
Well they shouldn't worry.There are lots of people who were born in the summer that have done very well at university, thank you. And some of them are now professors.
他們也不用擔憂。有很多孩子出生在夏天，但是在大學中表現出色。有一些還成為了教授。
OK. Or BBC presenters… like you Neil.
是的，還有成為BBC主持人的，例如你，尼爾。
Yes, like me. But here is the problem. Let's say you have a child.He's a boy, born in August.He's now 4 years old so he can start school this September.But in his class there are students whose birthday is coming very soon so they're going to be 5– that's almost a year older than your child.
是的，像我一樣。但是有一個問題。假設你有一個孩子。是個男孩，出生在八月。他現在四歲，九月份應該入學了。但是在班上，其他孩子們馬上要過生日，即將5歲了。他們就比你的孩子大一歲多。
So parents want their kids to do well at school – they are concerned- and now the government is trying to help – they're trying to address those concerns.England's schools minister Nick Gibbs says that the government wants to change the admissions rules for schools.
所以父母們希望孩子能在學校表現出色，他們很關心這個問題，政府也嘗試著給予幫助，解決家長們的擔憂。英格蘭教育部長Nick Gibbs說政府想要改變入學政策。
The rule now in much of England is that children must start school in September after their fourth birthday.
如今大部分英格蘭地區實行的政策是孩子們必須在九月份入學前已過完4歲生日。
The schools minister says these rules should be changed. "Parents know their children best," said Mr Gibb.
教育部長表示這些政策應當改變。「父母最瞭解他們的孩子」，Gibb說。
Parents don't want to send their children to school before they are ready.
家長們不想孩子還沒有準備好就送他們上學。
So here is the proposal – or suggested new rules.If a child is born in the summer, parents could delay the child's start of school by up to a year.
如今有一些提議的新政策。如果孩子出生在夏天，可以推遲一年上學。
So the child will start school at 5 years old. Great, but does our expert Professor Lorraine Deardon think that's a good idea. Is this the way to address the problem of the age difference?
所以孩子們將在5歲時入學。挺好的，但是Lorraine Deardon教授認為這是好主意嗎？這是解決年齡差距問題的好方法嗎？
Ah no, it's not.I mean, basically, the reason why these children do worse in tests right throughout their lifeis simply that they are up to a year younger than their September born colleaguesand this does nothing to address this.
我覺得這不是好辦法。我認為，之所以這些孩子在測試中表現較差，是因為他們比9月出生的同齡人小一歲，新政策對解決這問題沒有任何幫助。
Professor Lorraine Deardon. She says that the new policy does nothing to address the problem of the age difference.
Lorraine Deardon教授，她說新政策對解決年齡差距問題沒有絲毫幫助。
There are still going to be 4 year olds in the class. Perhaps there will be more 5 year olds now because parents can delay their child's start at school.
班上還是有4歲入學的孩子。也許現在會有很多孩子5歲才上學，因為家長們推遲了他們的上學時間。
Yes, the new policy addresses the concerns of parents that their children are not ready for school at 4 years old….
是的，父母們擔心孩子4歲時沒有準備好上學，新政策解決了他們的擔憂。
… but there will always be this age difference in a classroom and many of the younger children will do worse in tests.Professor Deardon says that the proposal to change the schools admission policy does nothing to address this.
但是課堂中仍然存在年齡差距，很多更小的孩子在測試中的表現還不會太好。Deardon教授說，推遲入學的政策無法解決這個問題。
OK, time now for the answer to the question I set you at the beginning of the programme. I asked: based on birth records between 1973 and 1999, what is the most common birthday for a person in the United States?Is it:a) 1st Januaryb) 16th Septemberc) 30th March
該回到節目開始前我問你的問題了。根據1973~1999年的出生記錄，美國出生率最高的一天是哪一天？a) 1月1日b) 9月16日c) 3月30日
And I guessed the 30th March.
我猜是3月30日。
But you are wrong I'm afraid. The answer is actually the 16th September.Happy birthday to whoever was born then anyway.
很抱歉你答錯了。正確答案是9月16號。對他們說生日快樂吧。
Yeah. OK, Rob. Can you tell us the words we learned today again please?
好吧，那我們再回憶一下今天學到的單詞吧？
Of course.
好的。
We heard:
今天聽到的單詞有：
more likely / less likely
更可能/更不可能
perform
表現
higher education
高等教育
Startling
令人吃驚的
statistics
統計
admissions
錄取
delay
推遲
policy
政策
concerns
擔憂
address the problem
解決問題