歡迎大家來到“英語閱讀”，本欄目旨在提升各位同學的閱讀、聽力水平及閱讀理解能力，內容精選自《英語週報》高中閱讀專版。

Studying for Success: Born or Made?

"What are we to do?" Two Chinese parents asked recently, throwing their hands up in the air. With two bachelor's degrees (學士學位), a master's degree (碩士學位), and a Ph.D. (博士學位) earned by the couple from top universities in China, you would think that even if they couldn't solve a problem, they might be able to find someone who could. So, what "problem" gave them so much trouble?

Their son, 10 years old, has been the center of their lives. They have thrown all of their resources into educating him. They have taught him themselves and provided all kinds of extra tutorial classes (輔導班), but to no avail (完全無用). Their son performs poorly in examinations, even though he studies very hard. Eventually, the mother accepted that her son is below average and said he may be able to live a comfortable life with an ordinary job.

Is the mother right?

I don't think so. I have taught thousands of students before, and I can tell you with certainty that talent is not distributed evenly. What is talent? It is strictly defined as "natural skill," but I would like to narrow that definition further: the speed with which one can master new skills. Some students simply learn material faster. But is your ability to learn limited by your talent from birth? I think the answer to that question is really up to you. If you do not learn as fast as your classmates, then you must study harder. For example, if you spend more time and effort improving your reading speed and comprehension, you will almost certainly be able to learn more over the course of your life from reading, if you continue to read books.

However, some would argue that if you tell a student that they are average, it will hurt their self-esteem (自尊). And low self-esteem could mean less motivation to learn. Research, however, has failed to show any correlation (相關性) between self-esteem and task performance. Instead, realizing his/her lack of talent may stimulate the kid to put in more effort.

In the case of this student, the mother has accepted the fact that her son is average. But as far as I am concerned, as a role model for her son, she should continue to work hard, to show her son that being average is certainly no reason to be lazy — if anything, it should be a reason to work harder!

In learning, the work of a diligent fool doubles that of a lazy wit. So get cracking (開始工作) and you will do much better than that "lazy wit"!

教案

PRE-READING

1. Do you think that a person's talent is born or made? Why?

Note: In the book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell popularized the famous "10,000 Hours Rule." The principle holds that 10,000 hours of "deliberate practice" are needed to become world-class in any field.

2. In study, what do you think "talent" mean? Do you think your talent is below or above average?

WHILE READING

Sentences

1. With two bachelor’s degrees, a master's degree, and a Ph.D. earned by the couple from top universities in China^①, you would think that even if^② they couldn't solve a problem, they might be able to find someone who could.

① 複合結構“with + n. + 過去分詞” 在這個句子中作原因狀語。

② even if引導了一個讓步狀語從句，它和even though引導的讓步狀語從句有細微的區別。

Ø even if 引導的從句是往往是假設性的，意思是“即使”、“縱然”、“就算”、“哪怕”。

e.g. They'll stand by you even if you don't succeed.

Ø even though 引導的從句內容往往是真實的，主要用於引出不利用於主句情況的信息，相當於漢語的“儘管”、“雖然”。

e.g. He went out even though it was raining.

2. In the case of this student, the mother has accepted the fact that^① her son is average.

① that在這個句子中引導了一個同位語從句，指代的是fact的具體內容。that引導同位語從句時所修飾的名詞比較有限，通常是抽象名詞，除了fact，常見的還有idea、situation、thought、evidence、belief、doubt、fear、hope、question、theory、suggestion、word、thought、truth、possibility、promise、order、news、ability等。

Vocabulary

Complete each sentence using one word from the box in its correct form. Note that there is one word more than you need and you can use each word only once.

earned solve trouble eventually comfortable continue

1. He was sitting ________ in the lounge, reading a newspaper.

2. The disease had been ________ her for several years.

3. It is believed that the greater an individual's educational achievement, the higher income they ________.

4. Their domestic reforms were unable to ________ the problem of unemployment.

5. Both sides were happy with the ________ outcome of the talks.

Key: comfortably troubling earn solve eventual

Translation

1. 孩子們逐漸開始接納這隻貓為家庭中的一員了。(accept)

2. 為了他的健康，醫生限制他一天最多隻能喝兩杯咖啡。(limit v.)

3. 該公司已經花了幾千英鎊更新他們的設備。(spend)

Possible answers:

1. The children gradually began to accept the cat as part of the family.

2. For his health, the doctor limited him to two cups of coffee a day.

3. The company has spent thousands of pounds updating their equipment.

Choose the best answer.

1. According to the article, what has been troubling the couple?

A. They could not earn a Ph. D. degree even though they studied very hard.

B. Their son doesn't like to go to school and refuses to attend tutorial classes.

C. Their son doesn't study hard at school and doesn't do homework at home.

D. Their son performs poorly at school even though they spare no effort educating him.

2. In the author's opinion, people's ability to learn ______.

A. is decided at birth

B. is equal among human beings

C. can be improved through hard work

D. will keep at a certain level when they grow up

3. What's the author's intention in writing this article?

A. To tell the mother that she should set an example for her son.

B. To illustrate that most people's ability to learn is below average.

C. To remind students that their ability to learn can be improved if they work hard.

D. To state that letting a child know his/her lack of talent will benefit him/her.

Key: DCC

after reading

Do you think it is OK to tell children that they are average? Why or why not? Have a debate with your classmates.

相關閱讀：

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