评论
打印
From VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report.
这里是美国之音教育报道。
Studies have shown that children from poor families have more difficulty in school than other boys and girls. Children with higher socioeconomic roots seem better prepared and perform better on school tests.
有研究表明，来自贫困家庭的孩子在学校比其他孩子遇到的困难更多。具备较高社会经济根源的孩子似乎在考试中准备更充分也表现得更好。
Now, American researchers may have found a biological reason for that difference. They found differences in the brains of students who had low standardized test scores. Their brains had less gray matter and their temporal lobes developed more slowly than the other children. The findings were reported in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.
现在，美国研究人员可能已经发现了这一差异的生物学原因。他们发现了标准化考试成绩较差学生的大脑差异。与其他孩子相比，他们的大脑灰质较少，而且颞叶发育更慢。该研究结果发表在《美国医学会杂志·儿科》(JAMA Pediatrics)上。
Temporal lobes and gray matter are very important brain areas, says researcher Barbara Wolfe. She is a professor of economics, population health and public affairs at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
研究人员芭芭拉·沃尔夫表示，颞叶和灰质是非常重要的脑区。她是威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校经济、人口健康和公共事务学教授。
The brain areas are "critical in the sense that they keep developing until individuals are well into their adolescence or early 20s, and critical in the sense that they are important for executive function," she said.
她说，“这些脑区非常关键，在某种意义上它们让个体在进入青春期或20岁前继续发育，同时在某种意义上它们是执行功能的关键。”
Researchers studied brain images of nearly 400 children and young adults. The youngest subjects were four years old. The oldest were 22. Researchers looked for a connection between the person's socioeconomic status and his or her test results.
研究人员研究了近400名儿童和青少年的大脑图像。最年轻的受试者只有四岁。最大的22岁。研究人员观察了这些人的社会经济地位和他（她）们考试成绩之间的联系。
On average, young people from poor families had test scores between three and four points below what is expected for their age group.
平均而言，贫困家庭的年轻人比他们年龄组的预期成绩低三到四个分。
The poorest students scored between eight and 10 points below the developmental norm. Ms. Wolfe says there are several reasons why poorer students often have lower scores. One reason could be poor children do not get the food they need for healthy development. Poor parents are less likely to stimulate their children's brains through talk, play, and activities. Ms. Wolfe also blames the "stress that parents face in trying to deal with poverty, putting food on the table."
最贫困学生得分比发育规范低8到10分。沃尔夫女士表示，最贫困学生得分低通常有几个原因。原因之一是贫困学生未能获得健康发育所需要的食物。贫困家长不太可能通过讲座、比赛和活动激发孩子的大脑。沃尔夫女士还将此归咎于家长面临应对贫穷和填饱肚子的压力。
The researchers say that up to 20 percent of the achievement gap, or difference in test performance, could be tied to poverty.
研究人员表示，高达20%的成绩差距和贫困有关。
Ms. Wolfe suggests early action may improve the brain development of children living in poverty. Reaching out to children when they are very young could help raise their test scores and academic performance when they are older.
沃尔夫女士建议早期行动可能会改善贫困儿童的大脑发育。在这些孩子还很小的时候就接触到他们可以帮助他们提高长大时的考试成绩和学习表现。
She says that when the source of the deficit is known, "these areas of the brain can be developed," she said. "... It means that policies can be developed that overcome this deficit."
她说，当我们知道这种差距的根源时，“这些脑区可以被开发，”她说，“这意味着可以制定政策来解决这一差距。”
I'm Jonathan Evans.
我是乔纳森·埃文斯。
本栏目视频字幕与文本并不完全对应，且视频播放缓冲时间较长，敬请谅解！
