Unit5-Teach-Your-Child-to-Wonder

1、1 Unit5 Teach Your Child to Wonder 教孩子好奇教孩子好奇 Warm-up Questions: 1. What do you think “education is: inputting information or allowing young minds to explore? 2. What should it be in your opinion? 3. How do you rate your school education on a scale of one to ten? Why? 4. “Education is what survives

2、when what has been learnt has been forgotten.” Do you understand this statements Do you agree with it? 5. Although “education” comes from a Latin word meaning “to draw out,” nowadays it seems to mean “to accept. What do you think? 2 Teach Your Child to Wonder Sadly, far too few schools make science

3、appealing (有吸引力有吸引力). Courses introduce more new vocabulary than foreign language courses. Textbooks for people are as dull as dictionaries. As a result结果结果, too many children think that science is only for people as clever as Einstein. The irony is that children start out as 天生天生 natural scientists

4、, instinctively 本能地本能地 eager to investigate world around them. Helping them enjoy science can be easytheres no need for a lot of scientific jargon术语；行话术语；行话 or expensive laboratory equipment. You only have to share your childrens curiosity好奇心好奇心. 3 Try these simple techniques: 1. I once visited a cl

5、ass of seven-year-olds七岁儿童七岁儿童 to talk about science as a career. The children asked me textbook questionsabout schooling 上学上学, salary, whether I liked my job. When I finished answering, we sat facing each other in silence. Finally I said, “Now that weve finished with your lists, have you got any qu

6、estions of your own about science?” After a long pause停顿停顿, a boy raised his hand. “Have you ever seen a grasshopper蚂蚱蚂蚱 eat? When I eat leaves like that, I will get stomachache. Why?” 4 This began a barrage of questions that lasted nearly two hours. “What makes tears?“ “Where do little spiders get

7、all the stuff材料材料 to make their webs?” “Am I just a bag of blood? When I cut myself, I see blood.” You may not know the answers to your childs questions. Its all right to say，“I dont know but maybe we can find out弄清弄清 楚楚.” Then you can explore the questions together. 5 2. Even if you know the answer

8、 to a childs question, resist the impulse冲动冲动 to respond quickly leaving no opening for discussion讨论的空间讨论的空间. That reinforces the misconception that science is merely a set of facts stored in the heads of adults. Science is about explaining. Science is not just facts but the meaning that people give

9、 to themby weaving information into a story about how nature probably operates. The best way to respond to a childs question is to begin that process of story-making together. If she asks why its dark at night, try, “Lets think of what is different about night that would make it darker than day.” If

10、 he wonders where bee live, say, Lets watch and maybe we can see where they go.” Always be ready with the answer. “Lets find out”弄明白弄明白. 6 3. Grown-ups成年人成年人 are notorious臭名昭著臭名昭著 for expecting quicker answers. Studies over the past three decades have shown that，after asking a question， adults typic

11、ally wait only one second or less for a responseno time for a child to think. When adults increase their “wait time” to three seconds or more， children respond with more logical，complete and creative answers. I once conducted a lesson on air pressure气压气压 by pushing two rubber toilet plungers togethe

12、r until all the air was driven out and they were tightly suctioned. Two children had to tug them mightily to separate them. “How comewhy you need so much force to pull them apart”拉开它们拉开它们 I asked. 7 After several minutes，a boy named Ron said, “The air is trapped in there困在那里困在那里 and it finds a hole

13、and it all goes out. Thats what makes a popping sound”. He went on to demonstrate his misconception，but I didnt say anything yet. Another pupil then revealed what shed been thinking: “No，its because all the air is out of the plunger”. She pushed it down on the floor until it stuck，showing that once

14、the air was forced out of the cup，the air pressure was less on the inside than on the outside. Rather than介词介词 telling children what to think， give them time to think for themselves. If a child gets the answer wrong，be patient. You can help when needed with a few leading questions. 8 4. Once you hav

15、e a child engaged in投入投入 a science discussion， dont jump in打断打断 with “Thats right” or “Very good”. These verbal rewards work well when it comes to 当谈到当谈到 encouraging good behavior. But in conversing about science，quick praise快速快速 的赞美的赞美 can signal发出信号发出信号 that the discussion is over. Instead, keep t

16、he ball rolling by saying，“Thats interesting” or “Id never thought of it that way before”，or coming up with想出想出 more questions or ideas. Never exhort a child to “Think!” It doesnt make sense children are always thinking without your telling them to. Avoid asking “why” question. Most children are acc

17、ustomed to习惯于习惯于 hearing “why” when their behavior is criticized: “Why is your bedroom so messy?” “Why cant you behave” Instead，I use “How come?”怎么会怎么会 9 5. Real-life impressions of nature are far more memorable更令人难忘更令人难忘 than any lesson children can extract from从中从中提取提取 a book or TV program. Let ch

18、ildren look at their fingertips through a magnifying glass放大镜放大镜, and theyll understand why you want them to wash before dinner. Rather than介介 词词 explaining what mould霉变霉变 is，grow some on a piece of bread. Rather than saying water evaporates， set a pan to boil把一口锅烧开把一口锅烧开 and let them watch the wate

19、r level drop. If you take your children to a “hands-on” science museum，dont manage their itinerary. Let them lead the way，and explore what interests them most. 10 6. Everyday activities can provide fascinating引人入胜引人入胜 的的 lessons in science. Children can learn a great deal about physics and engineeri

20、ng simply by flying a kite放风放风 筝筝. Try making your own with light-weight wood, string and paper. By the end of the afternoons “experiment”， your children will get a basic lesson in scientific cause and effect科学因果关系科学因果关系. Theyll discover how wind direction and intensity方向和强度方向和强度 shift at different

21、altitudes随高随高 度不同而变化度不同而变化. When buying toys，blocks积木积木 of all kinds are great for construction projects建筑项目建筑项目. Choose toys with working parts工作部件工作部件. Even better，look for toys that children can safely take apart 拆卸拆卸 and put back together重新装好重新装好 again. 11 By sharing your childrens curiosity，you

22、 can give them a valuable lesson that extends far beyond the realm of experiment，in the face of difficulties面对困难时面对困难时. And they will see clearly that learning is not drudgery or something that happens only in school. Learning is something to be enjoyed every dayfor a lifetime. 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

23、19 20 jargon: uncountable noun leave some room 坚持：坚持：persevere, persist 21 Part B Grammar 分词分词(Participles ) 分词是动词的另一种分词是动词的另一种非限定形式非限定形式，分为，分为现在分词现在分词和和过去分词过去分词两种。两种。 如如:breaking和和broken。它们。它们在句子中主要起形容词和副词的作用在句子中主要起形容词和副词的作用， 可以可以用作定语、状语或表语用作定语、状语或表语。如。如: They will carry out the plan passed at the

24、yesterdays meeting. (定定 语语) The story is very amusing. (表语表语) Permitted by his boss，he left the office earlier than before. (状语状语) 现在分词和过去分词的主要区别是现在分词和过去分词的主要区别是前者表示主动的意思，而后者则前者表示主动的意思，而后者则 表示被动的意思表示被动的意思。 另外另外分词还有其自身的完成形式和被动形式分词还有其自身的完成形式和被动形式。如。如: 22 Not having made adequate preparations, they dec

25、ided to put off推迟推迟 the meeting until next week. Being repaired at this moment，the library cannot be opened to the students. 第一句中表示了完成时态第一句中表示了完成时态，第二句表示了进行时的被动语态第二句表示了进行时的被动语态。除。除 了分词的形式及语法作用外，另外一种与分词有关的语法现象是了分词的形式及语法作用外，另外一种与分词有关的语法现象是 分词独立结构分词独立结构。 在这一结构中，在这一结构中，分词可以有自己的逻辑主语分词可以有自己的逻辑主语。这种主语常常是名这

26、种主语常常是名 词或代词主格词或代词主格，放置分词短语之前放置分词短语之前。它可以。它可以表示时间、原因、条表示时间、原因、条 件、伴随件、伴随等。等。 23 The problem being settled，they went back to rest.(时间时间) Weather permitting, they will go to the Great Wall.(条件条件) This paper deals with graduate education研研 究生教育究生教育，with particular attention paid to Ph. D programs.(带有带有

27、with的过去分的过去分 词构成分词独立结构词构成分词独立结构) 24 25 26 27 赶走赶走 28 中途辍学者；中途辍学者；学校毕业生学校毕业生 degenerate into: 沦为沦为 29 Part C Supplementary Reading Benchmarking Practices at Xerox By Sophie Fox Benchmarking deserves credit for inspiring some legendary corporate turnarounds; Fords resurgence with the Taurus and Sable

28、models and Motorolas dramatic improvements in quality and cycle times are just two examples. Benchmarking标杆管理标杆管理;基准管基准管 理理has become a mainstream tool, used by many organizations to remain competitive in the global marketplace. To be effective，benchmarking not only needs solid support from top mana

29、gement, but must also become an integral part of the entire organization， cascading down to every employee. 30 In todays business environment, benchmarking projects are numerous and cottage industries have sprung up to support them; in the last year alone，over half a dozen books on benchmarking have

30、 hit the stand and the number of benchmarking consultants has grown considerably. The formal definition of benchmarking is the continuous process of measuring products，services，and business practices against those of the toughest competitors or companies renowned as leaders. Xerox pioneered benchmar

31、king in the late 1970s when it suddenly found that the Japanesehad more than a 40 percent cost advantage in copiers and that Xeroxs own market share in copiershad severely declined. Xerox CEO David Kearns initially launched the successful“Leadershipthrough Quality” program to boost product quality a

32、nd reduce manufacturing costs. Since then，Xerox senior management has required all organizations within Xerox to pursue benchmarking. 31 There are four major types of benchmarking activities pursued at Xerox: internal, functional, generic, and competitive. The theory behind internal benchmarking mai

33、ntains that, because large organizations have multiples of the same units set up to perform similar activities, information can easily be shared among similar units to the companys advantage. At Xerox， the company utilizes internal benchmarking as a device to transfer opinions, ideas, and informatio

34、n (regarding best internal practices) among its divisions. In keeping with this idea, for example, the US customer operations division chose its sister affiliate in Canada as the benchmark for improving its customer service process. 32 Functional benchmarking is the story of Xeroxs learning relation

35、ship with L L Bean. In the early 1980s, the members of Xeroxs benchmarking review team asked, “Whos the best external benchmark for customer order processing?” Surprisingly, the answer was not other high-tech companies such as IBM, Cannon, or Minolta. Rather, it was L L Bean, which picked its orders

36、 manually as did Xerox. The big difference was that Bean was three times faster. Thus, Bean became Xeroxs functional benchmark in the area of order processing. In essence benchmarking focuses on determining and subsequently implementing best practices, regardless of the industry they are found in. 3

37、3 Generic benchmarking has become one of Xeroxs most important focal points. Xerox identified numerous basic business processes, such as order taking, in which they sought improvement. One individual was assigned to oversee improvements in each of 10 areas encompassing the 67 identified processes. T

38、hese process owners became responsible for documenting specific means of improving processes, overseeing implementation of organizational benchmarking activities regarding the individual processes, and resolving cross- functional disputes arising from resource allocation. 34 Finally, competitive ben

39、chmarking entails uncovering competitor practices that can then be implemented and improved upon within an organization. For example, prior to benchmarking, Xerox had four places where it stored and handled material. After reviewing top-competitor practices, Xerox changed its materials management st

40、ructure to be more in line with that of its competitors. As a result, materials-handling operations have been significantly streamlined without any accompanying loss of service quality. 35 In total, has benchmarking paid off for Xerox? Well, consider this. Since embarking on its benchmarking quest,

41、X e r o x h a s b e e n a b l e t o c u t manufacturing costs in half, reduce inventories by two-thirds, increase overall organizational productivity significantly, and achieve almost 100 percent parts acceptance from customers. As a result, Xerox has been able to reclaim the market leadership posit

42、ion that had once been threatened. 36 37 38 B 39 a barrage of: a large number/amount of 大量的大量的 misconception: wrong idea错觉错觉 toilet plunger:通下水道的吸盘通下水道的吸盘 suction:吸吸,吸入吸入 Some pumps and all vacuum cleaners work by suction. 有些泵和所有真空吸尘器都是借吸力工作的。有些泵和所有真空吸尘器都是借吸力工作的。 tug: 用力拉。用力拉。If you tug something or tug at it, you give it a quick and usually strong pull. We tugge