河北邯鄲市第一中學 閆思思
1.obsolete adj.淘汰的
2.resilient adj.有適應力的
3.prominence n.重要
4.enroll v.注冊;登記
5.intervention n.介入;干預
6.dump sth on sb丟下;推卸
7.folly n.愚蠢;愚笨
8.prompt n.提示
9.panacea n.萬靈藥;萬能之計
1.With AItechnology developing, will teachers be obsolete? Why?
2.Will there be panacea for teaching?What will it be?
“Books will soon beobsoletein schools,”Thomas Edison announced in 1913.They would, he believed, soon be replaced by silent films.Each new wave of information technology—radios, televisions, computers—has led to similar predictions.And each time,the old technologies of books,classrooms and teachers have proved startlingly(驚人地)resilient.
Like teachers,digital educational technology comes in many forms,from wonderful to shocking.But, used properly, it now deserves moreprominencein schools—especially in poor countries where human teachers are often ignorant,absent or both.
The UN's Millennium Development Goals included the ambition that by 2015 all the world's children would complete primary school.This has largely been achieved:nine out of ten children are nowenrolled.Alas,the figure is not as impressive as it sounds.Even though most of the world's children go to school,an awful lot of them learn pretty much nothing there.According to a recent World Bank study of seven sub-Saharan African countries,half of nine-year-olds cannot read a simple word and three-quarters cannot read a simple sentence.The reason is terrible teaching.The same study found that only 7%of teachers had the minimum knowledge needed to teach reading and writing effectively.When classrooms were inspected to see whether a teacher was present,half the time the answer was no.
Several recent studies suggest ed-tech can help.It seems to bring about bigger improvements in poor countries than in rich ones.In a study of a range of interventions in poor countries—including smaller class sizes, nutritional supplements and incentives(激勵)for teachers and pupils—tech had the biggest effect.
Some of the scarce resources being spent on teachers could therefore be better spent on ed-tech.That does not mean dumping computers on schools in the hope that children will understand how to use them,a folly on which plenty of money has been wasted.Instead,it means providing schools with software that children can use with minimal help from an adult,that gets things right more often than the teachers do,that adjusts itself to the child's ability,that sends teacherspromptsabout what they are supposed to be teaching and that allows the authorities to check on whether the teacher is in the classroom.
Technology is nopanacea.Good traditional teachers are not obsolete,and are never likely to be.And authorities need to hold teachers to account.But ed-tech can help greatly—by monitoring pupils and teachers alike,assisting the best teachers and, most important, making up for the failings of the worst.
——From The Economist
大數據應用方興未艾,人工智能已悄然而至,在21世紀教育科技逐漸走進課堂的今天,老師是否會被淘汰呢?事實證明,并不會。但是教育科技的進步很大程度上可以幫助貧困地區的孩子們提升他們的教育質量。
探究視角1:篇章結構
本文是一篇說明文,篇章結構如下:

Structure Paragraph(s) Main idea(s)Introduction Para.1~2 Digital 1._________technology should be used properly and widely in poor countries.Analysis of the problem Para.3~5●Students learn nothing because of terrible teaching.●Ed-tech 2.______poor countries to improve their education.●Provide schools with 3.______that children can use with minimal help from an adult and send prompts to teachers and allow authorities to check on teachers.4._______Para.6 Ed-tech can 5.______to the improvements of the education in poor countries greatly.
探究視角2:語言學習
Ⅰ.文本填空
1.But, _________(use) properly, it now deserves more prominence in schools—especially in poor countries _______human teachers are often ignorant, absent or both.
2.When classrooms ________(inspect) to see_______a teacher was present,half the time the answer was no.
3.Some of the scarce resources_______(spend) on teachers could therefore be better spent on ed-tech.
4.Good traditional teachers are not obsolete,and are never _______(可能的)to be.
5.And authorities need to _______(使老師負責).
Ⅱ.寫作推薦
in the hope that...抱著……的希望
That does not mean dumping computers on schools in the hope that children will understand how to use them,a folly on which plenty of money has been wasted.這并不意味著把電腦堆放在學校,希望孩子們能夠明白怎樣使用它們,這是一種浪費大量金錢的愚蠢行為。
本句中in the hope that...中的that引導同位語從句,說明希望的內容。
【例句仿寫】他又問了她一次,希望能說服她來。
參考譯文
點擊來下載“老師”吧
托馬斯·愛迪生在1913年宣稱“在學校里書籍很快會被淘汰”,他相信他們很快會被無聲電影替代。每一次新的信息技術潮流都引起相似的預測,例如收音機、電視和電腦。而每一次書籍、教室和教師,這些老技術已經證明了他們令人震驚的適應能力。
像老師一樣,數字教育科技以多種形式出現,從令人贊嘆的到令人吃驚的。但是如果恰當使用,現在數字教育科技在學校更加重要,尤其是在教師無學識的或匱乏的或兼有的貧窮國家。
聯合國千年發展目標包括一項雄心勃勃的計劃:到2015年,世界上所有適齡兒童都能夠完成小學階段的學習。這個目標大部分已經實現了:九成適齡兒童如今已經注冊入學。可悲的是,這個數字并不像聽上去那樣令人贊嘆。盡管世界上大多數適齡兒童都去了學校,但他們之中有很多人在那里幾乎什么都沒學到。根據世界銀行最近針對撒哈拉沙漠以南地區七個非洲國家的一份研究,有一半的九歲孩子連一個簡單的單詞都不會念,四分之三的孩子讀不懂簡單的句子。造成這個現象的原因是糟糕的教學質量。同一份研究發現,僅僅百分之七的老師有需要用來教學生有效閱讀和寫作的最基本的知識。在檢查教室看老師是否在場時,有一半的時間答案是否定的。
最近的幾項研究表明教育科技可以幫助改善這種情況。相比于富有的國家來講,教育科技似乎能為貧窮的國家帶來更大的進步。在包括更小的班級規模、為教師學生提供營養補給品和激勵措施等一系列干預措施中,教育科技效果最明顯。
因此,一些原本被用在教師身上的稀缺資源可以被更好地用在教育科技上。這并不意味著把電腦堆放在學校,希望孩子們能夠明白怎樣使用它們,這是一種浪費大量金錢的愚蠢行為。而是意味著為學校提供軟件,這種軟件使孩子們可以在成年人盡可能少的幫助下使用它,這種軟件比教師的準確率還高。它能夠根據孩子的能力自行調整,能夠給教師發送提示信息,告訴教師應該教些什么,并使得有關部門能夠監控教師是否在教室里。
科技并非萬能之計。傳統的優秀教師并不會過時,也不可能過時。有關部門需要讓教師肩負起責任。然而,教育科技可以幫大忙——通過監控學生和老師,幫助最優秀的教師,以及,最重要的是,彌補最差的老師的不足。