"The Asian system is transparent," says Karen Fuson, a Northwestern University psychologist who has done much of the research on Asian-western differences.
“亚洲人的计算方法非常直观，”一名西北大学的心理学家卡恩·弗森（Karen Fuson）说道，对于中西方的差异，弗森曾经做过许多相关的研究，
"I think that it makes the whole attitude towards math different.Instead of being a rote learning thing, there's a pattern I can figure out.
“我认为这使得人们在学习数学时产生了完全不同的态度。如果不需要死记硬背，数学本身就有规律可循。
There is an expectation that I can do this. There is an expectation that it's sensible.
这样，做题的人就会认为自己可以完成题目，认为答案是可知的。
For fractions, we say three-fifths.The Chinese is literally 'out of five parts, take three.'
以分数为例，我们说五分之三，就是‘three-fifths’，但是，中国数字的字面意思就是从五份中拿出三份，
That's telling you conceptually what fraction is. It's differentiating the denominator and the numerator.
这既能从概念上引导你知道什么是分数，也能引导你区分分母和分子。”
The much-storied disenchantment with mathematics among western children starts in the third and fourth grade,
西方的孩子在三、四年级开始，就会表示出对数学毫无兴趣。
and Fuson argues that perhaps a part of that disenchantment is due to the fact that math doesn't seem to make sense;
弗森认为，或许是因为数学看起来没有逻辑，因此他们对数学无法产生兴趣。
it's linguistic structure is clumsy; it's basic rules seem arbitrary and complicated.
不仅西方的语言结构不够直观，而且基础公式既教条又复杂。
Asian children, by contrast, don't face nearly that same sense of bafflement.
相反，亚洲的孩子对数学不会产生困惑的感觉。
They can hold more numbers in their head, and do calculations faster and the way fractions are expressed in their language corresponds exactly to the way a fraction really is,
他们可以在头脑里记住更多的数字并快速计算，分数直观的输出方式使他们很容易了解分数的原理——
and maybe that makes them a little bit more likely to enjoy math,and maybe because they enjoy math a little more, they try a little harder,
或许这会使他们对数学产生浓厚的兴趣，或许正因为他们对数学更感兴趣，因此在学习的时候会更加努力，
and take more math classes, and the more willing to do their homework, and on and on, in a kind of virtuous circle.
并且学习更多的数学课程，愿意做更多的家庭作业，长此以往，形成一种良性循环。
When it comes to math, in other words, Asians have a built-in advantage. But it's an unusual kind of advantage.
换句话说，亚洲人建立了一种内在的优势。但这优势与其它优势不同。
For years, students from China, South Korea and Japan, and children of recent immigrants from those countries,
许多年以来，中国、韩国和日本的学生以及近期移民到西方国家的亚裔子女们，
have substantially outperformed their western counterparts at mathematics.
在数学方面的能力已显而易见地高出许多同龄的西方孩子。
And the assumption has always been that it must have something to do with some kind of innate Asian proclivity for math.
由此，最常见的假设就是，亚洲人的内在数学倾向一定有其特定的原因。
The psychologist Richard Lynn has even gone so far as to propose an elaborate evolutionary theory involving the Himalayas,
心理学家理查德·林恩（Richard Lynn）曾提出一种进化理论，他指出
really cold weather, premodern hunting practices, brain size, and specialized vowel sounds to explain why he believes Asians have higher IQs.
喜马拉雅山脉的寒冷气候、原始社会的打猎生涯、大脑的尺寸和某种独特的元音导致了亚洲人拥有更高的智商。