Making the Grade The Cultural Roots of Asian-American Academic Success

为什么亚裔学生比较聪明

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT :Crunch time at Mission San Jose High School in Fremont, California.

CNN特派员 阮贝蒂:紧张时刻来临，这里是加州佛利蒙市的圣荷西浸信会高中。

UNIDENTIFIED MALE TEACHER :The final exam is supposed to be on what two days?

不知名男老师:期末考试在哪两天举行?

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT:For students like Sid Sriram, it's game on.

CNN特派员 阮贝蒂:对席德·斯里兰这样的学生而言，这代表好戏就要上场了。

SID SRIRAM, STUDENT :Just to see that letter grade, to see that "A" on the paper, it's a pretty good feeling.

学生 席德·斯里兰:只要看到考卷上大大的字母"A"就会感觉很不错。

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT:The kids here are some of the best test takers in the country. Mission San Jose, one of the very best public schools. It's also overwhelmingly Asian.

CNN特派员 阮贝蒂:这里的学生是美国最擅长考试的学生。圣荷西挝信会高中是美国顶尖的公立高中之一，该校学生绝大部分都是亚裔人口。

So when did you come to this school?

您是何时来到这所学校的?

STUART KHY, PRINCIPAL OF MISSION SAN JOSE HIGH SCHOOL:In 1972 I started.

圣荷西浸信会高中校长 史部华·奎:我是1972年来的。

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT:When Principal Stuart Kew came to Mission San Jose, the school was 98 percent white. Now it's only 20 percent white and nearly 75 percent Asian because of demographic shifts in the Silicon Valley community. Its scores on statewide tests have gone through the roof.

CNN特派员 阮贝蒂:在史都华·奎校长刚来到圣荷西浸信会高中时，该校学生98%是白人。由于硅谷小区的人口结构出现变动，如今该校的白人学生只占20%，亚裔学生则占了将近75%。该校在州级考试中成绩高得惊人。

Kew says Asian-American students consistently outperform their white classmates on standardized tests, and not just here.

奎校长说，亚裔美籍学生在标准化考试中的成绩经常超越白人同学，而且这个现象不只发生在这所学校。

California's top five ranked public high schools are all majority Asian. Nationally, Asian students lead in terms of overall grade point averages. They outscore their peers on the math portion of the SATs and are more likely to take math-heavy classes like physics and calculus.

加州排名前五的公立高中里绝大多数学生都是亚裔人口。亚裔学生的学业平均成绩在美同店领先地位，他们在大学入学测验中数学成绩胆越同龄人，而且比较会去选修需要大盐数学运算的科目，例如物理和微积分。

Stanford Cultural Psychologist Hazel Markus notes a distinction between intelligence and academic success. Education is particularly prized in most Asian cultures. Academic success, a child's duty to his family.

史丹佛文化心理学学者海柔·马库斯发现智力好和功课好是有区别的。亚洲文化尤其看重教育。功课好是一个孩子对家庭应负的责任。

HAZEL MARKUS, STANFORD UNIVERSITY :It's the most important role. It's your job. It's what you are supposed to do, is to bring honor to the family by becoming educated.

史丹佛大学 海柔·马库斯:把书证读好是最重要的一件事，那是你的工作。你理应如此做，要通过受教育来光耀门楣。

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT :What's more, studies show Asian students take a unique approach to learning, absorbing facts rather than reflexively challenging them.

CNN特派员 阮贝蒂:而且研究显示亚洲学生用一种很特别的方式来学习，他们会吸收事实，而非反射性地去挑战那些事实。

HAZEL MARKUS, STANFORD UNIVERSITY :First comes just making your mind quiet and then taking in the information that's there, organize it, put it together. Later on there can be questioning.

史丹佛大学 海柔·马库斯:首先是静下心来，然后将信息接收进来，再加以组织、整舍，之后才会去提出质疑。

ALVIN ALVAREZ, ASIAN AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION :Any time we make broad statements about Asian-Americans being uniformly successful, it misleads the public.

亚裔美国人心理协会 艾尔文·阿瓦瑞兹:每当我们一概而论地说亚裔美国人都很有成就时，都会对大众造成误导。

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT :Dr. Alvin Alvarez says statistics don't tell the whole story and perpetuate the myth of a model minority.

CNN特派员 阮贝蒂:艾尔文·阿瓦瑞兹博士表示，统计数据不会表露出事情的全貌，只会让少数模范创造的神话持续存在。

The path of a college-educated immigrant from India or China is very different from that of an asylum -seeking refugee who fled Cambodia or Laos or Vietnam.

自印度或中国移民过来的大学毕业生的人生之路和为了寻求政治庇护而从柬埔寨或越南来的难民是截然不同的。

The model minority myth renders all those distinctions moot.

少数模范人物的神话把这些差异全都抹煞了。

As a white student at Mission San Jose, Hanna Raudsep is a minority. She rolls with the pressure, but questions the pressure cooker mentality she sees in some of her Asian-American classmates. But Hazel Markus calls this a case of cultural confusion.

汉纳·罗塞普作为向人是圣荷西浸信会高中里的少数。她有很大的压力，但她对班里部分亚裔美籍同学压力锅般的，心理状态也感到不解。海柔·马库斯说这是一种文化差异。

HAZEL MARKUS, STANFORD UNIVERSITY:For Asian students, it doesn't feel like pressure. It feels a bit like scaffolding or wind at their sails. It's like having a team behind you that's rooting for you to do well.

史丹佛大学海柔·马库斯:对亚裔学生来说，这算不上是压力。那种感觉有点像提供支撑或是助他们一臂之力。就像有一整个团队都在帮你打气，让你表现得更好一样。

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT :As for Sid Sriram, Sid's parents closely monitor his academic progress. They know all about pressure from their own experience in India.

CNN特派员 阮贝蒂:对席德·斯理兰而言，他的父母会密切关注他的学业进度。他们在印度的经历使他们十分清楚压力为何物。

RAM SRIRAM, SID'S FATHER :You knew you had to be successful; you had to become an engineer or a doctor.

席德的父亲 兰姆. 斯理兰:你知道你非成功不可，你必须成为工程师或医生。

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT :And you became an engineer?

CNN特派员 阮贝:带你当上工程师了吗?

RAM SRIRAM, SID'S FATHER :I became an engineer.

席德的父亲 兰姆·斯理兰:我当上工程师了。

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT :But here in America, Sid is setting his own goals.

CNN特派员 阮贝蒂:但是在美国，席德正在制订自己的计划。

After the last test is graded, he'll pursue his true passion-music-and then, he hopes, a political science degree from Harvard. His parents vow to support him every step of the way.

在最近一次考试的分数出炉后，他即将追求自己真正的爱好--音乐。接着，他希望能取得哈佛大学政治学学位。他的双亲誓言将一路支持他到底。