听力文本

From VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

On average, young people from poor families had test scores between three and four points below what is expected for their age group.

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."

The researchers say that up to 20 percent of the achievement gap, or difference in test performance, could be tied to poverty.

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.

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."

I'm Jonathan Evans.

词汇解析

1.gray matter 灰质，灰白质；头脑，智力

He observed that the axons in his samples ended in the gray matter, and that their endings were consistent with the location of dendrites.
他发现，在他的标本中，轴突最终终止于灰质，并且它们的结合位点与树突的位置相一致6ztyF&A3YT4。

2.socioeconomic adj. 社会经济学的

The age, education, and socioeconomic status of these young mothers led to less satisfactory child care.
这些年轻妈妈的年龄、教育状况和社会经济地位导致其子女得不到妥帖的照料=JvAxdlvXog=YKpBcn。

3.deficit n. 赤字；不足额

They're ready to cut the federal budget deficit for the next fiscal year.
他们已准备好在下一个财政年度削减联邦预算赤字7fcgtb8W[t|sqGJa8yD。

内容解析

1.The researchers say that up to 20 percent of the achievement gap, or difference in test performance, could be tied to poverty.

be tied to 束缚于，捆绑于

I wouldn't like to be tied to catching the last train home.
我不想非得赶最后一趟列车回家;LsK=P1nBT8hO2。

They had children and were consequently tied to the school holidays.
他们有孩子，当然就受学校假期的束缚7h-bTpi!Aob3Q-uH。

2.Reaching out to children when they are very young could help raise their test scores and academic performance when they are older.

reach out伸出(手等)；伸手拿；提供援助

The black middle class must now reach out with more empathy and concern to the lower class.
黑人中产阶级眼下必须对底层社会倾注更多的同情和关心DXF)xcw,!)bdQ1@D!~T。

On this International Human Solidarity Day, let us pledge —as nations and as individuals —to reach out to our neighbours.
值此国际人类团结日之际，让我们以国家和个人名义承诺向我们的邻居伸出援手3ucFB+[yXgUN!~b。

参考译文

这里是美国之音慢速英语教育报道xxTWU8KHYOAe。

研究表明，与其他男孩、女孩相比，来自贫困家庭的孩子在学业上会遇到更多困难,#gy=1.TFAY[_jd]&6tQ。有着更高社会经济地位的孩子似乎准备更充分，在学业考试中表现更好Z8Rm[1ettg1G2CG。

现在，美国研究者可能已经发现了导致这一差异的生理原因，他们发现在标准化考试中分数低的学生的大脑差别，与其他孩子相比，这些学生大脑中的灰质更少，他们的颞叶发育得更慢fS;6ASFFtf。这一发现发表在期刊《儿科学》上QE2DNx.l^3。

研究者芭芭拉·沃尔夫说，颞叶和灰质都是大脑中很重要的区域，她是威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校经济学、人口健康和公共事务学教授&!d]5^j^3)。

这些大脑区域很重要，它们能在个体进入青春期或20岁以前继续发育，对于执行功能来说很关键HHp22o6dQIv3L=。

研究人员研究了近400名儿童和年轻人的大脑图像，最年轻的被研究者只有4岁，最大的22岁rLnYt^oyw(K[@KoNv[U。研究者发现了这些人经济社会地位与其考试结果之间的关联WASQP!_%ViVKbnQ。

一般来说，来自贫困家庭的年轻人其考试成绩比这个年龄组的期待成绩要低三到四个分Mx~_G,beu#qENr-。

最贫困学生的分数比发育规范低8到10个分，沃尔夫说穷学生分数低有几个原因CqQuT0#f+-9]q。一是贫困学生没有得到健康发育所需的食物，贫困父母们更不可能通过对话、玩耍和各种活动来刺激孩子的大脑vd_Ka([zE!at!@IX-9S。沃尔夫还将之归咎于“父母们面临的解决贫困、养家糊口的压力”=w0D3qHBadpo~n*[]-~。

研究者称，高达20%的成绩差异都与贫困有关HjM_;!MhDX3.+[S;K。

沃尔夫指出，早期行动可能会改善贫困儿童的大脑发育，在孩子还很小的时候就帮助他们可以提高其长大后的考试成绩和学业表现!qySy]d=uXl^qznS。

她说当探明这一差异的原因后，“就可以开发这些大脑区域，这意味着开发制定政策来解决这一差异”([#1jIGZDL5|=I!m*。

我是乔纳森·伊万斯Y)g9!)f7lRX,U。

译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！