Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I’m Rob...
大家好，欢迎收听六分钟英语。我是罗伯。
… and I’m Neil. Hello.
大家好，我是尼尔。
Well Neil I’ve got a question for you straight away.
尼尔，我现在就有一个问题问你。
Were you a summer baby?
你是夏天宝宝吗？
Were you born in the summer?
也就是说你是夏天出生的吗？
Um…Yes, I was actually. Late summer.
是的，我是夏末出生的。
OK. And did you go to university?
那你上大学了吗？
Yes…? Strange questions here, Rob.
上了。好奇怪的问题。
Not really.
其实不奇怪。
My questions do make sense because we’re talking about the impact when you were born has on how well you perform at school.
我的问题很有意义，因为今天我们要讨论的是出生的时间和你在学校的表现之间的关系。
OK. Are you calling me stupid here, Rob?
好吧，你是说我很笨么？
Nothing like that.
不是啊。
Well maybe… let’s wait and see what the experts have to say.
额，也许吧，我们待会看看专家们是怎么说的。
But before that, I’ve got another question for you.
但那之前，我有另一个问题问你。
OK then – let’s see if I’m clever enough to answer it!
好的，刚好测试一下我有多聪明，能不能答对。
OK. Well, based on birth records between 1973 and 1999, what is the most common birthday for a person in the United States?
根据1973~1999年的出生记录，美国出生率最高的一天是哪一天？
Is it:
a) 1st Januarya) 1月1日
b) 16th Septemberb) 9月16日
c) 30th Marchc) 3月30日
I’m gonna guess 30th March.
我猜是3月30日。
OK. Well, we’ll hear the answer at the end of the programme.
好的，节目的最后我们再公布答案。
Another question now.
现在，回到另一个问题上。
According to research, are summer born babies more likely or less likely to go to university?
根据研究，夏天出生的孩子上大学的人数多还是少？
Well, we are going to hear from an expert.
我们听听专家的看法。
Lorraine Dearden, who is Professor of Economics and Social Statistics at University College London (UCL).
Lorraine Dearden是英国伦敦大学学院经济和社会统计教授。
She was interviewed by the BBC about summer-born babies.
她接受了BBC的访问，谈论夏天出生的孩子。
She talks about the research, how well do they do in tests.
她谈论其一项研究以及测试中他们表现如何。
How do they perform?
她们是如何表现的？
All the research has shown that summer born kids perform much worse in tests right through up until the age of eighteen
研究显示18岁以下夏天出生的孩子在调查中表现较差，
and even … they’re less likely to attend higher education.
而且他们接受最高教育的人数也少得多。
I mean, these are startling statistics 20% are less likely to go to university.这些数据很令人吃惊，夏天出生的孩子中20%都没有上大学。
Absolutely.
确实如此。
That was Professor Lorraine Deardon with some really really surprising statistics – startling statistics, in fact.
Lorraine Deardon教授提到了一些非常非常令人惊讶，令人吃惊的数据。
Yes, she says summer born kids perform much worse in tests.
是的，她说夏天出生的孩子在测试中表现较差。
Yes, these summer born kids perform worse at school right through until the age of eighteen when they might be thinking about going to university.
夏天出生的孩子在学校表现较差，直到18岁他们要考虑上大学了。
Yes, university. That’s higher education.
是的，大学。那就是高等教育。
So the professor said, according to research, summer babies are less likely to go to university - 20% in fact.
所以教授说，根据调查，夏天出生的孩子中20%上不了大学。
Really? Well, don’t forget Rob, I told you I’m a summer baby.
真的吗？但你别忘了，我也是夏天出生的。
Well, I went to university.
我上大学了。
Yes, of course.
当然了。
These are just statistics – just figures.
这只是统计，只是数字而已。
But if you are a parent of a child starting school these statistics are worrying.
但是，如何你是孩子的父亲，孩子到了入学的年龄，这些数据很让人担忧。
Well they shouldn’t worry.
他们也不用担忧。
There are lots of people who were born in the summer that have done very well at university, thank you.
有很多孩子出生在夏天，但是在大学中表现出色。
And some of them are now professors.
有一些还成为了教授。
OK. Or BBC presenters… like you Neil.
是的，还有成为BBC主持人的，例如你，尼尔。
Yes, like me. 是的，像我一样。
But here is the problem.
但是有一个问题。
Let’s say you have a child.
假设你有一个孩子。
He’s a boy, born in August.
是个男孩，出生在八月。
He’s now 4 years old so he can start school this September.
他现在四岁，九月份应该入学了。
But in his class there are students whose birthday is coming very soon so they’re going to be 5
但是在班上，其他孩子们马上要过生日，即将5岁了。
– that’s almost a year older than your child.
他们就比你的孩子大一岁多。
So parents want their kids to do well at school – they are concerned
所以父母们希望孩子能在学校表现出色，他们很关心这个问题，
- and now the government is trying to help – they’re trying to address those concerns.
政府也尝试着给予帮助，解决家长们的担忧。
England’s schools minister Nick Gibbs says that the government wants to change the admissions rules for schools.
英格兰教育部长Nick Gibbs说政府想要改变入学政策。
The rule now in much of England is that children must start school in September after their fourth birthday.
如今大部分英格兰地区实行的政策是孩子们必须在九月份入学前已过完4岁生日。
The schools minister says these rules should be changed.
教育部长表示这些政策应当改变。
'Parents know their children best,' said Mr Gibb.
“父母最了解他们的孩子”，Gibb说。
Parents don’t want to send their children to school before they are ready.
家长们不想孩子还没有准备好就送他们上学。
So here is the proposal – or suggested new rules.
如今有一些提议的新政策。
If a child is born in the summer, parents could delay the child’s start of school by up to a year.
如果孩子出生在夏天，可以推迟一年上学。
So the child will start school at 5 years old.
所以孩子们将在5岁时入学。
Great, but does our expert Professor Lorraine Deardon think that’s a good idea.
挺好的，但是Lorraine Deardon教授认为这是好主意吗？
Is this the way to address the problem of the age difference?
这是解决年龄差距问题的好方法吗？
Ah no, it’s not.
我觉得这不是好办法。
I mean, basically, the reason why these children do worse in tests right throughout their life
我认为，之所以这些孩子在测试中表现较差，
is simply that they are up to a year younger than their September born colleagues
是因为他们比9月出生的同龄人小一岁，
and this does nothing to address this.
新政策对解决这问题没有任何帮助。
Professor Lorraine Deardon. She says that the new policy does nothing to address the problem of the age difference.
Lorraine Deardon教授，她说新政策对解决年龄差距问题没有丝毫帮助。
There are still going to be 4 year olds in the class.班上还是有4岁入学的孩子。
Perhaps there will be more 5 year olds now because parents can delay their child’s start at school.
也许现在会有很多孩子5岁才上学，因为家长们推迟了他们的上学时间。
Yes, the new policy addresses the concerns of parents that their children are not ready for school at 4 years old….
是的，父母们担心孩子4岁时没有准备好上学，新政策解决了他们的担忧。
… but there will always be this age difference in a classroom and many of the younger children will do worse in tests.
但是课堂中仍然存在年龄差距，很多更小的孩子在测试中的表现还不会太好。
Professor Deardon says that the proposal to change the schools admission policy does nothing to address this.Deardon
教授说，推迟入学的政策无法解决这个问题。
OK, time now for the answer to the question I set you at the beginning of the programme. 该回到节目开始前我问你的问题了。
I asked: based on birth records between 1973 and 1999, what is the most common birthday for a person in the United States?
根据1973~1999年的出生记录，美国出生率最高的一天是哪一天？
Is it:
a) 1st Januaryb) 16th Septemberc) 30th Marcha) 1月1日b) 9月16日c) 3月30日
And I guessed the 30th March.
我猜是3月30日。
But you are wrong I’m afraid.
很抱歉你答错了。
The answer is actually the 16th September.
正确答案是9月16号。
Happy birthday to whoever was born then anyway.
对他们说生日快乐吧。
Yeah. OK, Rob. Can you tell us the words we learned today again please?
好吧，那我们再回忆一下今天学到的单词吧？
Of course.
好的。
We heard:今天听到的单词有：
more likely / less likely更可能/更不可能
perform表现
higher education高等教育
Startling令人吃惊的
statistics统计
admissions录取
delay推迟
policy政策
concerns担忧
address the problem解决问题
Well, that’s the end of 6 Minute English.
今天的六分钟英语就到这里。
Please do join us again soon.
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