A
允诺给孩子现金奖励对提高成绩有用吗？
A new report says promising children money to pass exams does not help improve exam grades. The report says parents could be wasting their money by using cash to get their kids to study more. However, the promise of a trip to somewhere nice could encourage students to try harder and do better at school. Researchers from the University of Bristol (in England) and the University of Chicago (in the USA) looked at how promises of cash and tickets to events affected students' studying and learning. Over 10,000 pupils took part in the research throughout the year 2012. There was an improvement in classwork and homework, but this did not result in better test scores.
Lead researcher Dr Simon Burgess suggested the research looked at the wrong areas. He said it had not looked at the things that really got students to increase their effort. He added, "Clearly, some pupils have a lot of goals and believe that education is a way of getting what they want out of life, but there are kids who think that working hard doesn't make a difference." He said these children think exam success is "all in your genes" because of their family background. Education expert Dr Kevan Collins said good teachers were better than promises of rewards to get children to study, especially for children from low-income families. He wrote, "What really makes the difference is how students are taught."
WORD BOX ＞＞
| cash | [kæʃ] | n. 现金 | encourage | [ɪn'kʌrɪdʒ] | vt. 鼓励,激励 |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| affect | [ə'fekt] | vt. 影响 | increase | [ɪn'kri:s] | vt. 提高 |
| effort | ['efət] | n. 努力;尝试 | goal | [gəul] | n. 目标 |
| all in your genes | | 在你的基因里 | | | |
COMPREHENSION CHECK UP ＞＞
Ⅰ. Tell whether the following sentences are true (T) or false (F).
(
F
) 1. A report says exam scores go down if kids are offered cash to pass.
(
T
) 2. The report says the promise of a trip could get students to study more.
(
T
) 3. Researchers looked at over 10,000 students for a one-year period.
(
F
) 4. An improvement in classwork and homework led to higher test scores.
(
T
) 5. A researcher said the research looked at the wrong things.
Ⅱ. Choose the best answer according to the passage.
(
B
) 1. What can encourage students to study more?
A. Music.
B. Trips.
C. A tablet.
D. Cash.
(
C
) 2. What improved according to the research?
A. Maths and English.
B. Test scores and exam grades.
C. Classwork and homework.
D. Practice and ability.
(
A
) 3. What do some students think is related to one's genes?
A. Exam success.
B. Money.
C. Ability at English.
D. Family background.
