2016年考研英語閱讀材料:Those who can
IMAGINE a job where excellence does nothing to improve your pay or chances of promotion, and failure carries little risk of being sacked. Your pay is low for your qualifications―but at least the holidays are long, and the pension is gold-plated.
Teaching ought to be a profession for hard-working altruists who want to improve children's life prospects. But all too often school systems seem designed to attract mediocre timeservers. Many Mexican teachers have inherited their jobs; Brazilian ones earn less than other public servants, and retire much earlier. Each school-day a quarter of Indian teachers play truant. In New York it is so hard to sack teachers that even those accused of theft or assault may be parked away from pupils, doing “administrative tasks” on full pay, sometimes for years.
You can find outstanding individuals in the worst school systems. But, as lazy and incompetent teachers get away with slacking, the committed ones often lose motivation. In America and Britain surveys find plummeting morale. Jaded British teachers on online forums remind each other that it is just a few months till the long summer break―and just a few years till retirement. No wonder so many children struggle to learn: no school can be better than those who work in it.
Yet it is possible to persuade the hardworking and ambitious to teach. Finland pays teachers modestly but manages them well; ten graduates apply for each training place. South Korea recruits teachers from the top 5% of school-leavers and promises them fat pay cheques. In both countries teachers are revered―and results are among the world's best.
Even where the profession is in disrepute, high-flyers can be lured into the classroom. Teach for America, which sends star graduates from elite universities for two-year stints in rough schools, is being copied around the globe. Private employers snap up its alumni―but many stay in teaching. Teach First, Britain's version, has helped raise standards in London and is one of the country's most prestigious graduate employers. Such schemes are small, but show that when teaching is recast as tough and rewarding, the right sort clamour to join.
Spreading the revolution to the entire profession will mean dumping the perks cherished by slackers and setting terms that appeal to the hardworking. That may well mean higher pay―but also less generous pensions and holidays. Why not encourage teachers to use the long vacation for catch-up classes for pupils who have fallen behind? Stiffer entry requirements would raise the job's status and attract better applicants. Pay rises should reward excellence, not long service. Underperformers should be shown the door.
Standing in the way, almost everywhere, are the union s. Their willingness to back shirkers over strivers should not be underestimated: in Washington, DC, when the schools boss (a Teach for America alumna) offered teachers much higher pay in return for less job security, their union balked.
But against the union s is a growing coalition: the leaders in public administration and private enterprise who have been through Teach for America and its ilk. They know what it takes to succeed in difficult schools, and what it would take for success to become the norm. They know that what good teachers want most of all is good colleagues. As they become more numerous and influential, they need to argue for a new deal for teachers. The good ones deserve it―and pupils do, too.
參考譯文:
想象一下，一個工作卓越人士無須做什么事情即可提高你的工資或晉升的機會，出現(xiàn)故障被解雇的風(fēng)險很小。你的工資低于你的資歷，但至少假期長，養(yǎng)老金是“鍍金”般有保障的。
教學(xué)應(yīng)該是一個為想要改善兒童的生活前景勤勞的利他主義者的專業(yè)。但很多時候?qū)W校系統(tǒng)似乎旨在吸引平庸的趨炎附勢之人。許多墨西哥教師繼承了他們的工作;巴西那些教師收入低于其他公務(wù)人員，并提前退休了。每所學(xué)校一天四分之一的印度教師罷工。在紐約很難解雇教師，即使是那些被指控偷竊或侵犯遠離學(xué)生的教師，有時多年全薪做“管理任務(wù)”。
您可以在惡劣的學(xué)校系統(tǒng)找到先進個人。但是，由于懶惰和無能的教師逃脫松弛，負責(zé)的教師往往失去動力。在美國和英國的調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)士氣一落千丈。在網(wǎng)上論壇疲倦不堪的的英國老師提醒對方，堅持到漫長的暑假僅僅只有短短數(shù)月，并且直到退休只有短短幾年。難怪這么多孩子努力學(xué)習(xí)：沒有學(xué)?？梢员饶切┖⒆釉谶@工作得更好。
然而，有可能說服勤奮和雄心勃勃的教導(dǎo)者。芬蘭支付教師的薪酬不多，但他們善于管理; 10名畢業(yè)生申請每次實習(xí)的地方。韓國從高中畢業(yè)生中排名前5%里抽取學(xué)生進行教師招聘，并他們充沛的工資。在這兩個國家的教師受到崇敬――其結(jié)果是世界上好的。
即使在專業(yè)是聲名狼藉，成功人士可以被引誘成為教師。為美國而教，使得精英大學(xué)的畢業(yè)生兩年都就職于水平較差的學(xué)校，這種情況在全球各地都在效仿出現(xiàn)。人雇主搶購校友，但很多都停留在教學(xué)。教育首先，英國方面，有助于提高在倫敦標(biāo)準，倫敦是全國負盛名的畢業(yè)生的雇主之一。這些計劃雖小，但是顯示當(dāng)教育被改寫為堅韌和獎勵，學(xué)校將會進行正確排序。
傳播革命理念給整個行業(yè)將意味著被逃避工作之人和頭腦清醒者所珍視并吸引勤勞者珍惜的額外津貼。這可能意味著更高的薪水――也不太豐厚的退休金和節(jié)假日。為什么不鼓勵教師利用長假對已經(jīng)落后的學(xué)生進行補課教育?更嚴厲的入學(xué)要求會提高工作的地位和吸引更好的申請人。加薪應(yīng)獎勵優(yōu)秀者，而非長期的工作服務(wù)。表現(xiàn)不佳應(yīng)該被掃地出門。
路上，幾乎無處不在是工會組織。他們卸責(zé)于奮斗者之上的意愿不容小覷：在華盛頓，當(dāng)學(xué)校的老板(一個做教師，校友)提供教師高得多的薪酬以換取較少的工作保障，他們的工會猶豫不決。
但對工會是一個不斷增長的聯(lián)盟：在公共管理和民營企業(yè)的經(jīng)歷過為美國和其同類而教授。他們知道如何才能在困難的學(xué)校成功，怎樣做才能成功成為常態(tài)。他們知道，好教師希望的還是不錯的同事。當(dāng)他們變得越來越多，具有影響力，他們需要爭取教師的新協(xié)議。好人應(yīng)該得到它，學(xué)生們也同樣如此。
IMAGINE a job where excellence does nothing to improve your pay or chances of promotion, and failure carries little risk of being sacked. Your pay is low for your qualifications―but at least the holidays are long, and the pension is gold-plated.
Teaching ought to be a profession for hard-working altruists who want to improve children's life prospects. But all too often school systems seem designed to attract mediocre timeservers. Many Mexican teachers have inherited their jobs; Brazilian ones earn less than other public servants, and retire much earlier. Each school-day a quarter of Indian teachers play truant. In New York it is so hard to sack teachers that even those accused of theft or assault may be parked away from pupils, doing “administrative tasks” on full pay, sometimes for years.
You can find outstanding individuals in the worst school systems. But, as lazy and incompetent teachers get away with slacking, the committed ones often lose motivation. In America and Britain surveys find plummeting morale. Jaded British teachers on online forums remind each other that it is just a few months till the long summer break―and just a few years till retirement. No wonder so many children struggle to learn: no school can be better than those who work in it.
Yet it is possible to persuade the hardworking and ambitious to teach. Finland pays teachers modestly but manages them well; ten graduates apply for each training place. South Korea recruits teachers from the top 5% of school-leavers and promises them fat pay cheques. In both countries teachers are revered―and results are among the world's best.
Even where the profession is in disrepute, high-flyers can be lured into the classroom. Teach for America, which sends star graduates from elite universities for two-year stints in rough schools, is being copied around the globe. Private employers snap up its alumni―but many stay in teaching. Teach First, Britain's version, has helped raise standards in London and is one of the country's most prestigious graduate employers. Such schemes are small, but show that when teaching is recast as tough and rewarding, the right sort clamour to join.
Spreading the revolution to the entire profession will mean dumping the perks cherished by slackers and setting terms that appeal to the hardworking. That may well mean higher pay―but also less generous pensions and holidays. Why not encourage teachers to use the long vacation for catch-up classes for pupils who have fallen behind? Stiffer entry requirements would raise the job's status and attract better applicants. Pay rises should reward excellence, not long service. Underperformers should be shown the door.
Standing in the way, almost everywhere, are the union s. Their willingness to back shirkers over strivers should not be underestimated: in Washington, DC, when the schools boss (a Teach for America alumna) offered teachers much higher pay in return for less job security, their union balked.
But against the union s is a growing coalition: the leaders in public administration and private enterprise who have been through Teach for America and its ilk. They know what it takes to succeed in difficult schools, and what it would take for success to become the norm. They know that what good teachers want most of all is good colleagues. As they become more numerous and influential, they need to argue for a new deal for teachers. The good ones deserve it―and pupils do, too.
參考譯文:
想象一下，一個工作卓越人士無須做什么事情即可提高你的工資或晉升的機會，出現(xiàn)故障被解雇的風(fēng)險很小。你的工資低于你的資歷，但至少假期長，養(yǎng)老金是“鍍金”般有保障的。
教學(xué)應(yīng)該是一個為想要改善兒童的生活前景勤勞的利他主義者的專業(yè)。但很多時候?qū)W校系統(tǒng)似乎旨在吸引平庸的趨炎附勢之人。許多墨西哥教師繼承了他們的工作;巴西那些教師收入低于其他公務(wù)人員，并提前退休了。每所學(xué)校一天四分之一的印度教師罷工。在紐約很難解雇教師，即使是那些被指控偷竊或侵犯遠離學(xué)生的教師，有時多年全薪做“管理任務(wù)”。
您可以在惡劣的學(xué)校系統(tǒng)找到先進個人。但是，由于懶惰和無能的教師逃脫松弛，負責(zé)的教師往往失去動力。在美國和英國的調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)士氣一落千丈。在網(wǎng)上論壇疲倦不堪的的英國老師提醒對方，堅持到漫長的暑假僅僅只有短短數(shù)月，并且直到退休只有短短幾年。難怪這么多孩子努力學(xué)習(xí)：沒有學(xué)?？梢员饶切┖⒆釉谶@工作得更好。
然而，有可能說服勤奮和雄心勃勃的教導(dǎo)者。芬蘭支付教師的薪酬不多，但他們善于管理; 10名畢業(yè)生申請每次實習(xí)的地方。韓國從高中畢業(yè)生中排名前5%里抽取學(xué)生進行教師招聘，并他們充沛的工資。在這兩個國家的教師受到崇敬――其結(jié)果是世界上好的。
即使在專業(yè)是聲名狼藉，成功人士可以被引誘成為教師。為美國而教，使得精英大學(xué)的畢業(yè)生兩年都就職于水平較差的學(xué)校，這種情況在全球各地都在效仿出現(xiàn)。人雇主搶購校友，但很多都停留在教學(xué)。教育首先，英國方面，有助于提高在倫敦標(biāo)準，倫敦是全國負盛名的畢業(yè)生的雇主之一。這些計劃雖小，但是顯示當(dāng)教育被改寫為堅韌和獎勵，學(xué)校將會進行正確排序。
傳播革命理念給整個行業(yè)將意味著被逃避工作之人和頭腦清醒者所珍視并吸引勤勞者珍惜的額外津貼。這可能意味著更高的薪水――也不太豐厚的退休金和節(jié)假日。為什么不鼓勵教師利用長假對已經(jīng)落后的學(xué)生進行補課教育?更嚴厲的入學(xué)要求會提高工作的地位和吸引更好的申請人。加薪應(yīng)獎勵優(yōu)秀者，而非長期的工作服務(wù)。表現(xiàn)不佳應(yīng)該被掃地出門。
路上，幾乎無處不在是工會組織。他們卸責(zé)于奮斗者之上的意愿不容小覷：在華盛頓，當(dāng)學(xué)校的老板(一個做教師，校友)提供教師高得多的薪酬以換取較少的工作保障，他們的工會猶豫不決。
但對工會是一個不斷增長的聯(lián)盟：在公共管理和民營企業(yè)的經(jīng)歷過為美國和其同類而教授。他們知道如何才能在困難的學(xué)校成功，怎樣做才能成功成為常態(tài)。他們知道，好教師希望的還是不錯的同事。當(dāng)他們變得越來越多，具有影響力，他們需要爭取教師的新協(xié)議。好人應(yīng)該得到它，學(xué)生們也同樣如此。