Section B: Information Matching
Directions: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.
Six Potential Brain Benefits of Bilingual Education
[A] Brains, brains, brains. People are fascinated by brain research. And yet it can be hard to point to places where our education system is really making use of the latest neuroscience(神经科学) findings. But there is one happy link where research is meeting practice: bilingual(双语的) education. 'In the last 20 years or so, there's been a virtual explosion of research on bilingualism,' says Judith Kroll, a professor at the University of California, Riverside.
[B] Again and again, researchers have found, 'bilingualism is an experience that shapes our brain for life,' in the words of Gigi Luk, an associate professor at Harvard's Graduate School of Education. At the same time, one of the hottest trends in public schooling is what's often called dual-language or two-way immersion programs.
[C] Traditional programs for English-language learners, or ELLs, focus on assimilating students into English as quickly as possible. Dual-language classrooms, by contrast, provide instruction across subjects to both English natives and English learners, in both English and a target language. The goal is functional bilingualism and biliteracy for all students by middle school. New York City, North Carolina, Delaware, Utah, Oregon and Washington state are among the places expanding dual-language classrooms.
[D] The trend flies in the face of some of the culture wars of two decades ago, when advocates insisted on 'English first' education. Most famously, California passed Proposition 227 in 1998. It was intended to sharply reduce the amount of time that English-language learners spent in bilingual settings. Proposition 58, passed by California voters on November 8, largely reversed that decision, paving the way for a huge expansion of bilingual education in the state that has the largest population of English-language learners.
[E] Some of the insistence on English-first was founded on research produced decades ago, in which bilingual students underperformed monolingual(单语的) English speakers and had lower IQ scores. Today's scholars, like Ellen Bialystok at York University in Toronto, say that research was 'deeply flawed.' 'Earlier research looked at socially disadvantaged groups,' agrees Antonella Sorace at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. 'This has been completely contradicted by recent research' that compares groups more similar to each other.
[F] So what does recent research say about the potential benefits of bilingual education? It turns out that, in many ways, the real trick to speaking two languages consists in managing not to speak one of those languages at a given moment—which is fundamentally a feat of paying attention. Saying 'Goodbye' to mom and then 'Guten tag' to your teacher, or managing to ask for a crayola roja instead of a red crayon(蜡笔), requires skills called 'inhibition' and 'task switching.' These skills are subsets of an ability called executive function.
[G] People who speak two languages often outperform monolinguals on general measures of executive function. 'Bilinguals can pay focused attention without being distracted and also improve in the ability to switch from one task to another,' says Sorace.
[H] Do these same advantages benefit a child who begins learning a second language in kindergarten instead of as a baby? We don't yet know. Patterns of language learning and language use are complex. But Gigi Luk at Harvard cites at least one brain-imaging study on adolescents that shows similar changes in brain structure when compared with those who are bilingual from birth, even when they didn't begin practicing a second language in earnest before late childhood.
[I] Young children being raised bilingual have to follow social cues to figure out which language to use with which person and in what setting. As a result, says Sorace, bilingual children as young as age 3 have demonstrated a head start on tests of perspective-taking and theory of mind—both of which are fundamental social and emotional skills.
[J] About 10 percent of students in the Portland, Oregon public schools are assigned by lottery to dual-language classrooms that offer instruction in Spanish, Japanese or Mandarin, alongside English. Jennifer Steele at American University conducted a four-year, randomized trial and found that the dual-language students outperformed their peers in English-reading skills by a full school-year's worth of learning by the end of middle school. Because the effects are found in reading, not in math or science where there were few differences, Steele suggests that learning two languages make students more aware of how language works in general.
[K] The research of Gigi Luk at Harvard offers a slightly different explanation. She has recently done a small study looking at a group of 100 fourth-graders in Massachusetts who had similar reading scores on a standard test, but very different language experiences. Some were foreign-language dominant and others were English natives. Here's what's interesting. The students who were dominant in a foreign language weren't yet comfortably bilingual; they were just starting to learn English. Therefore, by definition, they had a much weaker English vocabulary than the native speakers. Yet they were just as good at interpreting a text. 'This is very surprising,' Luk says. 'You would expect the reading comprehension performance to mirror the vocabulary—it's a cornerstone of comprehension.'
[L] How did the foreign-language dominant speakers manage this feat? Well, Luk found, they also scored higher on tests of executive functioning. So, even though they didn't have huge mental dictionaries to draw on, they may have been great puzzle-solvers, taking into account higher-level concepts such as whether a single sentence made sense within an overall storyline. They got to the same results as the monolinguals, by a different path.
[M] American public school classrooms as a whole are becoming more segregated by race and class. Dual-language programs can be an exception. Because they are composed of native English speakers deliberately placed together with recent immigrants, they tend to be more ethnically and economically balanced. And there is some evidence that this helps kids of all backgrounds gain comfort with diversity and different cultures.
[N] Several of the researchers also pointed out that, in bilingual education, non-English-dominant students and their families tend to feel that their home language is heard and valued, compared with a classroom where the home language is left at the door in favor of English. This can improve students' sense of belonging and increase parents' involvement in their children's education, including behaviors like reading to children. 'Many parents fear their language is an obstacle, a problem, and if they abandon it their child will integrate better,' says Antonella Sorace of the University of Edinburgh. 'We tell them they're not doing their child a favor by giving up their language.'
[O] One theme that was striking in speaking to all these researchers was just how strongly they advocated for dual-language classrooms. Thomas and Collier have advised many school systems on how to expand their dual language programs, and Sorace runs 'Bilingualism Matters,' an international network of researchers who promote bilingual education projects. This type of advocacy among scientists is unusual; even more so because the 'bilingual advantage hypothesis' is being challenged once again.
[P] A review of studies published last year found that cognitive advantages failed to appear in 83 percent of published studies, though in a separate analysis, the sum of effects was still significantly positive. One potential explanation offered by the researchers is that advantages that are measurable in the very young and very old tend to fade when testing young adults at the peak of their cognitive powers. And, they countered that no negative effects of bilingual education have been found. So, even if the advantages are small, they are still worth it. Not to mention one obvious, outstanding fact: 'Bilingual children can speak two languages!'
36. A study found that there are similar changes in brain structure between those who are bilingual from birth and those who start learning a second language later.
37. Unlike traditional monolingual programs, bilingual classrooms aim at developing students' ability to use two languages by middle school.
38. A study showed that dual-language students did significantly better than their peers in reading English texts.
39. About twenty years ago, bilingual practice was strongly discouraged, especially in California.
40. Ethnically and economically balanced bilingual classrooms are found to be helpful for kids to get used to social and cultural diversity.
41. Researchers now claim that earlier research on bilingual education was seriously flawed.
42. According to a researcher, dual-language experiences exert a lifelong influence on one's brain.
43. Advocates of bilingual education argued that it produces positive effects though they may be limited.
44. Bilingual speakers often do better than monolinguals in completing certain tasks because they can concentrate better on what they are doing.
45. When their native language is used, parents can become more involved in their children's education.
Answers & Explanations
36. H。解析：similar changes in brain structure → H段 Gigi Luk cites at least one brain-imaging study on adolescents that shows similar changes in brain structure。
37. C。解析：developing students' ability to use two languages by middle school → C段 The goal is functional bilingualism and biliteracy for all students by middle school。
38. J。解析：dual-language students did significantly better than peers in reading → J段 dual-language students outperformed their peers in English-reading skills by a full school-year's worth of learning。
39. D。解析：About twenty years ago, especially in California → D段 culture wars of two decades ago...California passed Proposition 227 in 1998。
40. M。解析：Ethnically and economically balanced...get used to diversity → M段 ethnically and economically balanced...gain comfort with diversity and different cultures。
41. E。解析：earlier research was seriously flawed → E段 research was "deeply flawed"。
42. B。解析：dual-language experiences exert a lifelong influence → B段 bilingualism is an experience that shapes our brain for life。
43. P。解析：positive effects though they may be limited → P段 even if the advantages are small, they are still worth it。
44. G。解析：concentrate better → G段 Bilinguals can pay focused attention without being distracted。
45. N。解析：native language is used, parents more involved → N段 improve students' sense of belonging and increase parents' involvement。
全文翻译
大脑，大脑，大脑。人们对大脑研究着迷。然而很难指出我们的教育系统真正利用了最新的神经科学发现。但有一个令人欣喜的连接点，在这里研究正与实践结合：双语教育。加州大学河滨分校的Judith Kroll教授说："在过去20年左右的时间里，关于双语能力的研究出现了爆炸式增长。"研究人员一再发现，"双语能力是一种会终生塑造我们大脑的体验"，哈佛大学教育研究生院副教授Gigi Luk如是说。与此同时，公立学校教育中最热门的趋势之一就是通常所说的"双语"或"双向沉浸式"项目。传统的英语学习者项目侧重于让学生尽快融入英语环境。相比之下，双语课堂则为英语母语者和英语学习者提供跨学科教学，同时使用英语和另一种目标语言。其目标是所有学生在中学阶段具备功能性双语能力和双语读写能力。这一趋势与20年前的文化战争背道而驰——当时倡导者坚持"英语优先"教育。最著名的是加州于1998年通过了227号提案，旨在大幅减少英语学习者在双语环境中的时间。而11月8日加州选民通过的58号提案在很大程度上推翻了该决定，为全美英语学习者人口最多的州的双语教育大规模扩展铺平了道路。过去对"英语优先"的一些坚持，是建立在几十年前的研究基础上的——当时的研究显示双语学生表现不如单语英语使用者，且智商得分更低。但如今的多伦多约克大学Ellen Bialystok等学者称这些研究"存在严重缺陷"。那么近期研究对双语教育的潜在益处是怎么说的呢？事实证明，说两种语言的真正诀窍在于在特定时刻管理不说其中一种语言——这本质上是一种注意力的技艺。跟妈妈说"Goodbye"然后对老师说"Guten tag"，或者设法要一支crayola roja而不是red crayon，这都需要"抑制"和"任务切换"技能，而这些是执行功能的子集能力。双语者在执行功能的一般测量中往往胜过单语者。如果孩子在幼儿园时而非婴儿时期开始学习第二语言，是否同样受益？我们还不清楚。但哈佛的Gigi Luk引用了至少一项针对青少年的脑成像研究，显示与从出生就双语的人相比，即使他们在童年晚期之前并未真正开始练习第二语言，其脑结构也出现了类似变化。年幼时被双语抚养的孩子必须根据社交线索判断在什么场合对什么人使用哪种语言。结果，年仅3岁的双语儿童已在换位思考和心理理论测试中表现出领先优势——这两者都是基本的社交和情感技能。俄勒冈州波特兰公立学校约有10%的学生通过抽签被分配到双语课堂，同时接受西班牙语、日语或普通话以及英语教学。美国大学Jennifer Steele进行了一项为期四年的随机试验，发现到初中结束时，双语学生在英语阅读技能方面比同龄人领先了整整一个学年的学习量。哈佛Gigi Luk的研究提供了一个稍有不同的解释。她最近研究了一组100名四年级学生，他们的标准测试阅读分数相近但语言经历迥异。有趣的是，外语主导的学生虽然英语词汇量远不如母语者，但在解读文本方面同样出色。Luk发现他们在执行功能测试中得分更高——尽管没有庞大的心理词典可调用，但他们可能是出色的"解题者"，会考虑更高层次的概念，如单个句子是否在整体故事线中说得通。他们通过不同路径达到了与单语者相同的结果。美国公立学校教室在整体上正变得更加种族和阶层隔离，而双语项目可能是个例外。由于它们由英语母语者和新移民刻意组成，往往在种族和经济上更加平衡，有证据表明这有助于各种背景的孩子适应多样性和不同文化。几位研究人员还指出，在双语教育中，非英语主导的学生及其家庭倾向于感到自己的母语被倾听和重视，这可以提高学生的归属感，增加家长对孩子教育的参与。与这些研究人员交流时一个引人注目的主题是，他们对双语课堂的倡导有多强烈。去年发表的一项研究综述发现，83%的已发表研究中认知优势未能出现，不过在另一项单独分析中，效应总和仍然是显著正向的。研究人员提供的一个可能解释是：在非常年幼和非常年长者身上可测量到的优势，在测试处于认知巅峰的年轻人时往往会消退。他们还反驳说，未发现双语教育有任何负面影响。所以即使优势很小，也仍然值得——更何况还有一个明显突出的事实："双语孩子会说两种语言！"核心搭配与高分句型
【核心搭配与高频短语】
● make use of：利用（make use of the latest neuroscience findings）
● a virtual explosion of：...的爆发式增长（a virtual explosion of research）
● shape...for life：终生塑造（shapes our brain for life）
● fly in the face of：公然违背（flies in the face of culture wars）
● pave the way for：为...铺平道路（paving the way for a huge expansion）
● be founded on：基于，建立在...之上（founded on research）
● consist in：在于（consists in managing not to speak...）
● take into account：考虑到（taking into account higher-level concepts）
● draw on：利用，借鉴（draw on dictionaries）
● not to mention：更不用说（not to mention one obvious fact）
● by definition：根据定义（by definition, they had a weaker vocabulary）