考博英語作文—線上教育
來源:經(jīng)濟學人雙語精讀
今天我們選的話題是#線上教育#選擇理由:教育領(lǐng)域和科技領(lǐng)域的交叉話題,又貼合疫情期間上網(wǎng)課的時事熱點。今天的文章包括四部分:
如何介紹線上教育?
線上教育有哪些優(yōu)勢?
線上教育有哪些不足?
如何評價線上教育?(概括總結(jié))
一、如何介紹線上教育?
我們先來看外刊是如何介紹線上教育的:
Distance education is nothing new, but these days it is hard to escape hyperventilation about its latest incarnation: MOOCs, or "massive open online courses". (the Economist, 2013.10)
遠程教育并不是什么新鮮事,但近來人們對它的最新形態(tài)——慕課(大規(guī)模在線開放課程)的談論之聲不絕如縷。
Distance education指“遠程教育、線上教育”。
hard to escape hyperventilation about...的字面意思是:很難逃脫掉關(guān)于...的
hyperventilation.hyperventilation由“hyper-”和“ventilation”組合而成,hyper-作為前綴,表示“more than normal”"too much"(過于、過度),比如 hypercritical (=too critical) 吹毛求疵的,hypersensitive (=too sensitive) 過于敏感的。
ventilation表示“通風”,比如很多新冠肺炎患者要接受呼吸機治療,我們可以說:
Many of the Covid-19 patients are ventilated.(被通氣、被用呼吸機治療)
合起來hyperventilation就是“過度通風”的意思,通常引申為因恐懼、疲憊或興奮而呼吸急促,文中可理解成人們對某事狂熱、興奮的氛圍,比如現(xiàn)在人人都在談論5G,就可以說 hyperventilation about 5G.
incarnation有點宗教色彩,詞典里的解釋是“化身”,其實就是某種形態(tài),閱讀中可簡單理解成form。文中 its latest incarnation = its latest form = 遠程教育的最新形態(tài)?!?/p>
所以,it is hard to escape hyperventilation about its latest incarnation的意思就是:很難逃脫掉關(guān)于遠程教育最新形態(tài)(慕課)的激動氛圍、人們對遠程教育最新形態(tài)(慕課)的談論之聲不絕如縷。
提煉出一個開頭模板:
XX is nothing new, but these days it is hard to escape overexcitement about its latest form: YY.(我把一些難詞替換成了簡單詞)
造句:Distance education is nothing new, but these days it is hard to escape overexcitement about its latest form: Ding Talk.(釘釘)
另一篇《經(jīng)濟學人》中談到了線上教育的普及:
Internet-based methods of teaching, known as Massive Online Open Courses or MOOCs, are already gaining in popularity in other countries. (the Economist, 2014.9)
基于網(wǎng)絡的教學方法,即所謂的大規(guī)模在線開放課程(慕課),已經(jīng)在其他國家越來越受歡迎。
Internet-based methods of teaching也是“線上教育、網(wǎng)絡教育”的意思,和 distance education 是同義替換。
gain in popularity字面意思是“在流行度方面有所增加”,即“越來越受歡迎”(become more popular),可當成一個固定搭配記住。
外刊中也有g(shù)ain popularity的說法,意思稍有不同,它表示 become popular (沒有more的含義)。
As the coronavirus pandemic forces schools and college campuses togo online, the delivery model of education — largely unchanged for centuries — has suddenly beendisrupted. (New York Times, 2020.4)
隨著新冠疫情迫使學校和大學開啟網(wǎng)絡教學,幾個世紀以來都沒有變化的教育交付模式,突然被顛覆。
go/move online是一個很簡單、但我們想不到去用的表達,它的意思是“到線上、到網(wǎng)絡上”,schools go/move online或courses are moved online 就可以理解成“網(wǎng)絡教學”。
此外也可以說conduct courses remotely/online,出自9月份的一期《時代周刊》:

如果是“線下教學”“傳統(tǒng)教學”該怎么說呢?可以考慮用in-person lectures、on-campus learning、classroom-based education等等。
文中這句話的主干是:the delivery model of education — largely unchanged for centuries — has suddenly been disrupted.
主語為 the delivery model of education 教育的交付模式,即以什么形態(tài)提供教育。largely unchanged for centuries是V-ed形式的后置定語,修飾主語,意思是“幾百年沒怎么變化的教育交付模式”。
謂語部分是has suddenly been disrupted 突然被顛覆。
disrupt是近幾年外刊中經(jīng)常出現(xiàn)的詞,和change屬同類詞,但比change的程度更深,一般表示“翻天覆地的變化、顛覆”,比如無人駕駛汽車disrupt傳統(tǒng)汽車行業(yè),喬布斯的蘋果disrupt諾基亞。你要說change也可以,但欠缺點力度。
二、線上教育有哪些優(yōu)勢?
我們看一下線上教育有哪些優(yōu)勢:
①Good, cheap online education will allowpeople of all walks of lifeall over the world to explorean enormous range oftopics.
②Interestedsecondaryschool students will have no reason not to take university courses in economics.
③Middle-aged professionals candabble in everything fromcomputer sciencetoexplorations of 18th century Baltic poetry. (the Economist 2014.2)
①優(yōu)質(zhì)、廉價的在線教育將使世界各地、各行各業(yè)的人士能夠探索各種各樣的課題。
②感興趣的中學生沒有理由不去參加大學的經(jīng)濟學課程。
③中年專業(yè)人士可以涉足各類學科,從計算機科學,到探索18世紀的波羅的海詩歌。(《經(jīng)濟學人》2014.2)
本段共③句話,講了線上教育的幾個優(yōu)勢:優(yōu)質(zhì)、廉價、人群廣、課題廣。其中①句概述了以上優(yōu)勢,②③句分別舉了中學生和中年教授的例子來補充說明。
這段話的語言不錯,我們一起看一下:
①Good, cheap online education will allow people of all walks of life all over the world to explore an enormous range of topics.
這句話的結(jié)構(gòu)是:allow sb to do sth,使某人能夠做某事,比如《經(jīng)濟學人》中關(guān)于社交媒體的報道中,有這么一句話:
It seems to be a blessing, for it allows us to keep up with the world at any time.
社交媒體是一種福報,因為它能讓我們隨時跟上世界的步伐。
文中的sb指people of all walks of life all over the world,這里面people是核心名詞,后面 of all walks of life 和 all over the world 是兩個定語,修飾people。
walk在這里是個熟詞僻義,名詞,a walk of life是它的固定搭配,表示 a person's job or position in society 階層、職業(yè)地位,比如:
She has friends from all walks of life.
她在社會各界中都有朋友。
所以people of all walks of life all over the world的意思就是:世界各地、各行各界的人。
文中的do sth指explore an enormous range of topics
an enormous range of...“大量”,體現(xiàn)出課題范圍之廣。
我們再來看②句:
②Interested secondary school students will have no reason not to take university courses in economics.
secondary school students指“中學生”(11-18歲),西方教育分為三級,分別是:
elementary (美) / primary (英) education小學教育
secondary education中學教育
tertiary education高等教育
will have no reason not to take 是一個雙重否定的用法,表達肯定含義,即:有充分的理由參加...
最后看③句:
③Middle-aged professionals can dabble in everything from computer science to explorations of 18th century Baltic poetry.
這句話主要記住兩個表達:dabble in,表示“涉足、涉獵”,表達的是一種不求甚解的學習體驗,“但當涉獵,見往事耳”就是這個意思。
everything from... to...表達范圍寬廣的含義,可以翻譯成“...和...等諸多東西”,體現(xiàn)出線上教育的課題之廣泛。我們在「外賣」小課中舉過一個例子:
The development of AI is fuelling concerns about everything from job losses to privacy infringement.
人工智能的發(fā)展引發(fā)人們的擔憂,比如崗位流失、隱私侵犯等諸多問題。
②③兩句通過列舉中學生和中年教授的例子,體現(xiàn)出群體多樣性,呼應了①句的people of all walks of life all over the world.
Students will soon find thatfor very low pricesthey can geta much broader array ofcourse choices, most of which offer superior instructionwith much more flexibility: you can view the lectures when you want, as many times as you want, wherever you want. (the Economist 2014.2)
學生們很快就會發(fā)現(xiàn),他們能以極低的價格獲取更多的課程選擇,其中大多數(shù)課程都能提供更好的指導,而且靈活性更強:你可以在任何時間、任何地點、反復學習課程。
這段話點明了線上教育的四個優(yōu)勢:
for very low prices 價格極低;
a much broader array of course choices 課程選擇更多;
offer superior instruction 提供更優(yōu)質(zhì)的指導;
with much more flexibility 靈活性更強。
for very low prices和前面的 cheap 是同義替換;
a much broader array of...表示“更加廣泛的...”,an array of...是個固定搭配,表示“大量的”,可以聯(lián)想到前面的an enormous range of...;
offer superior instruction指“提供更優(yōu)質(zhì)的指導”,即課程質(zhì)量高,是前面good的同義替換。
線上課程的靈活性體現(xiàn)在哪里呢?后面連用三個從句補充解釋:
when you want 無論什么時候想學就能學;
as many times as you want 想學多少遍就學多少遍;
wherever you want 無論在哪想學就能學。
這也是我們做線上不做線下、做文字不做語音視頻的原因,線上可反復學習,文字可自由掌控進度、隨時隨地學習——等人、等餐、課間、洗手間打開就能學,把零碎時間利用起來,日積月累就是一座山。
Veronique writes that she prefers online learning because her eighth-grade classrooms were poorly managed and rife with distraction. (New York Times, 2020.5)
維羅妮克寫道,她更喜歡在線學習,因為她八年級的教室管理不善,而且分心東西太多。
這句話闡述了線上教育的另一個優(yōu)勢:比起教室,線上學習分心的東西少。
be rife with同 be full of,表示“充斥、充滿”,后面一般接壞事,比如,
The country is rife with bribery and corruption.
distraction指“使人分心的事情”。
再來一個轉(zhuǎn)折句:
While distance learning has some advantages, such as fewer distractions and a go-at-your-own-pace approach, the disadvantages outweigh the benefits. (New York Times, 2020.5)
雖然遠程教育有一些優(yōu)點,比如干擾更少、可以按自己的節(jié)奏學習,但它的缺點更多。
講兩個表達,第一個是go-at-your-own-pace,它本是一個動詞詞組go at your own pace 以自己的節(jié)奏走,在中間加上連字符就變成了形容詞,意思是“按照自己節(jié)奏的”。
第二個是outweigh,它是由“out-”和weigh合成,表示to be greater or more important than sth,比如:
The advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.
利遠大于弊。
The medical benefits of x-rays far outweigh the risk of having them.
X光在醫(yī)學上的益處遠甚于它帶來的風險。
從例句中我們可以get√到兩個寫作表達:advantages outweigh disadvantages, the benefits outweigh the risks.
文中這句話還是一個完美的轉(zhuǎn)折結(jié)構(gòu),寫作中可以直接套用:
While XX has some advantages, such as A and B, the disadvantages outweigh the benefits.
那線上學習存在哪些弊端呢?我們繼續(xù)來看:
三、線上教育有哪些不足?
《經(jīng)濟學人》在講傳統(tǒng)教育的優(yōu)勢時,是這么說的:
There isa high level of interactionbetween students and with topfaculty. (the Economist, 2014.2)
學生之間、學生和頂尖教師之間有高水平的互動。
between students 和 with top faculty 是并列關(guān)系,前者指“學生之間”,后者指“(學生)和教師之間”。
faculty是指一個學?;蛟合档摹叭w教師”,比如a faculty meeting 全體教師會議。
我們可以由此反推出線上教育的劣勢:
There is a lack of high levels of interaction between students and with top faculty.
Distance learning makes collaboration with classmates difficult. My school promotesa learn-by-teaching technique: To fully understand a concept, our teachers ask us to explain it to the class. Other students challenge my thoughts and ideas and help make them better. (New York Times, 2020.5)
遠程學習使同學間合作變得困難。我的學校提倡以教為學的技巧:為了充分理解一個概念,老師要求我們向全班講解。其他同學通過挑戰(zhàn)我的想法和觀點,使觀點更加完善。
learn-by-teaching technique指“通過教學來學習的方法”,即“以教為學”。這其實是物理學家費曼提出的一個學習方法,比如一個概念,你先自己弄懂,然后講給別人聽,在講的過程中不斷檢測并強化自己的學習效果,這能讓我們的記憶更深刻、理解更透徹。這是迄今為止最高效的學習方法。
在英語學習中我們也可以“以教為學”,比如看完這篇推文、記完筆記,你試著向同學朋友講一講你學到了什么,看看能不能講出來。如果你能把一個知識點講出來,說明你真正掌握了。
不要吝嗇知識,多分享才能進步。
但線上教育還帶來一個問題——不是所有的家庭都有通暢的網(wǎng)絡,貧困家庭的網(wǎng)絡差一點,學習效果就會打折扣,《經(jīng)濟學人》中有一組數(shù)據(jù):
Then there is the problem ofaccess to online classes. Nearly half of Native American pupils and 35% of black and Hispanic ones do nothave access to either a computer or the internetat home, compared with 19% of whites. (the Economist, 2020.8)
此外還有能否上網(wǎng)課的問題。近一半的美國土著學生、35%的黑人和西班牙裔學生家里沒有電腦或互聯(lián)網(wǎng),而白人的這一比例為19%。
因此,線上教育會導致不平等加劇:
Disruptions to schooling tend to lower achievement while increasing inequality. (the Economist, 2020.8)
網(wǎng)課可能會降低學生成就,加劇不平等。
access是外刊和各大考試中經(jīng)常出現(xiàn)的一個小詞,意思是the opportunity or right to use sth or to see sb / sth (使用或見到的)機會/權(quán)利。閱讀中,我們可以把have access to sth當成一個語塊記住,表示“有...可用”,比如 have access to a car / a computer / the internet 有車可開,有電腦用,能上網(wǎng)。
Disruptions to schooling字面意思是“對學校的顛覆”,文中指“線上教育”。disruption是disrupt的名詞形式,表示“對...的顛覆”時,用介詞to。
But she neglects the reality that it advantages some students over others and exacerbates existing societal inequities. (New York Times, 2020.5)
但她忽略了一個事實:線上教育使一些學生比其他學生更有優(yōu)勢,并加劇現(xiàn)有的社會不平等。
注意這里的advantage是動詞,advantage A over B 表示“使A比B有優(yōu)勢”。
exacerbate是“加劇”的意思,exacerbate inequities同上文的increase inequality 加劇不平等。
existing是形容詞,表示“現(xiàn)有的”,比如:
New laws will soon replace existing legislation.
新法律即將取代現(xiàn)行法規(guī)。
四、如何評價線上教育?(概括總結(jié))
It is only really helpful as an add-on to regular in-school learning. (New York Times, 2020.5)
當線上教育作為常規(guī)在校教育的補充時,它才有作用。
這句話中有一個很好用的表達:an add-on to sth“...的補充”,也可以說be/as a supplement to sth,關(guān)于 電子書VS紙質(zhì)書、人工智能VS人類 的話題中,我們都可以用到這個表達:
XX, as a(n) add-on / supplement to YY, will not replace YY.
XX作為YY的補充,無法取代YY。(這里的兩個YY盡量用同義替換的方式表達)
in-school learning指“在校學習、線下教育”,我們前面講過它的同義替換。
這句話是科技類寫作的萬能金句,闡明了新舊兩種事物之間的關(guān)系。
It is wonderful thattechnology has enabled millions of students to keep learning even when direct contact is impossible. But once this crisis ends,we will be better off iftechnologyfrees upprecious class time so that educators and students can engage deeply with each other and build personal connections that will last a lifetime. (New York Times, 2020.4)
科技使數(shù)百萬學生能夠在無法直接接觸的情況下繼續(xù)學習,這真是太棒了。但一旦這場危機(指新冠疫情)結(jié)束,如果科技能騰出寶貴的課堂時間,讓教育者和學生能夠深入交流,建立持續(xù)一生的人際關(guān)系,我們的日子將會更好。
free up指為某種目的而騰出(時間/資源等),比如:
The government has promised to free up more resources for education.
政府保證調(diào)撥更多資源用于教育。
文中frees up precious class time so that...就可以理解成:騰出寶貴的課程時間,以便于...
這段話既點明了新事物的好處(It is wonderful that...),又點明了其局限性(we will be better off if...),一正一反,全面客觀。
重點:
線上教育”怎么說:
Distance education
Internet-based methods of teaching
schools go/move online
courses are moved online
conduct courses remotely/online
“線下教育”怎么說:
in-person lectures
on-campus learning
classroom-based education
in-school learning
如何介紹“線上教育”
gain (in) popularity
XX is nothing new, but these days it is hard to escape overexcitement about its latest form: YY.
As XX, YY — largely unchanged for centuries — has suddenly been disrupted.
線上教育的優(yōu)勢:
優(yōu)質(zhì)(good、offer superior instruction)
廉價(cheap、for very low prices)
人群廣(people of all walks of life all over the world)
課題廣(an enormous range of topics、a much broader array of course choices)
靈活(with much more flexibility)
分心少(classrooms were poorly managed and rife with distraction、fewer distractions)
節(jié)奏自由(a go-at-your-own-pace approach)
線上教育的劣勢
無法互動合作(a lack of high levels of interaction、make collaboration with classmates difficult)
加劇不平等現(xiàn)象(increase inequality、exacerbate inequities)
進行評價、總結(jié)
新舊事物的關(guān)系:an add-on / supplement to...
總結(jié)利弊:It is wonderful that... But we will be better off if...