原文標(biāo)題：
Johnson
The importance of handwriting is becoming better understood
Research on pens and paper highlights their benefits
約翰遜專欄
手寫的重要性日益為人們所知
紙筆相關(guān)研究凸顯了手寫的益處

[Paragraph 1]
TWO AND A HALF millennia ago, Socrates complained that writing would harm students. With a way to store ideas permanently and externally, they would no longer need to memorise.
2500年前，蘇格拉底認(rèn)為寫作會對學(xué)生造成傷害。有了一種永久和外部存儲思想的方法，他們就不再動(dòng)腦記憶了。

It is tempting to dismiss him as an old man complaining about change.
我們很容易把他視為一個(gè)拒絕變化的老人。

Socrates did not have a stack of peer-reviewed science to make his case about the usefulness of learning concepts by heart.?蘇格拉底可沒有一大堆經(jīng)過同行評議的科學(xué)論文，來證明用心記概念的實(shí)用性。

[Paragraph 2]
Today a different debate is raging about the dangers of another technology—computers—and the typing people do on them.
如今，人們對另一種技術(shù)——計(jì)算機(jī)以及在計(jì)算機(jī)上打字的危害性展開各種辯論。

As primary-school pupils and PhD hopefuls return for a new school year in the northern hemisphere, many will do so with a greater-than-ever reliance on computers to take notes and write papers.
隨著北半球開始了新學(xué)年，許多小學(xué)生和博士生們將更加依賴電腦來記筆記和寫論文。

Some parents of younger students are dismayed that their children are not just encouraged but required to tote laptops to class.
令一些低年級學(xué)生家長感到驚愕的是，學(xué)校不僅鼓勵(lì)并且還要求學(xué)生帶著筆記本電腦去上課。

University professors complain of rampant distraction in classrooms, with students reading and messaging instead of listening to lectures.
大學(xué)教授們抱怨說，課堂上分心現(xiàn)象非常嚴(yán)重，學(xué)生們不是在聽講，而是在讀無關(guān)內(nèi)容和發(fā)短息。

[Paragraph 3]
A line of research shows the benefits of an “innovation” that predates computers: handwriting.
一項(xiàng)研究表明，早在電腦之前就有一種 "創(chuàng)新"--手寫，手寫有許多好處。

Studies have found that writing on paper can improve everything from recalling a random series of words to imparting a better conceptual grasp of complicated ideas.
研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，紙上書寫可以帶來的好處有：幫助記憶一系列隨機(jī)排列的單詞，更好地傳授概念，更好地掌握復(fù)雜的理念等。

[Paragraph 4]
For learning material by rote, from the shapes of letters to the quirks of English spelling, the benefits of using a pen or pencil lie in how the motor and sensory memory of putting words on paper reinforces that material.
對于需要重復(fù)記憶的學(xué)習(xí)材料，從字母的形狀到英語拼寫的怪異之處，使用鋼筆或鉛筆書的好處在于，書寫過程中的動(dòng)作和感官加強(qiáng)了該材料的記憶。

The arrangement of squiggles on a page feeds into visual memory: people might remember a word they wrote down in French class as being at the bottom-left on a page, par exemple.
紙張上的不規(guī)則排列進(jìn)入了視覺記憶：例如，人們可能會記得在法語課上寫下的單詞位于頁面的左下角。

[Paragraph 5]
One of the best-demonstrated advantages of writing by hand seems to be in superior note-taking.
手寫最明顯的好處之一體現(xiàn)在記筆記上。

In a study from 2014 by Pam Mueller and Danny Oppenheimer, students typing wrote down almost twice as many words and more passages verbatim from lectures, suggesting they were not understanding so much as rapidly copying the material.
帕姆·穆勒和丹尼·奧本海默在 2014 年進(jìn)行的一項(xiàng)研究中發(fā)現(xiàn)，學(xué)生們用鍵盤敲下的單詞數(shù)量和逐字記錄的短文數(shù)量幾乎是授課內(nèi)容的兩倍，這表明他們不是在理解內(nèi)容，而是在快速復(fù)制材料。

[Paragraph 6]
Handwriting—which takes longer for nearly all university-level students—forces note-takers to synthesise ideas into their own words. This aids conceptual understanding at the moment of writing.
手寫——即使對所有大學(xué)水平的學(xué)生來說，意味要花更長的時(shí)間——迫使記筆記的人將想法綜合成自己的文字。這有助于在書寫的過程中理解概念。

But those taking notes by hand also perform better on tests when students are later able to study from their notes.
但是，當(dāng)學(xué)生用筆記進(jìn)行復(fù)習(xí)時(shí)，那些手寫筆記的學(xué)生的考試成績更好。

The effect even persisted when the students who typed were explicitly instructed to rephrase the material in their own words.
當(dāng)明確要求打字的學(xué)生用自己的話重新表述材料時(shí)，這種效果甚至依然存在。

The instruction was “completely ineffective” at reducing verbatim note-taking, the researchers note: they did not understand the material so much as parrot it.
研究人員指出，這種指導(dǎo)在減少逐字記錄方面 "完全無效"：他們并沒有理解材料，只是鸚鵡學(xué)舌。

[Paragraph 7]
Many studies have confirmed handwriting’s benefits, and policymakers have taken note.
許多研究已經(jīng)證實(shí)了手寫的益處，政策制定者也已經(jīng)關(guān)注到這一點(diǎn)。

Though America’s “Common Core” curriculum from 2010 does not require handwriting instruction past first grade (roughly age six), about half the states since then have mandated more teaching of it, thanks to campaigning by researchers and handwriting supporters.
雖然美國2010年的“共同核心”課程只要求對一年級（約6歲）以內(nèi)學(xué)生進(jìn)行手寫教學(xué)，但由于研究人員和手寫支持者的推動(dòng)，自此之后大約有一半的州規(guī)定要進(jìn)行更多的手寫教學(xué)。

In Sweden there is a push for more handwriting and printed books and fewer devices.
在瑞典，有關(guān)部門在推動(dòng)更多的手寫和印刷書籍，提倡少用設(shè)備。

England’s national curriculum already prescribes teaching the rudiments of cursive by age seven.
英國的國家課程已經(jīng)規(guī)定要給7歲學(xué)生教授“連筆”書寫基本功。

[Paragraph 8]
However, several school systems in America have gone so far as to ban most laptops. This is too extreme.
然而，美國的一些學(xué)校系統(tǒng)甚至禁用筆記本電腦。這種做法過于極端。

Some students have disabilities that make handwriting especially hard. Nearly all will eventually need typing skills.
有些學(xué)生有殘疾，導(dǎo)致手寫特別困難。幾乎所有學(xué)生最終都需要打字技能。

And typing can improve the quality of writing: being able to get ideas down quickly, before they are forgotten, can obviously be beneficial.
打字可以提高寫作質(zhì)量：在靈感消失之前快速記下想法，這顯然是有益的。

So can slowing down the speed of typing, says Dr Oppenheimer.
奧本海默博士認(rèn)為減慢打字速度也有益。

[Paragraph 9]
Virginia Berninger, emeritus professor of psychology at the University of Washington, is a longtime advocate of handwriting.
華盛頓大學(xué)心理學(xué)名譽(yù)教授弗吉尼亞·伯寧格是手寫的長期倡導(dǎo)者。

But she is not a purist; she says there are research-tested benefits for “manuscript” print-style writing, for cursive (which allows greater speed) but also for typing (which is good practice for composing passages).
但她并不是一個(gè)純粹主義者；她說，經(jīng)過研究驗(yàn)證，“手稿”印刷風(fēng)格的寫作、連筆書寫（速度更快）以及打字（這是寫短文的練習(xí)好方法）都有好處。

Since students spend more time on devices as they age, she argues for occasional “tuning up” of handwriting in later school years.
隨著年齡的增長，學(xué)生花在設(shè)備上的時(shí)間越來越多，因此她主張?jiān)诤笃趯W(xué)年中偶爾進(jìn)行“手寫的調(diào)整”。

[Paragraph 10]
Socrates may or may not have had a point about the downsides of writing.
蘇格拉底關(guān)于書寫弊端的觀點(diǎn)也許有道理，也許沒有。

But no one would remember, much less care, if his student Plato had not noted it down for the benefit of posterity.
但如果他的學(xué)生柏拉圖沒有把他的觀點(diǎn)記錄下來，后人不會記得，更不會關(guān)心。

（恭喜讀完，本篇英語詞匯量745左右）
原文出自：2023年9月9日《The Economist》Culture版塊

精讀筆記來源于：自由英語之路

本文翻譯整理: Irene本文編輯校對: Irene
僅供個(gè)人英語學(xué)習(xí)交流使用。

【補(bǔ)充資料】（來自于網(wǎng)絡(luò)）
蘇格拉底（Socrates）是希臘古代哲學(xué)家之一，生活在公元前五世紀(jì)。他認(rèn)為問題探究是人類最重要的任務(wù)之一，注重邏輯和推理，提出了一種基于對話和提問的思維方法，被稱為“蘇格拉底式提問法”或“反問法”。蘇格拉底身體不高大，性格善良，處世平和，被認(rèn)為是古代哲學(xué)的杰出代表之一。然而，蘇格拉底的思想和方法與當(dāng)時(shí)的政治和宗教權(quán)威產(chǎn)生了沖突，最終被指控煽動(dòng)青年思想，并被判處死刑。

蘇格拉底告誡學(xué)生不要相信文字，他說了這樣一個(gè)故事。埃及的月神托特去拜訪國王，向國王一一介紹“書寫”這項(xiàng)發(fā)明的好處：書寫是學(xué)習(xí)的一環(huán)，可以改善老百姓的記憶，我所發(fā)明的方法可以提供用他們記憶和智慧的秘訣。
可是國王卻無動(dòng)于衷。國王說：“如果我的子民學(xué)會了書寫，就會把健忘植入靈魂深處，他們不會再練習(xí)使用他們的記憶，不再從心底將事物喚回記憶中，而只想靠著心外的那些標(biāo)記。”國王進(jìn)一步指出，托特發(fā)明的不是記憶的秘訣，而是提醒的秘訣；提供的不是智慧，而是智慧的假象。
“因?yàn)楫?dāng)你把一大堆東西灌輸給他們，卻沒有教導(dǎo)他們半點(diǎn)東西，你會使他們看起來所之甚多，而其實(shí)對大部分事情一無所知。當(dāng)人們不是充滿智慧，而是裝滿著智慧的自負(fù)時(shí)，他們就會變成同胞的負(fù)擔(dān)?！?/span>

【重點(diǎn)句子】（3個(gè)）
Today a different debate is raging about the dangers of another technology—computers—and the typing people do on them.
如今，人們對另一種技術(shù)——計(jì)算機(jī)以及在計(jì)算機(jī)上打字的危害性展開各種辯論。

One of the best-demonstrated advantages of writing by hand seems to be in superior note-taking.
手寫最明顯的好處之一體現(xiàn)在記筆記上。

And typing can improve the quality of writing: being able to get ideas down quickly, before they are forgotten, can obviously be beneficial.
打字可以提高寫作質(zhì)量：在靈感消失之前快速記下想法，這顯然是有益的。