英国大人们为孩子阅读习惯头疼_BEC初级作文

英国大人们为孩子阅读习惯头疼

The social context is crucial. A 2011 National Literacy Trust survey of British children found that a third of respondents did not have books of their own. Of these, 19 per cent were below the reading level expected for their age, compared with 7.6 per cent of those who did own books.

社会环境也至关重要。2011年英国国家文教信托(National Literacy Trust)对全国学生的调查研究表明：接受调查者中有三分之一没有个人的图书。其中，19%学生的阅读能力低于其年龄要求的标准，而对拥有个人图书的学生来说，这个比例仅为7.6%。

Inequalities were also picked up in the OECD study. England and Northern Ireland showed “one of the stronger associations between socioeconomic background and literacy proficiency” among the countries tested. What’s more, the report concluded, “unlike most other countries, this association is stronger among young people than among the overall adult population”.

经合组织的研究中，还涉及了不平等问题。在接受测试的所有国家中，英国与北爱尔兰呈现了“社会经济背景与读写能力之间存在更紧密的关联度”。而且，该研究报告得出以下结论：“与其它国家不一样的是，这种关联度在英国年轻人中比成年人更为突出。”

Such issues have come to the fore in a parliamentary inquiry into adult literacy now under way. “Whether or not you use the word ‘class’, it is about home environments,” Helen Casey, an adult literacy expert, told MPs at its first session last month. “Kids spend 12 per cent of their time in school; they spend the rest of their time not in school. The culture they grow up in is really important,” said another expert, David Hughes. Yet at least one of the MPs seemed sceptical of that approach, suggesting that amounted to “excuses for the education profession”.