2016年托福考试写作话题语料库_第4页

　　四、儿童类话题预料库

　　语料1 On the Virtues of Making Your Children Do the Dishes

　　Of course, children aren't doing housework partly because they're spending more time on such worthy pursuits as reading, studying and youth groups, Dr. Hofferth's data show. Parents are doing less housework themselves, hiring help or just making peace with dust bunnies. 孩子不做家务的原因：把时间花在更有意义的事情上，比如说阅读学习青年团队活动。家长自己做的家务变少了，请人来做或者是对于灰尘眼不见为净的。

　　One consequence is never more obvious than at this time of year, when hundreds of thousands of college freshmen move into their dorms and promptly begin destroying their laundry. Other studies suggest the shift may have longer-term implications for marriage and community life. 孩子不做家务的严重后果：大学新生涌入学校却不会洗衣服。其他的研究表明对于今后婚姻和群体生活也是有长期影响的。

　　Studies show parents still assign more housework to girls than boys. Yet these same young women hope as adults to find men who will help out; 90% of 60 women ages 18 to 32 studied by Kathleen Gerson, a New York University sociology professor, said they hoped to share housework and child care with spouses "in a committed, mutually supportive and egalitarian way." After controlling for other factors, U.S. marriages tend to be more stable when men participate more in domestic tasks, says a study of 506 U.S. couples published in 2006 in the American Journal of Sociology. 研究表明家长依然把家务更多的是交给女孩而不是男孩。但是女生们希望大人能够让男孩也出点力。60名18到32岁的女性中90%的女性都希望配偶能够承担家务与孩子照顾，他们的关系应该是互相奉献，相互支持和无私的。稳定其他因素之后，男人参与到家务活动中去后，美国婚姻变得更加稳定。

　　Housework has unique value in instilling a habit of serving others. Doing household chores as a child was a major, independent predictor of whether a person chose to do volunteer or other community work as an adult. Thus for parents who value service, housework is an important teaching tool. 做家务对于培养为他们服务有重要价值。做家务，很大程度上决定了孩子去参与志愿者活动。对于崇尚奉献的家长而言，家务是一个很好的教育手段。

　　Chores should be a part of any child's life once they're old enough. It's not only about having them contribute to the family, it's ensuring that they will have the skills to take care of themselves as adults. But deciding which chores to assign at what age can be a bit challenging.

　　孩子长大后，家务成为孩子生活中一部分。这不仅是为了确保他们为家庭出力，也是为了保证他们培养了像大人样照顾自己的能力。但是什么年龄段的孩子应该干什么家务却是个问题。

　　A basic rule of thumb is that the older a child is, the more responsibility that should be assigned to him or her. There's a lot of range in that which depends on your parenting style and the capabilities of your children.基本上说来，孩子越大承担的责任也就越多。当然也有差异，主要取决于你的家庭教育方式和孩子的能力。

　　The first 2 years of life are considered a critical time for brain development. TV and other electronic media can get in the way of exploring, playing, and interacting with parents and others, which encourages learning and healthy physical and social development.As kids get older, too much screen time can interfere with activities such as being physically active, reading, doing homework, playing with friends, and spending time with family.Of course, television, in moderation, can be a good thing: Preschoolers can get help learning the alphabet on public television, grade schoolers can learn about wildlife on nature shows, and parents can keep up with current events on the evening news. No doubt about it — TV can be an excellent educator and entertainer.

　　生命的头两年是智力发展的关键时期。探索，玩乐，与父母和他人的交流，这些可以促进学习，身体健康和社交能力发展的能力都会被电视和其他电子媒体所阻碍。孩子长大之后，看电视时间太多会影响孩子的活动，例如体育活动，阅读，做作业，和朋友玩耍，以及和家人相处的时间。当然来，看电视也是件好事：学前班的孩子可以通过电视学习字母表，上了学的孩子可以通过自然节目学习野生动物，家长可以从晚间新闻中了解到时事。不要怀疑--电视是一个很好的教育者和娱乐者。

　　语料2 为什么父母参与孩子教育程度比较低?

　　Parent involvement actually declines as students grow older, so that it is less in secondary schools than in elementary (Stouffer, 1992). If parental involvement is so beneficial, why isn't it being used to a greater extent than at present? There are many reasons from the parent and also from the school for this lack of involvement. One of the reasons concerns the lack of understanding of nontraditional families on the part of the school system. The nontraditional family is struggling to deal with many factors that affect every member of the family. These can definitely affect the way that the family is able to be involved in the student's education. More than likely, there is a shortage of time. There just simply are not enough hours in the day to accomplish everything. If there has been a divorce or death in the family, there probably has been a change in the financial standing of the family. By the school not being sensitive to this change, the student/family could be embarrassed. (Duncan, 1992; Lewis, 1992; Wanat, 1992).

　　随着孩子年龄的增长，父母的参与度也在下降，因此中学参与度要比小学低。如果父母参与是很有益的，为什么没有起到更大的发挥作用呢?有很多原因，从父母的角度，从学校的角度。

　　一个原因就是非传统家庭对于学校系统的了解不够。非传统家庭努力处理着会影响家庭成员的很多因素，势必会削弱教育参与程度。更有可能的是因为时间的不充分。一天时间太短，来不及处理所有的事情。如果父母离婚或者是有亲属死亡会影响家庭的财政情况。如果学校不能意识到这样的变化，学生/家庭就会很尴尬。

　　"Schools must understand that lack of participation by parents does not necessarily mean they are neglecting their responsibilities. They simply may not have the time, resources, or know-how to help out" (Wanat, p. 47). Parents often do not feel welcomed at school. They feel that what they may have to offer is unimportant and unappreciated. Also, parents may not believe that they have any knowledge that the school is interested in knowing. This is especially true when the parent may not have a great deal of education (Dixon, 1992; Vandergrift & Greene, 1992). It is also possible that the parent does not have a great deal of interest in the school or his child's education. The parent may not feel that education is important (Vandergrift & Greene).

　　学校必须明白的是父母缺少参与度并不代表他们正在忽略他们的责任。他们只是没有时间，资源和知识去参与。父母总觉得在学校里是不受欢迎的。他们觉得他们拥有的知识是不重要的。而且他们认为学校对于他们的知识也不感兴趣。当父母没有受过太多文化时，这个就尤其如此。也有可能父母对孩子的教育本身就不感兴趣，他们也许觉得教育不重要。