一般來說，中國人的數學要比歐美人士好一點，這可能跟數學課的教學方法有關。近年來，英國引進了中式教學法，然後學生的數學成績就提高了。
British students benefit from Chinese-style teaching
by Camilla Turner
Britain has jumped up international rankings for maths following government efforts to import Chinese-style teaching into the classroom.
ranking /ˈrænkɪŋ/ n. 名次、排名
import /ɪmˈpɔːt/ v. 進口
The UK came 18th, up from 27th three years ago, in the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) league table. The Pisa tests, which are administered by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), were taken by 79 countries last year.
programme /ˈprəʊɡræm/ n. 方案、計劃
assessment /əˈsesmənt/ n. 評估（由assess加後綴-ment變成名詞）
table /ˈteɪb(ə)l/ n. 表格（league table就是排名表）
administer /ədˈmɪnɪstə(r)/ v. 管理
economic /ˌekəˈnɒmɪk/ adj. 經濟的（由economy加後綴-ic變成形容詞）
co-operation /kəʊˌɒpəˈreɪʃ(ə)n/ n. 合作
The assessment is carried out every three years and involves more than half a million 15-year-olds across the globe taking two-hour tests. Last year the UK scored an average of 502 points in mathematics, up from 492 in 2015.
carry out 做、實施
the globe /ɡləʊb/ = the world
score /skɔː(r)/ v. 得分
Within the UK, the average score for maths among English pupils (504) was "significantly higher" than scores for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, the Department for Education said.
English /ˈɪŋɡlɪʃ/ adj. 英格蘭的
significantly /sɪɡˈnɪfɪk(ə)ntli/ adv. 顯著地（由significant加後綴-ly變成副詞）
Wales /weɪlz/ n. 威爾士
Scotland /ˈskɒtlənd/ n. 蘇格蘭
Northern Ireland /ˈaɪələnd/ 北愛爾蘭
Department for Education （英國）教育部
注：英格蘭、蘇格蘭、威爾士、北愛爾蘭都是英國的一部分
Experts have said that ministers' attempts to emulate Chinese teaching methods are likely to have driven up the UK's test results. Countries in the Far East – including China and Singapore – have long come at the top of the league tables for maths.
minister /ˈmɪnɪstə(r)/ n. （政府）部長
emulate /ˈemjuleɪt/ v. 模仿
drive /draɪv/ v. 推動
Singapore /ˌsɪŋəˈpɔː(r)/ n. 新加坡
Professor Valsa Koshy, an expert in maths education at Brunel University, said: "Importing maths teaching from Far Eastern countries means there has been an emphasis on children needing to master the basic facts and traditional skills such as times tables. This used to be laughed at as too old-fashioned."
emphasis /ˈemfəsɪs/ n. 重視、強調
master /ˈmɑːstə(r)/ v. 熟練掌握
times table 乘法表、乘法口訣表
old-fashioned 老式的、過時的
In 2014, the Department for Education set up an exchange programme between English and Shanghai schools, so that maths teachers could learn about Chinese teaching methods. The programme was followed two years later by a £41 million project to train thousands of primary schools to adopt the "Shanghai-style", also known as the "maths mastery approach".
project /ˈprɒdʒekt/ n. 項目
primary school 小學
adopt /əˈdɒpt/ v. 採納、採取
mastery /ˈmɑːst(ə)ri/ n. 掌握
approach /əˈprəʊtʃ/ n. 方法
Maths mastery involves children being taught as a whole class, building depth of understanding of the structure of the subject, and is supported by the use of high-quality textbooks. A series of maths "hubs" were set up around the country to train teachers in the new methods.
structure /ˈstrʌktʃə(r)/ n. 結構
quality /ˈkwɒləti/ n. 質量
textbook /ˈtekstbʊk/ n. 教科書
series /ˈsɪəriːz/ n. 一系列
hub /hʌb/ n. （某種活動的）中心
Ben Durbin, head of international at the National Foundation for Educational Research which administered the Pisa tests in the UK, said it was "encouraging" to see that the boost in score for maths was driven by improvements among boys and lower-achieving students.
foundation /faʊnˈdeɪʃ(ə)n/ n. 基金會
educational /ˌedʒuˈkeɪʃ(ə)n(ə)l/ adj. 教育的（由education加後綴-al變成形容詞）
encouraging /ɪnˈkʌrɪdʒɪŋ/ adj. 鼓舞人心的
boost /buːst/ n. 提高、增加
low-achieving 指學習成績較差的
The UK also ranked higher for reading and science than it did three years ago, coming 14th place in the international rankings for both in the most recent Pisa test, up from 22nd and 15th respectively. As well as coming below countries in the Far East, the UK also ranked below other European countries such as Estonia, Slovenia and Poland for all three subjects.
rank /ræŋk/ v. 排名、排在
respectively /rɪˈspektɪvli/ adv. 分別
as well as = in addition to 除了…之外
Estonia /esˈtəʊniə/ n. 愛沙尼亞（東北歐國家）
Slovenia /sləˈviːniə/ n. 斯洛文尼亞（東南歐國家）
Poland /ˈpəʊlənd/ n. 波蘭（中歐國家）
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