首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
This fishing village of 1,480 people is a bleak and lonely place. Set on the southwestern edge of Iceland, the volcanic landscap
This fishing village of 1,480 people is a bleak and lonely place. Set on the southwestern edge of Iceland, the volcanic landscap
admin
2012-03-23
61
问题
This fishing village of 1,480 people is a bleak and lonely place. Set on the southwestern edge of Iceland, the volcanic landscape is whipped by the North Atlantic winds, which hush everything around them. A sculpture at the entrance to the village depicts a naked man facing a wall of seawater twice his height. There is no movie theater, and many residents never venture to the capital, a 50-min. drive away.
But Sandgerdi might be the perfect place to raise girls who have mathematical talent. Government researchers two years ago tested almost every 15-year-old in Iceland for it and found that boys trailed far behind girls. That fact was unique among the 41 countries that participated in the standardized test for that age group designed by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development. But while Iceland’s girls were alone in the world in their significant lead in math, their national advantage of 15 points was small compared with the one they had over boys in fishing villages like Sandgerdi, where it was closer to 30.
The teachers of Sandgerdi’s 254 students were only mildly surprised by the results. They say the gender gap is a story not of talent but motivation. Boys think of school as sufferings on the way to a future of finding riches at sea; for girls, it’s their ticket out of town. Margret Ingporsdottir and Hanna Maria Heidarsdottir, both 15, students at Sandgerdi’s gleaming school—which has a science laboratory, a computer room and a well-stocked library—have no doubt that they are headed for university. "I think I will be a pharmacist," says Heidarsdottir. The teens sat in principal Gudjon Kristjansson’s office last week, waiting for a ride to the nearby town of Kevlavik, where they were competing in West Iceland’s yearly math contest, one of many throughout Iceland in which girls excel.
Meanwhile, by the harbor, Gisli Tor Hauksson, 14, already has big plans that don’t require spending his afternoons toiling over geometry. "I’ll be a fisherman," he says, just like most of his ancestors. His father recently returned home from 60 days at sea off the coast of Norway. "He came back with 1. 1 million krona," about $18,000, says Hauksson. As for school, he says, "it destroys the brain. " He intends to quit at 16, the earliest age at which he can do so legally. "A boy sees his older brother who has been at sea for only two years and has a better car and a bigger house than the headmaster," says Kristjansson.
But the story of female achievement in Iceland doesn’t necessarily have a happy ending. Educators have found that when girls leave their rural enclaves to attend universities in the nation’s cities, their science advantage generally shrinks. While 61% of university students are women, they make up only one-third of Iceland’s science students. By the time they enter the labor market, many are overtaken by men, who become doctors, engineers and computer technicians. Educators say they watch many bright girls suddenly flinch back in the face of real, head-to-head competition with boys. In a math class at a Reykjavík school, Asgeir Gurdmundsson, 17, says that ’although girls were consistently brighter than boys at school, "they just seem to leave the technical jobs to us. " Says Solrun Gensdottir, the director of education at the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture: "We have to find a way to stop girls from dropping out of sciences. "
Teachers across the country have begun to experiment with ways to raise boys to the level of girls in elementary and secondary education. The high school in Kevlavik tried an experiment in 2002 and 2003, separating 16-to-20-year-olds by gender for two years. That time the boys slipped even further behind. "The boys said the girls were better anyway," says Kristjan Asmundsson, who taught the 25 boys. "They didn’t even try. "
Which of the following words can best describe Sandgerdi?
选项
A、desolate
B、poor
C、bustling
D、thriving
答案
A
解析
本题考查桑格迪给读者的印象,根据第1段第1句话可知,桑格迪是一个荒凉偏僻的地方。选项A与bleak、lonely意义相近,故选项A符合题意。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/h1iO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
Antarcticahasactuallybecomeakindofspacestation—auniqueobservationpostfordetectingimportantchangesintheworld’s
TheSkillsofEssayWritingWritingcanhelpyoutogetyourthoughtsclear,toexploresomeofyourideasandto【1】yourself
Babyboom’referstothegreatincreaseofbirthratebetween______.
A、meetinganoldfriendB、receivingapsychologicaltestC、applyingforajobD、AmericanC
A、discussborderissuesB、todevelopregionaltradeC、toopenanewcross-borderbus-routeD、toreopendiscussiononKashmiriss
AIDSisnottransmittedthroughroutine,nonintimatecontactinthehomeortheworkplace.Transmissionfromonepersontoanoth
Imagineyoufoundoutthatideasinventedbyacomputerwereratedhigherbyindependentexpertsthanideascreatedbyagroupo
ThescientificnameistheHoloceneAge,butclimatologistsliketocallourcurrentclimaticphasetheLongSummer.Thehistory
A、Waitfortherecruiter’snotice.B、Revisittherecruiterfortheresult.C、Sendaletterofthanks.D、Givetheinterviewerac
北京获得2008奥运会的举办权是世界对北京的认同和信任。根据“为人的和谐发展,以促进建立一个维护人的尊严的和平社会”的奥林匹克宗旨,北京提出了“绿色奥运、科技奥运、人文奥运”的举办理念。绿色奥运,就是将环境保护作为奥运设施规划和建设的首要条件。北京
随机试题
《饮冰室合集》是下面哪位历史人物的著作合集?()
人体内嘌呤核苷酸分解代谢的主要终产物是
依据施工验收规范,母线安装正确的排序是( )。
海运附加费中因港口不同情况而增收的附加费,包括港口附加费、港口拥挤费、选港费以及()。
甲公司2013年该公司分别销售A、B产品1万件和2万件,销售单价分别为100元和50元。甲公司向购买者承诺提供产品售后2年内免费负责保修服务,预计保修期内将发生的保修费在销售额的2%一8%之间(该区间内各金额发生的可能性相同)。2013年实际发生保修费1万
秋季运动会结束了,三班的同学比较沮丧,他们的成绩比原来差了很多,但是班主任和大家分析了原因以后,大家很快找到了症结,定下了下次一定要取得好成绩的目标,并做出了具体的计划,大家又精神抖擞起来。此时的班集体属于()。
Samuel:Hey,______?Diana:IwishIcould.ButIreallyhavetostayinandfinishmypapertonight.Samuel:Oh,maybesomeoth
结合材料回答问题。材料1“才者,德之资也;德者,才之帅也”。德与才,是辩证统一的两个方面,二者缺一不可。重才轻德,历来是用人的大忌。具备良好品德,才有忠于事业、为民服务的恒久动力;具备出色才干,才有胜任本职工作的专业技能。德才兼备,我们
下列叙述中,错误的是()。
Fromgoodreadingwecanderivepleasure,companionship,experience,andinstruction.Agoodbookmayabsorbourattentionsoco
最新回复
(
0
)