VOA慢速英语20060105a

EDUCATION REPORT - U.S. Adults Make Few Gains in Reading Skills Since 1992By Brianna Blake

Broadcast: Thursday, January 05, 2006

I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Education Report.

About one in twenty adults in the United States cannot read English. A new federal¹ study shows that adults made little progress in their reading skills between nineteen ninety-two and two thousand three.


out of focus man in chair reading book

The National Assessment² of Adult Literacy³ is the most important test of how well adult Americans can read. Researchers tested nineteen thousand people over the age of sixteen. The study represents an adult population of two hundred twenty-two million.

Those who took part were tested on how well they could read and understand information used in everyday life.

The study found that eleven million adults, or five percent, cannot read English. They could not answer even the easiest written questions. Four million of them most likely cannot speak English either.

The study shows that more than forty percent of adults can perform only simple reading activities. For many, even that can be difficult.

Fifty-six percent of adults can perform moderate⁴ or complex activities. Moderate can mean finding⁵ information in a book. Of that number, thirteen percent can perform complex tasks like comparing two different newspaper commentaries⁶.

Researchers say part of the problem is that many young Americans do not read as much for pleasure anymore. Also, there are greater numbers of non-English speaking immigrants⁷.

Reading skills can directly affect the ability to earn a living. The best readers were found to earn up to twenty-eight thousand dollars a year more than those who lacked simple reading skills.

Yet, compared to the last study in nineteen ninety-two, adult reading skills were about the same or lower across every level of education. This was true even among people who have completed college.

By race and ethnic⁸ group, blacks and Asians had the biggest increases in English reading skills. But levels decreased among Hispanics. Experts say, however, that while many Hispanics are unable to read in English, they may read well in Spanish.

Overall⁹, American adults improved the most in answering questions that involved numbers. Even so, the test found that the average adult cannot do much more than perform simple, everyday math.

The Department of Education says the literacy findings¹⁰ show the need for reforms especially at the high school level.

This VOA Special English Education Report was written by Brianna Blake. And it can be found on the Web at www.unsv.com. I'm Steve Ember.

1 federal   

adj.联盟的；联邦的；(美国)联邦政府的

参考例句：

• Switzerland is a federal republic.瑞士是一个联邦共和国。
• The schools are screaming for federal aid.那些学校强烈要求联邦政府的援助。

2 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

3 literacy   

n.识字，有文化，读写能力

参考例句：

• I can't believe that he failed the literacy test.我无法相信他识字测试不及格。
• The literacy rate there is the highest in Central America.那里的识字率居中美洲之首。

4 moderate   

adj.适度的，稳健的，温和的，中等的；v.节制，使...稳定，使...缓和；n.稳健的人

参考例句：

• You should moderate your language when children are present.在孩子面前，你说话应该有节制。
• The wind is moderate today.今天的风很柔和。

5 finding   

n.发现，发现物；调查的结果

参考例句：

• The finding makes some sense.该发现具有一定的意义。
• That's an encouraging finding.这是一个鼓舞人心的发现。

6 commentaries   

n.实况报道( commentary的名词复数 )；评论；评注；批评

参考例句：

• The schools produced diligent excerpting from older manuscripts, summarizing, and commentaries. 各学院从古代手稿里作了辛勤的摘录、总结和评注工作。 来自辞典例句
• The schools produced diligent excepting from older manuscripts, summarizing, and commentaries. 各学院从古代手稿里作了辛勤的摘录，总结和评注的工作。 来自辞典例句

7 immigrants   

n.移民( immigrant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Illegal immigrants were given the opportunity to regularize their position. 非法移民得到了使其身份合法化的机会。
• Immigrants from all over the world populate this city. 这个城市里生活着来自世界各地的移民。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

9 overall   

n.工作服，工装裤；全面的，全体的

参考例句：

• The shop assistant was wearing a white overall.那店员穿着白色的工作服。
• How much will it cost overall?一共多少钱？

10 findings   

n.发现物( finding的名词复数 )；调查（或研究）的结果；（陪审团的）裁决

参考例句：

• It behoves us to study these findings carefully. 我们理应认真研究这些发现。
• Their findings have been widely disseminated . 他们的研究成果已经广为传播。