Unit 4

Text A

Pre-reading Activities

First Listening
Before listening to the tape, have a quick look at the following words.

catch
隐藏的困难

troublemaker
捣乱者

stereotype
对…形成固定看法
ethnic
种族的

Second Listening
Listen to the tape again and then choose the best answer to each of the following questions.

1. What was unusual about the class?
A) They were all above average in intelligence.
B) The brought gifts for their teacher.
C) The teacher was misled about their abilities.
D) They studied the effects of labeling.
2. What is the main lesson taught by the experiment?
A) Expectations have a strong influence on results.
B) Some students are smarter than others.
C) A lot of communication is not expressed in words
D) Racial stereotypes can be damaging.
3. Which of the following is NOT true of labeling?
A)It is powerful and can have negative effects.
B)Its effects can be positive or negative.
C)It is very common throughout society.
D)It is only powerful in the classroom.
4. The main purpose of this passage is _________.
A) to report on an experiment and its implications
B) to discuss ways of improving school performance
C) to explain the dangers of racial stereotyping
D) to present various ways of communicating

How to Become Gifted

Julius and Barbara Fast

In a study of educational techniques, a teacher was told r that her newclass were all gifted children. "You should get above-average results from them," she was advised, and by the end of the term she was getting just that, better than average work.
The remarkable thing about it all was that in reality the class was not unusual. They were just an average group of students with IQs within the normal range. The teacher had been deceived about their potential.
This study uncovered many answers to many questions about teaching and children, but it left even more questions unanswered. One point it did make with unusual clarity is that a child will usually live up to a teacher's expectations when the child believes those expectations are honest.
An unanswered question was: In what way did the teacher communicate to the students that they were special and could do superior work? She didn't tell them that in so many words, but obviously something about her attitude convinced the students that they were gifted.
Further studies showed that the special "something" in the teacher's attitude was, in part, the type of work she gave the class, and in part how she presented it. But the strongest "something" was the teacher herself and her attitude toward the class and toward their ability.
There was an extra amount of confidence and interest in her voice that said, "You're bright children." There was a constant reassuring tone that told them they would do well, very well. The children picked up these signals and reacted positively to them.
When a student's work did not measure up to the teacher's expectations, as often happened, the student was not treated with disappointment, anger, or annoyance. Instead, the teacher assumed that this was an exception, an accident, a bad day, a momentary slip — and the student believed her and felt reassured. The next time around, he tried harder, determined to live up to what the teacher knew he could do.
The exact part of communication that tells a child, "I expect the best," is difficult to pinpoint. In part it consists of a level tone showing assurance, a lack of verbal impatience, an absence of negative qualities such as irony, put-downs, and irritation. The teacher who expects the best asks her questions with conviction, knowing the answers she gets will be right, and the child picks up that conviction.
Most of this is transmitted through the voice, but a surprising amount is in the attitude, in touch, and in facial expression.
An experiment similar to the one done with "gifted" children was done with "gifted" mice. A scientist was given a group of ordinary mice, but told that they were a special breed, trained to run a maze in record time. Working with these mice, the scientist found that they did learn faster than other mice and did run the maze more quickly.
But mice know nothing of our language. How was the scientist able to communicate his expectations to them? An examination of all the variables in the test concluded that the unusually good results were due to the way he had handled the mice, the way he talked to them and the tone, the confidence, the reassurance, and the certainty in his voice. They absorbed all the messages and performed accordingly!
In a broader view of both these experiments, the teacher and the scientist used a principle common to all societies at all levels — the principle of labeling. All our expectations are prejudiced, and we have very different expectations for different people, even on a national level. We think of people in terms of national characteristics. We expect Americans to be greedy, after the big buck, and we label them that way in our minds. We label Germans neat and orderly, English cold, distant, and reserved, Italians emotional, Japanese polite——and so it goes. We pin a very narrow label on a very broad, far from homogeneous group. We do it on racial levels too. Blacks are musical, Indians are stoic, Orientals inscrutable. We even label the sexes — men are aggressive, women passive.
On a family basis, the labels are sometimes attached by the neighbors. "Those Joneses are trash...always on welfare." Or the label may be attached by the family itself. "We Smiths would rather go hungry than ask for government help！" The Smith boy, growing up with this label of awesome independence, lives up to it as readily as the Jones girl lives up to her label. "They all think we're trash? I'll act like trash！"
The label may be less inclusive, even sexist. One family might say proudly, "The men in our family are always professionals." When Bill, a son in this family finds that carpentry is the work he loves best, he faces a family conflict — and a conflict with himself. His inner strength may allow him to go through with his own desires and become a carpenter, but then he knows that he hasn't lived up to the family label and he goes through life with a sense of guilt. He may even create his own label. "I'm a failure, really." It doesn't matter that Bill is a success in his field, that in time he owns his own business and makes more money than his brother Bob, who became a lawyer. Bill is still not a professional man, and as a result his inner label still reads failure.
Labeling within a family starts very early. Before the baby understands verbal language, he responds to body language and indirect communication. He senses the love in his parents' voice before he understands the words, and he also senses the rejection, indifference, fear, or hostility, and he reacts to those emotions too.
If he's treated with love and gentleness, he responds with both emotions. Later, when he understands speech, he accepts his label. Jimmy is the nice one in the family, or Sally, who's been a difficult baby, earns the label of troublemaker. Each child, along with his given name, picks up a label. She's the clever one. He's the pushy one. Norman is always late. Betty is so hard to love. Barbara is cold. Jack is wild. Natalie is sweet, and so on. The labels may reflect reality. Natalie may be sweet, but as often as not the reality has been imposed on the child by the label. If Natalie hears that she is sweet often enough, she begins to act sweet. You tend to live up to your label.
In the same way, the students in the teaching experiment were labeled bright, and they managed to be bright, to work beyond their ordinary ability.
(1 117 words)
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