Pedigree Matters Less

The Exciting Offer, a reality show     1     is now well into its second season, has gained in popularity recently because it vividly portrays     2     new college graduates compete for their dream job.

Two participants in particular have attracted a great deal of attention: Wang Xiao, who graduated with a master’s degree in law from Stanford University, and Ding Hui, who     3    (not start) his law studies East China University of Political Science and Law until he turned 25.

Many Viewers imagined that Wang     4     (have) a big advantage over his opponents because of his outstanding educational qualifications. However, Wang turned out to be impatient with his fellow interns, often     5     (interrupt) them when they were sharing their opinions. Ding, on the other hand, presented determination and the attitude of a life-long learner.

You     6     be wondering, “Shouldn’t the student at the ‘better’ university automatically be the better learner and the better intern?”

Well, I hate to rain on your parade (泼冷水),    7     being able to go to a top university is nothing more than a testament to one’s hard work at a certain stage in his or her life. It does not automatically transform them into a better, smarter person     8     their making continuous efforts. Even top university graduates should always keep on working instead of resting on their laurels (不思进取).

More importantly, no amount of prestige can make up for being an arrogant know-it-all.     9    , many Harvard or Peking University degrees you hold, if you do not have regard     10     other people, you won’t earn respect from them in return.

In a word, respect is earned by becoming a worthy role model for others rather than through an excellent pedigree (历史).

9 . The Best Language for Math

What’s the best language for learning math? Hint: You’re not reading it.

Chinese, Japanese and Korean use simpler number words and express math concepts more clearly than English. The language gap is drawing growing attention as confusing English number words have been linked in several studies to weaker counting and arithmetic skill in children in English-speaking countries.

    1     Among the researchers are Karen Fuson, a professor in the School of Education at Northwestern University, and Li Yeping, an expert on Chinese math education at Texas A&M University.

Chinese has just nine number words, while English has more than two dozen. The trouble starts at “11”. English has a unique word for the number, while Chinese (as well as Japanese and Korean, among other languages) have words that can be translated as “ten-one” – spoken with the “ten” first.     2    

English number words over 10 don’t as clearly label place values. Number words for the teens reverse the order of the ones and “teens”, making it easy for children to confuse, say, 17 with 71. As a result, children working with English number words have a harder time doing multi-digit addition and subtraction (减法)     3    

It also feels more natural for Chinese speakers than for English speakers to use the “make-a-ten” addition and subtraction strategy. When adding two numbers, students break down the numbers into parts and regroup them into tens and ones. For instance, 9 plus 5 becomes 9 plus 1 plus 4.     4    Many teachers in America have increased instruction in the make-a-ten method and called for first-graders to use it to add and subtract.

Now, you should feel lucky that you are learning math in China. Thanks to your mother tongue, all math problems just come less confusing and difficult to you!

10 . One of the roles of the Nobel Prize for literature is to shine a light on someone who has been less visible than they deserve. That role was _______ this year in the announcement of Abdulrazak Gurnah as winner.

Unlike previous popular recipients living in Britain, he is not a _______. He could, as he said after the announcement, have reached more readers, but his publications _______ to grant him that. His publisher felt sorry for the fact that he “is one of the greatest living African writers; yet no one has ever _______ him,” but with this he did not agree: “I didn’t think I was ignored.”

There is a(n) _______ , here, that has to do with who is doing the looking, and what counts as officially being noticed. There is also a point of _______: calling Gurnah an African writer. In fact, while that seems to broaden horizons, it narrows and distances what he is doing. Gurnah was born in Zanzibar, and left for Britain when he was 18, _______ regional conflicts for what he hoped would be calmer waters, which turned out to be stronger dark current. He has lived in Britain ever since.

He began and stuck to writing to _______, to himself, of the shock -- of racism, rejection, poverty and loneliness. His ten novels return to it _______, which begins in 1996’s Admiring Silence. His work exists because of Britain as well as Zanzibar; it may ________ both or wholly neither. It arrives out of a(n) ________ of English literature (Gurnah is professor of literature at the University of Kent), and his first language, the rhythms and stories of Islam.

________, many of the UK's thirteen Nobel-winning writers were born elsewhere as by 2019, 14% of the UK’s population were born abroad. People might also be astonished at how many of those countries were once part of the British empire. Gurnah has spoken of how much of the world is still processing the wounds that colonialism ________, especially the experience of “losing your place in the world”-- where place is not just ________, but also belonging, status and culture.

In this sense, Gurnah’s work, which ________ those who might not have been remembered in history--shopkeeper, homemakers, students and refugees, could not be more British. But, more importantly, it could not be more universal.