And I'm Beth.

我叫貝絲

So Beth, we're talking about the best education systems in the world today. You went to school here in Britain. What do you think of the British education system? Do you think it could be the best?

貝絲，我們在談論當今世界上最好的教育體系。你在英國上過學。你覺得英國的教育體系如何？你認為它是最好的嗎？

I think that it's quite good. There's probably a couple of things that I personally would change about it, but I would say it's quite good, but maybe not the best in the world.

我認為它相當不錯。可能有幾處我個人想改動的地方，但我認為它相當不錯，但也許不是世界上最好的。

Well, in this programme, we're going to be talking about the PISA rankings.

在本節目中，我們將討論國際學生評估項目（PISA）的排名。

The rankings are based on tests carried out by the OECD. That's an international organisation every three years. The tests attempt to show which countries are the most effective at teaching maths, science and reading. But is that really possible to measure? Well, here is former BBC education correspondent, Sean Coughlan, talking to BBC World Service programme, The Global Story.

排名的依據是經合組織（OECD）進行的測試。這是一個國際組織，每三年進行一次。這些測試試圖說明哪些國家在數學、科學和閱讀教學方面最有效。但這真的可以衡量嗎？以下是英國廣播公司（BBC）前教育記者肖恩-考夫蘭（Sean Coughlan）在英國廣播公司世界服務節目《全球故事》（The Global Story）中的談話。

When they were introduced, first of all, that was a very contentious idea because people said, how can you possibly compare big countries, how can you compare America to Luxembourg or to, you know, or to parts of China or whatever?

當它們被引入時，首先，這是一個非常有爭議的想法，因為人們說，你怎麼可能將大國進行比較，你怎麼可能將美國與盧森堡或中國的部分地區或其他國家進行比較？

Sean said that the tests were contentious. If something is contentious, then it's something that people might argue about. It's controversial. So at first, PISA tests were contentious because not everyone believed it was fair to compare very different countries.

肖恩說測試是有爭議的。如果某件事情有爭議，那麼它就是人們可能會爭論的東西。它是有爭議的。是以，起初，PISA 測試是有爭議的，因為並不是每個人都認為對截然不同的國家進行比較是公平的。

Phil, I've got a question for you about them. So in 2022, Singapore was top of the reading rankings, but which of these countries came second? Was it...

菲爾，我有一個關於它們的問題要問你。2022年，新加坡在閱讀排名中名列前茅，但在這些國家中，哪個國家排名第二？是...

a. The USA, b. Ireland, or c. The UK?

a.美國、愛爾蘭還是英國？

I think it might be b. Ireland.

我想可能是愛爾蘭。

OK, well, we will find out if that's correct at the end of the programme.

好吧，節目結束時我們就會知道這是否正確。

A common pattern in the PISA rankings is that the most successful countries tend to be smaller.

國際學生評估項目（PISA）排名的一個共同模式是，最成功的國家往往是小國。

Talking to BBC World Service programme, The Global Story, Sean Coughlan tells us that many large countries from Western Europe don't score that highly in the rankings.

肖恩-考夫蘭（Sean Coughlan）在接受英國廣播公司世界服務節目《全球故事》（The Global Story）採訪時告訴我們，許多西歐大國在排名中的得分並不高。

They're being outpaced and outperformed by these fast-upcoming countries, you know, Singapore or Estonia or Taiwan or those sort of places, which we don't historically think of as being economic rivals. But I suppose the argument for the PISA tests is if you want to have a knowledge economy, an economy based on skills, this is how you measure it.

他們被這些快速崛起的國家超越，你知道，新加坡、愛沙尼亞、臺灣或諸如此類的地方，我們歷來不認為它們是經濟上的競爭對手。但我想，PISA測試的論點是，如果你想擁有一個知識經濟，一個以技能為基礎的經濟，這就是你衡量它的方法。

We heard that many large European countries are being outpaced by smaller nations.

我們聽說，許多歐洲大國正在被小國超越。

If someone outpaces you, they're going faster than you, at a higher pace.

如果有人超過了你，說明他的速度比你快，節奏比你高。

We use the prefix out to say that someone or something is better at doing something.

我們使用前綴 out 來表示某人或某事更擅長做某事。

We also heard that smaller nations are outperforming larger ones, they're performing better. Singapore, Estonia and Taiwan are described as economic rivals to large European nations. That means that they are competing with them economically.

我們還聽說，小國的表現優於大國，它們表現得更好。新加坡、愛沙尼亞和臺灣被描述為歐洲大國的經濟競爭對手。這意味著它們在經濟上正在與歐洲大國競爭。

We also heard about a knowledge economy. This is an economy based on service industries that require workers to be highly educated, such as IT, finance or advanced engineering.

我們還聽說了知識經濟。這是一種以服務業為基礎的經濟，要求工人受過高等教育，如信息技術、金融或高級工程學。

So, what makes countries perform better in these tests?

那麼，是什麼讓各國在這些測試中表現得更好呢？

Let's hear again from BBC World Service programme, The Global Story. Sean Coughlin tells us that those countries that prioritise getting everyone to a certain level do well.

讓我們再次收聽 BBC 世界服務節目《全球故事》。肖恩-考富林告訴我們，那些優先考慮讓每個人都達到一定水準的國家做得很好。

We also hear from Rando Kustic, an Estonian school principal.

我們還將聆聽愛沙尼亞校長 Rando Kustic 的發言。

Countries which make sure that all their pupils get through a certain level of education to a certain standard, regardless of their background, do well.

那些確保所有學生無論其背景如何，都能通過一定程度的教育達到一定標準的國家做得很好。

If you are teaching them by a different level of abilities, then you are segregating them.

如果你按照不同的能力水準來教他們，那麼你就是在隔離他們。

And we don't want to segregate any people in the world. Why we are doing that in the schools, this is one of the main things why Estonia is successful.

我們不想在世界上隔離任何人。我們為什麼要在學校這樣做，這是愛沙尼亞成功的主要原因之一。

Sean said the most successful systems educate everyone to a particular standard, regardless of their background. If one thing happens regardless of something else, it means that the something else is not important or not a problem.

肖恩說，最成功的制度是按照特定的標準教育每個人，無論其背景如何。如果發生了一件事而不管其他事，那就意味著其他事不重要或不是問題。

Rando Kustic said that Estonian schools do not want to segregate students.

Rando Kustic 說，愛沙尼亞的學校不想隔離學生。

Segregate means to separate and keep apart.

隔離的意思是分開和分開。

So, we've just heard about Estonia, but what about your question, Beth? What about those countries?

我們剛剛聽說了愛沙尼亞，但你的問題呢，貝絲？那些國家呢？

I asked you which out of the USA, Ireland and the UK came second for reading in the 2022 PISA rankings. You said Ireland and that was the correct answer. Well done.

我問你，在 2022 年國際學生評估項目排名中，美國、愛爾蘭和英國中哪個國家的閱讀排名第二。你說是愛爾蘭，這是正確答案。幹得好

OK, let's recap the vocabulary we've learnt in this programme about education rankings, starting with contentious, argued about or controversial.

好了，讓我們回顧一下在本節目中學到的有關教育排名的詞彙，首先是有爭議的、爭論不休的或有爭議的。

If you're outpaced by someone, they're going faster than you are.

如果你被別人超過了，那就說明他們比你跑得快。

Rivals are competitors.

對手就是競爭對手。

A knowledge economy is one based on industries that need highly educated workers, such as IT, finance or advanced engineering.

知識經濟是以需要高學歷人才的行業為基礎的經濟，如信息技術、金融或高級工程。

If something happens regardless of a second thing, the second thing has no impact on it happening.

如果一件事的發生與第二件事無關，那麼第二件事對它的發生就沒有影響。

And finally, if people are segregated, different groups of people are separated and kept apart.

最後，如果對人們進行隔離，不同的人群就會被分開和隔離。

Once again, our six minutes are up. Remember to visit our website bbclearningenglish.com where you'll find a worksheet and quiz related to this programme.

我們的六分鐘時間又到了。記得訪問我們的網站 bbclearningenglish.com，在那裡您可以找到與本節目相關的工作表和小測驗。

We'll see you again soon for more trending topics and useful vocabulary here at 6 Minute English. Goodbye for now.

我們很快會在 6 Minute English 上看到更多熱門話題和實用詞彙。再見

Bye.

再見。