High 2 · Reading series
Lesson 20 · One Day without a Score
Audio track 20
Listen first
Listen once before opening the English passage.
Open the English passage and hover for word help
My language app gave me a daily score, a streak, and a place on a class leaderboard. At first these numbers encouraged me. Later, I found myself opening the app simply to protect the streak, even when I was too tired to understand the lesson.
On a Sunday I turned off the display and read an English comic borrowed from a friend. I looked up a few expressions and laughed at a scene I would have missed before. There was no score for that hour. Yet I remembered the story better than many exercises I had completed quickly.
The next week I returned to the app. I still used its reminders, but I checked the score less often. I wrote a note beside it: “What did I understand today?” Sometimes the answer was a grammar pattern; sometimes it was why a character had changed her mind.
A number can help track practice. It cannot contain every kind of learning. I wanted the score to serve my reading, rather than my reading to serve the score.
Check your understanding
After reading, state the main idea in one sentence and find a line that supports it.
Chinese translation
语言学习应用每天给我分数、连续打卡天数和班级排行榜名次。起初，这些数字鼓励了我。后来，即使疲惫得看不懂课程，我也只为保住连续打卡而打开应用。
一个星期天，我关掉这些数据显示，读起朋友借我的英文漫画。查了几个表达后，我被一幕情节逗笑了；以前我也许根本看不懂。那一小时没有分数，我却比匆匆做完许多练习时更记得故事。
下周，我又回到应用，仍使用它的提醒功能，却不那么频繁地看分数。我在分数旁写下：‘今天我理解了什么？’有时答案是一个语法规律，有时是某个人物为什么改变主意。
数字能帮助记录练习，却装不下所有学习收获。我想让分数为阅读服务，而不是让阅读为分数服务。
Key words and expressions
Key terms have Chinese explanations. Hover over dotted words in the English passage for word help and pronunciation when available.
- daily score
- 每日得分；应用量化练习。
- streak
- 连续打卡；主人公想保住纪录。
- leaderboard
- 排行榜；显示班级名次。
- encouraged
- 鼓励；数字起初有激励作用。
- protect
- 保住；后来只为维持打卡。
- expressions
- 表达；读漫画时查了几个。
- exercises
- 练习；匆匆做完不一定记得牢。
- pattern
- 规律；可以是当天的收获。
- track
- 记录；分数可追踪练习量。
- contain
- 包含；数字装不下所有学习。
Background notes (Chinese)
打卡、积分可以帮助维持练习，却可能让目标变成保住数字。主人公重新把理解故事和语言表达放在中心，保留有用提醒而降低对排名的依赖。