High 3 · Reading series
Lesson 9 · Two Reasons for One Trend
Audio track 09
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The number of visitors to our town's small museum rose after it opened a new exhibition. The director credited the exhibition, and I was ready to write the same conclusion. Then I learned that the station had also introduced a weekend bus that stopped near the museum.
We compared visitor records by weekday and weekend, but the museum had changed its opening hours at the same time. The available numbers could not separate the effects neatly. The exhibition might have attracted people; the bus might have made the visit easier; both could be true.
Our article described the timing of each change and quoted visitors who gave different reasons for coming. We asked the museum to continue recording how people arrived, while respecting their privacy. We did not turn those answers into a perfect formula.
A trend invites an explanation. It does not hand us one. By placing the bus, the exhibition, and the hours beside the same line on the chart, we made our uncertainty useful instead of hiding it.
Check your understanding
After reading, state the main idea in one sentence and find a line that supports it.
Chinese translation
镇上的小博物馆推出新展览后，访客数量增加。馆长把功劳归于展览，我也差点写成同样的结论。后来，我发现车站同时新开了一班周末公交，停靠博物馆附近。
我们按工作日和周末比较访客记录，却发现博物馆也在同一时期调整了开放时间。现有数字无法整齐地分离各项影响。展览可能吸引人，公交也可能让到馆更方便，两者可以同时成立。
报道写明每项改变发生的时间，也引用不同访客的到访理由。我们请博物馆在尊重隐私的前提下继续记录访客怎样到来，没有把答案硬套成完美公式。
趋势会引人寻找解释，却不会自动交出唯一答案。把公交、展览和开放时间并列放在同一条数据线旁，我们让不确定性变得有用，而不是把它藏起来。
Key words and expressions
Key terms have Chinese explanations. Hover over dotted words in the English passage for word help and pronunciation when available.
- visitors
- 访客；博物馆人数上升。
- exhibition
- 展览；馆长认为它带来客流。
- credited
- 归功；结论尚需检验。
- introduced
- 引入；车站新开周末公交。
- records
- 记录；分工作日和周末比较。
- separate
- 分离；影响无法精确拆开。
- effects
- 影响；可能来自多个改变。
- privacy
- 隐私；调查到馆方式时须尊重。
- trend
- 趋势；人数上涨引出问题。
- uncertainty
- 不确定性；可以公开并利用。
Background notes (Chinese)
同一时段多项条件一起改变时，很难仅凭参观人数断定哪一项起了多大作用。报道如实列出展览、交通和开放时间的变化。