High 3 · Reading series
Lesson 24 · The Sample We Almost Threw Away
Audio track 24
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Our chemistry club compared the color of two safe classroom solutions under the teacher's guidance. One sample changed less than we expected. We nearly discarded it as a mistake and reported only the neat result from the other container.
Before cleaning the table, my partner checked the labels. The “odd” container had been stored near a warm window, while the other remained in a cupboard. We could not know from that fact alone whether temperature explained the difference. We photographed both, recorded the storage conditions, and asked the teacher how to repeat the comparison safely.
The second trial used the same storage conditions for both containers. The difference became smaller, although it did not vanish. In our report, we included the first result and the questions it raised rather than replacing it with a cleaner story.
An unexpected sample can be an error, a clue, or both. Throwing it away too quickly would have protected our original idea from being challenged. Keeping it forced us to examine the method behind the result.
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After reading, state the main idea in one sentence and find a line that supports it.
Chinese translation
化学社在老师指导下，比较两种安全课堂溶液的颜色。一个样品的变化比预想的小。我们差点把它当作错误丢掉，只报告另一个容器得出的整齐结果。
收拾桌子前，同伴检查了标签。那个“奇怪”的容器曾放在温暖的窗边，另一个则存放在柜子里。单凭这一点，我们无法断定温度解释了差异。我们拍下两个容器，记录存放条件，并问老师如何安全地重新比较。
第二次实验中，两只容器采用相同的存放条件。差异变小了，却没有完全消失。写报告时，我们保留第一次结果和它引发的问题，没有用更整齐的叙述替换它。
异常样品可能是错误，也可能是线索，还可能两者兼有。太快丢掉它，只是在保护最初的想法，使之免受质疑。留下它，才迫使我们检查结果背后的方法。
Key words and expressions
Key terms have Chinese explanations. Hover over dotted words in the English passage for word help and pronunciation when available.
- sample
- 样品；变化异常的溶液。
- discarded
- 丢弃；不能只保留顺眼的结果。
- container
- 容器；两份溶液分开保存。
- labels
- 标签；同伴核查了标记。
- stored
- 存放；位置可能影响结果。
- cupboard
- 柜子；另一份样品的存放处。
- storage conditions
- 存放条件；第二次实验统一。
- trial
- 实验；需要安全地重做。
- vanish
- 消失；差异仍未完全消除。
- challenged
- 受到质疑；结果检验原来的想法。
Background notes (Chinese)
异常结果促使学生发现样品存放位置不同；第二次实验缩小了差异，但未能完全解释它。