How much paper and glue can $27.5bn buy?
275億美元可以買多少紙和膠水?
In the US, the average family now spends about $685 on their child’s back-to-school necessities from kindergarten to secondary school, an increase of nearly $250 since 2005 – and that works out to $27.5 billion total for the 2018 schoolyear.
在今天的美國(guó),普通家庭從孩子上幼兒園到中學(xué)階段購(gòu)買返校用品平均花費(fèi)685美元(4679元人民幣),自2005年以來(lái)上漲了近250美元。2018學(xué)年全美總計(jì)在學(xué)生用品上花費(fèi)275億美元。
Combined with university spending, the number climbs to $83bn. The most expensive items are computers at an average spend of $299 per household. Clothing is close behind at $286, followed by electronics like tablets and calculators at $271. Last are the basics: binders, folders, books, highlighters and the rest, which cost $112. (Source: Statista / Deloitte)
如果再加上大學(xué)階段的學(xué)生用品花費(fèi),花費(fèi)高達(dá)830億美元。最貴的支出是電腦,平均每家花費(fèi)299美元。僅次于電腦的是衣服,花費(fèi)286美元,其后是平板電腦和計(jì)算器等電子產(chǎn)品,花費(fèi)271美元。最后則是一些基本學(xué)習(xí)用品:活頁(yè)夾、文件夾、書(shū)、熒光筆等花費(fèi)112美元。(數(shù)據(jù)來(lái)源:Statista /德勤)
Danes spend 200 hours a year more in school than the average student.
丹麥學(xué)生每年在校時(shí)間比其他國(guó)家的學(xué)生多出200小時(shí)。
Of 33 developed nations, primary students in Russia have the fewest required instructional hours per year – just over 500 (the international average is 800 hours). This translates to about five hours a day, with breaks between each class, during an eight-month-long schoolyear. But that doesn’t seem to be holding the country back too much: Russia’s universal literacy rate is almost 100%.
在33個(gè)發(fā)達(dá)國(guó)家中,俄羅斯小學(xué)生每年的課時(shí)量是最低的,剛剛超過(guò)500個(gè)小時(shí)(國(guó)際平均課時(shí)量是800個(gè)小時(shí))。這相當(dāng)于在八個(gè)月長(zhǎng)的學(xué)年里,每天只上約5個(gè)小時(shí)的課,中間還包括課間休息時(shí)間。但這并沒(méi)有讓俄羅斯在教育上落后太多:俄羅斯民眾的識(shí)字率將近100%。
Then there is Denmark. The country requires primary school students to spend about 1,000 hours a year in class. That’s nearly two more months than Russia, and Denmark has longer schooldays. As a country consistently ranked in the top five for education, however, perhaps Denmark proves there are some benefits to having such a long school year. (Source: OECD)
再來(lái)看看丹麥。丹麥要求小學(xué)生每年的課時(shí)量要達(dá)到1000個(gè)小時(shí),比俄羅斯多出近2個(gè)月,而且丹麥每天上課時(shí)間也更長(zhǎng)。丹麥的教育水平一直穩(wěn)居世界五強(qiáng),也許證明了課時(shí)長(zhǎng)還是有好處的。(數(shù)據(jù)來(lái)源:經(jīng)濟(jì)合作與發(fā)展組織)
Parents aren’t the only ones who pay the price for school. Just think of the trees.
為孩子上學(xué)付出代價(jià)的不只有父母,還有樹(shù)木。
Even in the age of virtual reality, 3D printing and drones, the simple pencil continues to make a mark in institutions across the world. Today, more than 400 years after their invention, an estimated 15 to 20 billion pencils are produced each year.
即使是在虛擬現(xiàn)實(shí)、3D打印和無(wú)人機(jī)時(shí)代,簡(jiǎn)單的鉛筆依然繼續(xù)在世界各地的學(xué)校中存在。在鉛筆被發(fā)明了400多年后的今天,每年約有150億到200億根鉛筆被生產(chǎn)出來(lái)。
Cedar trees found in the Pacific Northwest are the most common source of pencil wood in the US, while most of the graphite is mined in China and Sri Lanka. Approximately 60,000 to 80,000 trees are cut each year to maintain the world's pencil supply. (Source: The Economist)
太平洋西北地區(qū)的雪松是美國(guó)鉛筆用木的最大來(lái)源地,而多數(shù)鉛筆所用的石墨采自中國(guó)和斯里蘭卡。為了給全球供應(yīng)鉛筆,每年要砍掉6萬(wàn)到8萬(wàn)棵樹(shù)。(數(shù)據(jù)來(lái)源:《經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人》雜志)
Students in Australia attend class for a quarter of their lifetime.
澳大利亞人一生的四分之一時(shí)間都在上學(xué)。
At some point, school is meant to end. But in countries like New Zealand and Iceland, that isn’t for almost two decades. A student’s ‘school life expectancy’ is calculated by the average enrolment rates for different ages from primary school to the undergraduate university level. Australia currently holds the longest expectancy at 22.9 years from primary school to university, or from six years old to about 28. At the bottom of the list is Niger, where students generally begin primary school at the age of seven. Here, the average time a student spends in school is as few as 5.3 years – a 17-year difference. (Source: Global Innovation Index)
每個(gè)人總有離開(kāi)學(xué)校的那一天。但是在新西蘭和冰島等國(guó)家,人們要在學(xué)校里待上近二十年。一個(gè)國(guó)家學(xué)生的“學(xué)校生涯”是按照不同年齡人群在小學(xué)到大學(xué)的平均入學(xué)率來(lái)計(jì)算的。澳大利亞人的學(xué)校生涯是現(xiàn)今世界上最長(zhǎng)的,從小學(xué)到大學(xué)長(zhǎng)達(dá)22.9年,也就是從6歲到28歲都在上學(xué)。學(xué)校生涯最短的國(guó)家是尼日爾,那里的學(xué)生普遍7歲開(kāi)始上小學(xué)。尼日爾人平均在校時(shí)間只有5.3年,和澳大利亞人相差了17年。(數(shù)據(jù)來(lái)源:全球創(chuàng)新指數(shù))
不同國(guó)家迎接新生的方式也是各不相同,下面就讓我們一起到世界各地走一圈,看看各國(guó)開(kāi)學(xué)季的新鮮事吧!
美國(guó)——共同制定學(xué)期計(jì)劃
美國(guó)小學(xué)的老師會(huì)在開(kāi)學(xué)的第一天站在教室門(mén)口,和每一位新生握手,并帶領(lǐng)學(xué)生到早已安排好的座位坐下。開(kāi)學(xué)伊始,學(xué)校大都要將新學(xué)期開(kāi)設(shè)的課程以及學(xué)校的活動(dòng)安排告訴學(xué)生和家長(zhǎng),學(xué)生可以根據(jù)自己的興趣選擇課程,老師也可以結(jié)合家長(zhǎng)的建議為學(xué)生制訂新學(xué)期的計(jì)劃,通過(guò)召開(kāi)家長(zhǎng)會(huì)設(shè)定新學(xué)年的目標(biāo)。
德國(guó)——收到特色糖果
德國(guó)小學(xué)生入學(xué)第一天,學(xué)校會(huì)為他們舉行盛大的入學(xué)儀式。這一天,新生和他們的家長(zhǎng)都會(huì)盛裝參加入學(xué)儀式,最有特色的是每個(gè)新生都會(huì)捧著一個(gè)碩大的圓錐形糖果包。這種糖果包外表是色彩鮮艷的各式圖案,里面塞滿了文具、小玩具、糖果等各種小禮物,慶祝孩子真正邁入人生課堂。
法國(guó)——給家長(zhǎng)放假陪孩子
法國(guó)小學(xué)秋季開(kāi)學(xué)日是每年九月的第一個(gè)周二。父母十分重視開(kāi)學(xué)日,一般都會(huì)陪伴孩子到學(xué)校,法國(guó)一些大型企業(yè)還會(huì)專門(mén)給有孩子上學(xué)的家長(zhǎng)放假一天,這樣就方便家長(zhǎng)帶孩子去購(gòu)買文具。
英國(guó)——請(qǐng)家長(zhǎng)離孩子遠(yuǎn)一點(diǎn)
小學(xué)一年級(jí)新生開(kāi)學(xué)的第一天,學(xué)生們的主要活動(dòng)就是認(rèn)識(shí)新同學(xué)和老師們,而老師往往會(huì)在開(kāi)學(xué)第一天對(duì)陪孩子來(lái)學(xué)校的家長(zhǎng)提一點(diǎn)要求,那就是“離孩子遠(yuǎn)一點(diǎn)”。因?yàn)楹⒆觽円话銜?huì)對(duì)第一天上學(xué)表現(xiàn)出興奮和積極的態(tài)度,反而是他們的父母會(huì)因?yàn)閾?dān)心孩子在學(xué)校不適應(yīng)、遇到各種問(wèn)題而焦慮不安。
日本——安全防災(zāi)教育很重要
在日本,新學(xué)期的第一天不上課。師生們從打掃衛(wèi)生開(kāi)始一個(gè)新學(xué)期,然后才是開(kāi)學(xué)典禮、校長(zhǎng)講話、唱校歌等。開(kāi)學(xué)儀式后,學(xué)生回到自己的班級(jí)教室,教師會(huì)檢查學(xué)生的健康狀況,看是否發(fā)生過(guò)傷害事故;老師會(huì)帶領(lǐng)學(xué)生們了解新學(xué)期的日程安排,制定學(xué)期目標(biāo),了解在學(xué)習(xí)和生活(包括安全問(wèn)題)上需要注意的事項(xiàng),最后是學(xué)習(xí)用餐禮儀。