Why handwriting makes you smarter

宾夕法尼亚大学 李劲松

题材社会 议论文体裁 篇幅 建议用时490词 9分钟

难词探意

1.distraction /dɪ'strækʃn/ n.注意力分散

2.emerge /i'mзːdʒ/ v.出现；浮现

3.transcribe /træn'skraɪb/ v.转录；抄写

4.retain /rɪ'teɪn/ v.保持

5.falter /'fɔːltə(r)/ v.（嗓音）颤抖；支吾其词

6.obsolete /'ɒbsəliːt/ adj.废弃的；老式的；已过时的

Handwriting is gradually becoming a dying art.Few businesses can run nowadays without computers.Most college students type virtually everything.Elementary and high schools across thecountry now view typing courses as essential to their curricula.But what are we losing as handwriting loses its significance in society? It's brain power, according to some studies.

Researchers from Princeton University and the University of California, Los Angeles conducted a series of studies to demonstrate the differences between students who wrote out their notes and those who typed notes.Participants took notes on a lecture using one of the two methods and were tested on the material 30 minutes after the lecture and again a week later.The results of the research appeared in Psychological Science, and they were pretty telling.The authors of the study noted that, while past studies on this topic tended to focus on thedistractionsthat resulted from using a computer, in this study, participants were using the laptops only to take notes.And handwriting stillemergedas the champion.

That's not to say that typing doesn't have its benefits.There are reasons why typing has become so widespread.Clearvue Health recently took a deep dive into the findings of a study to assesspros and cons of writing and typing.The typists had a significant edge when it came to note-taking efficiency.They could copy down significantly more words than the writers, sometimes eventranscribingthe contents of the lecture word-for-word.But while more of the lecture's content wasretainedon paper when typing, it wasn't necessarily retained in participants' heads.The tests that the participants took proved this.On the test 30 minutes after the lecture, typists and writers did more or less equally well on questions about the basic facts of the lecture, but typistsfalteredwhen it came to more conceptual questions.So while having more precise, detailed notes can help in recalling facts in the short term, it takes the focus away from the main points of the lessons.Students who take handwritten notes need to quickly process the lesson and rewrite it in a way they can understand, giving them an advantage in remembering new concepts in the long term.

As for the later quiz, well, the results were similar.Students with handwritten notes were able to remember and still understand the concepts of the lecture after a week had passed.These participants were also more open to understanding new ideas.Clearly, writing by hand can make you smarter.

Computers aren't going away anytime soon, but that doesn't mean paper notebooks need to becomeobsolete.If your goal is to be able to set down facts, the efficiency of typing might best benefit you.But when it comes to truly dissecting information, truly learning from it in the sense of making connections between analyzing the material, and retaining it in the long run, writing by hand is a better choice.

阅读自测

1.What can we know about the studies in paragraph 2?

A.Participants used two methods to take notes.

B.The studies were about the advantages of taking notes.

C.The results of the studies were published in Psychological Science.

D.The studies were conducted by researchers from Princeton University.

2.What can be inferred about typists from paragraph 3?

A.They used computers mainly for taking notes.

B.They could set down more contents of a lecture than writers.

C.They could remember new concepts for a long time by typing.

D.They did better on questions about the facts of the lecture than writers.

3.What does the underlined word “dissecting” in the last paragraph probably mean?

A.Analyzing. B.Protecting. C.Recalling. D.Considering.

文本探究

探究视角1：语言学习

Ⅰ.文本填空

1.Handwriting is gradually becoming a ________(die) art.

2.Participants took notes on a lecture ________(use) one of the two methods.

3.There are reasons ________typing has become so widespread.

4.The typists had a significant edge when it came ________note-taking efficiency.

5.Students who take handwritten notes need to quickly process the lesson and rewrite it in a way they can understand, ________(give) them an advantage in remembering new concepts in the long term.

Ⅱ.话题表达

as for 至于

a dying art 消亡的艺术

become obsolete 变得过时

in the long run 从长远来看

take notes by typing 键盘输入记笔记

have an advantage over 比……有优势

the efficiency of typing 打字的效率

process and retain the information 加工并保存信息

typing has become so widespread 打字已经变得非常普遍

be more willing to understand new ideas 更乐意去了解新的观点

view typing courses as essential to...认为打字课程对于……是很有必要的

handwriting loses its significance in society 手写失去了它在社会中的重要性

giving them an advantage in remembering new concepts 让他们在记住新概念方面占有优势

Ⅲ.写作推荐

1.Elementary and high schools across the country now view typing courses as essential to their curricula.现在全国的小学和中学都把打字课程视为必修课。

【信息提取】view...as...意为“把……视为……”。

【句式仿写】他被认为是一个勤奋的人。 (diligent 勤奋的)__

2.Clearvue Health recently took a deep dive into the findings of a study to assess pros and cons of writing and typing.最近，Clearvue Health 对一项评估写字和打字利弊的研究结果进行了深入研究。

【信息提取】take a deep dive into...意为“对……进行深入研究”。

【句式仿写】科学家们对近几年的气候变化进行了深入研究。

探究视角2：语篇分析

在未来，电脑的用途会越来越广泛，但这并不意味着纸质笔记本会过时。 本文是一篇议论文。本文的基本结构包括引论、本论和结论。 引论提出论点，本论摆出证据，结论重申作者的观点。 常见的论证方法有举例论证、道理论证、因果论证、比喻论证、归谬论证和对比论证。本文主要运用的是对比论证，通过研究使用电脑记笔记的学生和用笔、纸记笔记的学生之间对信息接收的不同效果，来证明手写笔记可以让信息更长久地存在于大脑中，学生对信息的理解也更深、更透。

篇章结构梳理：

Structure Topic Paragraph(s) Main idea(s)Para.1 We're losing brain power as handwriting becomes less important.Findings Para.2 &Para.3●Handwriting emerged as the champion.●Students taking handwritten notes can remember new concepts in the long term.Conclusion Suggestion Para.4 Writing by hand can make you smarter.Para.5 If you want to learn from the material and remember it in the long run,writing by hand is a better choice.

探究视角3：思维拓展

白纸黑字：文字书写的意义何在？

键盘输入文字的方式似乎正在慢慢取代文字书写，手写正面临着消亡的危险。 但是，键盘输入的只是无差别的语言符号，它在承载人类情感方面有着很大的不足。 因而，书写在这个人类愈加重视精神生活的时代里显得比以往更加重要起来。 换句话说，在人类“诗意化的生存”中，书写是一个达到这种意境的重要途径。 与书写相关的英文句子表达有：

1.Handwriting is gradually becoming a dying art.书写正逐渐成为一门濒临消亡的“艺术”。

2.What we are losing as handwriting loses its significance in society is brain power.随着书写失去在社会上的重要性，我们的脑力也在慢慢退化。

3.Computers aren't going away anytime soon, but that doesn't mean paper notebooks need to become obsolete.电脑不会很快消失，但这并不意味着纸质笔记本会过时。

4.Students who take handwritten notes need to quickly process the lesson and rewrite it in a way they can understand, giving them an advantage in remembering new concepts in the long term.采用手写笔记的学生需要快速处理课堂内容，并以他们能够理解的方式重写，这使他们在长期记忆新概念方面具有优势。

5.Handwriting helps with memory, improves expression, and supports fine motor skill development.手写有助于记忆和改善表达，并支持精细运动技能的发展。

6.Studies show that the sequential finger movements necessary for handwriting can activate the region of the brain involved in thinking, memory, and language.研究表明，手写所必需的连续的手指运动可以激活大脑中涉及思考、记忆和语言的区域。

7.Technology should not be a replacement for handwriting, but should be used as a tool to keep children learning and engaged.科技不应该取代手写，而应该作为一种工具，让孩子进行学习和参与。

8.Whether the child has special needs or not, getting them to practice handwriting skills is important to their educational growth.无论孩子是否有特殊需要，让他们练习手写技能对他们的教育成长至关重要。

写作实践

假定你是李华，你所在的班级最近举行了一场以“Take notes by typing or handwriting?”为主题的辩论赛。 请根据下表内容，用英文写一篇短文说明该活动并谈谈你自己的看法。注意：

支持键盘输入理由：方便；快捷；在短时间内记下很多信息；……支持手写理由：锻炼大脑；有利于理解信息并长久保存在大脑中；……

1.词数100左右；

2.开头已经给出，不计入总词数；

3.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

Recently, a heated discussion about “Take notes by typing or handwriting?” was held in our class.Different students hold different opinions.