The reading standards of English teenagers have been condemned following a respected survey that found they lag a year-and-a-half behind their Chinese peers.

英国青少年的阅读水平遭到了谴责，近期一份权威调查发现，比起同龄的中国孩子，英国学生的阅读能力滞后了大约一年半。

 

Ministers will warn today of a "stark gulf" between the ability of 15-year-olds here and those from other leading countries.

英国大臣们将对时下英国与其他主要国家15岁少年在阅读能力上形成的这种“鲜明鸿沟”提出警告。

 

Their concern follows the analysis of an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development study showing English teens are 18 months behind Chinese of the same age and one year behind those from South Korea and Finland.

他们对这种现状的关注来源于对经合组织（OECD）一项调查研究的分析，该研究显示英国青少年落后同龄中国人18个月，与韩国和芬兰相比则落后一年。

 

They also languish at least six months behind their counterparts in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong.

与澳大利亚、加拿大、新西兰、新加坡、日本和香港的同龄人相比，他们也落后了六个月。

 

The analysis underlines the scale of improvements needed to put English teens on a parity in reading with teens from, for example, Shanghai.

分析强调，要使英国青少年在阅读能力上达到与上海学生相当的水平，需要大规模的改进。

 

Schools minister Nick Gibb condemned the poor level of standards.

英国学校事务大臣尼克·吉布谴责了如此低水平的阅读能力。

 

He blamed it on an education system and a society that has placed little importance on reading for pleasure. He said that nearly 40 percent of English pupils never did so, adding those who read for fun for just 30 minutes a day are typically one year of schooling ahead.

他批评了现存的教育体系以及不重视寓教于乐的当今社会。他说，差不多40%的英国学生从来不仔细阅读，而那些每天兴趣阅读30分钟的人一般的学龄都提早一年。

 

"The gulf between our 15-year-olds' reading abilities and those from other countries is stark – a gap that starts to open in the very first few years of a child's education", said Mr Gibb.

吉布先生指出，“我国的15岁少年阅读能力与其他国家的差距是非常明显的——这种差距在儿童教育的早期就开始出现了。”

 

"The Government's focus on raising standards of reading in the early years of primary school is key to closing that gap."

“政府注意提高小学低年级的阅读水平，是缩小这种差距的关键所在。”

 

He added: "Our writers – Charles Dickens and Charlotte Bronte, George Orwell and Ian McEwan – are the finest in the world. It is time we are also among the best readers in the world."

他还补充道：“我国作家——查尔斯·狄更斯、夏洛蒂·勃朗特、乔治·奥威尔和伊恩·麦克尤恩——都是世界上最杰出的作家。现在我们也应该成为世界上最好的读者。”