2016年考研英语二阅读 Text 1 原文翻译及答案解析

It's true that high-school coding classes aren't essential for learning computer science in college. Students without experience can catch up after a few introductory courses, said Tom Cortina, the assistant dean at Carnegie Mellon's School of Computer Science.

诚然，高中编程课程对于大学学习计算机科学并非必不可少。没有经验的学生可以在完成几门入门课程后赶上，卡内基梅隆大学计算机科学学院的助理院长Tom Cortina说。

However, Cortina said, early exposure is beneficial. When younger kids learn computer science, they learn that it's not just a confusing, endless string of letters and numbers — but a tool to build apps, or create artwork, or test hypotheses. It's not as hard for them to transform their thought processes as it is for older students. Breaking down problems into bite-sized chunks and using code to solve them becomes normal. Giving more children this training could increase the number of people interested in the field and help fill the jobs gap, Cortina said.

然而，Cortina说，早期接触是有益的。当年轻孩子学习计算机科学时，他们会了解到它不仅仅是一串令人困惑的、无尽的字母和数字——而是一种构建应用程序、创建艺术作品或检验假设的工具。对于他们来说，转变思维方式并不像年龄较大的学生那样困难。将问题分解成小块并用代码解决变得司空见惯。Cortina说，给更多孩子提供这种培训可以增加对这个领域感兴趣的人数，并有助于填补职位空缺。

Students also benefit from learning something about coding before they get to college, where introductory computer-science classes are packed to the brim, which can drive the less-experienced or -determined students away.

学生在上大学之前学习一些编程知识也是有益的，因为大学里的计算机科学入门课程往往人满为患，这可能会让经验不足或决心不足的学生望而却步。

The Flatiron School, where people pay to learn programming, started as one of the many coding bootcamps that's become popular for adults looking for a career change. The high-schoolers get the same curriculum, but "we try to gear lessons toward things they're interested in," said Victoria Friedman, an instructor. For instance, one of the apps the students are developing suggests movies based on your mood.

Flatiron School是一所付费学习编程的学校，起初是众多编程训练营之一，这些训练营在寻求职业转变的成年人中变得流行。高中生学习相同的课程，但“我们尝试将课程内容调整为他们感兴趣的东西，”讲师Victoria Friedman说。例如，学生们正在开发的一款应用程序可以根据你的情绪推荐电影。

The students in the Flatiron class probably won't drop out of high school and build the next Facebook. Programming languages have a quick turnover, so the "Ruby on Rails" language they learned may not even be relevant by the time they enter the job market. But the skills they learn — how to think logically through a problem and organize the results — apply to any coding language, said Deborah Seehorn, an education consultant for the state of North Carolina.

Flatiron班的学生可能不会辍学去打造下一个Facebook。编程语言更迭迅速，所以他们学习的“Ruby on Rails”语言在他们进入就业市场时可能已经不再相关。但是，他们学到的技能——如何逻辑地思考问题并组织结果——适用于任何编程语言，北卡罗来纳州的教育顾问Deborah Seehorn说。

Indeed, the Flatiron students might not go into IT at all. But creating a future army of coders is not the sole purpose of the classes. These kids are going to be surrounded by computers — in their pockets, in their offices, in their homes — for the rest of their lives. The younger they learn how computers think, how to coax the machine into producing what they want — the earlier they learn that they have the power to do that — the better.

确实，Flatiron的学生可能根本不会进入IT行业。但培养未来的程序员大军并不是这些课程的唯一目的。这些孩子将在余生中被计算机包围——在他们的口袋里、办公室里、家里。他们越早学习计算机如何思考，如何引导机器产生他们想要的东西——越早了解到他们拥有这样的能力——就越好。