Children who are read to daily are likely to do better when they start
school and be better behaved， according to a government study.

    一项政府研究表明，家长每天给孩子读书、讲故事，可以让孩子入学后学习
更好、表现更好。

    Researchers at the Institute of Education found a correlation between
mothers who believe it is important to teach their toddler the alphabet
and to count and read to them regularly and the child's achievement at
the age of five.

    教育学院的研究人员发现，母亲是否认同在孩子小的时候定期教他们识字、
数数和讲故事的重要性，这与孩子们五岁之后的优劣表现有着直接的联系。

    The government-commissioned study looked at teachers' assessment of
a child's achievement after one year at school， and evaluated the cognitive
abilities of just over 8，000 five-year-olds.

    这项由政府委托的研究收集了老师对孩子入学一年后的表现评价，并对8 ，
000 多名刚满五周岁儿童的认知能力进行了测评。

    They also assessed each child's behaviour using a questionnaire.

    研究人员还采用问卷调查的形式对孩子们的行为能力进行了评估。

    The study focused on which factors are associated with achievement
at the age of five， and took into account parental variables such as
how much time is spent with the child reading ， teaching the alphabet
and counting.

    考虑到了家长花费在讲故事、教识字和数数上面的时间有所不同，这项研究
致力于找出和五岁儿童的认知能力相关联的因素。

    It concluded： "Reading to the child every day and having a mother
who thinks it is important to stimulate young children are positively
associated with all cognitive outcomes and negatively with problem behaviour."

    研究结果显示：家长每天给孩子讲故事，妈妈们认识到早教的重要性，这些
都有助于孩子认知能力的提高，并降低行为出现问题的风险。

    Children who were read to daily did better in the naming vocabulary
cognitive test， which involved the children being shown a picture and
asked to identify the object.

    那些每天都有家长给讲故事的孩子们诸如看图识物等认知能力的测验中表现
更佳。

    Whereas ， children who watch three or more hours of TV a day ， on
average ， achieved lower scores on the tests.

    反之，每天花三、四个小时看电视的孩子们，在各种测试中的成绩都相对偏
低。

    The findings echo the results of research by the universitie of Columbia，
in the US ， that found poor parenting meant children were ill-prepared
for school.

    这个结论和美国哥伦比亚大学的研究结果相吻合，后者认为缺乏家庭教育对
于孩子入学有所不利。