人教版数学教材插图引争议

近日，人教版数学教材插图引发网友热议。

对比其他版本的教材插图，人教版数学教材插画中的人物，眼神怪异、毫无美感，存在明显审美差距。

无注释原文：

Chinese Elementary School Textbook Triggers Controversy for Being “Tragically Ugly”

WHAT'S ON WEIBO

The illustrations in a Chinese schoolbook series for children have triggered controversy on social media platform Weibo, where the hashtag “People’s Education Press Math Teaching Material” attracted over 860 million views by Thursday afternoon, with the “People’s Education Press Mathbook Illustration Controversy” garnering over 190 million views.

The illustrations went viral after some netizens spotted that the quality of the design in one math textbook series stood out from other books in how ‘aesthetically displeasing’ it is.

The children depicted in the teaching material have small, droopy eyes and big foreheads. Some commenters think their clothing also looks weird and that the overall design is just strange and “tragically ugly.”

One image of a boy also drew controversy for showing an alleged bulge in his pants.

Some people think the design of the textbook series is so ugly that it must have been purposely drawn like this. Others are angry, suggesting China has thousands of talented art students who would welcome a project like this and do it much better.

Fueling the controversy is the fact that the textbook in question has been published and designed by a team of relatively influential and experienced designers and publishers.

The design was done by, among others, Lu Min and Zheng Wenjuan of the Beijing Wuyong Design Studio. The book is published by the People’s Education Press.

The People’s Education Press is a major publishing house directly under the leadership of the Ministry of Education. Founded in 1950, it is responsible for compiling and publishing all kinds of teaching material for elementary education.

The textbook already caught the attention of some parents in early May. One parent shared photos of the textbook illustration on Q&A site Zhihu.com, writing: “This textbook is so ugly! How did it ever pass the review?”

The ugly textbook design has made many netizens look back on their own childhood textbooks, suggesting that more traditional Chinese design is much better than what is being produced nowadays.

On May 26, the People’s Education Press responded to the controversy on Weibo. In its statement, the publishing house said it would reevaluate its elementary school mathematics textbooks illustrations and improve the quality of the design. In doing so, the publishing house said it would welcome feedback from the public. The statement soon received over 600,000 likes.

Professional graphic design artist Wuheqilin also weighed in on the discussion. In a lengthy Weibo post, Wuheqilin argues it is too easy for people to share their old textbook covers and images to show how much better they used to be, blaming poor design on the quality of illustrators in modern times.

According to Wuheqilin, it is not so much a matter of illustrators who have become worse, but of publishing houses saving more money on illustrations. Publishers do not prioritize design and are still offering the same prices to illustrators as they did a decade ago.

This is not the first time Chinese school textbooks trigger controversy online. In 2017, an elementary school sexual education textbook caused a stir for being “too explicit”.

China School Textbook Pulled After Its Illustrations Spark Furor

Bloomberg

A state-owned Chinese educational publisher was forced to recall a set of elementary school math textbooks after its illustrations were widely criticized for being ugly, pornographic and covertly pro-American.

People’s Education Press issued a public statement Thursday promising to redesign the illustrations after its textbooks became the most-discussed topic on China’s Twitter-like Weibo social media platform. A hashtag on the subject had been viewed more than 1.39 billion times as of 5:40 PM in Beijing.

Causing the uproar were the textbook’s drawings of Chinese school children that social-media users lambasted for featuring faces with small eyes set wide apart. Some accused the depictions of being racist.

Others posted photos of illustrations from the textbook in which boys appear to be shown with outlines of male genitalia on their pants. Children depicted wearing clothing with stars and stripes on them prompted others to accuse the books of promoting the US. 

“Absolutely there are traitors hidden somewhere -- pro-US elements who have permeated our educational system,” wrote one Weibo user. 

People’s Education Press said it had already begun redoing the illustrations. “We humbly adopted the good opinions and suggestions from all walks of life,” it said in its statement.

- ◆ -

注：中文文本为机器翻译仅供参考，并非一一对应

含注释全文：

Chinese Elementary School Textbook Triggers Controversy for Being “Tragically Ugly”

WHAT'S ON WEIBO

The illustrations in a Chinese schoolbook series for children have triggered controversy on social media platform Weibo, where the hashtag “People’s Education Press Math Teaching Material” attracted over 860 million views by Thursday afternoon, with the “People’s Education Press Mathbook Illustration Controversy” garnering over 190 million views.

一套中国儿童教科书中的插图在社交媒体平台微博上引发了争议，截至周四下午，#人教版数学教材#这一话题吸引了超过8.6亿的浏览量。而#人教版数学教材插图引争议#则获得了超过1.9亿的浏览量。

1）表示“实例”，英文解释为“An illustration is an example or a story that is used to make a point clear.”举个🌰：

An illustration of China's dynamism is that a new company is formed in Shanghai every 11 seconds. 

说明中国活力的一个实例便是在上海每11秒钟就有一家新公司成立。

2）表示“（书中的）插图”，英文解释为“An illustration in a book is a picture, design, or diagram.”举个🌰：

She looked like a princess in a nineteenth-century illustration. 

她看上去像19世纪插图里的公主。

1）作动词，除了表示“发动；引起；触发”，英文解释为“to make sth happen suddenly”举个🌰：

Nuts can trigger off a violent allergic reaction.

坚果可以引起严重的过敏反应。

2）作名词，表示“扳机”，英文解释为“The trigger of a gun is a small lever which you pull to fire it.”举个🌰：

A man pointed a gun at them and pulled the trigger.

一个男人用枪指着他们，扣动了扳机。

类似的还有：

📍stir表示“激发，激起（强烈的感情）；引起（强烈的反应）”，英文解释为“to make someone have a strong feeling or reaction”，举个🌰：

The poem succeeds in stirring the imagination.

这首诗能够激发起想象力。

📍provoke也表示“激起，引起”，英文解释为“to cause a reaction or feeling, especially a sudden one”，如：provoke debate/discussion 激起辩论/讨论。

📍spur 鼓动；激励；鞭策；刺激；鼓舞”，英文解释为“If one thing spurs you to do another, it encourages you to do it.”举个🌰：

It's the money that spurs these fishermen to risk a long ocean journey in their flimsy boats.

是金钱驱使这些渔民驾驶单薄的小船冒险出海远航。

🎬电影《龙之心3：巫师的诅咒》（Dragonheart 3: The Sorcerer's Curse）中的台词提到：To spur the clans to war. 激励部族发起战争。

表示“争议；争论；争辩”，英文解释为“a lot of disagreement or argument about something, usually because it affects or is important to many people”举个🌰：

There was a big controversy surrounding/over the use of drugs in athletics.

体育界对使用违禁药物争议很大。

表示“在社交媒体上发文时用来描述主题的#号”，英文解释为“used on social media for describing the general subject of a Tweet or other post (= message)”.

garner /ˈɡɑːnə/ 表示“获得；收集”，英文解释为“If someone has garnered something useful or valuable, they have gained it or collected it.”举个🌰：

He has garnered extensive support for his proposals.

他为他的提议赢得了广泛的支持。

🎬电影《斯隆女士》（Miss Sloane）中的台词提到：But I'll tell you, the reputation you have garnered for yourself, we were just looking for an excuse to engage you. 但实话讲你蜚声于世 我们想找到能打动你的理由。

The illustrations went viral after some netizens spotted that the quality of the design in one math textbook series stood out from other books in how ‘aesthetically displeasing’ it is.

在一些网友发现一套数学教材插图的设计质量在其他书籍中非常突出，“不符合审美”之后，这些插图开始流行起来。

表示“（通过网络在个体之间迅速）病毒式的（传播）”，英文解释为“used to describe something that quickly becomes very popular or well known by being published on the internet or sent from person to person by email, phone, etc.”举个🌰：

Here's a list of the top ten viral videos this week.

以下是本周十大病毒式传播的视频。

📍常用短语 go viral，字面意思就是“像病毒一样传播、扩散”，引申为“走红，十分流行，疯狂传播”，比如朋友圈xxx刷屏了，也可以说go viral.

aesthetically /iːsˈθetɪkli; esˈθetɪkli/ 表示“审美地；美学观点上地”，英文解释为“connected with beauty and the study of beauty”。

The children depicted in the teaching material have small, droopy eyes and big foreheads. Some commenters think their clothing also looks weird and that the overall design is just strange and “tragically ugly.”

教材中描绘的孩子有一双小而下垂的眼睛和大额头。一些评论者认为他们的衣服看起来也很奇怪，整体设计就是奇怪且“极其丑陋”。

表示“描写，描述，描绘；描绘，绘画”，英文解释为“to describe something or someone in writing or speech, or to show them in a painting, picture etc”，举个🌰：

The artist had depicted her lying on a bed.

画家画了她躺在床上的画像。

📍此前价值1.8亿元毕加索名画被撕文中出现过，According to Tate, the artwork depicts Picasso's lover Dora Maar and was painted in Paris in May 1944, during the final months of the Nazi occupation.

droopy /ˈdruːpɪ/ 表示“耷拉着的；下垂的；没有精神的”，英文解释为“If you describe something as droopy, you mean that it hangs down with no strength or firmness.”

One image of a boy also drew controversy for showing an alleged bulge in his pants.

一张男孩的图片也引起了争议，因为他的裤子上有一个所谓的凸起。

bulge /bʌldʒ/ 表示“凸起；鼓起”，英文解释为“a curved shape sticking out from the surface of something”举个🌰：

I wondered what the bulge in her coat pocket was.

我想知道她大衣口袋里鼓鼓的是什么东西。

Some people think the design of the textbook series is so ugly that it must have been purposely drawn like this. Others are angry, suggesting China has thousands of talented art students who would welcome a project like this and do it much better.

一些人认为这套教科书的设计非常丑陋，一定是故意画成这样的。其他人则很愤怒，认为中国有成千上万的优秀艺术学生，他们会乐意接这样的项目，而且会做得更好。

Fueling the controversy is the fact that the textbook in question has been published and designed by a team of relatively influential and experienced designers and publishers.

为争议推波助澜的是，有关教科书是由一个相对有影响力和有经验的设计师和出版商团队出版和设计的。

表示“正被谈论的…，讨论中的…”，英文解释为“the person or thing that is being discussed”举个🌰：

I stayed at home on the night in question.

那个晚上我在家里呆着没出去。

The design was done by, among others, Lu Min and Zheng Wenjuan of the Beijing Wuyong Design Studio. The book is published by the People’s Education Press.

设计者包括北京吴勇设计工作室的吕旻和郑文娟。该书由人民教育出版社出版。

The People’s Education Press is a major publishing house directly under the leadership of the Ministry of Education. Founded in 1950, it is responsible for compiling and publishing all kinds of teaching material for elementary education.

人民教育出版社是一家直接受教育部领导的大型出版社。它成立于1950年，负责编纂和出版初等教育的各种教材。

熟词僻义，用于某些类型的公司名称（图书或设计服装的）中，表示“公司，机构，商行”，英文解释为“a company that is involved in a particular area of business”如：a publishing house 出版社，a fashion house 时装公司。

作动词，表示“是（某物）的贮藏处（或安置处）；收藏；安置；为…提供住处，收容；为…提供空间”，英文解释为“to be the place where sth is kept or where sth operates from”举个🌰：

The gallery houses 100 works of modern art.

美术馆收藏了100件现代艺术作品。

表示“汇编；编纂；编辑；编制”，英文解释为“to collect information from different places and arrange it in a book, report, or list”举个🌰：

We're compiling some facts and figures for a documentary on the subject.

我们正在为一部有关这个主题的纪录片汇编资料。

The textbook already caught the attention of some parents in early May. One parent shared photos of the textbook illustration on Q&A site Zhihu.com, writing: “This textbook is so ugly! How did it ever pass the review?”

5月初，这本教科书已经引起了一些家长的注意。一位家长在问答网站知乎上分享了教科书插图的照片，并写道：“这本教科书太丑了！它是如何过审的？”

The ugly textbook design has made many netizens look back on their own childhood textbooks, suggesting that more traditional Chinese design is much better than what is being produced nowadays.

丑陋的教科书设计让许多网友回顾了他们自己的童年教科书，表示更多的中国传统设计比现在的产品要好得多。

On May 26, the People’s Education Press responded to the controversy on Weibo. In its statement, the publishing house said it would reevaluate its elementary school mathematics textbooks illustrations and improve the quality of the design. In doing so, the publishing house said it would welcome feedback from the public. The statement soon received over 600,000 likes.

5月26日，人民教育出版社在微博上回应了这一争议。在其声明中，该出版社表示将重新评估其小学数学教科书的插图，并提高设计质量。在此过程中，该出版社表示欢迎公众的反馈。该声明很快收到了60多万个赞。

Professional graphic design artist Wuheqilin also weighed in on the discussion. In a lengthy Weibo post, Wuheqilin argues it is too easy for people to share their old textbook covers and images to show how much better they used to be, blaming poor design on the quality of illustrators in modern times.

专业平面设计艺术家乌合麒麟也参与了讨论。在一篇长长的微博中，乌合麒麟认为人们很容易分享他们的旧教科书封面和图片，以显示他们过去有多好，并将糟糕的设计归咎于现代的插画师的质量。

此前在“我不能呼吸了”美国警察暴力执法致黑人死亡文中出现过，表示“（在讨论、辩论等中）发表有分量的意见，发挥作用”，英文解释为“to join in a discussion, an argument, an activity, etc. by saying sth important, persuading sb, or doing sth to help”举个🌰：

We all weighed in with our suggestions.

我们都提出了建议。

📺美剧《生活大爆炸》（The Big Bang Theory）第6季第5集中谢尔顿就说到：Care to weigh in? 可以理解为想参与讨论，想说点什么吗（To put your opinion into a matter or situation），字幕组将其解释为：有何高见？

📺还是《生活大爆炸》第7季第9集中提到：Can I weigh in here? 所以我能插一句吗?

📺还有如第7季第21集中也提到了：And yet you get to weigh in. 可是你还有话语权啊。

According to Wuheqilin, it is not so much a matter of illustrators who have become worse, but of publishing houses saving more money on illustrations. Publishers do not prioritize design and are still offering the same prices to illustrators as they did a decade ago.

据乌合麒麟说，与其说是插画师变差了，不如说是出版社在插画上节省了更多的钱。出版商并不把设计放在首位，而且还在给插画师提供与十年前相同的价格。

This is not the first time Chinese school textbooks trigger controversy online. In 2017, an elementary school sexual education textbook caused a stir for being “too explicit”.

这并不是中国学校教科书第一次在网上引发争议。2017年，一本小学性教育教科书因“太过露骨”而引起了轰动。

前面提到stir作动词，此处作名词表示“极大的兴趣；兴奋；骚动”，英文解释为“a lot of interest or excitement”举个🌰：

The scandal caused/created quite a stir at the time.

那场丑闻在当时引起了极大的轰动。

1）表示“清楚明白的；明确的；不含糊的”，英文解释为“clear and exact”举个🌰：

I gave her very explicit directions how to get here.

我明确地告诉她来这儿怎么走。

2）表示“（描绘性或暴力）赤裸裸的，露骨的”，英文解释为“showing or talking about sex or violence in a very detailed way”，如：a sexually explicit movie 有露骨性爱场面的电影。

China School Textbook Pulled After Its Illustrations Spark Furor

Bloomberg

A state-owned Chinese educational publisher was forced to recall a set of elementary school math textbooks after its illustrations were widely criticized for being ugly, pornographic and covertly pro-American.

一家中国国有教育出版社被迫召回一套小学数学教科书，因为其插图被广泛批评为丑陋、色情和暗中亲美。

表示“召回；叫回；收回”，英文解释为“to order the return of a person who belongs to an organization or of products made by a company”举个🌰：

The ambassador was recalled when war broke out.

战争爆发后大使就被召回了。

pornographic /ˌpɔː.nəˈɡræf.ɪk/  表示“下流的；黄色的；色情的”，英文解释为“intended to make people feel sexually excited by showing naked people or sexual acts, usually in a way that many other people find offensive”

表示“秘密地；隐蔽地；偷偷摸摸地”，英文解释为“secretly, or in a hidden way”举个🌰：

Terrorists have been operating covertly in England.

恐怖分子已在英格兰秘密活动。

🎬电影《X战警：逆转未来》（X-Men: Days of Future Past）中的台词提到：But covertly he had begun experimenting on mutants, 但暗地里 他开始在变种人身上进行实验。

表示“亲…的；赞成…的”，英文解释为“supporting or approving of something”如：pro-American 亲美的。

People’s Education Press issued a public statement Thursday promising to redesign the illustrations after its textbooks became the most-discussed topic on China’s Twitter-like Weibo social media platform. A hashtag on the subject had been viewed more than 1.39 billion times as of 5:40 PM in Beijing.

在其教科书成为中国类似Twitter的社交媒体平台微博上讨论最多的话题后，人民教育出版社周四发表公开声明，承诺重新设计这些插图。截至北京时间下午5点40分，关于这个话题的标签已被浏览了13.9亿次以上。

表示“自…起；到...时候为止”，英文解释为“starting from a particular time or date”举个🌰：

As of next month, all the airline's fares will be going up.

自下月起，所有航空公司的机票价格都将上调。

Causing the uproar were the textbook’s drawings of Chinese school children that social-media users lambasted for featuring faces with small eyes set wide apart. Some accused the depictions of being racist.

引起轩然大波的是教科书中的中国学生画像，社交媒体用户抨击这些画像的特点是小眼睛瞪得很大。一些人指责这些描写是种族主义的。

表示“骚动；怨愤”，英文解释为“a situation in which there is a lot of public criticism and angry argument about sth that sb has said or done”举个🌰：

The article caused (an) uproar.

这篇文章引起了轩然大波。

lambaste /læmˈbeɪst/ 表示“（公开地）严厉斥责；猛烈抨击；狠狠批评”，英文解释为“If you lambaste someone, you criticize them severely, usually in public.”举个🌰：

And you can be sure that when the referee cheats our boys, I'll be ready to lambaste him.

而且你可以放心，如果裁判对孩子们不公平，我会公开斥责他。

📺美剧《肯医生》（Dr. Ken）第2季第6集的台词提到：Well, mom, I bet I could lambaste you in a verbal concours. 我肯定能在遣词比赛上给予你一记重击。

1）表示“种族主义的”，英文解释为“If you describe people, things, or behaviour as racist, you mean that they are influenced by the belief that some people are inferior because they belong to a particular race.”举个🌰：

You have to acknowledge that we live in a racist society.

你不得不承认我们生活在一个有种族歧视的社会。

2）表示“种族主义者”，英文解释为“A racist is someone who is racist.”举个🌰：

He has a hard core of support among white racists.

他得到了白人种族主义分子强有力的支持。

Others posted photos of illustrations from the textbook in which boys appear to be shown with outlines of male genitalia on their pants. Children depicted wearing clothing with stars and stripes on them prompted others to accuse the books of promoting the US. 

还有人贴出了教科书中的插图照片，其中男孩的裤子上似乎有男性生殖器的轮廓。被描述为穿着印有星条旗图案衣服的儿童，促使其他人指责这些书在宣传美国。

表示“星条旗（美国国旗）”，英文解释为“The Stars and Stripes is a name for the national flag of the United States of America.”

作动词，表示“促使；导致；激起”，英文解释为“to make sb decide to do sth; to cause sth to happen”举个🌰：

His speech prompted an angry outburst from a man in the crowd.

他的讲话激起了人群中一男子的愤怒。

📺美剧《斯巴达克斯：血与沙》（Spartacus: Blood and Sand）中的台词提到：One cannot but wonder what would prompt such an act 不知他们为何遭此不幸。

“Absolutely there are traitors hidden somewhere -- pro-US elements who have permeated our educational system,” wrote one Weibo user. 

一位微博用户写道：“绝对有叛徒隐藏在某处--亲美分子已经渗透到我们的教育系统。”

表示“渗透；弥漫；遍布；充满”，英文解释为“to spread through something and be present in every part of it”举个🌰：

A foul smell of stale beer permeated the whole building.

整座楼都散发着变质啤酒的臭味。

People’s Education Press said it had already begun redoing the illustrations. “We humbly adopted the good opinions and suggestions from all walks of life,” it said in its statement.

人民教育出版社说已经开始重做插图。它在声明中说：“我们真诚接受社会各界提出的良好意见和建议。”

表示“各行各业”，英文解释为“various levels of social position or achievement”，举个🌰：

In my work I see people from all walks of life.

我工作时会遇到各行各业的人士。

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