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The Matthew Effect-空中英語教室
2025/02/15 21:55
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The Matthew Effect 馬太效應(上)
空中英語教室 20250214

馬太效應（Matthew Effect）
是一個社會學的概念，指的是「富者愈富、貧者愈貧」的現象。這個術語源自《聖經·馬太福音》中的一句話：「凡有的，還要給他，叫他有餘；沒有的，連他所有的也要奪去。」這句話表達了在資源分配上的不平等現象，即已經擁有更多資源或優勢的人，往往能夠獲得更多的資源或機會；而那些處於不利地位的人，則可能因為缺乏資源或機會，無法改善自己的狀況。
馬太效應可以在多個領域中觀察到，例如：
經濟領域：富有的人和企業更容易獲得更多的資金、投資或市場機會，而貧困者則難以改變經濟困境。
學術領域：知名學者往往能獲得更多的資金和研究機會，而較不為人知的學者則較難取得相同的支持。
媒體與名氣：擁有大量粉絲或關注度的人，能夠進一步吸引更多的關注與機會，而不太出名的人則更難突破困境。
這一效應強調了社會、經濟和機會分配中的不平衡，並且常被用來解釋某些結構性不平等現象。

修正英文文法，保留中文部分，同時將簡體中文修改為繁體中文
Here is the revised version of the text with corrected grammar, and simplified Chinese characters converted to traditional Chinese characters:
Hello friends,
My name is Ann Marie,
And today is a great day to learn something new,
So let’s do that together, friends.
My name is John,
And this is Studio Classroom.
We have a question to start us off with today. Are you ready for this, John?
I may be okay here.
Here it is: How do you use your talents?
The word "talent" is a word that used to mean a kind of coin.
How did the word for a coin become the word "talent," meaning the gifts that God naturally gives a person? Well,
It’s all because of a very famous teaching from Jesus in the Bible.
He talks about a man who gave his servants something called talents.
I try to use my talents for other people.
It really makes me happy and creates life.
I’m so glad that you mentioned that story,
Because that is what our lesson is all about today.
The teaching that Jesus gave in the Bible has come to mean something a little bit differently in modern society,
And that is called the Matthew Effect.
We’re going to learn all about it in today’s lesson.
Let’s get into our first reading for today.
The Matthew Effect
Why do the rich get richer and the poor get poorer?
The Bible reports that Jesus told a parable about a property owner who went on a long journey and entrusted his property to servants.
He gave three servants different amounts of money based on their qualifications.
The first two invested their money and earned twice as much as they were originally given,
But the third hid his money, keeping it safe but not using it to earn more.
Hi, I’m Jack.
今天的usage tip是twice加as much as的句型。
倍數加as much as是表達名詞one與名詞two兩者在數量上的倍數關係。
twice可以改為half或three times等等。如果是可數名詞，則使用as many as。
這種句型與倍數加the amount of假名詞或the number of假名詞的意思相同，
但amount是用於不可數名詞哦，而number則用於可數名詞。
來看看例句：
This year, the university recruited half as many students as it did last year.
今年該大學招收的學生人數是去年的一半，
也可以說：
This year, the university recruited half the number of students it did last year.
Okay, friends,
We have a very interesting phrase, a very interesting saying at the beginning of our lesson here.
This is a common thing that we say in English.
A lot of times, when bad things happen, we say, "Why do the rich get richer and the poor get poorer?"
Now, a lot of times people are saying this as a joke when they lose money or something bad happens.
Like, "My car broke down last week. The poor just keep getting poorer."
That’s right,
It’s kind of what we call a complaint. So be very careful when you’re complaining about what other people have.
And the Bible has a lot to teach us about being grateful.
We read here that the Bible reports that Jesus told a parable about a property owner.
So, first of all, the Bible is this amazing book.
It’s 66 different books, and Jesus is the main figure of the Bible.
He’s God’s Son.
He’s the one that we as Christians follow.
He tells these famous stories that even if you’re not a Christian, you should know,
Because they’ve changed the English language.
The Bible reports something. The word “report” reminds me of the word “reporter,” someone who shares news.
That’s right. The other important word in this sentence is that word "parable."
As John said, parables can be found in the Bible.
Parables are the way that Jesus communicated morals or truths to his followers.
Parables are often stories, or they represent something else that’s going on in the real world.
That’s right. For example, a famous parable of Jesus is called the “Lost” or “Prodigal Son,”
About a son who returns to his father.
That’s an example of how we return to God.
Parables are really famous,
But in this one,
A property owner does something.
That’s right, he goes on a long journey,
And he entrusted his property to servants.
He gave three servants different amounts of money based on their qualifications.
Now, John, let’s talk about this word “qualifications” for a minute.
What does that mean?
Okay, qualifications means basically what you are able to do based on your experience and training.
Different people have different qualifications that enable them to do different kinds of work.
Okay, so as the parable goes, the first two servants invested their money,
So they were trying to make more money with what they had.
They earned twice as much as they were originally given.
You saw this phrase in your usage tip.
John, what about that third servant?
Well, he hid the money that he’d been given. He hid his money, keeping it safe but not using it to earn more.
Okay, so the story again is that an owner leaves.
He tells his three workers, “Here’s some money. Use it.”
Two of them invest the money,
They work with it, try to make more,
But one guy just hides the money and doesn’t touch it.
What is Jesus trying to teach us?
We’ll have to find out more.
Yes, well,
That’s not the end of the story.
We’re going to finish up this parable here in a moment.
But I think when I was growing up,
And we were learning about this story,
The idea here is that that third servant was afraid.
He was afraid that if he invested that money,
Or if he lost some of that money,
That this property owner would be angry at him.
Interesting,
Jesus parables are always talking about our relationship with God,
But it’s interesting how his famous parable has come to mean something quite different in modern psychology.
So it’s interesting to study as students.
Well, friends,
There’s a lot more to learn about this parable. That’s right,
So let’s get on with our next reading right now.
The Matthew Effect
When the owner returned,
He rewarded the first two servants,
But condemned the third for being lazy.
He took away the third servant’s money and gave it to the one who had the most.
The owner commented, “For to everyone who has, more will be given,
And he will have abundance,
But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”
我們來看“condemn”這個動詞。它的意思是譴責。
我們來看例句：
Before you condemn others, take a close look at your own words and actions.
在你譴責他人之前，先仔細審視自己的言行。
片語“condemned to something”意思是迫使處於某種狀態。
例如：
Having a serious illness that limited where he could go and what he could do,
He was condemned to a childhood of loneliness.
由於身患重病，他能去的地方和能做的事情都受到了限制，他的童年注定是孤獨的。
“Condemned”的名詞是“condemnation”，也是指譴責。
譬如：
There was strong condemnation from the international community because of the attacks.
國際社會對這次攻擊事件表示了強烈的譴責。
Okay, friends,
So we are talking about one of the stories or parables in the Bible that Jesus told to talk about the Matthew Effect.
Now this story hasn’t finished yet already.
We’ve seen there was a property owner.
He had three servants. To two servants, he gave a sum of money,
And they invested it,
And then that third servant took the money that the owner gave him,
And what happened?
He hid the money, keeping it safe but not using it to earn more.
So I wonder what the owner will do?
Well, we’re going to find out right now.
We read in this section: When the owner returned,
He rewarded the first two servants,
But he condemned the third for being lazy.
Wow, there’s a lot to look at here, but first,
Let’s talk about the beginning of this sentence:
“When the owner returned...”
Okay, you can use this pattern: "When [blank] returned,"
For example:
When my mother returned to the house,
She yelled at us for making a huge mess.
When I return from my grocery shopping trip,
I put the groceries in the fridge.
So the idea here is that you get back from being outside of your home.
Okay, and we also saw that word “condemned” in our language lab.
The third one, he said, was lazy. He didn’t do anything with what he was given.
He took away the third servant’s money, and he gave it to the one who had the most. Interesting.
And then what does the owner say?
Well, we read the owner commented,
“For to everyone who has, more will be given,
And he will have abundance,
But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”
First of all, there’s that verb “to comment.”
The owner commented, that’s right.
So if somebody comments about something,
It means that they make a statement or they say a sentence that has to do with what has happened.
And then he starts off by saying, “For to everyone who has...”
Here, the word "for" means "because."
It’s a little bit of an older way of using English.
But you will see that as you read older English materials.
We see another phrase from old English later on in this sentence,
And that is “has not.”
When we read "the one who has not,"
We’re just saying "the one who doesn’t have."
“Doesnt have” is a newer way to say "has not."
That’s right,
So it’s great to read older English,
And it’s nice to know what’s happening.
He also says,
“The person who has something will get more,
And then he will have abundance.”
If you have abundance of something, it means you have more than you need.
That’s right! Abundance can also be described as a very large quantity of something.
So you could say, "We had an abundance of food at the party tonight."
So the idea here is that it’s more than we needed.
That’s right! So there is a lot that Jesus is teaching here, but he also says:
"But from the one who has not, or doesn’t have, even what he has will be taken away."
The question to ask with Jesus’ parables is, what is he trying to show us?
Right, Jesus isn’t really talking about money. He’s almost always talking about love and care for God and for other people.
So he’s saying if you don’t love God, then don’t expect God to always just give you more and more things.
But if you love God, expect a lot more from that relationship.
Okay, so what does this parable have to do with the Matthew effect?
We’re going to find out in the next section of our reading, but right now, let’s go to today’s InfoCloud.
Hello everyone, welcome to InfoCloud!
Do you ever feel like you’re struggling just to pay for basic necessities while the rich just keep getting richer?
Oh yeah, Garrett, it’s easy to feel that way. If you don’t have a lot, then your money goes to pay for essentials.
On the other hand, wealthy folks have a lot more options for making money outside of their normal jobs.
That’s why we sometimes say, "It takes money to make money."
Uh, wait, does that mean you can buy money?
No, not directly at least.
The phrase means that in order to earn more money or build wealth, you often need to invest some money first.
It suggests that financial success usually requires an upfront investment, whether that’s in starting a business, buying equipment, or even advertising.
Oh, I’ve got it! So if someone wants to start a business, they’ll probably need to spend money on all sorts of things before they can even start making a profit.
Yes, and that’s much easier to do if you have extra money to begin with. One other time you may hear this phrase is when talking about investing:
"If you put in money now, you’ll often get more money later on."
So how do you use your money?

It takes money to make money 要靠錢賺錢
人們對於如何賺錢這件事情有不同的理論，其中一個是 "It takes money to make money" (要靠錢賺錢)，意思就是你需要先投資一些錢，才能有基本的條件去賺錢。
如果你要開一間店，你必須投資店面的裝潢和布置以及購買設備，這些花費都是不少的金額，還有剛開始的運營費用。很多人都是因為這些開銷太大，導致生意失敗。
現在有很多創業家反對 "It takes money to make money" 的理論，有些人覺得賺錢要靠創意和人際關係。至於哪一個理論才是對的，那就見仁見智了。
這就是今天的 InfoCloud，咱們下次雲端見！

The Matthew Effect
In the Bible, the story highlights the importance of using what one has been given. It can be applied to money, time, health, relationships, education, or other advantages.
But social scientists use the term, the "Matthew Effect" (named after the book of the Bible where this story is found), to refer to situations where those who begin in a good position reap even more, while those who are struggling have a hard time catching up.
接下來看 REAP 這個動詞，它的意思是收穫、獲得或收割。
例如：
"The company reaped impressive profits after introducing its latest product."
(這家公司在推出最新產品後，獲得了可觀的利潤)
"The community worked together to reap the wheat before the first snow."
(社區居民齊心協力，在初雪來臨前收割了小麥)
"After months of working out daily, she was finally reaping the benefits of her hard work."
(經過幾個月的每天鍛煉，她終於收穫了努力的成果)
Okay, what does this parable mean? Well, we read here in the Bible:
The story highlights the importance of using what one has been given.
Let’s talk about this sentence first: What does that word “highlights” mean, John?
It means to emphasize or to focus on something.
So Jesus is trying to highlight that we have been given a lot already.
Okay, so the Bible is saying that we’ve been given a lot. We’ve been given a lot, excuse me, and we need to use what we have been given now.
Is this talking about money here, John?
No, it’s more importantly talking about talents in the way we use that in English today. Remember, just to recap, in the original parable, the money was a coin called a talent, and now we talk about talents as natural gifts from God.
You could say someone was very talented in cheering other people up, for example.
That’s right! And we see this in the next sentence in our article:
This can be applied to money, time, health, relationships, education, or other advantages.
So God has given us a lot, right?
Some people, He has given a lot of money, a lot of time, or health. Some people have wonderful relationships, and some people are blessed to have a wonderful education.
But the question is, how are we using those things to serve God and serve others?
That’s right, it’s a good question.
There’s that word "advantages." If you have an advantage in something, we often use the word "privilege."
Basically, something that other people might not be given.
For example, if you have good health right now or any health, just remember that is an advantage, because not everyone is healthy today.
That’s a really good point.
Okay, friends, now we’ve talked about the parable from the Bible and what it originally meant. Now, we are going to switch.
We are going to talk about what people use this parable to talk about now, in today’s society.
How does our article continue, John?
Okay, we read:
"But social scientists use the term, the Matthew effect, named after the book of the Bible where this story is found, to refer to situations where those who begin in a good position reap even more, while those who are struggling have a hard time catching up."
Interesting. We’ve got that term "social scientists" first of all.
That’s right. So what is a social scientist?
Well, a social scientist is an expert on human society and social relationships.
So we’re talking about a specific kind of expert here, someone who looks at the way humans interact with each other and act in a society.
And they use this term, the Matthew effect, again named after the first book of the New Testament. Matthew was a tax collector who followed Jesus and wrote this very famous book.
And they’re talking about situations between what kinds of people?
Okay, so we’re making a distinction here between people who are in a good position.
So society believes these people have it good, or they have an advantage, and people who aren’t so advantageous.
They have some situations that maybe put them at a disadvantage.
Interesting. So now we’re switching from spiritual things, like you said, to talk about things like money and education, and people may have a hard time catching up.
That phrase, "having a hard time doing something," is really useful.
It is. Here’s what it means: it means to experience difficulty doing something.
For example, maybe you had a hard time getting the courage to speak English, but now it’s a lot easier because you practiced.
That’s right!
Friends, we’ve talked a little bit about the word "talent" already, but I think Ernest Finder might have some more to say about that. Let’s go to today’s Fun Fact right now!
Hello, fact friends! I am Detective Ernest Finder, and I have a fun fact for you today. Did you know, in Jesus’ original story about the servants, the money was a kind of coin called a "talent" (T-A-L-E-N-T)?
I bet you’ve heard this word before, haven’t you?
And because of Jesus’ wisdom, the word "talent" eventually meant someone’s natural gifts from God.
So if someone says you’re talented, you can say, "Ha ha, thank you, God!"
And that is today’s fun talent fact.
Wow, John, Ernest Finder really seemed to know a lot about talents. He was asking me about talents and Roman coins all week! He’s got lots of questions.
Okay, well, I have a question for you. Are you ready for it?
I hope so!
Okay, I need you to sum up Jesus’ parable using today’s vocabulary. Can you do it?
Okay, to sum up, to put it all together...
Let’s see...
So Jesus told a parable about a man who entrusted his servants to invest his money. However, he highlighted that some servants didn’t do that.
Oh, okay. Specifically, two servants did it, and one servant did not.
Now, friends, we are not done talking about the Matthew effect. In fact, we’ve just started discussing it.
Tomorrow’s lesson will cover what this means in today’s society.
That’s right!
But again, to recap, what Jesus means is talking about God, who’s given us all so many good things. For some people, they don’t like to think about God, they put away the love of God and leave it for later.
Some people take the love of God, and they use it to love others.
They invest God’s love in other people’s lives.
Think about that for your own life, and remember, the book of Matthew is where we get the name "the Matthew."
That’s right!
So it would be worth checking out this story in the book of Matthew if you want to learn more.
Well, friends, that’s all the time we have for today. My name is Ann Marie,
And my name is John.
Friends, thanks for joining us today. We’ll see you next time, right here on Studio Classroom!


The Matthew Effect 馬太效應(下)
空中英語教室 20250215
修正英文文法，保留中文部分，同時將簡體中文修改為繁體中文
Here’s the corrected version, with the English grammar fixed and the Simplified Chinese changed to Traditional Chinese:
Hello, friends!
My name is Ann Marie,
and today is a great day to learn something new.
So let’s do that together, friends.
My name is John,
and this is Studio Classroom.
You’re just in time for day two of our article,
all about the Matthew Effect.
We learned all about Jesus’s parable in the Bible yesterday,
that this effect, the social phenomenon, is taken from that. That’s right!
Jesus’s parables have really changed the world
and changed the English language.
We learned a story about a man from old times
who invested talents or coins with his servants.
But some of those servants,
or one of those servants, did not use the talents.
That’s right,
two of the servants invested the money that they received,
and one of them hid it away
and was called lazy.
We learned that the Matthew Effect is the idea that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
What does that really mean?
What does it mean for today’s society?
That’s what we’re going to be talking about in our article today.
Let’s get into our first reading right now.
The Matthew Effect
The Matthew Effect certainly applies to finances. People who are born into wealthy families have access to elite educational institutions and social connections, which help them become even wealthier.
They can also take risks like starting businesses because even if they lose money, they won’t starve.
Many billionaires would not be billionaires had they not begun by inheriting wealth from their families.
Hi, I’m Jack.
今天的usage tip是if假設語氣的用法。
課文的句子"Many billionaires would not be billionaires
had they not begun by inheriting wealth from their families"
後面條件句的if被省略，助動詞had被移到了主詞前面，所以這句正式的寫法是
"Many billionaires would not be billionaires
if they had not begun by inheriting wealth from their families."
結果句"many billionaires"中，是使用助動詞would，而條件句中使用了過去完成式had加過去分詞。
所以呢，這是在表達與過去事實相反的假設。
我們來看一個例句：
"Had the child told the truth, he would not have been punished by his parents."
如果當初這個孩子說了實話，他就不會受到父母懲罰了。
Okay friends, before we get into today’s lesson,
I just want to remind you that
this use of the Matthew Effect is different in today’s society
than the meaning was when Jesus originally taught the parable.
So we’re taking some of the things from the parable
and using them to talk about a cultural phenomenon in our society
that’s happening today.
How does our lesson start, John?
Well, again,
we’re talking about how people use this to talk about money,
and they created this term,
the Matthew Effect.
The Matthew Effect certainly applies to finances.
We read: What are finances? Well,
finances are money and things that pertain to money.
So our article is saying that the Matthew Effect is really
coming into play when we talk about the amount of money that people have.
People who are born into wealthy families have access to elite educational institutions and social connections.
Let’s start there for a moment
and talk about what it means to have access to something.
If you have access to something,
it basically means you can get it.
For example,
I could say my kids don’t have access to the jar of cookies in my kitchen.
Here’s another example of how you could use "have access to" in a sentence:
Some communities in the United States
don’t have access to clean drinking water.
But here, we’re talking about having access to finances
due to your family situation.
This helps those kids from wealthy families become even wealthier.
Interesting!
They have access to all these things.
And we read:
They can also take risks like starting businesses
because even if they lose money,
they won’t starve.
Interesting! There’s a phrase:
"Even if something else" — what does that mean?
Okay, so when you see "even if" in a sentence,
it means "no matter" or "despite the possibility that."
Okay, so even if it rains,
we can still have a picnic under the canopy, right?
Okay, so we see here that if they risk starting a business,
let’s say the business fails,
it’s not successful, they lose a ton of money,
that’s okay.
Their family still has money,
they’re not going to go hungry or have a problem getting through their everyday lives.
Oh, so they can take bigger risks and maybe earn more money.
We also read that many billionaires would not be billionaires
had they not begun by inheriting wealth from their families.
Two words you need to know: billionaires and inheriting.
A billionaire just means a person who has at least a billion dollars.
That’s a one followed by nine zeros.
What is inheriting?
Okay, so if you inherit something,
it means that you receive money or property from a relative
when they die.
Now, a lot of times you inherit things from your parents.
That’s not always the case.
You could inherit things from your grandparents as well.
You could inherit things other than money as well.
Anyone who inherits is called an heir (H-E-I-R),
which is a little noun you see tucked right into the middle of that word "inherit."
But we pronounce the noun "an heir."
Jesus actually talks a lot about people inheriting things
because He wants to remind us
we’ve inherited everything from our Father God.
Yeah, that’s right,
I totally agree.
So what our writer is saying here
is that many billionaires are only billionaires
because they’ve inherited money from their families.
Now, I think that’s true for some billionaires.
That’s, of course,
not true for every billionaire out there.
Many people have worked very hard to earn what they have,
but that is a different discussion for another time.
Right now, it is time for us to go to the next reading for today.
The Matthew Effect
But the Matthew Effect is also applicable to other areas.
People are more likely to hear about works by famous artists,
authors, and composers, resulting in more fame,
while less famous ones tend to remain unknown.
People must come to the realization
that the Matthew Effect is a reality.
They have to reckon with it.
Denying the truth does no one any good.
But this does not mean that people born into poverty
have no hope.
Jesus’s parable indicates that people can choose how to use what they have.
我們來看applicable這個形容詞，
意思是適用的。
譬如："I find psychology to be applicable in everything I do."
我發現心理學在我所做的每件事上都適用。
applicable的動詞是apply，意思是申請。
例如："Do you plan on applying at the new restaurant that just opened?"
你打算去剛開業的餐廳應徵工作嗎？
它的名詞是application，
例如："The school career counselor can help you with your university application."
學校的職業顧問可以幫助你申請大學。
Okay, friends,
let’s continue learning together about the Matthew Effect.
But the Matthew Effect is also applicable to other areas.
So in the first section,
here we talked about finances or money,
but now we’re saying we’re not just talking about money here.
What else are we talking about?
All kinds of things!
But first of all, art.
We, people, are more likely to hear about works by famous artists,
authors, and composers, resulting in more fame,
while less famous ones tend to remain unknown.
We’re talking about all the things people want, right?
Money, fame.
So be very careful when you’re in your own heart.
When we’re talking about these things,
there are three words: artists, authors, and composers.
We see:
An artist is anybody that makes art; an author is like a writer,
one of the rights.
And I totally agree with this!
Sometimes I don’t know what book to read next,
because I love to read,
and I’m more inclined to read a book by an author
I already know,
rather than reading a book from someone who is unknown.
And we do see that word here in our lesson:
"unknown" means someone is not familiar or not discovered.
Interesting!
You could say the restaurant was pretty unknown
until a post on social media made it popular.
This Matthew Effect is very true with food, isn’t it?
That’s right!
Because a lot of times,
people are going to eat food from a famous restaurant
or by a famous chef,
rather than just trying a mom-and-pop shop
or a little local shop.
That’s right!
Well, what can be done about it?
Well, our author says,
people must come to the realization
that the Matthew Effect is a reality.
They have to reckon with it.
"Reckon with" is such a great verb phrase,
and it means to deal with the effects of something.
Yeah!
So there are two steps here.
The first step is realization—this is the act of becoming fully aware of something
and accepting it as a fact.
So the first step is realization,
and then the second step is reckoning with something.
So, what do you do,
as the rich get richer?
Well, we read that denying the truth does no one any good. Deny is such a good verb.
That’s right. If you deny something, you’re saying that’s not true, or you reject something as being invalid. Yeah, it’s just true that if you have some money, you can invest it in other things. If you don’t have extra money, you don’t have money to invest in extra things.
But we read, "This does not mean that people born into poverty have no hope." I think that this is a really important thing to remember from this lesson, friends. Because I think for me, the temptation is to look at this and say, "Yeah, those billionaires, they just keep getting more money. Where is my money? Where are my talents? Where is all of that stuff?" But it’s not true that we can’t do anything about it, and our writer has some things to say about that here.
Well, remember this. The whole Matthew effect comes from a parable of Jesus. We read here, "Jesus’ parable indicates that people can choose how to use what they have." So what we’re saying is, Jesus is telling us, you’ve been given a lot of things by God, invest them, use them. Now remember, Jesus also taught, "Guard your heart against loving money." So Jesus’ parable was not about having to become a billionaire, but the Matthew effect is by social scientists, so they’re thinking about a different kind of thing.
That’s a really good point because you could read this and think, "Ah, this is a way I can get richer, or this is teaching me how to get richer." No, what this is teaching us is that we have already been given so much. Even if we feel that we are living in poverty, maybe we have our health, maybe we have a family, maybe we have time and resources that we can give to others. So the point here is how can we use what we have?
We have more to say about this in just a moment. Right now, let’s go to today’s Infocloud.
Hello everyone, welcome to Infocloud.
These days, there’s a lot of talk about Hollywood stars who became famous because they have famous parents. I think that’s because many people are jealous of those that are born with a silver spoon in their mouth.
Yeah, that’s a great phrase. Rex, you should tell our friends at home what it means.
Of course! It’s a classic way of describing someone who’s had an easy life from the start. If someone is born with a silver spoon in their mouth, it means they were born into wealth or privilege. So it describes people that didn’t have to struggle for the things they have because they were given advantages right from the beginning. Silver is expensive, so spoons made of silver are a fancy thing to have in your house. So people who grew up with silver spoons and maybe were fed with them as babies were likely born into privilege.
So Hollywood stars with famous parents were born with silver spoons in their mouths. Through their parents, many were able to easily get key roles early in their careers without the struggles other young actors face.
Friends, what kind of spoon do you use when you sit down to dinner?

born with a silver spoon in their mouth 含著金湯匙出生
我們經常形容一些富二代是含著金湯匙出生，英文也有幾乎一模一樣的用語，那就是 born with a silver spoon in their mouth 含著銀湯匙出生。銀質的湯匙也相當昂貴。Born with a silver spoon in their mouth 就代表那個人比一般老百姓過得順遂。他們不需要像別人一樣經歷生活上的困難和壓力，因為他們可以從父母那邊得到豐富的資源。這就是今天的 Infocloud，我們下次雲端見！

The Matthew effect
So, if you’re struggling, take action to get the Matthew effect working in your favor. And if you’re on top in society, stay humble. Don’t assume that those who have less are lazy or not competent. They are working against disadvantages that you may never have experienced. Instead, everyone should use their resources to lift others up.
接下來看形容詞 competent，意思是有能力的或是能幹的。來看幾個例句：
A highly competent mother of five young children, she was always ready with snacks, water, and comforting hugs.
（她是一位非常能幹的母親，有五個年幼孩子，她總是隨時準備好點心水、和溫暖的擁抱。）
Competent 的相反詞是 incompetent，意思是無能的。例如：
It is so frustrating to hire someone only to find out that they are completely incompetent.
（發現所雇佣的人完全不信任，真的很令人沮喪。）
Competent 的名詞是 competence，也是指能力。例如：
The new employee handled the sensitive situation with the grace and competence of someone who had been working there for many years.
（這位新員工在處理敏感情況時，就像一位在這裡工作多年的員工一樣，優雅干練。）
All right, I am very excited to see how our lesson is going to end here, friends, because there is hope. We read here, "If you’re struggling, take action to get the Matthew effect working in your favor."
There are some great things here in this sentence. The first thing we want to talk about is this word struggling. We see the word struggling in several different situations, but here it specifically means to face financial difficulties.
That’s right! You could say, "During the winter, my family was really struggling to find food on our farm." Normally, struggle means to do something with effort. For example, you could say, "The puppies really struggled to walk for the first time." But here, we’re talking about financially struggling.
That’s right! We also see something else in this sentence, and that is the phrase to work in your favor. What does that mean, John?
If something works in your favor, it means it happens and it provides a benefit to you.
That’s right! Okay, but we read here, "If you’re on top in society, stay humble." So of course, we’re talking to two different groups of people here. Not everyone is struggling. Some people are very well off. If you’re well off, it means that you have a lot of resources, you have a lot financially. But you need to do something if that’s you: stay humble. This is really, really important. And Jesus always taught this. He says everything you have was a gift, so stay humble.
Another word is humility. If someone is humble, they have lots of humility. You can see how those words are connected by that Hu.
And if you are someone who has what you need and you’re not struggling, there’s something that you need to remember: Don’t assume that those who have less are lazy or not competent. Sometimes, it’s easy for us to judge others when we’re doing well because we worked hard to get where we are. But this lesson is reminding us we shouldn’t be judging others because sometimes there are circumstances that we just don’t see.
That’s right! And the word competent is one we learned. It means able to do things. We get that verb to compete from this root word competent, meaning able to do things.
And also, there’s this word disadvantages we see you need to know.
That’s right! The rest of this sentence reads, "They are working against disadvantages that you may never have." Now, a disadvantage is some type of unfavorable circumstance. So this means there’s some type of situation that is kind of like an obstacle in your life or it’s giving you difficulties. And this word is the opposite of the word advantages we learned yesterday. If you have an advantage, for example, you come from a wealthy family and were able to receive a good education, it’s the opposite of having disadvantages. For example, if you came from a poor family and didn’t have access to a good education.
That’s right! I love the last sentence of our lesson, friends. Let’s talk about it right now: Instead, everyone, no matter which side you’re on, should use their resources to lift others up. What do we mean when we say lift others up? This is so good!
Lifting other people up means helping them in some ways. Typically, when Jesus talks about lifting other people up, he’s talking about helping them feel loved and to know God. But you can lift others up financially as well.
That’s right! When I hear the phrase lift others up, I often think of encouraging others, whether you are encouraging them to keep doing what they’re doing or to encourage them to do better than what they’re doing, or if it’s just giving what you have to help others. And there’s a phrase, we use to lift your spirits. You could say, "My friend said such a kind thing yesterday, and it really lifted my spirits when I was feeling sad."
All right, friends, well this has been a great lesson and we have a little more to talk about in just a moment. Right now, let’s go to today’s Fun Fact.
Hello fact friends!
I am Detective Ernest Finder, and I have a fun fact for you today. Did you know that Jesus told rich people not to invite other rich people to their parties because they can pay you back, and you will get your reward already? Interesting, but he encouraged rich people to invite poor people to their homes since they could not repay their host. "You will have your reward in heaven," Jesus said. Interesting! Ha, I don’t know if people follow his advice, but that is today’s fun fact.
We have a really thought-provoking question here to end our lesson with. It’s today’s Talk About It question:
Here we go, what is one change that you want to make in your thoughts or actions now that you know about the Matthew effect?
One thing that I want to change is to think more about my own advantages and to stay humble. But I think it’s hard to stay humble unless you realize where you are. And so what the real Matthew parable for Matthew teaches is to think about how God gave you your whole life and be humble in every single part of your life.
Something this lesson has really showed me is that I need to think of advantages as not just money. I have a lot of time and resources and education that I can use to lift others up. So I need to stop thinking about things as either you have money or you don’t. There are a lot of gifts that God has given me.
Well, friends, that’s all the time we have for today. My name is Ann Marie.
And my name is John. Friends, thanks for joining us today. We’ll see you next time right here on Studio Classroom.

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