副标题：Adults in rich countries are less literate than they were a decade ago. That requires attention主要说在富裕国家成年人数学和阅读能力不如小学生，并建议政府应该改善儿童课程和成人教育系统来应对

研究发现成年人在数学和阅读方面不比小学生好：Data released on December 10th by the OECD, a club of mostly rich countries......The latest tests were carried out in 31 rich countries......They suggest that a fifth of adults do no better in maths and reading than might be expected of a primary school child大人不如小孩系列

这样可能的原因：人口变化New immigrants often struggle with a new language. The native-born have ageing brains.社交媒体削弱敏锐度. Some speculate that Netflix, video games and social media are sapping acuity. 教育和培训系统失败It is just as likely that education and training systems have misfired.竟然没有提到短视频影响？？？

导致技能最高和最低人之间差距拉大：In many countries the gap in ability between the highest- and lowest-skilled grown-ups is widening (not because smarty-pants are doing better, but because the least able are doing worse).这个也很反直觉，那就是有些人保持自己不提升，结果在社会上也是顶尖的存在，因为下面没有追赶上来的人，而是都掉队了

怎么办？改善儿童课程Improving lessons for children is the surest way of creating more capable grown-ups; governments ought to start there.改善成人教育系统These hand dropouts second chances; they also serve people who change careers and help migrants integrate.