学生上大学的目的各不相同:探索知识,充实自己;改变自身处境,谋求好的社会地位;满足父母的期望…还有人从未认真想过。
The Purpose of School
Have you ever asked yourself why children go to school? You will probably say that they go to learn their own language and other languages, arithmetic, geography, geometry, history, science and all the other subjects. That is quite true, but why do they learn these things? And are these things all that they learn at school?
We send our children to school to prepare them for the time when they will be big and will have to work for themselves.
No. There is more in education than just learning facts. We go to school, above all①, to learn how to learn, so that, when we have left school, we can continue to learn. A man who really knows how to learn will always be successful, because whenever he has to do something new which he has never had to do before, he will rapidly teach himself how to do it in the best way. The uneducated person, on the other hand②, is either unable to do something new, or does it badly.The purpose of schools, therefore, is not just to teach languages, arithmetic, geography, etc., but teach pupils the way to learn.
[330 words]
行文点评
全文结构清晰、脉络分明。开篇点题,提出问题:为什么要上学。第二段阐述观点,指出学习每一门课程的目的,接着作者笔锋一转,用一个but提出质疑:上学的惟一理由就是把学校里学的一切在现实中应用吗?在第三段作者针对这个问题提出观点,即上学的真正目的就是学会如何学习。
本文细致地分析了接受学校教育的目的。文章虽短,但层层深入,说理透彻,发人深思。
好文妙译
上学的目的
你是否问过自己为什么孩子要上学?你可能会说他们上学是去学习母语和其他语言,去学习数学、地理、几何、历史、科学及其他学科。此话不假,但他们为什么要学这些?这些东西是他们在校学习的全部内容吗?
我们送孩子上学是为了让他们为自己长大后的工作做准备。
当然不是。教育不仅仅是学习事实。
词汇斟酌
arithmetic n.算术
geometry n.几何
prepare sb. for sth. 让某人为某事做好准备
佳句临摹
①【注释】above all 最重要的;尤其
【临摹】He longs abov all to see hiskfamily again.他尤其渴望再见到家里人。
②【注释】on the other hand 另一方面
【临摹】I want to go to the party, but on the other hand I ought to be studying. 我想去参加聚会,但从另一方面来说,我应该留下来学习。
思如泉涌
Art is long, but life is short. 人生有涯,而学无涯。
What is learned in the cradle is carried to the grave. 儿时所学,终生难忘。
责任编辑:虫虫