新视野研究生英语_读说写2课文加翻译

1.Collegelectures:IsAnybodyListening?大学课堂：还有人在听吗？Aformerteacherofmine,RobertA.FowkesofNewYorkUniversity,likestotellthestoryofaclasshetookinOldWelshwhilestudyinginGermanyduringthe1930s.Onthefirstdaytheprofessorstrodeuptothepodiumshuffledhisnotes,coughed,andbegan,“GutenTag,MeineDamenundHerren”(“Goodday,ladiesandgentlemen”).Fowkesglancedarounduneasily.Hewastheonlystudentinthecourse.纽约大学的RobertAFowkes是我过去的一位老师。他喜欢讲在上世纪30年代他在德国上，古威尔士语课的故事。第一天上课，教授大步走上讲台，翻了翻笔记，咳嗽了一声，开始说道：“早上好，女士们、先生们。”Fowkes不安地扫视一番。他是上这门课的唯一学生。Towardthemiddleofthesemester,Fowkesfellillandmissedaclass.Whenhereturned,theprofessornoddedvaguelyand,toFowkes’sastonishment,begantodelivernotthenextlectureinthesequencebuttheoneafter.Hadhe,infact,lecturedtoanemptyhallintheabsenceofhissolitarystudent?Fowkesthoughtitperfectlypossible.在学期中间，Fowkes因病缺了一次课。他回到课堂的时候，教授毫无表情地向他点了点头。接着令Fowkes大吃一惊的是，教授没有按照顺序讲下一课，而是讲了后面一课。难道他真的在他唯一的学生缺席的情况下对着空教室讲了一课？Fowkes认为这太有可能了。TodayAmericancollegesanduniversities(originallymodeledonGermanones)areunderstrongattackfrommanyquarters.Teachers,itischarged,arenotdoingagoodjobofteaching,andstudentsarenotdoingagoodjoboflearning.Americanbusinessesandindustriessufferfromunenterprising,uncreativeexecutiveseducatednottothinkforthemselvesbuttomouthoutdatedtruismstherestoftheworldhaslongdiscarded.Collegegraduateslackbothbasicskillsandgeneralculture.Studiesareconductedandreportsareissuedonthestatusofhighereducation,butanychangesthatresulteitherarelargelycosmeticormakeabadsituationworse.今天美国的大学受到了各方面的严厉指责。人们指责老师没有教好，学生没有学好。美国的商业和工业饱受无进取心的，缺乏创造力的管理人员之苦，这些人受的教育是自己不要思考，而是说一些时时的、在世界上其他地方早已抛弃的陈词滥调。大学毕业生既没有基本技能也没有全面修养。有人对高等教育的状况做了研究并发表了报告，但由此引发的变化在很大程度上不是表面的，就是使已经糟糕的情形变得更糟。OneaspectofAmericaneducationtooseldomchallengedisthelecturesystem.Professorscontinuetolectureandstudentstotakenotesmuchastheydidinthethirteenthcentury,whenbooksweresoscarceandexpensivethatfewstudentscouldownthem.Thetimeislongoverdueforustoabandonthelecturesystemandturntomethodsthatreallywork.美国教育中很少被挑战的方面是讲课制度。教授不停地讲，学生不停地记笔记，就像十三世纪时的情形一样，那时是因为书本匮乏又昂贵，很少有学生买得起。我们早就该舍弃讲课制度，开始使用真正有用的方法。Tounderstandtheinadequacyofthepresentsystem,itisenoughtofollowasingleimaginaryfirst-yearstudent—let’scallherMary--throughatermoflectureson.Say,introductorypsychology(althoughanyothersubjectwoulddoaswell).Shearrivesonthefirstdayandlooksaroundthehugelecturehall,takenalittleabacktoseehowlargetheclassis.Oncethehundredormorestudentsenrolledinthecoursediscoverthattheprofessornevertakesattendance(howcanhe?–callingtherollwouldtakefartoomuchtime),theclassshrinkstoalessimposingsize.想要了解现行体制的不足只要跟着一个假设的一年级学生就行了。我们暂且称她为玛丽，我们还是跟她去上一个学期的心理学导论。她到的第一天环顾巨大的课堂，看到班级这么大有些吃惊。一旦一百或一百多个注册的学生发现教授从不点名，班级就缩小到不那么吓人的规模了。SomedaysMarysitsinthefrontrow,fromwhereshecanwatchtheprofessorreadfromastackofyellowednotesthatseemnearlyasoldasheis.Sheisboredbythelectured,andsoaremostoftheotherstudents,tojudgebythewaytheyarenoddingoffordoodlingintheirnotebooks.Graduallysherealizestheprofessorisasboredashisaudience.Attheendofeachlectureheasks,“Arethereanyquestions?”inatoneofvoicethatmakesitplainhewouldmuchratherthereweren’t.Heneedn’tworry–thestudentsareasrelievedasheisthattheclassisover.有几天玛丽坐在前排，她可以看到教授在读一叠几乎和他的年纪一样老的发黄的讲义。她听课烦了，其他大部分同学也听烦了，这从他们的行为中可以判断出：他们要么在打盹，要么在笔记本上涂鸦。渐渐地她意识到教授和他的听众一样感到无聊。每次课结束时他都问道：“有问题吗？”他的语气明显表明他更希望没有问题。他不必担心，学生和他一样感到下课是一种解脱。Maryknowsverywellsheshouldreadanassignmentbeforeeverylecture.However,astheprofessorgivesnoquizzesandasksnoquestions,shesoonrealizessheneedn’tprepare.Attheendofthetermshecatchesupbyskimminghernotesandmemorizingalistoffactsanddates.Afterthefinalexam,shepromptlyforgetsmuchofwhatshehasmemorized.Someofherfellowstudents,disappointedattheimpersonalityofitall.Dropoutofcollegealtogether.Others,likeMary,stickitout,growresignedtothesystemandawaitbetterdayswhen,asjuniorsandseniors,theywillattendsmallerclassesandatlastgetthekindofpersonalattentionreallearningrequires.玛丽清楚地知道她应该在每次上课前阅读布置的作业。但是，因为教授不做小测验也不提问，她很快就认识到她不必准备。学期末她只要看看笔记，再记记一些事件、年代就可以跟上进度。期末考试后她会立刻忘掉她背下来的大部分内容。她的有些同学对这种无人情味的学习很失望，干脆辍学。其他人像玛丽一样坚持下来，无奈地接受了这种制度，等待着到大三、大四时的好日子，那时他们就会有较小的班级，最终也会得到真正的学习所需要的那种针对个人的关注。Iadmitthispictureisoverdrawn–mostuniversitiessupplementlecturecourseswithdiscussiongroups,usuallyledbygraduatestudents,andsomeclassessuchasfirst–yearEnglish,arealwaysrelativelysmall.Nevertheless,fartoomanycoursesrelyprincipallyorentirelyonlectures,anarrangementmuchlovedbyfacultyandadministratorsbutscarcelydesignedtobenefitthestudents.我承认上面的描述言过其实。大多数大学有讨论课补充听讲课，通常讨论课是由研究生主持的。而且有些班级，如一年级的英语课，也总是相对较小的。但是，还是有太多的课主要或者完全依赖于讲课，这种安排受到教师和管理人员的青睐，但绝不是为学生的利益而设计的。Oneproblemwithlecturesisthatlisteningintelligentlyishardwork.Readingthesamematerialinatextbookisamoreefficientwaytolearnbecausestudentscanproceedasslowlyastheyneedtountilthesubjectmatterbecomescleartothem.Evensimplypayingattentionisverydifficult;peoplecanlistenatarateoffourhundredtosixhundredwordsaminute,whilethemostimpassionedprofessortalksatscarcelyathirdofthatspeed.Thistimelagbetweenspeechandcomprehensionleadstodaydreaming.Manystudentsbelieveyearsofwatchingtelevisionhavesabotagedtheirattentionspan