综二英语上下册电子书

TwelveThingsIWishTheyTaughtatSchool1.Iattendedjuniorandseniorhighschool,publicinstitutioninNewYorkandNewJersey,justaftertheSecondWorldWar.Itseemsalongtimeago.ThefacilitiesandskillsoftheteacherswereprobablywellaboveaveragefortheUnitedStatesatthattime.Sincethen,i'velearnedagreatdeal.Oneofthemostimportantthingi'velearnedishowmuchthereistolearn,andhowmuchIdon'tyetknow.SometimesIthinkhowgratefuliwouldbetodayifIhadlearnedmorebackthenaboutwhatreallymatter.Insomerespectseducationsisterriblynarrow;theonlythingIeverlearnedinschoolaboutNapoleonswasthattheUnitedStatesmadeaLouisiannaPurchasefromhim(Onaplanetwheresome95%oftheinhabitantsarenotAmericans,theonlyhistorythatwasthoughtworthteachingwasAmericanhistory.)Inspelling,grammar,thefundamentalsofmath,andothervitalsubjects,myteachersdidaprettygoodjob.Butthere'snomuchelseIwishthey'dtaughtus.2.Perhapsallthedeficiencieshavesincebeenrectified.Itseemstometherearemanythings(oftenmoreamatterofattitudeandperceptionthanthesimplememorizationoffacts)thattheschoolsshouldteach——thingsthattrulywouldbeusefulinlaterlife,usefulinmakingastrongercountryandabetterworld,butusefulalsoinmakingpeoplehappier.Humanbeingsenjoylearning.That'soneofthefewthingsthatwedobetterthantheotherspeciesonourplanet.EverystudentshouldregularyexperiencetheAha!——whensomethingyouneverunderstood,orsomethingyouneverknewwasmysterybecomesclear.3.Sohere'smylist:Pickadifficultthingandlearnitwell4.TheGreekphilosopherSocratessaidthiswasoneofthegreatestofhumanjoys,anditis.Whileyoulearnalittlebitaboutmanysubjects,makesureyoulearnagreatdealaboutoneortwo.Ithardlymatterswhatthesubjectis,aslongasitdeeplyinterestsyou,andyouplaceitinitsbroaderhumancontext.Afteryouteachyourselfonesubject,youbecomemuchmoreconfidentaboutyourabilitytoteachyourselfanother.Yougraduallyfindyou'veacquiredakeyskill.Theworldischangingsorapidlythatyoumustcontinuetoteachyourselfthroughoutyourlife.Butdon'tgettrappedbythefirstsubjectthatinterestsyou,orthefirstthingyoufindyourselfgoodat.Theworldisfullofwonders,andsomeofthemwedon'tdiscoveruntilwe'reallgrowup.Mostofthem.sadly,weneverdiscover.Don'tbeafraidtoaskstupidquestions.5.Manyapparentlynaiveinquirieslikewhygrassisgreen,orwhytheSunisround,orwhyweneed55.000nuclearweaponsintheworld——arereallydeepquestions.Theanswerscanbeagatewaytorealinsights.It'salsoimportanttoknow,aswellasyoucan,whatitisthatyoudon'tknow,andaskingquestionsistheway.Toaskstupidquestionsrequirescourageonthepartoftheaskerandknowledgeandpatienceonthepartoftheanswerer.Anddon'tconfineyourlearningtoschoolwork.Discussideasindepthwithfriends.It'smuchbravertoaskquestionsevenwhenthere'saprospectofridiculethantosuppressyourquestionsandbecomedeadenedtotheworldaroundyou.Listencarefully.6.Manyconversationsareakindofcompetitionthatrarelyleadstodiscoveryoneitherside.Whenpeoplearetalking,don'tspendthetimethinkingaboutwhatyou'regoingtosaynext.Instead,trytounderstandwhatthey'resaying,whatexperienceisbehindtheirremarks,whatyoucanlearnfromoraboutthem.Olderpeoplehavegrownupinaworldverydifferentfromyours,oneyoumaynotknowverywell.They.andpeoplefromotherpartsofthecountryandfromothernations,haveimportantperspectivesthatcanenrichyourlife.Everybodymakesmistakes7.Everybody'sunderstandingisincomplete.Beopentocorrection,andlearntocorrectyourownmistakes.Theonlyembarrassmentisinnotlearningfromyourmistakes.Knowyourplanet8.It'stheonlyonewehave.Learnhowitworks.We'rechangingtheatmosphere,thesurface,thewatersoftheEarth,oftenforsomeshort-termadvantagewhenthelong-termimplicationsareunknow.Thecitizensofanycountryshouldhaveatleastsomethingtosayaboutthedirectioninwhichwe'regoing.Ifwedon'tunderstandtheissues,weabandonthefuture.Scienceandtechnology.9.Youcan'tknowyourplanetunlessyouknowsomethingaboutscienceandtechnology.Schoolsciencecourses,Iremember,concentratedontheunimportantpartsofscience,leavingthemajorinsightsalmostuntouched.Thegreatdiscoveriesinmodernsciencearealsogreatdiscoveriesofthehumanspirit.Forexample,Copernicusshowedthat——farfrombeingthecenteroftheuniverse,aboutwhichtheSun,theMoon,theplanets,andthestarsrevolvedinclockwisehomage——theEarthisjustoneofmanysmallworlds.Thisisadeflationofourpretensions,tobesure,butitisalsotheopeninguptoourviewofavastandawesomeuniverse.EveryhighschoolgraduateshouldhavesomeideaoftheinsightsofCopernicus,Newton,Darwin,Freud,andEinstein.(Einstein'sspecialtheoryofrelativity,farfrombeingobscureandexceptionallydifficult,canbeunderstoodinitsbasicswithnomorethanfirst-yearalgebra,andthenotionofarowboatinarivergoingupstreamanddownstream.)Don'tspendyourlifewatchingTV.10.YouknowwhatI'mTalkingabout.Culture.11.Gainsomeexposuretothegreatworksofliturature,artandmusic.Ifsuchaworkishundredsorthousandsofyearsoldandisstilladmired,thereisprobablysomethingtoit.Likealldeepexperiences,itmaytakealittleworkonyourparttodiscoverwhatallthefussisabout.Butonceyoumaketheeffort,yourlifehaschanged;you'veacquiredasourceofenjoymentandexcitementfortherestofyourdays.Inaworldastightlyconnectedasoursis,don'trestrictyourattentiontoAmericanorwesternculture.Learnhowandwhatpeopleelsewherethink.Le