In Praise of the F Word及翻译.doc

In Praise of the F Word Tens of thousands of 18-year-olds will graduate this year and be handed meaningless diplomas. These diplomas wont look any different from those awarded their luckier classmates. Their validity will be questioned only when their employers discover that these graduates are semiliterate. 今年，成千上万的18岁学生将毕业并被授予毫无意义的文凭。这些文凭看起来毫无差别。它们的有效性只会在雇主发现持证的毕业生能力不足时才会受到质疑。 Eventually a fortunate few will find their way into educational-repair shops-adult-literacy programs, such as the one where I teach basic grammar and writing. There, high school graduates and high school dropouts pursuing graduate-equivalency certificates will learn the skills they should have learned in school. They will also discover they have been cheated by our educational system. 最终少数幸运的人会找到进修的地方成人教育学校，例如我教基础语法和写作的地方。在这里，追求等价的毕业证书的高中毕业生和高中辍学的学生将要学习他们本应在学校已经学习的东西。他们还将发现自己被我们的教育系统欺骗了。 As I teach, I learn a lot about our schools. Early in each session I ask my students to write about an unpleasant experience they had in school. No writers block here! “I wish someone would have had made me stop doing drugs and made me study.” “I liked to party and no one seemed to care.” “I was a good kid and didnt cause any trouble, so they just passed me along even though I didnt read well and couldnt write.” And so on. 在我教学的时候，我对我们的学校有了更深的了解。在每个学期前，我都让学生写一下他们在学校有过的一次不愉快的经历。每个学生在这个话题上都不会文思枯竭。有人说：“我希望有一个人可以使我停止吸毒，并让我好好学习。”；有人说：“我喜欢聚会，但好像没有人注意过我”；有人说：“我是一个好孩子，没有制造过任何麻烦。所以尽管学习不好，他们还是让我通过了考试。”等等。 I am your basic do-gooder, and prior to teaching this class I blamed the poor academic skills our kids have today on drugs, divorce and other impediments to concentration necessary for doing well in school. But, as I rediscover each time I walk into the classroom, before a teacher can expect students to concentrate, he has to get their attention, no matter what distractions may be at hand. There are many ways to do this, and they have much to do with teaching style. However, if style alone wont do it, there is another way to show who holds the winning hand in the classroom. That is to reveal the trump card of failure. 我是你们的基本改良者，在上这个课之前，我把现今我们孩子在毒品，离婚上所拥有的贫乏的专业知识和其他阻碍归罪于他们为在学校表现良好所需的专注。但是，每次当我走进教室时，我都会重新发现，在一名老师期望学生能全神贯注之前，他必须先吸引学生的注意力，不管有什么样的干扰将要降临。有很多方式可以做到这一点，而它们与教学方式有很大关系。然而，如果单靠教学风格不能做到这点，还有另一种方法使你成为教室里的导引者，那就是翻出“失败”这张王牌。 I will never forget a teacher who played that card to get the attention of one of my children. Our youngest, a world-class charmer, did little to develop his intellectual talents but always got by until Mrs. Stifter became his teacher. 我永远都忘不了那位露出这张王牌来吸引我其中一个儿子注意力的老师。我最小的儿子，他后来成为了世界级魔术师，在斯蒂芙特女士成为他的老师之前，他很少在提高他的文化知识上下功夫，但却总能通过，直到斯蒂芙特女士当了他的老师，这种局面就改变了。 Our son was a high school senior when he had her for English. “He sits in the back of the room talking to his friends,” she told me. “Why dont you move him to the front row?” I urged, believing the embarrassment would get him to settle down. Mrs. Stifter looked at me steely-eyed over her glasses.” I dont move seniors,” she said. “I flunk them.” I was flustered. Our sons academic life flashed before my eyes. No teacher had ever threatened him with that before. I regained my composure and managed to say that I thought she was right. By the time I got home I was feeling pretty good about this. It was a radical approach for these times, but, well, why not? “Shes going to flunk you,” I told my son. I did not discuss it any further. Suddenly English became a priority in his life. He finished out the semester with an A. 当她教我们儿子英语的时候我们儿子还是一个高中生。“你儿子总是坐在教室后面和他的朋友说话。”她对我说。我竭力主张她说“你为什么不把他调到前排呢？”我相信这样的尴尬会让他安定下来。斯蒂芙特女士透过眼镜用坚毅的眼神看着我说：“我不会为他们调位，他们已经是高中生了，我直接让他们不及格。”我很慌张。我们儿子的学术生涯从我的眼前一闪而过。在这之前从没有老师用不及格威胁过他。我恢复了平静，并说我认为她是对的。回到家的时候，我对这个方式感觉很好。它是一个激降法，为什么不这样做呢？于是我告诉我的儿子：“她准备让你不及格。”我其它什么也没说。突然之间，英语在他的生活中成了首要重要的事情。完成学期时，他拿到了A的成绩。 I know one example doesnt make a case, but at night I see a parade of students who are angry and resentful for having been passed along until they could no longer even pretend to keep up. Of average intelligence or better, they eventually quit school, concluding they were too dumb to finish.” I should have been held back” is a comment I hear frequently. Even sadder are those students who are high school graduates who say to me after a few weeks of class,” I dont know how I ever got a high school diploma.” 我知道一个例子虽然不能充分说明全部，但是在晚上，我看到一群因为在不能再假装能跟上教学之前都一直被通过因而内心充满愤怒和怨恨的学生。这些有着平均智力或更高的学生，由于认为他们太笨无法完成学业而退学了。“我本来应该被留下的”是我听到的最频繁的话。更令人悲哀的是，那些高中毕业生在课程开始几周后对我说:“我不知道我曾经是怎么获得了一个高中毕业证的。”Passing students who have not mastered the work cheats them and the employers who expect graduates to have basic skills. We excuse this dishonest behavior by saying kids cant learn if they come from terrible environments. No one seems to stop to think that-no matter what environments they come from-most kids dont put school first on their list unless they perceive something is at stake. Theyd rather be sailing. 让一个没有掌握好学业知识的学生毕业，不仅欺骗了他们，也欺骗了那些期待毕业生们都掌握了基本技能的雇主们。我们为这个不诚实的行为找借口说，如果孩子们来自糟糕的环境，他们就不能好好学习。似乎没有人停下来思考过这个问题无论孩子们来自什么环境，大部分孩子都不会把学业放在第一位，除非他们认识到这件事攸关紧要。他们宁愿随波逐流。 Many students I see at night could give expert testimony on unemployment, chemical dependency, abusive relationships. In spite of these difficulties, they have decided to make education a priority. They are motivated by the desire for a better job or the need to hang on to the one theyve got. They have a healthy fear of failure. 我在夜校看到的许多学生都有失业、依赖毒品和家庭暴力等问题这些都可以给出有力的证明。尽管有这样许多的困难，他们依然把接受教育放在优先的位置。他们被内心的希望激励着，或是希望找到一份好的工作，或是希望保持现有工作。他们对失败都有一个健康的心理。 People of all ages can rise above their problems, but they need to have a reason to do so. Young people generally dont have the maturity to value education in the same way my adult students value it. But fear of failure, whether economic or academic, can motivate both. 所有年龄段的人都能克服他们的问题，但他们需要一个这样做的理由。年轻人通常不像我的那些成年的学生一样有一个成熟的心态去看待教育。但是对失败的害怕，无论是在经济上还是学术上的，都可以激励他们，。 Flunking as a regular policy has just as much merit today as it did two generations ago. We must review the threat of flunking and see it as it really isa positive teaching tool. It is an expression of confidence by both teachers and parents that the students have the ability to learn the material presented to them. However, making it work again would take a dedicated, caring conspiracy between teachers and parents. It would mean facing the tough reality that passing kids who havent learned the materialwhile it might save them grief for the short termdooms them to a long-term illiteracy. It would mean that teachers would have to follow through on their threats, and parents would have to stand behind them, knowing their chil