《论为学者之无知》

论为学者之无知【导读】威廉赫兹里特（WilliamHazlitt，17781830）是英国散文家和批评家。本文节选自赫兹里特散文论为学者之无知（OntheIgnoranceoftheLearned），对比了学校中“勤奋听话”的学生和“懒惰叛逆”的学生：勤奋的学生学习认真，听课、背诵、阅读，但是压抑了自己的灵性；而懒惰的学生则任凭兴趣指引，运动、游玩、欣赏自然美景，让自己的性情得到自由发挥。赫兹里特认为英国现行的学校教育主要训练学生的记忆能力，抑制了学生的性情，学生应充满活力，接近自然，勇于坦露感情，让自己的性情和各方面的能力得到充分发展。OntheIgnoranceoftheLearnedAnyonewhohaspassedthroughaformaleducationmayconsiderhimselfashavinghadaverynarrowescapeifheisnotmadeafoolbyit.Itisanoldremarkthatboyswhoshineatschooldonotachievethemostwhentheygrowupandcomeoutintotheworld.Asamatteroffact，thethingswhichaboyisrequiredtolearnatschool，andonwhichhissuccessdepends，arethingswhichdonotrequiretheuseofthehighestorthemostusefulfunctionsofthemind.Memoryisthechieffunctionusedtorepeatlessonsbyroteinlanguages，ingeography，etc.sothathewhomakesthemostofthistechnicalmemoryandpayslittleattentiontootherthingswhichmayappealtohischildishattention，willmakehimselfstandoutintheschool.ThedifficultGreekverbsandthewordsusedinaparticularfieldcannotarousetheinterestof10?year?oldlearnersunlesstheyareforcedtolearnthembyothers.Achildwithpoorhealthandinactivemind，whocanjustrememberwhatistaughttohimandwhohasnoabilitytoenjoyhimselfwillgenerallybeatthetopoftheclass.A“lazy”boy，ontheotherhand，isonewhohasgoodhealthandhighspirits，whohasthefreeuseofhislegs，whofeelsthecirculation（循环）ofhisbloodandthebeatofhisheart，whoisreadytolaughandcryashelikes，andwhohadratherchaseaballorabutterfly，feeltheopenairinhisface，lookatfieldsorthesky，followawinding（曲折的）path，orenterwitheagernessintoallthelittleconflictsandinterestsofhisfriends，thansleeponaspelling?book，repeatdifficultsentencesafterhismaster，sitsomanyhoursatawriting?desk，andreceiveuselessprizesandmedalsforthelossoftimeandpleasure.Thereisindeedadegreeofstupiditywhichpreventschildrenfromlearningtheusuallessons，orarrivingattheselittleacademichonors.Butmoreoftenthannotthese“lazy”childrenarenotstupid；theyjustlackinterestormotivetofocusonschool?learning.Thebestmindsareasmuchaboveschool?learningasthedullestmindsarebeneathit.Ourgreatestmenhavenotbeenmostdistinguished（杰出的）fortheirachievementsatschoolorattheuniversity.I.WordsandExpressions.1.passthrough经历，经过，例：Abillgenerallypassesthroughthefollowingstagesinparliament：firstread，secondread，committeestage，reportstageandthirdread.在议会，法案一般要经过以下几个阶段：一读，二读，讨论，下院辩论和三读。2.anarrowescape九死一生，例：AndysescapefromtheShawshankprisonwasreallyanarrowescape.安迪从肖申克监狱的逃脱实在是九死一生。3.asamatteroffact事实上，例：Asamatteroffact，whenapersoncriesandthefirstdropoftearscomesfromtherighteye，itshappiness；whenitsfromtheleft，itspain.事实上，当哭泣时，右眼先流泪是幸福，左眼先流泪是痛苦。4.requiresb.todosth.要求某人做某事，例：Nowadays，almostanyonewhowantstoteachinakeyuniversityisrequiredtoholdaPhDdegree.5.dependon依靠，取决于，例：WhenRobinsonCrusoewascasttotheisland，hehadnobodytodependonbuthimself.当鲁宾逊漂流到岛上时，他无依无靠，只有靠自己。6.byrote死记硬背，例：ManystudentstrytolearnEnglishwordsbyrote，butthatisnotagoodway.许多学生试着通过死记硬背学英语单词，但这不是个好方法。7.makethemostof充分利用，例：Incollege，youneedtomakethemostofeachopportunitytoimproveyourself；otherwise，youshallfallbehind.在大学里，你要充分利用每个机会自我提升；否则，你会落后的。8.appealto吸引，例：BeijingLoveStorydirectedbyChenSichengmainlyappealstothepost?80s.陈思成导演的北京爱情故事主要吸引了80后的观众。9.standout突出，脱颖而出，例：Ineveryclass，thereisusuallyonestudentfromthegroupthatstandsoutasbeingspecial.在每个班里，总有一个学生与众不同。10.moreoftenthannot往往，多半，例：Moreoftenthannot，peoplewouldbackspacetheirwholepasswordwhentheyjustgetoneletterwrong.人们往往会把所有字符都清除，哪怕他们只输错了一位密码。II.Notestothesentences.1.Asamatteroffact，thethingswhichaboyisrequiredtolearnatschool，andonwhichhissuccessdepends，arethingswhichdonotrequiretheuseofthehighestorthemostusefulfunctionsofthemind.【注释】本句中有三个“which”引导的定语从句，前两个并列修饰第一个“things”，第三个修饰第二个“things”。这句话的意思是：事实上，孩子们在学校里被要求掌握的内容，往往不需要运用大脑中最高级、最有用的功能，却决定了他们的成败。2.Thebestmindsareasmuchaboveschool?learningasthedullestmindsarebeneathit.【注释】本句是“as.as”引导的比较结构，可改为：Thebestmindsaremuchaboveschool?learning，justasthedullestmindsaremuchbeneathit.最优秀的人的能力远高于读书这个差事，就像最愚笨的学生的能力要远低于它一样。III.Fillineachoftheblankswithasuitableprepositionoradverb.1.Ifyoufocusthenegativeaspectsoflife，youareboundtofeeldepressed.2.TheChinesegovernmentisencouragingpeopletoplantmoretreesalongtheGobiDeserttopreventthewindblowingsandtoNorthChina.3.Whensetfreefromtheprison，thecriminalpromisedtomakethemosttheopportunitytoreformandmakehimselfusefultothesociety.4.Thrillers（惊悚片）doesnotappealme，Iprefercomedies（喜剧片）.5.Manyuniversitiesrequiretheirstudentsgothroughamilitarytraining.6.OdysseuspassedmanyadventuresbeforereturningtohisnativelandIthaca.7.Asamatterfact，youseeyournoseatalltimes，butyourbrainjustchoosestoignoreit.8.Peoplewholackgenuinecorevaluesdependexternalfactorstheirlooksorstatusinordertofeelgoodaboutthemselves.9.Whenplayingwithhisteammates，KobeBryantstandsasbeingfantastic.10.Growingisanexcitingjourneyfilledwithbothpainandhappiness.IV.Correcttheerrorineachofthefollowingsentences.1.Thoughhecanhardlyfindhiswayintothenextstreet，butheisacquaintedwiththeexactdimensionsofBeijing.2.Learningistheknowledgeofwhatwhichisnotgenerallyknowntoothers.3.Heisthemostlearnedmanwhoknowsthemostofthatisfarthestremovedfromcommonlifeandactualobservation.4.Heknowsasmuchofwhathetalksaboutlikeablindmandoesofcolors.5.Hecannotgiveasatisfactoryanswertotheeasiestquestion，norhecanexpresshisownopinionsaboutarealquestion.6.Hehasnoideasofhisown，andmustliveonthatofotherpeople.7.Thelearnedauthordiffersfromthelearnedstudentinwhichtheonewritesdownwhattheotherreads.8.Hedoesnotknowthathisoldestfriendisaknaveorafool，buthecangivealectureonalltheprincipalcharactersinhistory.V.TranslatethefollowingsentencesintoEnglish.1.我觉得很奇怪，学生被要求在上课前两小时到校。（berequiredtodosth.）.2.许多公民呼吁政府设立慈善机构来帮助那些没有工作的农民工。（appealto）.3.事实上，很多学生在网上学习的时候都很难把注意力集中在作业上，因此也就不能充分利用网络资源。（asamatteroffact，focuson，makethemostof）.4.要想长大，你必须经历各种各样的磨难并学着依靠自己。（growup，passthrough，dependon）.5.如果想出类拔萃，你必须防止自己向各种压力屈服。（standout，preventfrom，givein）.VI.Questionsforconsiderationanddiscussion.1.Whatkindofstudentsdoyouthinkyouare？2.Doyoudevotemostoftimetostudyandfeelunhappyaboutit？3.Whatdoyouthinkistherelationshipbetweenknowledgeandability？4.Whatisthemostimportantthingthatyougetfromyourschooleducation？5.Discusswithyourfriendsorclassmatesaboutschoollife.Keys：.1.on2.from3.of4.to5.to6.through7.of8.on9.out10.up.1.将“but”删除2.将“what”改为“that”3.将“that”改为“what”4.将“like”改为“a