背诵为王 第 四 册 第 58 课

Lesson58 A-level Disillusionment
Anne Barrie's "Do We Over-educate Our Children?" reminded me that theGerman author Gunter Grass once said that failing his school leaving examswas a blessing¹ without which he would never have achieved the position henow holds. I wonder how many other great men and women owe their success tohaving failed in their academic careers.
I was a schoolgirl in the 1960s - the time when it was believed that thefuture wealth of the country depended on the education of the young: moneywas plentiful², new universities sprang up and great myths³ evolved to lureyoung people into the academic life.
Three years later, I obtained a first-class degree in mathematics. For somemonths there had been pressure to try for a further degree - the more post-graduate students there are, the more financial benefits exist for us. Myfellow postgraduates⁵ and I knew nothing of the outside world, and happilybelieved that academic life for another three years would enhance⁶ us in theeyes of future employers: and so I went to London and began work for adoctorate.
Here, for the first time, I came across "mature students" - people who hadleft school at 16 and, years later, taken A-levels at technical colleges andcome to university. Having chosen their subject with great care, and beingmore mature, they found a joy in their courses unknown to most of us.
I have been working now for several years: life has been very different fromwhat I had been led to expect. However, it is too late to change: the stateof understanding will not pay to reeducate people completely. As I thinkback, I regret that I did not fail my A-levels.　

disillusionment 幻灭, 觉醒
lure⁴ 引诱
doctorate⁷ 博士头衔

A''等级幻灭
安妮•巴瑞的《我们是不是给我们的孩子太多的教育了？》使我想到德国作家君特•格拉斯曾经说过的，他没有通过中学毕业考试是一件幸事，否则他就永远不可能取得现有的地位。不知道有多少其他伟人和名人们将所取得的成就归功于他们在学业上的失败。
60年代，我还是一名中学女生，那是一个认为国家未来的富足寄托于年轻人的教育的时代：资金充裕，不断有新的大学出现，教育神话的巨大诱惑使年轻人都追求学业上的成就。
3年后，我获得了数学的头等学位。好几个月里，我面临着研读更高学位的压力&&研究生越多，经济利益就会越多。我和我的研究生同学们丝毫不了解外面的世界，高枕无忧地认为学业上再深造三年能增加我们在未来老板眼里的价值。于是我到了伦敦，开始攻读博士学位。
在那里我第一次遇到了“成熟的学生”，他们十六岁就离开了学校，几年后在技术学院参加了A&等级课程考试，然后上了大学。他们的专业是经过深思熟虑后选择的，他们更成熟，能在所修的课程中获得大多数我们这样的学生无法体会到的乐趣。
现在我已经工作好几年了，现实生活和我们在学校的环境下所期待的样子完全不同。不过，现在做出改变已经太晚了，醒悟并不能给我们带来完全的再教育。回想起来，我真后悔当年没有让我的A&等级课程考试不及格。　　

1 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

2 plentiful   

adj.富裕的，丰富的

参考例句：

• Their family has a plentiful harvest this year.他们家今年又丰收了。
• Rainfall is plentiful in the area.这个地区雨量充足。

3 myths   

n.神话( myth的名词复数 )；杜撰出来的人[事物]

参考例句：

• They drew the material of their plays chiefly from myths and legends. 他们主要从神话传说中提取剧本的素材。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Jasper White is one of rare people who believes in ancient myths. 贾斯珀。怀特是少有的相信古代神话的人之一。 来自新概念英语第二册

4 lure   

n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引

参考例句：

• Life in big cities is a lure for many country boys.大城市的生活吸引着许多乡下小伙子。
• He couldn't resist the lure of money.他不能抵制金钱的诱惑。

5 postgraduates   

研究生( postgraduate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Professor Zhu will give lectures to the postgraduates [graduate students] this term. 朱教授这学期给研究生开课。
• These postgraduates were a very talented group. 这些研究生是一群天分很高的学生。

6 enhance   

vt.提高（强度、力量、数量等），增加（进）

参考例句：

• BBC backing for the scheme will enhance its credibility.英国广播公司对这一计划的支持将提高其可信度。
• Good secretarial skills should enhance your chances of getting a job.出色的秘书工作技能会增加你找工作的机会。

7 doctorate   

n.(大学授予的)博士学位

参考例句：

• He hasn't enough credits to get his doctorate.他的学分不够取得博士学位。
• Where did she do her doctorate?她在哪里攻读博士？