欧美人文风情第323篇:100分的成绩等于100分的人生?

 We want to do well at school for an obvious reason, because, as we're often told, it's the primary route to doing well at life. 我们都为了一个很显然的原因想要在学校表现好，因为，就像人们常跟我们说的一样，那是成为人生胜利组的主要途径。

Few of us are in love with the A grades themselves. 我们很少人是真心热爱好成绩本身。

We want them because we're understandably interested in one day having a fulfilling career, a pleasant house, and the respect of others. 我们想要得到好成绩，因为可以理解我们全都想要有天能有成功的事业、一幢舒适的房子，以及获得他人的尊敬。

But sometimes, more often than seems entirely¹ reassuring², something pretty confusing occurs. 不过有时候会发生满令人困惑的事，让人感到不安。

We come across people who triumphed at school but flunked⁴ at life, and vice⁵ versa. 我们会遇到资优生在人生的课题中不及格，也会碰到相反的情况。

The former stars who once knew exactly how to satisfy their teachers may now be flatlining in a law office 曾知道该怎么让老师满意的前明星学生，现在可能落到一间律师事务所里，

or relocating to a provincial⁶ town in the hope of finding something better. 或搬到一个乡野小镇，期望能找到更好的生活。

The path that seemed guaranteed to lead to success has run into the sand. 以往看似保证能通往成功的道路变成一场空。

We shouldn't actually be surprised. 我们其实不该感到讶异。

School curricula are not designed by people who necessarily have much experience of, or talent at, the world beyond. 学校课程不见得是由这样的人编排的，那些对学校以外的世界有所阅历或有天赋的人。

School curricula are not reverse engineered from fulfilled adult lives in the here and now. 学校课程不是参考现在成功大人的人生逆向策划出来的。

They were intellectually influenced by all kinds of slightly random⁷ forces over hundreds of years of evolution, 数百年的发展过程中，它们在知识方面受到略为随机的各式力量所影响，

shaped by, among other things, the curricula of medieval monasteries⁸, 此外也受中世纪修道院的课程所影响，

the ideas of some 19th-century German educationalists, and the concerns of aristocratic court societies. 一些十九世纪德国教育家的理念，以及贵族宫廷社会的顾忌也有影响。

This helps to explain the many bad habits that schools can inculcate. 这有助说明学校可能会灌输的许多坏习惯。

They suggest that the most important things are already known; that what is is all that could be. 他们暗示最重要的事物已被了解；一切就是这样。

They can't help but warn us about the dangers of originality⁹. 他们忍不住警告我们独创性的危险。

They want us to put up our hands and wait to be asked. 他们想要我们举手然后等着被问问题。

They want us to keep asking other people for permission. 他们想要我们不断征求他人同意。

They teach us to deliver on rather than change expectations. 他们教我们达成而非改变期望。

They teach us to redeploy ideas rather than originate them. 他们教我们重新利用而非自己想出点子。

They teach us to respect people in authority rather than imagine that, 他们教我们尊重位高权重的人，而不是要我们想象，

in rather inspiring ways, no one actually knows quite what's going on. 这其实满让人振奋的，其实没有人什么都了解。

They teach us everything other than the two skills that really determine the quality of adult life: 他们什么都教我们，但却漏掉了两项真正决定成人生活质量的技能：

knowing how to choose the right job for us and knowing how to form satisfactory relationships. 知道如何为自己选择对的工作，以及知道如何建立让人满足的关系。

They'll instruct us in Latin and how to measure the circumference¹⁰ of a circle long before they teach us these core subjects: work and love. 他们教我们拉丁文以及量圆周长的方法，远在他们教我们这些核心科目前：工作与爱。

That said, it isn't that all we need to do to succeed at life is flunk³ school. 尽管如此，并不是说我们只要在学校不及格就会有成功的人生。

A good life requires us to do two very tricky¹¹ things: be a very good boy or girl for 20 years, 一个美好的人生需要我们做两件很困难的事：当个乖男孩或乖女孩二十年，

and simultaneously¹², never really believe blindly in the long-term validity or seriousness of what we're being asked to study. 同时，永远不要盲目相信学问有着长远的正确性或重要性，那些我们被要求学习的事物。

We need to be outwardly entirely obedient while inwardly intelligently and unashamedly rebellious¹³. 我们得看起来乖巧顺从，但内心却聪明且坦然地叛逆。

 

1 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

2 reassuring   

a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的

参考例句：

• He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 他轻拍了一下她的肩膀让她放心。
• With a reassuring pat on her arm, he left. 他鼓励地拍了拍她的手臂就离开了。

3 flunk   

v.(考试)不及格(=fail)

参考例句：

• I will flunk him if my student doesn't learn the material in the course.如果我的学生没有掌握课程的内容，我就会让他不及格。
• If you flunk finals,you don't get the chance to do them again.如果你没通过期末考试，就没有机会再考一次了。

4 flunked   

v.( flunk的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）（考试、某学科的成绩等）不及格；评定（某人）不及格；（因不及格而） 退学

参考例句：

• I flunked math in second grade. 我二年级时数学不及格。
• He flunked out (of college) last year. 他去年（从大学）退学了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

6 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

7 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

8 monasteries   

修道院( monastery的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• In ancient China, there were lots of monasteries. 在古时候，中国有许多寺院。
• The Negev became a religious center with many monasteries and churches. 内格夫成为许多庙宇和教堂的宗教中心。

9 originality   

n.创造力，独创性；新颖

参考例句：

• The name of the game in pop music is originality.流行音乐的本质是独创性。
• He displayed an originality amounting almost to genius.他显示出近乎天才的创造性。

10 circumference   

n.圆周，周长，圆周线

参考例句：

• It's a mile round the circumference of the field.运动场周长一英里。
• The diameter and the circumference of a circle correlate.圆的直径与圆周有相互关系。

11 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

12 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

13 rebellious   

adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的

参考例句：

• They will be in danger if they are rebellious.如果他们造反，他们就要发生危险。
• Her reply was mild enough,but her thoughts were rebellious.她的回答虽然很温和，但她的心里十分反感。