GRE作文范文 Issue-18

"Students should bring a certain skepticism to whatever they study. They should question what they are taught instead of accepting it passively."

嘉文博譯Sample Essay

The unquestioned role of a student is to learn as much as possible through whatever means it takes to ingrain that knowledge in the individual student. Teachers and professors are human beings and are therefore not perfect. No one knows the correct answer to every question even when you limit the questions to a certain field of study. Having a certain skepticism about what they are being taught can help students to make the teachers and professors even better by clarifying correct answers or correcting mistakes and misinformation.

Students certainly have a huge role in their own abilities to learn. Teaching faculty should act more as guides along the way rather than trying to force each student to learn whatever it is that they are studying. The best teachers in the world cannot teach an unmotivated student. If the teacher, for whatever reason, cannot motivate the student, then the student must somehow find a way to motivate him or herself. One method of doing this is by become an active rather than a passive student. The more the student involves him or herself in the act of studying, the better he or she can learn. One of the best ways to become more active is simply to ask the teacher or professor questions. Students who passively sit in a classroom and take everything that the teacher says for granted are not fully using their mental capacities to learn. Better education comes from teachers who are able to get their students to think about a subject rather than merely absorb a certain amount of information. Having a healthy skepticism can improve a student's ability to both think and absorb knowledge in a learning situation.

Students should practice a certain amount of skepticism in the classroom as a means of fostering better communication between the teacher and the students. To sit passively receiving and digesting information from a teacher or professor would be to assume that everything that the teacher says is absolutely correct. Teachers are human beings and no one is one hundred percent right all of the time, even in a classroom situation. No professor or teacher is infallible. Perhaps a teacher would simply unconsciously say the wrong word or pass on some misinformation that the teacher truly believed was correct. Simply asking a question by the student could prevent an entire classroom from becoming confused or misinformed.

In my own education, I have had at least two experiences that showed me the value of being somewhat of a skeptic at times in a classroom situation. In my younger years, a grade school teacher told the class that it was wrong for people of different races to intermarry because the children would grow up confused about their "real" identity. Although it seemed wrong at the time, because I was so young and impressionable, I thought that the teacher must be right because he was the teacher. Looking back now, I realize just how wrong he was and that a healthy skepticism even at a young age can be a valuable tool in education. In another example of the value of questioning a teacher, we had an inexperienced first-time teacher teaching our second language class. Although she tried very hard, it became obvious that she was making many mistakes. I began asking questions (in a helpful manner) and found out that the book that she was using was full of mistakes. She appreciated the feedback and we all had a better learning experience by watching for mistakes from the book. Without a little skepticism, we would have been pronouncing and using many words incorrectly.

There is of course a fine balance between a student having a healthy skepticism and just being a downright cynic. But with the proper attitude toward learning and a little skepticism, both the student and the professors or teacher can improve upon the learning process and maximize learning efficiency.

(652 words)

參考譯文

學(xué)生應(yīng)該對他所學(xué)的一切東西持懷疑態(tài)度。他們對教給他們的東西應(yīng)該進(jìn)行質(zhì)詢而不是被動(dòng)地接受

毫無疑問，學(xué)生就是應(yīng)該通過一切手段盡可能地多學(xué)習(xí)，牢牢掌握所學(xué)到的知識。老師和教授畢竟也是人，因此不可能盡善盡美。即使將問題限制在特定的研究領(lǐng)域內(nèi)，也不可能有人會(huì)知道所有問題的正確答案。對別人教給他的東西持有一種懷疑態(tài)度能夠幫助學(xué)生督促老師和教授改正錯(cuò)誤，進(jìn)一步講清正確答案，糾正錯(cuò)誤的表達(dá)，從而使他們做得更好。

學(xué)生自身確實(shí)具有很強(qiáng)的學(xué)習(xí)能力。老師應(yīng)該在學(xué)生學(xué)習(xí)的過程中多引導(dǎo)他們?nèi)〉眠M(jìn)步而不應(yīng)該強(qiáng)迫他們學(xué)習(xí)。如果一個(gè)學(xué)生自己沒有學(xué)習(xí)的動(dòng)力，那么就算是全世界最好的老師也對他無能為力。如果老師出于某種原因不能激發(fā)學(xué)生學(xué)習(xí)的動(dòng)力，那么學(xué)生自己必須要找到激勵(lì)、啟發(fā)自己的方法。方法之一就是要成為一個(gè)積極的而不是消極的學(xué)習(xí)者。學(xué)生積極參與學(xué)習(xí)過程的程度越深，他就能學(xué)得越好。變得積極起來的最好方法之一就是去問老師或教授問題。那些被動(dòng)地坐在課堂上理所當(dāng)然地將老師說的話奉為真理的學(xué)生并沒有充分運(yùn)用自己的智能。能在學(xué)習(xí)中啟發(fā)學(xué)生思考而不僅僅是讓學(xué)生單向吸收知識的老師才能進(jìn)行更好的、卓有成效的教育。

學(xué)生在課堂上應(yīng)該抱有一些懷疑態(tài)度，以期達(dá)到學(xué)生與老師之間更好的交流。被動(dòng)地坐在課堂上接收、消化老師或教授所傳授的信息無異于認(rèn)為老師說的就是絕對正確的。老師也是人，沒有人總是百分之百正確，即使是在課堂這個(gè)小小的領(lǐng)域內(nèi)也是如此。沒有哪一個(gè)老師或教授是絕不犯錯(cuò)的。有時(shí)老師可能會(huì)無意識地說錯(cuò)詞或者傳達(dá)一些自己認(rèn)為是正確但實(shí)際上卻是錯(cuò)誤的信息。這時(shí)，學(xué)生只要問一個(gè)問題就能防止全班產(chǎn)生迷惑或被誤導(dǎo)。

在我受教育的過程中，至少有兩次經(jīng)歷告訴我在課堂上有時(shí)有一點(diǎn)懷疑態(tài)度的重要性。我小時(shí)候，一個(gè)小學(xué)老師上課時(shí)說不同種族的人通婚是錯(cuò)誤的，因?yàn)樗麄兩碌暮⒆娱L大后會(huì)搞不清自己"真正"的身份。盡管這種說法當(dāng)時(shí)就是錯(cuò)誤的，但是由于我那時(shí)還很小很單純，我認(rèn)為因?yàn)樗抢蠋熕隙ň褪钦_的。現(xiàn)在回想起來，我意識到老師的錯(cuò)誤有多么嚴(yán)重，意識到即使是在很小的年紀(jì)，有益的質(zhì)疑態(tài)度也會(huì)是受教育過程中的寶貴工具。另一個(gè)例子發(fā)生在一個(gè)初次教學(xué)毫無經(jīng)驗(yàn)的老師給我們上第二外語課的時(shí)候。盡管她很努力，但顯然她犯了很多錯(cuò)誤。因此我就開始對她提問(是以一種幫助的口吻)，結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)是她用的那本書錯(cuò)誤百出。她非常感激我的提問，我們也在給書找出錯(cuò)誤的同時(shí)達(dá)到了更好的學(xué)習(xí)效果。如果當(dāng)時(shí)我沒有一點(diǎn)懷疑態(tài)度的話，我們現(xiàn)在對許多詞語的讀音和用法可能都會(huì)是錯(cuò)誤的。

當(dāng)然，一個(gè)學(xué)生應(yīng)該找到一個(gè)好的平衡點(diǎn)，使自己具有一種有益的質(zhì)詢態(tài)度而不是成為一個(gè)徹底的憤世嫉俗、好嘲笑挖苦的人。有了對學(xué)習(xí)的正確態(tài)度和一點(diǎn)質(zhì)疑精神，學(xué)生和老師、教授都能夠完善學(xué)習(xí)過程，最大限度地提高學(xué)習(xí)效率。