综合英语二课文完整版

1自考综合英语二课文全国高等教育自学考试指定教材综合英语二（上下）主编徐克荣外语教学与研究出版社LessonOneTwelveThingslWishTheyTaughtatSchoolCarlSagan俗话说：“活到老，学到老。”人的一生就是不断学习、不断丰富和充实自己的过程。青少年阶段，尤其是中学阶段，无疑是学习的最佳时期。中学教育的重点应放在什么地方？美国著名科学家和科普作家萨根批评中学只抓各个学科具体内容的做法，他认为中学要注重对青少年的宏观教育，使他们建立起唯物的世界观和宇宙观，使他们能够正确对待自己，关心周围的世界——人类生存的环境和自己的地球同胞。1Iattendedjuniorandseniorhighschool,publicinstitutionsinNewYorkandNewJersey,justaftertheSecondWorldWar.Itseemsalongtimeago.ThefacilitiesandtheskillsoftheteacherswereprobablywellaboveaveragefortheUnitedStatesatthattime.Sincethen,I'velearnedagreatdeal.OneofthemostimportantthingsI'velearnedishowmuchthereistolearn,andhowmuchIdon'tyetknow.SometimesIthinkhowgratefulIwouldbetodayifIhadlearnedmorebackthenaboutwhatreallymatters.Insomerespectsthateducationwasterriblynarrow;theonlythingIeverheardinschoolaboutNapoleonwasthattheUnitedStatesmadetheLouisianaPurchasefromhim.(Onaplanetwheresome95%oftheinhabitantsarenotAmericans,theonlyhistorythatwasthoughtworthteachingwasAmericanhistory.)Inspelling,grammar,thefundamentalsofmath,andothervitalsubjects,myteachersdidaprettygoodjob.Butthere'ssomuchelseIwishthey'dtaughtus.2Perhapsallthedeficiencieshavesincebeenrectified.Itseemstometherearemanythings(oftenmoreamatterofattitudeandperceptionthanthesimplememorizationoffacts)thattheschoolsshouldteach—thingsthattrulywouldbeusefulinlaterlife,usefulinmakingastrongercountryandabetterworld,butusefulalsoinmakingpeoplehappier.Humanbeingsenjoylearning.That'soneofthefewthingsthatwedobetterthantheotherspeciesonourplanet.EverystudentshouldregularlyexperiencetheAha!—whensomethingyouneverunderstood,orsomethingyouneverknewwasamystery,becomesclear.3Sohere'smylist:Pickadifficultthingandlearnitwell.4TheGreekphilosopherSocratessaidthiswasoneofthegreatestofhumanjoys,anditis.Whileyoulearnalittlebitaboutmanysubjects,makesureyoulearnagreatdealaboutoneortwo.Ithardlymatterswhatthesubjectis,aslongasitdeeplyinterestsyou,andyouplaceitinitsbroaderhumancontext.Afteryouteachyourselfonesubject,youbecomemuchmoreconfidentaboutyourabilitytoteachyourselfanother.Yougraduallyfindyou'veacquiredakeyskill.Theworldischangingsorapidlythatyoumustcontinuetoteachyourselfthroughoutyourlife.Butdon'tgettrappedbythefirstsubjectthatinterestsyou,orthefirstthingyoufindyourselfgoodat.Theworldisfullofwonders,andsomeofthemwedon'tdiscoveruntilwe'reallgrownup.Mostofthem,sadly,weneverdiscover.Don'tbeafraidtoaskstupidquestions.5Manyapparentlynaiveinquirieslikewhygrassisgreen,orwhytheSunisround,orwhyweneed55,000nuclearweaponsintheworld—arereallydeepquestions.Theanswerscanbeagatewaytorealinsights.It'salsoimportanttoknow,aswellasyoucan,whatitisthatyoudon'tknow,andaskingquestionsistheway.Toaskstupidquestionsrequirescourageonthepartoftheaskerandknowledgeandpatienceonthepartoftheanswerer.Anddon'tconfineyourlearningtoschoolwork.Discussideasindepthwithfriends.It'smuchbravertoaskquestionsevenwhenthere'saprospectof2ridiculethantosuppressyourquestionsandbecomedeadenedtotheworldaroundyou.Listencarefully.6Manyconversationsareakindofcompetitionthatrarelyleadstodiscoveryoneitherside.Whenpeoplearetalking,don'tspendthetimethinkingaboutwhatyou'regoingtosaynext.Instead,trytounderstandwhatthey'resaying,whatexperienceisbehindtheirremarks,whatyoucanlearnfromoraboutthem.Olderpeoplehavegrownupinaworldverydifferentfromyours,oneyoumaynotknowverywell.They,andpeoplefromotherpartsofthecountryandfromothernations,haveimportantperspectivesthatcanenrichyourlife.Everybodymakesmistakes.7Everybody'sunderstandingisincomplete.Beopentocorrection,andlearntocorrectyourownmistakes.Theonlyembarrassmentisinnotlearningfromyourmistakes.Knowyourplanet.8It'stheonlyonewehave.Learnhowitworks.We'rechangingtheatmosphere,thesurface,thewatersoftheEarth,oftenforsomeshort-termadvantagewhenthelong-termimplicationsareunknown.Thecitizensofanycountryshouldhaveatleastsomethingtosayaboutthedirectioninwhichwe'regoing.Ifwedon'tunderstandtheissues,weabandonthefuture.Scienceandtechnology.9Youcan'tknowyourplanetunlessyouknowsomethingaboutscienceandtechnology.Schoolsciencecourses,Iremember,concentratedontheunimportantpartsofscience,leavingthemajorinsightsalmostuntouched.Thegreatdiscoveriesinmodernsciencearealsogreatdiscoveriesofthehumanspirit.Forexample,Copernicusshowedthat—farfrombeingthecenteroftheuniverse,aboutwhichtheSun,theMoon,theplanets,andthestarsrevolvedinclockwisehomage—theEarthisjustoneofmanysmallworlds.Thisisadeflationofourpretensions,tobesure,butitisalsotheopeninguptoourviewofavastandawesomeuniverse.EveryhighschoolgraduateshouldhavesomeideaoftheinsightsofCopernicus,Newton,Darwin,Freud,andEinstein.(Einstein'sspecialtheoryofrelativity,farfrombeingobscureandexceptionallydifficult,canbeunderstoodinitsbasicswithnomorethanfirst-yearalgebra,andthenotionofarowboatinarivergoingupstreamanddownstream.)Don'tspendyourlifewatchingTV.10YouknowwhatI'mtalkingabout.Culture.11Gainsomeexposuretothegreatworksofliterature,artandmusic.Ifsuchaworkishundredsorthousandsofyearsoldandisstilladmired,thereisprobablysomethingtoit.Likealldeepexperiences,itmaytakealittleworkonyourparttodiscoverwhatall