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

學生應該對他所學的一切東西持懷疑態(tài)度。他們對教給他們的東西應該進行質詢而不是被動地接受

毫無疑問，學生就是應該通過一切手段盡可能地多學習，牢牢掌握所學到的知識。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域內，也不可能有人會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)度能夠幫助學生督促老師和教授改正錯誤，進一步講清正確答案，糾正錯誤的表達，從而使他們做得更好。

學生自身確實具有很強的學習能力。老師應該在學生學習的過程中多引導他們取得進步而不應該強迫他們學習。如果一個學生自己沒有學習的動力，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)學生學習的動力，那么學生自己必須要找到激勵、啟發(fā)自己的方法。方法之一就是要成為一個積極的而不是消極的學習者。學生積極參與學習過程的程度越深，他就能學得越好。變得積極起來的最好方法之一就是去問老師或教授問題。那些被動地坐在課堂上理所當然地將老師說的話奉為真理的學生并沒有充分運用自己的智能。能在學習中啟發(fā)學生思考而不僅僅是讓學生單向吸收知識的老師才能進行更好的、卓有成效的教育。

學生在課堂上應該抱有一些懷疑態(tài)度，以期達到學生與老師之間更好的交流。被動地坐在課堂上接收、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，即使是在課堂這個小小的領域內也是如此。沒有哪一個老師或教授是絕不犯錯的。有時老師可能會無意識地說錯詞或者傳達一些自己認為是正確但實際上卻是錯誤的信息。這時，學生只要問一個問題就能防止全班產(chǎn)生迷惑或被誤導。

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有一點懷疑態(tài)度的重要性。我小時候，一個小學老師上課時說不同種族的人通婚是錯誤的，因為他們生下的孩子長大后會搞不清自己"真正"的身份。盡管這種說法當時就是錯誤的，但是由于我那時還很小很單純，我認為因為他是老師他肯定就是正確的?，F(xiàn)在回想起來，我意識到老師的錯誤有多么嚴重，意識到即使是在很小的年紀，有益的質疑態(tài)度也會是受教育過程中的寶貴工具。另一個例子發(fā)生在一個初次教學毫無經(jīng)驗的老師給我們上第二外語課的時候。盡管她很努力，但顯然她犯了很多錯誤。因此我就開始對她提問(是以一種幫助的口吻)，結果發(fā)現(xiàn)是她用的那本書錯誤百出。她非常感激我的提問，我們也在給書找出錯誤的同時達到了更好的學習效果。如果當時我沒有一點懷疑態(tài)度的話，我們現(xiàn)在對許多詞語的讀音和用法可能都會是錯誤的。

當然，一個學生應該找到一個好的平衡點，使自己具有一種有益的質詢態(tài)度而不是成為一個徹底的憤世嫉俗、好嘲笑挖苦的人。有了對學習的正確態(tài)度和一點質疑精神，學生和老師、教授都能夠完善學習過程，最大限度地提高學習效率。