更美的世界04-我遇到的最好的老师（在线收听） |
| [00:00.00]The Best Teacher I Ever Had 我遇到的最好的老师 [00:05.41]Mr. Whitson taught sixth-grade science. [00:10.00]On the first day of class, [00:12.09]he gave us a lecture about a creature called the cattywampus, [00:15.36]an animal that was wiped out during the Ice Age. [00:18.53]He passed around a skull as he talked. [00:21.93]We all took notes and later had a quiz. [00:23.91]When he returned my paper, [00:25.65]I was shocked. [00:26.52]There was a big red X through each of my answers. [00:29.79]I had failed. [00:30.79]There had to be some mistake! [00:32.65]I had written down exactly what Mr. Whitson said. [00:35.70]Then I realized that everyone in the class had failed. [00:39.09]What had happened? [00:40.74]Very simple, Mr. Whitson explained. [00:42.93]He had made up all that stuff about the cattywampus. [00:45.76]There had never been any such animal. [00:48.07]The information in our notes was, therefore, incorrect. [00:51.35]Needless to say, we were outraged. [00:54.64]What kind of test was this? [00:56.60]And what kind of teacher? [00:58.14]We should have figured it out, [00:59.87]Mr. Whitson said. [01:01.41]After all, at the very moment he was passing around the cattywampus skull [01:06.11](in truth, a cat’s), [01:07.87]hadn’t he been telling us that no trace of the animal remained? [01:11.36]He had described its amazing night vision, [01:14.11]the color of its fur and any number of other facts he couldn’t have known. [01:17.93]The zeroes on our papers would be recorded in his grade book, [01:21.54]he said. [01:22.41]And they were. [01:23.29]Mr. Whitson said he hoped we would learn something from this experience. [01:27.44]Teachers and textbooks are not infallible. [01:30.60]In fact, no one is. [01:32.47]He told us not to let our minds go to sleep, [01:35.44]and to speak up if we ever thought he or the textbook was wrong. [01:39.04]Every class was an adventure with Mr. Whitson. [01:42.09]I can still remember some science periods almost from beginning to end. [01:46.46]One day he told us that his Volkswagen was a living organism. [01:50.31]It took us two full days to put together a refutation he would accept. [01:54.47]He didn’t let us off the hook [01:56.53]until we had proved not only that we knew what an organism was [01:59.93]but also that we had the fortitude to stand up for the truth. [02:03.54]If I’m ever asked to propose a solution to the crisis in our schools, [02:07.69]it will be Mr. Whitson. [02:09.49]I haven't made any great scientific discoveries, [02:12.43]but his class gave me and my classmates something just as important: [02:16.50]the courage to look people in the eye and tell them they are wrong. [02:20.33]He also showed us that you can have fun doing it. |
| 原文地址：http://www.tingroom.com/lesson/yydll/72209.html |