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1、LettertoaBstudentYourfinalgradeforthecourseisB.Arespectablegrade.Farsuperiortothe"Gentleman'sC"thatservedasthenormacoupleofgenerationsago.ButinthosedaysA'swererare:onlytwooutoftwenty-five,asIrecall.Whateverournormis,ithasshiftedupward,withtheresultthatyouareprobablyd
2、isappointedatnotdoingbetter.I'mcertainthatnothingIcansaywillremovethatfeelingofdisappointment,particularlyinaclimatewheregradesdetermineeligibilityforgraduateschoolandspecialprograms.Disappointment.It'sthestuffbaddreamsaremadeof:dreamsoffailure,inadequacy,lossofposit
3、ionandgoodrepute.Theessenceofsuccessisthatthere'sneverenoughofittogoroundinazero-sumgamewhereoneperson'swinningmustbeoffsetbyanother'slosing,oneperson'sjoyoffsetbyanother'sdisappointment.You'vegrownupinasocietywherewinningisnotthemostimportantthing—it'stheonlything.T
4、olose,tofail,togounder,togobroke—thesearedeadlysinsinaworldwhereprosperityinthepresentisseenasasuresignofsalvationinthefuture.Inadifferentsociety,yourdisappointmentmightbesomethingyoucouldshrugaway.Butnotinours.Mypurposeinwritingyouistoputyourdisappointmentinperspect
5、ivebyconsideringexactlywhatyourgrademeansanddoesn'tmean.Idonotproposetoargueherethatgradesareunimportant.Rather,Ihopetoshowyouthatyourgrade,takenatfacevalue,isapttobedangerouslymisleading,bothtoyouandtoothers.Asasymbolonyourcollegetranscript,yourgradesimplymeansthaty
6、ouhavesuccessfullycompletedaspecificcourseofstudy,doingsoatacertainlevelofproficiency.Thelevelofyourproficiencyhasbeendeterminedbyyourperformanceofratherconventionaltasks:takingtests,writingpapersandreports,andsoforth.Yourperformanceisgenerallyassumedtocorrespondtoth
7、eknowledgeyouhaveacquiredandwillretain.Butthisassumption,aswebothknow,isquestionable;itmaywellbethatyou'veactuallygottenmuchmoreoutofthecoursethanyourgradeindicates—orless.Lackingmoreprecisemeasurementtools,wemustinterpretyourBasaratherfuzzysymbolatbest,representinga
8、questionablejudgmentofyourmasteryofthesubject.Yourgradedoesnotrepresentajudgmentofyourbasicabilityorofyourcharacter.Courage,kindnes
