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一OnewayofsummarizingtheAmericanpositionistostatethatwevalueoriginalityandindependencemorethantheChinesedo.Thecontrastbetweenourtwoculturescanalsobeseenintermsofthefearswebothharbor.Chineseteachersarefearfulthatifskillsarenotacquiredearly,theymayneverbeacquired;thereis,ontheotherhand,nocomparablehurrytopromotecreativity.Americaneducatorsfearthatunlesscreativityhasbeenacquiredearly,itmayneveremerge;ontheotherhand,skillscanbepickeduplater.However,Idonotwanttooverstatemycase.ThereisenormouscreativitytobefoundinChinesescientific,technologicalandartisticinnovationspastandpresent.AndthereisadangerofexaggeratingcreativebreakthroughsintheWest.Whenanyinnovationisexaminedclosely,itsrelianceonpreviousachievementsisalltooapparent(the"standingontheshouldersofgiants"phenomenon).ButassumingthatthecontrastIhavedevelopedisvalid,andthatthefosteringofskillsandcreativityarebothworthwhilegoals,theimportantquestionbecomesthis:Canwegather,fromtheChineseandAmericanextremes,asuperiorwaytoapproacheducation,perhapsstrikingabetterbalancebetweenthepolesofcreativityandbasicskills?二YetIfeelnothingmorethanapassingwhimtoattainthematerialthingssomanyotherpeoplehave.My1999carshowstheweartearof105,000miles.Butitisstilldependable.Myapartmentismodest,butquietandrelaxing.Myclothsarewellsuitedtomywork,whichisprimarilyoutdoors.Myminimalcomputerneedscanbemetatthelibrary.InspiteofwhatIdon’thave,Idon’tfeelpoor.why?I’veenjoyedexceptionallygoodhealthfor53years.It’snotjustthatI’vebeenillness-free,it’sthatIfeelvigorousandspirited.Exercisingisactuallyfunforme.Ilookforwardtolong,energizingwalks.AndIlovethe“cando”attitudethatfollows.Ialsocherishthegiftofcreativity.WhenIwriteabeautifullineofpeotry,orfabricateajokethatticklessomeone,Ifeelrichinside.I’mcontinuallysurprisedattheinsightsthatcomethroughmywritingprocess.Andtalkingwithsomanyinterestingwriterfriendsisoneofmymainsourcesofenjoyment.三Ifthatsortofthinghappenedonlyonceinawhile,itwouldn'tbesobad.Overall,Iwouldn'twanttotrademydadforanyoneelse's.HelovesuskidsandMomtoo.ButIthinkthat'ssometimestheproblem.Hewantstodothingsforus,thingshethinksaregood.Butheneedstogivethemmorethoughtbecause:
CanyouimaginehowhumiliatedIwas?Anhonorstudent,classpresident.AndFatherwasoutaskingpeopletohavetheirsonscallandaskmetotheprom!Butthat'sdearolddad.Actually,heisadear.Hejustdoesn'tstoptothink.Andit'snotjustoneofuswho'vefelttheheavyhandofinterference.Oh,no,allthreeofusliveinconstantdreadknowingthatatanytimedisastercanstrikebecause:四I'dneverrealizedhowimportantdailyroutineis:dressingforwork,sleepingnormalhours.I'dneverthoughtIreliedsomuchonco-workersforcompany.Ibegantounderstandwhylong-termunemploymentcanbesodamaging,whylifewithoutanexternallysupporteddailyplancanleadtohigherratesofdrugabuse,crime,suicide.Torestorebalancetomylife,Iforcemyselfbackintotherealworld.Icallpeople,arrangetomeetwiththefewremainingfriendswhohaven'tfledNewYorkCity.Itrytoatleastgettothegym,soastosetaparttheweekendfromtherestofmyweek.Iarrangeinterviewsforstories,doctor'sappointments—anythingtogetmeoutofthehouseandconnectedwithothers. Butsometimesbeingfacetofaceistoomuch.Iseeafriendandherringinglaughterisintolerable—thenoiseofconversationintherestaurant,unbearable.Imakemyexcusesandflee.Ire-entermyapartmentandruntothecomputerasthoughitwereaplaceofsafety.Iclickonthemodem,theonce-annoyingsoundoftheconnectionnowaspleasantasmyfavoritetune.Ientermypassword.Therealworlddisappears.五Therunwayfeltdifferentthistime.Itstartledhimforabriefmoment.Thenitallhithimlikeawetbaleofhay.Thebarwassetatnineincheshigherthanhispersonalbest.That'sonlyoneinchofftheNationalrecord,hethought.Theintensityofthemomentfilledhismindwithanxiety.Hebeganshakingthetension.Itwasn'tworking.Hebecamemoretense.Whywasthishappeningtohimnow,hethought.Hebegantogetnervous.Afraidwouldbeamoreaccuratedescription.Whatwashegoingtodo?Hehadneverexperiencedthesefeelings.Thenoutofnowhere,andfromthedeepestdepthsofhissoul,hepicturedhismother.Whynow?Whatwashismotherdoinginhisthoughtsatatimelikethis?Itwassimple.Hismotheralwaysusedtotellhimwhenyoufelttense,anxiousorevenscared,takedeepbreaths.Sohedid.Alongwithshakingthetensionfromhislegs,hegentlylaidhispoleathisfeet.Hebegantostretchouthisarmsandupperbody.Thelightbreezethatwasoncetherewasnowgone.Hecarefullypickeduphispole.Hefelthisheartpounding.Hewassurethecrowddid,too.Thesilencewasdeafening.Whenheheardthesingingofsomedistantbirdsinflight,heknewitwashistimetofly.六Whyarewesoquicktolimitourselves?I’mnotdenyingthatmostlittlegirlslovedollsandmostlittleboyslovevideogames,anditmaybetruethatsomepeoplefavortherightsideoftheirbrain,andotherstheleft.Buthowtelevantisthattome,ortoanyone,asanindividual?Insteadoftranslatingourdifferencesintohardandfastconclusionsaboutthehumanbrain,whycan’twefocusinsteadonhowincrediblyflexibleweare?Insteadofusingwhatweknowasareasonwhywomencan’tlearnphysics,maybeweshouldconsiderthepossibilitythatourbrainsaremorepowerfulthanweimagine.Here’sasecret:mathandsciencedon’tcomeeasilytomostpeople.Noonewaseverbornknowingcalculus.Awomancanlearnanythingamancan,butfirstsheneedstoknowthatshecandoit,andthattakesaleapoffaith.Italsohelpstohaveselectivehearing.七TwocenturiesagoanEnglishjudgeinIndianoticedthatseveralwordsinSanskritcloselyresembledsomewordsinGreekandLatin.Asystematicstudyrevealedthatmanymodernlanguagesdescendedfromacommonparentlanguage,losttousbecausenothingwaswrittendown.
Identifyingsimilarwords,linguistshavecomeupwithwhattheycallanIndo-Europeanparentlanguage,spokenuntil3500to2000B.C.Thesepeoplehadcommonwordsforsnow,beeandwolfbutnowordforsea.Sosomescholarsassumetheylivedsomewhereinnorth-centralEurope,whereitwascold.Travelingeast,someestablishedthelanguagesofIndiaandPakistan,andothersdriftedwesttowardthegentlerclimatesofEurope,SomewhomadetheearliestmovewestwardbecameknownastheCelts,whomCaesar'sarmiesfoundinBritain.
NewwordscamewiththeGermanictribes—theAngles,theSaxons,etc.—thatslippedacrosstheNorthSeatosettleinBritaininthe5thcentury.TogethertheyformedwhatwecallAnglo-Saxonsociety.
TheAnglo-Saxonspassedontoustheirfarmingvocabulary,includingsheep,ox,earth,wood,fieldandwork.Theymusthavealsoenjoyedthemselvesbecausetheygaveustheword laughter.Therehasbeenaheateddiscussionaboutasubjectinthenewspaper.Thesubjectabovedoesdemonstratecertainthought-provokingsocialphenomenon,......。Simpleasthesubjectis,thesymbolicmeaningisasdeepasocean.JustasanoldChineseproverbsays,youcannoteatyourcakeandhaveit.Accordingtooneofthelatestsurveysconductedbyacertaininternationalorganization,...。sthwillmakeourlifemoreenjoyable,thatistosay,sthcanaddcolortothedullroutineofeveryday life. Sth,by occupying spare time so constructively,makes a person contented,withno time to boredom. Thomas L.Friedman,the author of best seller The World Is Flat,A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century,insists that knowledge has pull the world into a single global network which has the possibility of ushering an amazing era of prosperity and innovation. It is imperative that the essence be absorbed and the drawbacks be neglected,during this process,especially in the times of knowledge explosion,when the news,facts,opinions,evenrumors have been bombarding us from every corner of the world.Only in a reasonable,prosperous and healthy atmosphere can we hope to witness the ideal scene in which people can enjoy theirlife to the uttermost.
