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1、Unit7LettertoaBStudentYourfinalgradeforthecourseisB.Arespectablegrade.Farsuperiortothe"Gentleman'sC"thatservedasthenormacoupleofgenerationsago.ButinthosedaysA'swererare:onlytwooutoftwenty-five,asIrecall.Whateverournormis,ithasshiftedupward,withtheresultthatyoua
2、reprobablydisappointedatnotdoingbetter.I'mcertainthatnothingIcansaywillremovethatfeelingofdisappointment,particularlyinaclimatewheregradesdetermineeligibilityforgraduateschoolandspecialprograms.Disappointment.It'sthestuffbaddreamsaremadeof:dreamsoffailure,inade
3、quacy,lossofpositionandgoodrepute.Theessenceofsuccessisthatthere'sneverenoughofittogoroundinazero-sumgamewhereoneperson'swinningmustbeoffsetbyanother'slosing,oneperson'sjoyoffsetbyanother'sdisappointment.You'vegrownupinasocietywherewinningisnotthemostimportantt
4、hing—it'stheonlything.Tolose,tofail,togounder,togobroke—thesearedeadlysinsinaworldwhereprosperityinthepresentisseenasasuresignofsalvationinthefuture.Inadifferentsociety,yourdisappointmentmightbesomethingyoucouldshrugaway.Butnotinours.Mypurposeinwritingyouistopu
5、tyourdisappointmentinperspectivebyconsideringexactlywhatyourgrademeansanddoesn'tmean.Idonotproposetoargueherethatgradesareunimportant.Rather,Ihopetoshowyouthatyourgrade,takenatfacevalue,isapttobedangerouslymisleading,bothtoyouandtoothers.Asasymbolonyourcolleget
6、ranscript,yourgradesimplymeansthatyouhavesuccessfullycompletedaspecificcourseofstudy,doingsoatacertainlevelofproficiency.Thelevelofyourproficiencyhasbeendeterminedbyyourperformanceofratherconventionaltasks:takingtests,writingpapersandreports,andsoforth.Yourperf
7、ormanceisgenerallyassumedtocorrespondtotheknowledgeyouhaveacquiredandwillretain.Butthisassumption,aswebothknow,isquestionable;itmaywellbethatyou'veactuallygottenmuchmoreoutofthecoursethanyourgradeindicates—orless.Lackingmoreprecisemeasurementtools,wemustinterpr
8、etyourBasaratherfuzzysymbolatbest,representingaquestionablejudgmentofyourmasteryofthesubject.Yourgradedoesnotrepresentajudgmentofyourbasicabilityorofyourcharacter.Courage,ki
