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高中英语写作教学反思10篇【实用20篇】

选材作业分为水上选材和陆上选材两种。前者利用木材在水面的浮力在专门的分类通廊设施中进行;后者是在场地上利用人力和机械设备将原木分类。下面是小编整理的写作选材的技巧,欢迎大家阅读!

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网络教学利弊的英语作文

全文共 1646 字

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A couple of years ago, individuals can only take courses at real schools. In other words, only when they go out to schools by themselves will they have lessons which they want to have. However in recent years, with the development of internet and education mode, online teaching has become increasingly common. This kind of teaching mode means that a student just needs to have classes sitting in front of a computer at home, which appealing to lots of people.

It is widely acknowledged that online teaching has its apparent merits. First and foremost, shared resources online are accessible to all people, which costs a little at the same time. This feature brings about significant benefits especially to those who fail to afford that many courses at real schools. Secondly, online teaching makes it come a reality that one is able to study at the best pace suitable for him according to his own schedule. Last but not least, studying at home without going out is much more comfortable as well as convenient to busy people in contemporary society.

Meanwhile, there is no denying that online teaching also has demerits that cannot be dismissed. For one thing, online teaching, not like face-to-face teaching, lacks interaction between teachers and students, causing teachers not to receive feedbacks from students in time. For

another thing, for people who are poor at self-discipline, learning online at home will be a less effective way since they are easier to be distracted by other things. Besides, all of online teaching courses are ready-made rather than custom-made, that is to say, it is troublesome to be flexible when changes are needed.

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篇1:高中英语

全文共 1543 字

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It goes without saying that english plays an important role in our modern

society. english is an international language. wherever you go, you can hear

english spoken by many people.

From this point of view, it is true that english is important to our daily

life. learning english is like learning to swim or learning to play ball. our

primary trouble is that we have tackled the study of language from the wrong

end. we are like theman who thinks he can learn to swim only by reading books

about swimming. in actuality, we learn by doing. the grammatical rules are

valuable as we plunge into the language and need some assistance. in the same

way, advanced instructions about swimming are helpful as we learn something from

actual experience in the water. but reading books never makes a swimmer and

learning rules never makes a practical linguist. the regular procedure in

learning english involves listening first, to be followed by speaking. then

comes reading, and finally the writing of the language. the way you learn

english is much the same as the way you learned your own language.

First of all you must listen and then repeat and repeat until you can use

the language easily. in other words, you have to build up language habits in

english just as you build up english habits in your own language. to sum up, we

must bear in mind that nobody can learn to swim for you. nobody can learn to

play ball for you. nobody can learn english for you. its up to you. you must

learn for yourself and you will learn if you really want to and are willing to

practice.

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篇2:考研英语书信写作方法

全文共 1198 字

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在考研英语的小作文部分,历年考试大纲中都会列出多种应用文类型,投诉信、建议信、申请信、求职信、辞职信、求助信、感谢信、号召信、邀请信、道歉信等等,但是考生们回到具体的实践写作中,翻阅近几年考研英语真题试卷,常常发现这些归为一大类,终究是书信形式。既然书信写作如此重要,下面就为各位考生带来书信写作的攻克大招,让写作变得无比简单。

一、书信写作总体概述

1.首段

1)问候收信人

例:Dear Sir/Madam

2)解释来信原因

例:I’m writing for ……

2.中间段落

1)阅读题干要求,从中寻找名词或动词

例:Write a letter of application according to the following situation. You saw an advertisement in this morning’s newspaper .A company need’s a secretary and you are interested. Write an application letter to that company.

2)注意题目文字暗示,把名词具体化,把动词近义词化。

例:I am pleased to discover from Beijing Youth that your company is calling for a secretary……

3.结尾段落

例:I would appreciate your assistance in this matter. If you have any question , please don’t hesitate to contact me. I can be reached at...Look forward to your reply.

4.署名

在文章右下角署名,一般格式为:Yours sincerely……

二、书信写作分类讲解(写作脉络)

1.投诉信

投诉信通常包括:说明投诉原因并表示遗憾,实事求是阐述问题发生的经过,指出问题引起的后果,提出批评及处理意见,督促对方采取措施,提出所希望的赔偿及补救方式。

2.建议信

建议信即写给某个组织或机构,就改进其服务质量提出建议忠告;或写给个人,就某一重大事件提出自己的看法、建议及观点。

3.道歉信

投诉信通常包括:表示歉意、阐明表示歉意的具体原因,提出补救办法,再次表示致歉,并希望得到谅解,提供合适的补救办法。(要注意语言的诚挚)

4.感谢信

感谢信中通常带有浓厚的感情色彩,是所有书信中最带有“人情味”的,该书信内容通常包括:表达感谢之情并说明原因--提及自己曾受到对方的帮助--再次感谢并表达回报愿望。

在2018考研的战场上,一分意味着上线与下线,一分意味着录取与非录取,所以,拼尽全力才有可能取得最终的胜利。预祝大家金榜题名,取得理想佳绩!

[考研英语书信写作方法

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篇3:有关规则英语作文高中

全文共 608 字

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Nowadays, smart phone has been part of our life. We can see people lowing

down their heads and playing smart phones all the time. When people are walking

on the street, the traffic regulations are no longer their first concern. It is

so dangerous for them to keep their attention on the phone. Dutch officers

figured out a new rule to let people realize the traffic lights. On the ground,

the traffic light can be seen. What a smart idea. When people are watching smart

phones, they can see the lights, too. At the same time, we need to think about

the problem that whether our life is controlled by the technology.

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篇4:生活是一种选择高中英语作文

全文共 1093 字

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In our daily lives, we have many choices to make, such as what to eat for supper,what clothes to wear, or what to do on weekends. At certain times in our lives, we need to make even more critical choices, such as which school to attend, what job to take or who to choose as husband or wife. Yes, life is a matter of choice. Seemimgly, it means a choice of tangible things. But in essence, it means choosing a way of life. Life is to be lived, savored, and enjoyed, not to be wasted or complained about.

Although we cannot choose our appearance, inborn gifts and even avoid unexpected disasters and adversities, we do have the privilege to choose to live optimistcally,to love our lives, to have dreams, and to cherish hopes.

Every morning when we get up, we have a choice of how we want to approach life that day. As for me, I choose to be cheerful.

日常生活中,我们会面临各种各样的选择,像是晚餐吃什么,穿什么或是如何度周末.而在人生中的特定阶段,我们需要做出更多关键性的抉择,例如教育,职业或者人生伴侣.生活就意味着一种选择.这种选择看似是对具体事物的判断,但归根究底,是一种生活方式的选择.任何无味的抱怨和虚度光阴只会带来乏味,生活的美需要细心品尝,用心体会.

尽管容貌和天资都是上苍给予,而人生旅途中的坎坷与荆棘我们也无法预计,那就让我们热爱生命,拥有梦想,珍惜希望吧.

每日清晨梦醒,我们都被赋予了选择生活的权利.而我会让一切从愉快开始.

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篇5:以如何保持年轻为话题的高中英语作文

全文共 748 字

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The older I grow, the more I appreciate children. Now, at my 80th birthday, I salute them again. Children are the most wholesome part of the race, the sweetest, for they are freshest from the hand of God. Whimsical, ingenious, mischievous, they fill the world with joy and good humor. We adults live a life of apprehension as to what they will think of us; a life of defense against their terrifying energy; a life of hard work to live up to their great expectations. We put them to bed with a sense of relief---and greet them in the morning with delight and anticipation. We envy them the freshness of adventure and the discovery of life. In all these ways, children add to the wonder of being alive. In all these ways, they help to keep us young.

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篇6:我的老师高中英语作文

全文共 1161 字

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My teacher is a language teacher, I even named her medium height, slender build very, very white skin, thin face, long hair. At high straight nose, her smile on his white teeth. Teachers have a pair of big eyes, worse, and I have a small back Xiang Li said, Suddenly I heard the name of teacher, I look back and see the teacher uses the eyes looked at me sternly. I anxiously pretend seriously today, I think I will never have dared to make a small case. Teachers work very hard for every day she patiently taught us very early to go to school to learn to read. counseling our homework. Her health is not very good, but she still adhere to our school. Teachers of our study was very strict, whenever we did not complete homework, No matter who she has relentlessly criticized him. As I recall, in a language at home is dictated word, I listened to three little words, thinking no big deal. be next morning, she discovered that I did not finish the work, I go to the podium. She hit me with the paddle while CFS, a serious side to me : "We must be completed on time after homework!" Teachers like my mother showed us We have much respect and love her.

[我的老师高中英语作文

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篇7:初一英语月考反思作文

全文共 866 字

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第一次七年级英语月考试卷充分体现了新课改的精神,切实有效地考察了所学知识内容。下面对试卷试题进行具体分析:

一、试卷题型情况

1、注重对基础知识、基本技能的考察,题型新颖、覆盖面大,涉及到了所学的全部内容,促进学生有效学习。

2、注重从实际中选取素材,考察了学生的分析和处理问题能力。

3、试卷对学生探究能力是一个重点考察,增强了学生的探究分析能力。

二、试卷结构分析

试卷充分体现了新课标课改精神,注重了对学生基础知识和综合能力的考察,因此对学生的细心程度要求很高。

1、听力部分:试题难度不大,因此学生在该部分的得分率较高,但是学生的两极分化严重,高分很高,甚至满分,而低分则太低。

2、完形填空和阅读理解:难度适中,但是得分率一般,主要原因是学生理解文章不透彻,阅读能力差造成的。

3、词语运用:此题是各大题中得分最低的一个题,主要原因是学生对词的用法掌握不好,一些固定词组记不清。

4、书面表达:该题对于学生来说是比较容易的一题,它是对学生整体知识的一个考察,但两极分化最为严重。

三、学生分析

存在问题:

1、优等生对基础知识掌握较好,但是还有一部分学生对语言的运用能力较差,对比较碎的知识点没有能够很好地掌握。

2、中等生的基础知识掌握不够牢固,并且做题比较粗心。

四、具体改进措施

1、钻研新教材,夯实英语基础。练习中很多学生“一看就会,一做就错”,这种现象比较普遍,失误原因是对于常见用语掌握的熟练程度还不够。其根本原因就在于基础不牢,只有扎扎实实从基础做起,才能最终达到“一看就会,一做就对”。

2、加强英语课外阅读。英语知识的获得与能力的提高是在不断的听、说、读、写的训练过程中逐步形成的,而教材和课堂所能提供的训练还是比较有限的,因此,要加强理解语篇的能力训练,增强英语语感。

3、规范训练,改进学习方法。要善于分析学生,找出学生的薄弱环节,合理安排好教材知识梳理、专项训练和应试技巧指导。

在今后的教学中应注意开阔学生视野,多渠道、大容量地给学生提供具有时代感的英语信息,加强语言运用能力的培养,少讲解,多给学生实际运用语言的机会,在用中学英语。

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篇8:初中英语写作素材:秋天的唯美英文句子

全文共 1334 字

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春华秋实,颗粒满仓。下面语文迷收集了秋天英文句子,欢迎阅读。

1. 我认为秋天是一年中最美的季节。

I think autumn is the most beautiful season in a year.

2. 秋天时叶子变黄。

The leaves turn yellow in autumn.

3. 在秋天的晚上,我感到一丝凉意。

I feel a little cool in the autumnal night.

4. 秋天里树木都是光秃秃的。

The trees were naked during autumn.

5. 今天的天气已露出了一丝秋天的气息。

There is a breath of autumn in the air today.

6. 九月的天气确实像秋天了。

The weather in September was positively autumnal.

7. 我喜欢收集秋天赤褐色的叶子。

I like to collect russet autumn leaves.

8. 我们欣赏着秋天里新英格兰树林的瑰丽色彩。

We are enjoying the resplendent colors of the New England woods in the autumn.

9.夜半酒醒人不觉,满池荷叶动秋风

Wake up to drink ,people feel the middle of the night, moving wind over a lotus leaf pond

10.生命如此简单,如秋,如落叶。

Life is so si-mp-le, such as the autumn, such as fallen leaves.

11.秋中,有些感情便如落叶般凋零了,有些影子却挥之不去,只在网络虚缈中才有熟悉的名字。凋零就凋零吧,倦缩也好,成灰亦好,管它感情如一树红叶般怎样盛开,怎样凋零。我站在川流不息的时间里,谈笑风生,任凭满天的叶子飞舞,最终覆盖苍凉的生命。

In autumn, some emotions, such as fallen leaves as they decline, some have lingering shadow, only in the virtual network is indistinct in the familiar names. It withered on the decline,ashes are also good, regardleof the feelings of like how the leaves like a tree in full bloom and how to decline. I was standing on the flow of time, laughing, even if the sky flying leaves, eventually covering the lives of desolation.

12.那是一幅描绘秋天景色的油画。

That is an oil painting of a landscape in spring.

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篇9:语文教学反思周记

全文共 581 字

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通过这一周教学,收获最多的——可能就是在课后汉字的书写上加大了指导和批改力度,对生字的把关从平时书写到作业都是比较严格的,包括拼音的规范书写;同时努力弥补了在期中考试中出现的种种不足,包括在平时尽量多穿插短文阅读和看图写话的练习,使孩子在平时能够多听多练,才不会在考试中束手无策,同时每项练习尽量落实到每个人。

不足:通过这一周的教学感觉自己在内容的安排上仍然感觉分配的不是很协调,前松后紧的情况时有出现,甚至有时会因为考虑“面面俱到”而导致“面面不实”。有时候一节课既想要练习说话,又要练习阅读,还要讲新课,所以会出现阅读练到了,写话讲到了,但是新课的讲解没有砸实。如25、26课因为穿插的其他练习比较多,导致识字课的正课时间也就在20到25分钟,这直接会导致新课的讲授受到阻碍,教师讲了,学生听了,但学生是否真正掌握,却没有检测的时间。因此平时的教学还应具体明细,新课就是新课,练习课就是练习课,不能混为一谈。同时在课堂的管理上,还应加大力度,对孩子的听课状态即时调整。同时细节的处理上还应认识上去,对有的孩子上课脱鞋的情况,没有及时的进行思想教育,这也是教师需要改正的问题,教学的前提应该是教育为先。同时不能因为即将期末考试就一味的练习再练习,应当从孩子的兴趣出发将每堂课落到实处,到什么时间做什么事情,一步一步完成教学任务,也能让孩子从根本上扎实掌握知识。

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篇10:一封信教学反思

全文共 498 字

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对于二年级学生来说,学习识字是非常重要的,在这篇文章中,有学生容易弄混的字,比如"修"和"鲜"这两个字,教学重点是引导学生将两封的内容画出来并完整的读出来。

在第一课时的教学过程中,我运用了谈话趣味导入法,问大家有没有写过信,你们一般会告诉亲人什么事情来揭示课题。接下来就是引导学生学习生字,不足的是,在教学生字时,我只是让个别学生起来分享他的识字方法,说完之后就一带而过了,也没有让大家一起重复。后来我请教了师傅,他告诉我说好的方法应该一起分享,一个人说出了不一定其他同学都会,一定要让学生多说这样才能记忆的更牢固,我想了想确实是这样,熟能才能生巧,让学生动嘴给自己深刻印象在以后的书写过程中会立即反应出来这个字的构架。

在讲到"珠"这个字的时候,我引导学生可不可以换一个偏旁组成一个新的字的时候,有一个学生说出可以换成"铢"这个字,我当时直接说了一句没有这个字,就过去了,下来我查了查字典确实有这个字,顿时发现自己备课的时候不够充分,没有认真查阅相关资料,自己的语文功底也不是很足所以犯下了这样的错误。这也给我了一个警钟,应该多阅读不断提高自己的语文素养,在备课的过程中要进行充分的预设和生成。

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篇11:高中英语作文:假如我是……

全文共 656 字

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假如我是……(If I were……)

中文假如我是...

假如我是老师,我对待学生一定不像是对待不懂事的孩子那样,不会惩罚似的给他们留永远也做不完的作业。我会让学生们喜欢我,而不是害怕我。我不会像圣人一 样地处处说教。如果我是老师,我会和学生们成为平等的好朋友,尊重他们,理解他们。使他们以学习为乐,而不是把学习当成一种负担。

英文译文:If I were……

If I were a teacher, I would not treat my students just as some know-nothing kids. I wouldn‘t give them homework that can never be done.If I were a teacher, I would try my best to let them like me, not be afraid of me. I wouldn‘t teach them just as if I were a sage. If I were a teacher, I would make friends with my students. I would respect them and understand them. If I were a teacher, I would make study a happy thing to my students, but not a burden to them.

[高中英语作文:假如我是……

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篇12:英语作文写作的需要背诵的部分

全文共 45713 字

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下面的材料旨在丰富学生在是非问题写作方面的思想和语言,考生在复习时可以先分类阅读这些篇章,然后尝试写相关方面的作文题。

对于素材中用黑体字的部分,特别建议你熟读,背诵,因为它们在语言和观点上都值得吸收。学习语言的人应该明白,表达能力和思想深度都靠日积月累,潜移默化。从某种意义上说,提高英语写作能力无捷径可走,你必须大段背诵英语文章才能逐渐形成语感和用英语进行表达的能力。这一关,没有任何人能代替你过。

因此,建议你下点苦功夫,把背单词的精神拿出来背诵文章。何况,并不是要求你背了之后永远牢记在心:你可以这个星期背,下个星期忘。这没有关系,相信你的大脑具有神奇的能力。背了工具箱里的文章后,你会惊讶的发现:I can think in English now!

1.?????? Proverbs

1. A graduation ceremony is an event where the commencement speaker tells thousands of students dressed in identical caps and gowns that individuality is the key to success.

2. The primary purpose of a liberal education is to make one’s mind a pleasant place in which to spend one’s time.

3. Next in importance to freedom and justice is popular education, without which neither freedom nor justice can be permanently maintained.

4. The classroom--not the trench--is the frontier of freedom now and forevermore.

5. Education’s purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.

6. It is the purpose of education to help us become autonomous, creative, inquiring people who have the will and intelligence to create our own destiny.

7. You see, real ongoing, lifelong education doesn’t answer questions; it provokes them.

8. People will pay more to be entertained than educated.

9.the most important function of education at any level is to develop the personality of the individual and the significance of his life to himself and to others. This is the basic architecture of a life; the rest is ornamentation and decoration of the structure.

10. The essence of our efforts to see that every child has a chance must be to assure each as equal opportunity, not to become equal, but to become different-to realize whatever unique potential of body, mind, and spirit he or she possesses.

11. A great teacher never strives to explain his vision-he simply invites you to stand beside him and see for yourself.

12. If you can read and don’, you are an illiterate by choice.

2. Damaging Research

A study by National Parent-Teacher Organization revealed that in the average American school, eighteen negatives are identified for every positive that is pointed out. The Wisconsin study revealed that when children enter the first grade, 80 percent of them feel pretty good themselves, but by the time they get to the sixth grade, only 10 percent of them have good self-images.

3. Education and Citizenship

An important aspect of education in the United States is the relationship between education and citizenship. Throughout its history this nation has emphasized public education as a means of transmitting democratic values, creating equality of opportunity, and preparing new generations of citizens to function in society. In addition, the schools have been expected to help shape society itself. During the 1950s, for example, efforts to combat racial segregation focused on the schools. Later, when the Soviet Union launched the first orbiting satellite, American schools and colleges came under intense pressure and were offered many incentives to improve their science and mathematics programs so that the nations would not fall behind the Soviet Union in scientific and technological capabilities.

Education is often viewed as a tool for solving social problems, especially social inequality. The schools, t is thought, can transform young people from vastly different backgrounds into competent, upwardly mobile adults. Yet these goals seem almost impossible to attain. In recent years, in fact, public education has been at the center of numerous controversies arising from the gap between the ideal and the reality. Part of the problem is that different groups in society have different have different expectations. Some feel that children should be taught basic job-related skills; still others believe education should not only prepare children to compete in society but also help them maintain their cultural identity (and, in the case of Hispanic children, their language). On the other hand, policymakers concerned with education emphasize the need to increase the level of student achievement and to improve parents in their children’s education.

Some reformers and critics have called attention to the need to link formal schooling with programs designed to address social problems. Sociologist Charles Moscos, for example, is a leader in the movement to expand programs like the Peace Corps, Vista, and Outward Bound into a system of voluntary national service. National service, as Moscos defines it, would entail “the full-time undertaking of public duties by young people whether as citizen soldiers or civilian servers-who are paid subsistence wages” and serve for at least one year. In return for this period of service, the volunteers would receive assistance in paying for college or other educational expenses.

Advocates of national service and school-to-work programs believe that education does not have to be confined to formal schooling. In devising strategies to provide opportunities for young people to serve their society, they emphasize the educational value of citizenship experiences gained outside the classroom. At this writing there is little indication that national service will become a new educational institution in the United States, although the concept is steadily gaining support among educators and social critics.

4. The Teacher’s Role

Given the undeniable importance of classroom experience, sociologists have done a considerable amount of research on what goes on in the classroom. Often they start from the premise that, along with the influence of peers, students’ experiences in the classroom are of central importance to their later development. One study examined the impact of a single first-grade teacher on her students’ subsequent adult status. The surprising results of this study have important implications. It is evident that good teachers can make a big difference in children’s lives, a fact that gives increased urgency to the need to improve the quality of primary-school teaching. The reforms carried out by educational leaders like James Comer suggest that when good teaching is combined with high levels of parental involvement the results can be even more dramatic.

Because the role of the teacher is to change the learner in some way, the teacher-student relationship is an important part of education. Sociologists have pointed out that this relationship is asymmetrical or unbalanced, with the teacher being in a position of authority and the student having little choice but to passively absorb the information provided by the teacher. In other words, in conventional classrooms there is little opportunity for the students to become actively involved in the learning process. On the other hand, students often develop strategies for undercutting the teacher’s authority: mentally withdrawing, interrupting, and the like. Hence, much current research assumes that students and teachers influence each other instead of assuming that the influence is always in a single direction.

5. Education Philosophy

For the past fifty years our schools have operated on the theories of John Dewey (1859-1953), an American educator and writer. Dewey believed hat the school’s job was to enhance the natural development of the growing child, rather than to pour information, for which the child had no context, into him or her. In the Dewey system, the child becomes the active agent in his own education, rather than a passive receptacle for facts.

Consequently, American schools are very enthusiastic about teaching “life skills” –logical thinking, analysis, creative problem--solving. The actual content of the lessons is secondary to the process, which is supposed to train the child to be able to handle whatever life may present, including all the unknowns of the future. Students and teachers both regard pure memorization as an uncreative and somewhat vulgar.

In addition to “life skills”, schools are assigned to solve the ever growing stoke of social problems. Racism, teenage pregnancy, alcoholism, drug use, reckless driving, and are just a few of the modern problems that have appeared on the school curriculum.

This all contributes to a high degree of social awareness in American youngsters.

6. Student Life

To the students, the most notable difference between elementary school and the higher levels is that in junior high they start “changing classes”. This means that rather than spending the day in one classroom, they switch classrooms to meet their different teachers. This gives them three or four minutes between classes in the hallways, where a great deal of the important social action of high school traditionally takes place. Students have lockers in these hallways, around which thy congregate.

Society in general does not take the business of studying very seriously. Schoolchildren have a great deal of free time, which they are encouraged to fill with extracurricular activities—sports, clubs, cheerleading, scouts—supposed to inculcate such qualities as leadership, sportsmanship, ability to organize, etc. those who don’t become engaged in such activities or have afterschool jobs have plenty of opportunity to “hang out”, listen to teenager music, and watch television.

Compared to other nations, American students do not have much homework. Studies also show that American parents have lower expectations for their children’s success in school than other nationalities do. (Historically, there has not been much correlation between American school success and success in later life.) “He’s just not a scholar”, the American parents might say, content that their son is on the swim team and doesn’t take drugs. (Some of the young do choose to study hard, for reason of their own, such as determining that the road to riches lies through Harvard Business School.)

What American schools do effectively teach is the competitive method. In innumerable ways children are pitted against each other—whether in classroom discussion, spelling bees, reading groups, or tests. Every classroom is expected to produce a scattering of A’s and F’s (teachers often grade A=excellent; B=good; C=average; D=poor; and F=failed). A teacher who gives all A’s looks too soft—so students are aware that they are competing for the limited number of top marks.

Foreign students sometimes don’t understand that copying from other people’s papers or from books is considered wrong and taken seriously. Here, it is important to show that you have done your own work and are displaying your own knowledge. It is more important than helping your friends to pass, whom we think do not deserve to pass unless they can provide their own answers. Group effort goes against the competitive grain, and American students do not study together as many Asians do. Many Asians in this country consider their group study habits a large contributor to their school success.

7. Adult Education

After complaining about many aspects of American life, a 40-year-old woman from Hong Kong concluded, “But where else could someone my age go back to school and get a degree in social work? Here you can change your whole life, start a new business, do what you really want to do.”

So at least to this person, school requirements weren’t inhibiting. And to millions of others, adult education is the path to a new career, or if not to a new career, to a new outlook. Schools generally encourage the older person who wants to start anew, and besides regular classes, schedule evening classes in special programs. Today there are so many people of retirement age in college that it is no longer remarkable.

8. Moral Relativism in American

Improving American education requires not doing new things but doing (and remembering) some good old things. At the time of our nation’s founding, Thomas Jefferson listed the requirements for a sound education in the Report of the Commissioners for the University of Virginia. In this landmark statement on American education, Jefferson wrote of the importance of education and writing, and of reading history, and geography. But he also emphasized the need “to instruct the mass of our citizens in these, their rights, interests, and duties, as men and citizens.” Jefferson believed education should aim at the improvement of both one’s “morals” and “faculties”. That has been the dominant view of the aims of American education for over two centuries. But a number of changes, most of them unsound, have diverted schools from these great pursuits. And the story of the loss of the school’s original moral mission explains a great deal.

Starting in the early seventies, “values clarification” programs started turning up in schools all over America. According to this philosophy, the schools were not to take part in their time-honored task of transmitting sound moral values; rather, they were to allow the child to “clarify” his own values (which adults, including parents, had no “rights” to criticize). The “values clarification” movement didn’t clarify values; it clarified wants and desires. This form of moral relativism said, in effect, that no set of values was right or wrong; everybody had an equal right to his own values; and all values were subjective, relative, and personal. This destructive view took hold with a vengeance.

In 1985 The York Times published an article quoting New York area educators, in slavish devotion to this new view, proclaiming, “They deliberately avoid trying to tell students what is ethically right and wrong.” The article told of one counseling session involving fifteen high school juniors and seniors. In the course of that session a student concluded that a fellow student had been foolish to return one thousand dollars she found in a purse at school. According to the article, when the youngsters asked the counselor’s opinion, “He told them he believed the girl had done the right thing, but that, of course, he would not try to force his values on them. ‘If I come from the position of what is wrong,’ he explained, ‘then I’m not their counselor.’”

Once upon a time, a counselor offered counselor, and he knew that an adult does not form character in the young by taking a stance of neutrality toward questions of right and wrong or by merely offering “choices” or “options”.

In response to the belief that adults and educators should teach children sound morals, one can expect from some quarters indignant objections (I’ve heard one version of it expressed countless times over the years): “Who are you to say what’s important?” or “Whose standards and judgments do we use?”

The correct response, it seems to me, is, is we ready to do away with standards and judgments? Is anyone going to argue seriously that a life of cheating and swindling is as worthy as a life of honest, hard work? Is anyone (with the exception of some literature professors at our elite universities) going to argue seriously the intellectual corollary, that a Marvel comic book is as good as Macbeth? Unless we are willing to embrace some pretty silly position, we’ve got to admit the need for moral and intellectual standards. The problem is that some people tend to regard anyone who would pronounce a definitive judgment as an unsophisticated Philistine or a closed-minded “elitist” trying to impose his view on everybody else.

The truth of the real world is that without standards and judgments, there can be no progress. Unless we are prepared to say irrational things—that nothing can be proven more valuable than anything else or that everything is equally worthless—we must ask the normative question. It may come, as a surprise to those who fell that to be “progressive” is to be value-neutral. But as Matthew Amold said, “the world is forwarded by having its attention fixed on the best things” and if the world can’t decide what the best things are, at least to some degree, then it follows that progress, and character, is in trouble. We shouldn’t be reluctant to declare that some things, some lives, books, ideas, and values are better than others. It is the responsibility of the schools to teach these better things.

At one time, we weren’t so reluctant to teach them. In the mid-nineteenth century, a diverse, widespread group of crusaders began to work for the public support of what was then called the “common school”, the forerunner of the public school. They were to be charged with the mission of school felt that the nation could fulfill its destiny only if every new generation was taught these values together in a common institution.

The leaders of the common school movement were mainly citizens who were prominent in their communities—businessmen, ministers, local civic and government officials. These people saw the schools as upholders of standards of individual morality and small incubators of civic and personal virtue; the founders of the public schools had faith that public education could teach good moral and civic character from a common ground of American values.

But in the past quarter century or so, some of the so-called experts became experts of value neutrality, and moral education was increasingly left in their hands. The commonsense view of parents and the publicthat schools should reinforce rather than undermine the values of home, family, and country, was increasingly rejected.

There are those today still that claim we are now too diverse a nation, that we consist of too many competing convictions and interests to instill common values. They are wrong. Of course we are a diverse people. We have always been a diverse people. And as Madison wrote in FederalistNo.10, the competing, balancing interests of a diverse people can help ensure the survival of liberty. But there are values that all American citizens share and that we should want all American students to know and to make their own: honesty, fairness, self-discipline, fidelity to task, friends, and family, personal responsibility, love of country, and belief in the principles of liberty, equality, and the freedom to practice one’s faith. The explicit teaching of these values is the legacy of the common schools, and it is a legacy to which we must return.

9. Schools Should Teach Values

People often said, “Yes, we should teach these values, but how do we teach them?” this question deserves a candid response, one that isn’t given often enough. It is by exposing our children to good character and inviting its imitation that we will transmit to them a moral foundation. This happens when teachers and principals, by their words and actions, embody sound convictions. As Oxford’s Mary Warnock has written, “You cannot teach morality without being committed to morality yourself; and you cannot be committed to morality yourself without holding that some things are right and others wrong.” The theologian Martin Buber wrote that the educator is distinguished from all other influences “by his will to take part in the stamping of character and by his consciousness that he represents in the eyes of the growing person a certain selection of what is, the selection of what is ‘right’, of what should be.” It is in this will, Buber says, in this clear standing for something, that the “vocation as an educator finds its fundamental expression.”

There is no escaping the fact that young people need as example principals and teachers who know the difference between right and wrong, good and bad, and who themselves exemplify high moral purpose.

As Education Secretary, I visited a class at Waterbury Elementary School in Waterbury, Vermont, and asked the students, “Is this a good school?” They answered, “Yes, this is a good school.” I asked them, “Why?” Among other things, one eight-year-old said, “The principal Mr. Riegel, makes good rules and everybody obeys them.” So I said, “Give me an example.” And another answered, “You can’t climb on the pipes in the bathroom. We don’t climb on the pipes and the principal doesn’t either.”

This example is probably too simple to please a lot of people who want to make the topic of moral education difficult, but there is something profound in the answer of those children, something education should pay more attention to. You can’t expect children to take messages about rules or morality seriously unless they see adults taking those rules seriously in their day-to-day affairs. Certain must be said, certain limits lay down, and certain examples set. There is no other way.

We should also do a better job at curriculum selection. The research shows that most “values education” exercises and separate courses in “moral reasoning” tend not to affect children’s behavior; if anything, they may leave children morally adrift. Where to turn? I believe our literature and our history are a rich quarry of moral literacy. We should mine that quarry. Children should have at their disposal a stock of examples illustrating what we believe to be right and wrong, good and bad—examples illustrating what are morally right and wrong can indeed be known and that there is a difference.

What kind of stories, historical events, and famous lives am I talking about? If we want our children to know about honesty, we should teach them about Abe Lincoln walking three miles to return six cents and conversely, about Aesop’s shepherd boy who cried wolf if we want them to know about courage, we should teach them about Joan of Arc, Horatius at the bridge, and Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. If we want them to know about persistence in the face of adversity, they should know about the voyages of Columbus and the character of Washington during the Civil War. And our youngest should be told about the Little Engine That Could. If we want them to know about respect for the law, they should understand why Socrates told Crito: “No, I must submit to the decree of Athens.” If we want our children to respect the rights of others, they should read the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, the Gettysburg Address, and Martin Luther King, Jr.’ “Letter from Birmingham jail.” From the Bible they should know about Ruth’s loyalty to Naomi, Joseph’s forgiveness of his brothers, Jonathan’s friendship with David, the Good Samaritan’s kindness toward a stranger, and David’s cleverness and courage in facing Goliath.

These are only a few of the hundreds of examples we can call on. And we need not get into issues like nuclear war, abortion, creationism, or euthanasia. This may come as a disappointment to some people, but the fact is that the formation of character in young people is educationally a task different from, and prior to, the discussion of the great, difficult controversies of the day. First things come first. We should teach values the same way we teach other things: one step at a time. We should not use the fact that there are many difficult and controversial moral questions as an argument against basic instruction in the subject.

After all, we do not argue against teaching physics because laser physics is difficult, against teaching American history because there are heated disputes about the Founders’ intent. Every field has its complexities and its controversies. And every field has its basics, its fundamentals. So they are too with forming character and achieving moral literacy. As any parent knows, teaching character is a difficult task. But it is a crucial task, because we want our children to be healthy, happy, and successful but decent, strong, and good. None of this happens automatically; there is no genetic transmission of virtue. It takes the conscious, committed efforts of adults. It takes careful attention.

10. College Pressures

Mainly I try to remind that the road ahead is a long one and that it will have more unexpected turns than they think. There will be plenty of time to change jobs, change careers, change whole attitudes and approaches. They don not want to hear such liberating news. They want a map—right now – that they can follow unswervingly to career security, financial security, Social Security and, presumably, a prepaid grave.

What I wish for all students is some release from the clammy grip of the future. I wish them a chance to savor each segment of their education as an experience in itself and not as a grim preparation for the next step. I wish them the right to experiment, to trip and fall, to learn that defeat is as instructive as victory and is not the end of the world.

My wish, of course, is na?ve. One of the national gods venerated in our media—the million-dollar athlete, the wealthy executive—and glorified in our praise of possessions. In the presence of such a potent state religion, the young are growing up old.

I see four kinds of pressure working on college students today: economic pressure, parental pressure, peer pressure, and self-induced pressure. It is easy to look around for villains—to blame the colleges for charging too much money, the professors for assigning too much work, the parents for pushing their children too far, and the students for driving themselves too hard. But there are no villains: only victims.

“In the late 1960s.” one dean told me. “The typical question that I got from students was ‘Why is there so much suffering in the world’ or ‘how I can make a contribution?’ Today it’s ‘Do you think it would look better for getting into law school if I did a double major in history and political science, or just majored in one of them?’” many other deans confirmed this pattern. One said: “They are trying to find an edge—the intangible something that will look better on paper if two students are about equal.”

Note the emphasis on looking better. The transcript has become a sacred document, the passport to security. How one appears on paper is more important than how one appears in person. A is for Admirable and B is for Borderline, even though, in Yale’s official system of grading, A means “excellent” and B means “very good.” Today, looking very good is no longer good enough, especially for students who hope to go on to law school or medical school. They know that entrance into the better schools will be an entrance into the better law firms and better medical practices where they will make a lot of money. They also know that the odds are harsh. Yale Law School, for instance, matriculates 170students from an applicant pool of 3,700; Harvard enrolls 550 from a pool of 7,000.

It’s all very well for those of us who write letters of recommendation for our students to stress the qualities of humanity that will make them good lawyers or doctors. And it’s nice to think that admission officers are ready reading our letters and looking for the extra dimension of commitment or concern. Still, it would be hard for a student not to visualize these officers shuffling so many transcripts studded with As that they regard a B as positively shameful.

The pressure is almost as heavy on students who just want to graduate and get a job. Long gone are the days of the “gentleman’s C.” when students journeyed through college with a certain relaxation, sampling a wide variety of courses-music, art, philosophy, classics, anthropology, poetry, religion—that would send them out as liberally educated men and women. If I were an employer I would rather employ graduates who have this range and curiosity than those who narrowly pursued safe subjects and high grades. I know countless students whose inquiring minds exhilarate me. I like to hear the play of their ideas. I do not know if they are getting As or Cs, and I do not care. I also like them as people. The country needs them, and they will find satisfying jobs. I tell them to relax. They cannot.

Nor can I blame them. They live in a brutal economy. Tuition, room, and board at most private colleges now come to at least $7,000, not counting books and fees. This might seem to suggest that the colleges are getting rich. But they are equally battered by inflation. Tuition covers only 60 percent of what it costs to educate a student, and ordinarily the remainder comes from what college receives in endowments, grants, and gifts. Now, the remainder keeps being swallowed by the cruel costs—higher every year—of just opening the doors. Heating oil is up. Insurance is up. Postage is up. Health-premium costs are up. Everything is up. Deficits are up. We are witnessing in American the creation of a brotherhood of paupers—colleges, parents, and students, joined by the common bond of debt.

Today it is not unusual for a student, even if he works part time at college and full time during the summer, to accrue $5,000 in loans after four years—loans that he must start to repay within one year after graduation. Exhorted at commencement to go forth into the world, he is already behind as he goes forth. How could he not feel under pressure throughout college to prepare for this day of reckoning? I have used “he,” incidentally, only for brevity. Women at Yale are under no less pressure to justify their expensive education to themselves, their parents, and society. In fact, they are probably under more pressure. For although they leave college superbly equipped to bring fresh leadership to traditionally male jobs, society has not yet caught up with this fact.

Along with economic pressure goes parental pressure. Inevitably, the two are deeply intertwined.

I see many students taking pre-medical courses with joyless tenacity. They go off to their labs as if they were going to the dentist. It saddens me because I know tem in other corners of their life as cheerful people.

“Do you want to medical school?” I asked them.

“I guess so,” they say, without conviction, or “Not really.”

“Then why are you going?”

“Well, my parents want me to be a doctor. They are paying all this money and …”

Poor students, poor parents, they are caught in one of the oldest webs of love and duty and guilt. The parents mean will; they are trying to steer their sons and draughts toward a secure future. But the sons and daughter want to major in history or classics or philosophy—subjects with no “practical” value. Where’s the payoff on the humanities? It’s not easy to persuade such loving parents that the humanities do indeed pay off. The intellectual faculties developed by studying subjects like history and classics—an ability to synthesize and relate, to weigh cause and effect, to see events in perspective—are just the faculties that make creative leaders in business or almost any general field. Still, many fathers would rather put their money on courses that point toward specific profession—courses that are pre-law, pre-medical, pre-business, or, as I sometimes heard it put, “pre-rich.”

But the pressure on students is severe. They are truly torn. One part of them feels obliged to fulfill their parents’ expectations; after all, their parents are older and presumably wiser. Another part tells them that the expectations that are right for their parents are not right for them.

I know a student who wants to be an artist. She is very obviously an artist and will be a good one—she has already had several modest local exhibits. Meanwhile she is growing as a well-round person and taking humanistic subjects that will enrich the inner resources out of which her art will grow. But her father is strongly opposed. He thinks that an artist is a “dumb” thing to be. The student vacillates and tries to please everybody. She keeps up with her art somewhat furtively and takes some of the “dumb” courses her father wants her to take—at least they are dumb courses for her. She is a free spirit on a campus of tense students—no small achievement in it—and she deserves to follow her muse.

Peer pressure and self-induced pressure are also intertwined, and they begin almost at the beginning of freshman year.

“I had a freshman student I’ll call Linda,” one dean told me, “who came in and said she was under terrible pressure because her roommate, Barbara, was much brighter and studied all the time. I could not tell her that Barbara had come in two hours earlier to say the same thing about Linda.”

The story is almost funny—except that it is not. It is symptomatic of all the pressure put together. When every student thinks every other student is working harder and doing better, the only solution is to study harder still. I see students going off to the library every night after dinner and coming back when it closes at midnight. I wish they would sometimes forget about their peers and go to a movie. I hear the clacking of typewriters in the hours before dawn. I see the tension in their eyes when exams are approaching and papers are due: “Will I get everything done?”

Probably they won’t. They will get blocked. They will sleep. They will oversleep. They will bug out.

Part of the problem is that they are expected to do. A professor will assign five page papers. Several students will start writing ten page papers to impress him. Then more students will write ten page papers, and a few will raise the ante to fifteen. Pity the poor student who is still just doing the assignment.

“Once you have twenty or thirty percent of the student population deliberately overexerting,” one dean points out, “It’s bad for everybody. When a teacher gets more and more effort from his class, the student who is doing normal work can be perceived as not doing well. The tactic work, psychologically.”

Why cannot the professor just cut back and not accept longer papers? He can, and he probably will. But by then the term will be half over and the damage done. Grade fever is highly contagious and not easily reversed. Besides, the professor’s main concern is with his course. He knows his students only in relation to the course and does not know that they are also overexerting in their other courses. Nor is it really his business. He did not sign up for dealing with the student as a whole person and with all the emotional baggage the student brought along from home. That’s what deans, masters, chaplains, and psychiatrists are for.

To some extent this is nothing new: a certain number of professors have always been self-contained islands of scholarship and shyness, more comfortable with books than with people. But the new pauperism has widened the gap still further, for professors who actually like to spend time with students do not have as much time to spend. They are also overexerting. If they are young, they are busy trying to publish in order not to perish, hanging by their figure nails onto a shrinking profession.

If they are old and tenured, they are buried under the duties of administering departments—as departmental chairmen or members of committees—that have been thinned out by the budgetary axe.

Ultimately it will be the students’ own business to break the circles in which they are trapped. They are too young to be prisoners of their parents’ dreams and their classmates’ fears. They must be jolted into believing into themselves as unique men and women who have the power to shape their own future.

“Violence is being done to the undergraduate experience,” says Carlos Hortas. “College should be open-ended: at the end it should open many, many roads. Instead, students are choosing their goal in advance, and their choices narrow as they go along. It’s almost as if they think that the country has been codified in the type of jobs that exist-that they’ve got to fit into certain slots. Therefore, fit into the best paying slot.”

“They ought to take chances. Not taking chances will lead to life of colorless mediocrity. They’ll be comfortable. But something in the spirit will be missing.”

I have painted too drab a portrait of today’s students, making them seem a solemn lot. That is only half of their story; if they were so dreary I wouldn’t so thoroughly enjoy their company. The other half is that they are easy to like. They are quick to laugh and to offer friendship. They are not introverts. They are usually kind and are more considerate of one another than any student generation I have known.

Nor are they so obsessed with their studies that they avoid sports and extracurricular activities. On the contrary, they juggle their crowded hours to play on a variety of teams, perform with musical and dramatic groups, and write for campus publications. But this in turn is one more cause of anxiety. There are too many choices. Academically, they have 1,300 courses to select from; outside class they have to decide how much spare time they can spare and how to spend it.

This means that they engage in fewer extracurricular pursuits than their predecessors did. If they want to row on the crew and play in the symphony they will eliminate one; in the ‘60s they would have done both. They also tend to choose activities that are self-limiting. Drama, for instance, is flourishing in all twelve of Yale’s residential colleges, as it never has before. Students hurl themselves into these productions—as actors, directors, carpenters, and technicians—with a dedication to create the best possible play, knowing that the day will come when the run will end and they can get back to their studies.

They also cannot afford to be the willing slave of organizations like the Yale Daily News. Last spring at the one-hundredth anniversary banquet of that paper—who’s past chairmen include such once and future kings as Potter Stewart, Kingman Brewster, and William F. Buckley, Jr.—much was made of the fact that the editorial staff used to be small and totally committed and that “newsies” routinely worked fifty hours a week. In effect they belonged to a club; Newsies is how they defined themselves at Yale. Today’s students will one or two articles a week, when he can, and he defines himself as a student. I’ve never heard the word Newsie except at the banquet.

If I have described the modern undergraduate primarily as a driven creature who is largely ignoring the blithe spirit inside who keeps trying to come out and play, it’s because that’s where the crunch is, not only at Yale but throughout American education. It’s why I think we should all be worried about the values that are nurturing a generation so fearful of risk and so goal-obsessed at such an early age.

I tell students that there is no one “right” way to get ahead—that each of them is a different person, starting from a different point and bound for a different destination. I tell neither them that change is a tonic and that all the slots are not codified nor the frontiers closed. One of my ways of telling them is to invite men and women who have achieved success outside the academic world to come and talk informally with my students during the year. They are heads of companies or ad agencies, editors of magazines, politicians, public officials, television magnates, labor leaders, business executives, Broadway products, artists, writers, economists, photographers, scientists, historians—a mixed bag of achievers.

I asked them to say a few words about how they got started. The students assume that they started in their present profession and knew all along that it was what they wanted to do. Luckily for me, most of them got into their field by a circuitous route, to their surprise, after many detours. The students are startled. They can hardly conceive of a career that was not pre-planned. They can hardly imagine allowing the hand of God or chance to nudge them down some unforeseen trail.

11. To Err Is Wrong

In the summer of 1979, Boston Red Sox first baseman Carl Yastrzemski became the fifteenth player in baseball history to reach the three thousand hit plateaus. This event drew a lot of media attention, and for about a week prior to the attainment of this goal, hundreds of reports covered Yaz’s every more. Finally, one reporter asked, “Hey Yaz, aren’t you afraid all of this attention will go to your head?” Yastrzemski replied, “I look at this way: in my career I’ve been up to bat over ten thousand times. That means I’ve been unsuccessful at the plate over seven thousand times. That fact alone keeps me from getting a swollen head.”?

Most people consider success and failure as opposites, but they are actually both products of the same process. As Yaz suggest, an activity that produces a hit may also produce a miss. It is the same with creative thinking; the same energy that generates good creative ideas also produces errors.

Many people, however, are not comfortable with errors. Our educational system, based on “the right answer” belief, cultivates our thinking in another, more conservative way. From an early age, we are taught that right answers are good and incorrect answers are bad. This value is deeply embedded in the incentive system used in most schools:

Right over 90% of the time = “A”

Right over 80% of the time = “B~”

Right over 70% of the time = “C~” Right over 60% of the time = “D~” Less than 60% correct, you fail.

From this we learn to be right as often as possible and to keep our mistakes to a minimum. We learn, in other words, that “to err is wrong.

Playing It Safe

With this kind of attitude, you aren’t going to be taking too many chances. If you learn that failing even a litter penalizes you (e.g., being wrong only 15% of the time garners you only a “B” performance), you learn not to make mistakes. And more important, you learn not to put yourself to situation where you might fall. This leads to conservative thought pattern designed to avoid the stigma our society puts on “failure”.

I have a friend who recently graduated from college with a Master’s degree in Journalism. For the last six month, she has been trying to find a job, but to no avail. I talked with her about situation, and realized that her problem is that she doesn’t know how to fail. She went through eighteen years of schooling to try any approaches where she might fail. She has been conditioned to believe that failure is bad in and of itself, rather than a potential stepping-stone to new ideas.

Look around. How many middle managers, housewives, administrators, teachers, and other people do you see who are to try anything new because of this failure? Most of us have learned not to make mistakes in public. As a result, we remove ourselves from many learning experience except for those occurring in the most private of circumstances.

Different Logic

From a practical point of view, “to err is wrong” makes sense. Our survival in the everyday world requires us to perform thousand of small tasks without failure. Think about it: you wouldn’t last very long if you were to step out in front of traffic or stick your hand a pot of boiling water. In addition, engineers whose bridges collapse, stock brokers who lose money for their clients, and copywriters whose ad campaigns decrease sales won’t keep their jobs very long.

Nevertheless, too great an adherence to the belief “to err is wrong” can greatly undermine your attempts to generate new ideas. If you are more concerned with producing right answers than generating original ideas, you’ll probably make uncritical use of the rules, formulae, and procedures used to obtain these right answers. By doing this, you’ll by-pass the germinal phase of the creative process, and thus spend litter time testing assumptions, challenging the rules, asking what-if questions, or just playing around with the problem. All of these techniques will produce some incorrect answers, but in the germinal phase errors are viewed as a necessary by-product of creative thinking. As Yaz would put it, “if you want the hits, be prepared for the misses.” That’s the way the game of life goes.

Errors as Stepping Stones

Whenever an error pops up, the usual response is “Jeez, another screw up, what went wrong this time?” the creative thinker, on the other hand, will realize the potential value of errors, and perhaps say something like, “Would you look at that! Where can it lead our thinking?” and then he or she will go on to use the error as a stepping stone to a new idea. As a matter of fact, the whole history of discovery is filed with people who used erroneous assumptions and failed ideas as stepping-stones to new ideas. Columbus thought he was finding a shorter route to India. Johannes Kepler stumbled on to the idea of interplanetary gravity because of assumptions that were right for the wrong reasons. And, Thomas Edison knew 1800 ways not to build a light bulb.

The following story about the automotive genius Charles Kettering exemplifies the spirit of working through erroneous assumptions to good ideas. In 1912, when the automobile industry was just beginning to grow, Kettering was interested in improving gasoline engine efficiency. The problem he faced was“knockthe phenomenon in which gasoline takes too long to burn in the cylinder-thereby reducing efficiency.

Kettering began searching for ways to eliminate the “knock.” He thought to him, “How can I get the gasoline to combust in the cylinder at an earlier time?” the key concept here is “early”. Searching for analogous situations, he looked around for models of “things that happen early.” He thought of historical models, physical models, and biological models. Finally, he remembered a particular plant, the trailing arbutus, which “happens early,” i.e., it blooms in the snow (“earlier” than other plants). One of this plant’s chief characteristics is its’ red leaves, which help the plant retain light at certain wavelengths. Kettering figured that it must be the red color, which made the trailing arbutus bloom earlier.

Now came the critical step in Kettering’s chain of thought. He asked himself, “How can I make the gasoline red?” perhaps I’ll put red dye in the gasoline—maybe that’ll make it combust earlier.” He looked around his workshop, and found that he didn’t have any red dye. But he did happen to have some iodine—perhaps that would do. He added the iodine to the gasoline and, lo and behold, the engine didn’t “knock”.

[英语作文写作的需要背诵的部分

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篇13:高中关于春节的英语作文

全文共 648 字

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Chinese New Year is the tradition festival in China.It is the same as the christmas day in the west country,it is welcome the new year.

It is the day that the families get together.

The spring festival is usually in the February ,sometimes in January.In the spring festival,every family all paste the lucky inscriptions,they fire the cracker,they eat the dumplings.The day before the new years first day is the new years eve,same as the christmas eve,all the families get together to have the new yaars dinner,wishes each other,talk about the wishes about the new year.Small children will receive the money given to children as a lunar new year gift.

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篇14:高中关于国庆节英语

全文共 988 字

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October 1st is the national day of our country, which is a public holiday for the whole country. It’s an important day that marks the beginning of PRC. On that day, there are plenty of celebrations holding throughout the country, from the central government to the general people. And public places, including big squares, parks are decorated in festive theme. In recent years, the national holiday means the golden week as well, which is a short holiday that all people expect to. With the improvement of living standards, people have more money and desire to travel and the golden week is a good chance for them. Besides, for those people who would not go out, it’s a good time to have a good rest as well. Therefore, the national day means a lot to the Chinese.

10月1日是我国的国庆节,这对于整个国家是一个公共假日。这是一个重要的日子,标志着中华人民共和国开始。在那一天,有很多庆祝控股全国,从中央政府到一般人。和公共场所,包括大广场,公园在节日的装饰主题。近年来,国家节日意味着黄金周,这是一个短暂的假期,所有的人都期待。随着生活水平的提高,人们有更多的钱和渴望旅游黄金周是一个很好的机会。除此之外,对于那些人不出去,这是一个很好的时间来好好休息一下。因此,中国的国庆节意味着很多。

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篇15:考研英语作文如何短时间提高写作水平

全文共 2260 字

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2005年英语考纲有重大变化,其中之一就是作文考查的变化,如何在短期内提高考研英语作文。新增加一篇小作文,使作文考查由一篇变为两篇,而原来的大作文的字数也由“不少于200字”调整为“150至200字”,满分20分。新增的作文是一篇100字左右的应用性短文,文体包括有信件、便笺、备忘录等,满分10分。既然是新增题型,就不会太难,但不好预测文体,这就要求考生复习时力求面面俱到,掌握写作规律及注意事项,尤其是对常见的应用文体如书信等

大作文的写作一般会给考生写作提纲,或图表,图画,或图文并茂。命题方式虽然多样,但题目涉及面往往是考生比较熟悉的内容,目的是测定考生语言的实际应用能力。要求表达清楚,文字连贯,中心突出,内容丰富,句式多变,句子结构和用词正确。

语言的应用能力不可能一蹴而就,必须厚积薄发,必须经过长期的实践锻炼。在提高英语写作能力方面,我觉得:一是要背大量的优秀范文,整段整篇地背,并转换为自己的语言,写作时自己能随心所欲支配。考试时避免套用以前死记硬背的几个范文,把一些不达意的词堆积在一起,没有统一性,无法很好地表现主题;二是要多动手。包括对背过的文章进行词语替换,句式转换,句子重组等,以及对某一主题展开写作。多动手才能提高笔下功夫,才能保证在考场上顺利写作。可以说背诵范文是培养语感,积累素材,掌握写作方法,动手写作是实践,是最终目的,这两者结合起来,就是“理论联系了实际”。另外,背诵范文应有针对性,写作训练也是一样,在训练中要掌握每一类型作文的写作规律,根据其每一类作文的写作特点——如提纲式作文就要求考生根据提纲提示的思路和规定的要点展开段落——全面训练,但不要带有押题的心理,靠背几篇范文就能应付考试的心态是不可取的。

下面说一下英语写作过程中的注意事项

一、认真审题

作文第一步是仔细审题,考生要仔细阅读试题要求及相关信息,如图表,图画,数字等,准确把握出题者意图。考研作文忌信手掂来,提笔就写,根本不审题,想到哪儿就写到哪儿,或完全凭自己想象编故事,置考试要求于不顾, “下笔千言,离题万里”。比如1998是一幅卡通画,老母鸡申明外加一首打油诗,讽刺一些企业把该尽职之事作为推销产品的承诺。如果考生说老母鸡很可爱,但爱自夸,然后说自己某个同学也爱自夸,这就偏离主题。2000年的作文“A Brief Histiry of World Commercial Fishing ”.它给出了两张图,从1900年的渔船和鱼量之比到1995年的渔船和鱼量之比的变化谈如何保护渔业资源,应从商业性滥捕鱼这一主题展开话题,有的考生却大谈环境污染,其它英语写作《如何在短期内提高考研英语作文》。这就偏离了主题,因为题中自始自终都没有谈到环境污染问题。

有的同学没有审题习惯,或担心时间不够草草审题,最后发现文不对题,草草收场,这就影响了英语成绩,同时也会影响后两门考试的考试心情。

二、列出提纲

考试规定的时间是很有限的,所以不能花太多时间准备一个详细的提纲,但关键词提纲或粗略提纲还是非常有必要的。对原始材料分析归纳后要形成一个基本的框架。文章打算分几段写,每段大概怎样写,自数控制在多少,开头段落是道破主题,点名要旨,引人入胜还是先给出主题一般的背景情况和对主题进行浓缩的陈述呢,中间段落和结尾有怎样写呢。这些都要心中有数。有的考生习惯用汉语构思文章,逐句翻译提纲,当碰到某个词卡住时就翻译不下去,僵在那里。要注意列提纲是为了更好更全面的表达主题。主题的表达可有多种形式,不一定非要寻找一个特定的词或句子。考试时考生要充分调动大脑,灵活运用以前所学知识。

三、开始写作

一篇文章往往由四部分组成,标题(title),首段(opening paragraph),主体(body paragraph),结尾段( concluding paragraph)。标题要新颖,能引起读者兴趣,首段的内容根据文章的体裁而变化,比如议论文可以从一种现象,一种观点出发引出作者的观点。记叙文往往交代人物和故事背景。主体是文章的主要部分,通过合适的语篇模式表达一定的观点,考生要围绕中心按一定顺序分层次有重点的展开叙述,描写,议论。结尾段是对全文的总结,论点上要与前面的叙述一致和统一。写作时要注意以下几点。

1、要统一,连贯。

选择那些最能体现中心思想最具代表性的材料,这些材料要共同表达一致的信息。选材时切忌胡子眉毛一把抓。词语堆积,不伦不类。前后及段落之间在逻辑关系上要紧密衔接,不能把没有任何逻辑关系的词放在一起。可以用恰当的关联词把思想连贯的表达出来。

2、用词准确,语法正确

考试时要特别注意语法,此语,语气,标点符号等,为了避免太多单词拼写错误,语法错误,不要为了追求词语的华丽而堆积一些自己也没把握的单词,不要刻意追求长句而写一些自己不知对错的有多个从句组成的长句。考试时最好选择自己最有把握的词汇,短语,句式。

3、足够字数,卷面整洁

绝对不能字数不够,即使一句话颠来倒去说也要凑够字数。字数不够,即使写的非常精彩,也不能拿高分。

四、修改

英语写作时考生由于仓促,紧张等原因,很容易犯一些简单的,一眼就能发现的错误。所以考生一定要留出几分钟时间用于修改。不要大幅度进行修改,更不要因为修改破坏卷面整洁,影响阅卷老师心情。修改时可以从以下几点进行

1、语法

包括时态是否一致,主谓是否一致,名词单复数是否对应,被动主动语态是否错用等

2、词汇

包括连接上下句或段落的关联词,习惯用语,固定搭配,词类混淆,误用及物不及物动词等。

3、拼写和标点符号

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篇16:高中英语日记

全文共 836 字

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My Family

My name is Li Hua. I am from a workers family. There are six people in my

family. They are my grandfather, my grandmother, my father, my mother, my sister

and I.

Every member in my family works for his or her own trade①. My grandfather

and grandmother are peasants. They do farm work every day in my hometown. My

father is a senior engineer. He is now working in Africa, helping to build a

power station. My mother is a teacher. She teaches English in a middle school.

My sister, five years older than I, is a doctor in the Peoples Hospital of our

county. She loves her work and does it well. I am a middle school student. And I

am going to take this years college entrance examination. I wish that I could

be enrolled② by a famous university.

That is my family. All the members in my family live in harmony③. We love

each other devotedly.

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篇17:高中写人英语作文:她又分手了

全文共 1031 字

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She’s Got Blank Space Again

Taylor Swift, one of the most popular female singers around the world, was broke up with her boyfriend again. It is known to all that this talented girl always gets inspiration to write songs from her relationships. All of these songs will become the hit songs. The fans play the jokes that they can hear the new song soon. As the media always reported Taylor had many relationships, she wrote a song called Blank Space to fight back. The song ranked No.1 in the most powerful music chart. In the song, she described that the girl had a long list of ex-boyfriends, while when she got broke up, there would be a blank space for the next boy. It sounds like her real life, but Taylor tell people’s the boys treat the relationship like a love game and don’t take it seriously.

泰勒斯威夫特,全世界最受欢迎的女歌手之一,又和她的男朋友分手了。众所周知,这个才华横溢的女孩写歌的灵感总是来自她的爱情。所有的这些歌曲都会成为热门歌曲。粉丝们开玩笑说他们很快就可以听到新歌了。媒体总是报道泰勒有很多段关系,她写了一首歌叫《空格》来反击。这首歌在最权威的音乐排行榜排名第一。在这首歌中,她描述了女孩有着一长串的前男友,而当她分手了,会留下空格等待下一个男孩。这听起来像她的现实生活,但泰勒告诉人们,男孩们对待他们的关系就像爱情游戏,并没有认真对待。

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篇18:关于低碳生活高中英语作文

全文共 1787 字

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An activity about low carbon living

Currently,my school is launching an activity whose theme is that actions change the world to advocate the low carbon living.

In the activity,we are required to go to school or some other place by bike or by foot as much as possible instead of by bus.And when the Christmas comes,sending e-greeting cards instead of tridional cards of which are made of wood as we know.Besides,we should use both sides of every piece of paper and we should save water as well as electricity.

I believe that only we do thus can we have a better living environment.

There are still many problems of environmental protection in recent years. One of the most serious problems is the serious pollution of air, water and soil. the polluted air does great harm to people’s health. The polluted water causes diseases and death. What is more, vegetation had been greatly reduced with the rapid growth of modern cities.

To protect the environment, governments of many countries have done a lot. Legislative steps have been introduced to control air pollution, to protect the forest and sea resources and to stop any environmental pollution. Therefore, governments are playing the most important role in the environmental protection today. AD:From Joozone.Com.

In my opinion, to protect environment, the government must take even more concrete measures. First, it should let people fully realize the importance of environmental protection through education. Second, much more efforts should be made to put the population planning policy into practice, because more people means more people means more pollution. Finally, those who destroy the environment intentionally should be severely punished. We should let them know that destroying environment means destroying mankind themselves.

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篇19:有关除夕的英语高中

全文共 1668 字

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Today is New Years Eve morning, firecrackers sounding snap snap away. As long as you take a look at the outside, red firecrackers everywhere, come together to form a Red Sea. The family have their own homes going up in the beautiful, it seems like in the match. My family is no exception, sweeping, glass, cabinets, such as rubbing. Prepare the arrival of the New Year. 今天是除夕,上午,鞭炮声劈啪劈啪的响个不停。只要你向外面看一看,到处都是红红的鞭炮,汇成了一条红海。各家人都把自己家打扮的漂漂亮亮的,好像在比美似的。我家也不例外,扫地、擦玻璃、擦柜子等。准备新年的到来。 Afternoon, we posted in accordance with the custom of the Chinese New Year couplets, father and a good paste, and then said to me: "I paste you posted, I looked at the high level you say rich, said that if the lower rising good you ", I asked my father why? Dad said: "The plan is a lucky," "Oh, I understand," We posted on the Alliance are: evil Hongfu family happy is: wang gas people to come into everything. 下午,我们就按过年的习俗贴春联,爸爸和好浆糊,然后对我说:“我贴你看着高低我贴高了你就说‘发财’,如果低了就说‘高升’好吗”,我问爸爸为什么呢?爸爸说:“就是图个吉祥”,“噢我懂了”我们贴的上联是:家有宏福千般喜,下联是:人来 旺气万事成。 End paste New Year, we began dumplings. Good luck to Tim, we are still a dumpling in a bag of coins. Dinner, my folder, a Dumpling, one to eat, "cough," the voice of a coin吃出for my whole family applauded, and say that I am lucky this year. After dumplings, we saw the Chinese New Year Festival, my favorite essay nd "yellow soybeans." Liu Qian first a one-dollar coins into the cup, then into the host egg rings. "Bean yellow" in a person to "take off clouds" that they "Li Xiangyun" really funny. No wonder people say: "Spring Festival Evening Show" is a cultural feast. 贴完春联,我们就开始包饺子。为了添吉祥,我们还在一个饺子里包了一个硬币。吃晚饭时,我夹了一个饺子,一吃 “咯”的一声,吃出一个硬币全家人都为我鼓掌,说我今年有福气。吃完饺子,我们又

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篇20:英语期中考试反思

全文共 559 字

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这次英语中考试我没有考好,没有达到期中考试前制定的目标。我知道父母和老师对于我有着很大的期望,可是我还是没有考好。对于这点我感到十分抱歉。但是既然犯了错误就要改正,所以,通过考试我也想了很多。我知道期中考是一面清澈的镜子,在它面前,我羞愧地低下了头。仔细看看试卷发现竟然错了很多不该错的地方。我的基础知识部分扣了很多分,主要是单词掌握不好。阅读题扣了8分,说明我的阅读量不够,我的阅读速度慢影响了做后面的题,思考的时间少了。老师狠狠地批评了我。我的这次英语作文只得了8分,这与我的词汇量不够,阅读积累不够有很大的关系,分析原因,主要是课前没有做好预习,课堂上没有积极的举手发言,课后不认真复习,把写作业当成一种完成任务。

于是,在期中考的时候,我得到了我应有的“报应”。 经过我的仔细反思,有这样的结果是我 在做作业时,囫囵吞枣,没有仔细审题,认真做题,这让我失去了一次特别好的自我提高的机会。我应该把写作业当成一个新的开始,而不是上一段学习的结束,每一次的作业都要当做一次小的考试。我要增加一些仿写和阅读的练习。在今后的学习中,我在课堂上要积极回答问题做好笔记,多记一些老师拓展的知识点,每天回家要复习一遍老师讲的内容,认真完成一篇阅读与完形填空,我有上进心想去学更多的英语知识,自己努力,超越自己,比别的同学更好。

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