Society should identify those children who have special talents and provide training for them at an early age to develop their talents.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the recommendation and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, describe specific circumstances in which adopting the recommendation would or would not be advantageous and explain how these examples shape your position.
五問:
(1)社會的作用是什么?社會是精英的社會還是平民的社會?為什么這個問題對于理解原命題至關重要?
(2)早期展現(xiàn)出非凡天分的孩子就一定能在特定領域取得很高的成就嗎?你能舉出正面或者反面的例子嗎?例如:歐洲最偉大的古典音樂作曲家之一莫扎特,小時候就展現(xiàn)出一定的音樂才華,長大后成為舉世聞名的音樂家;而中國古代有個叫方仲永的孩子,幼年天資過人,因后來不努力,長大成人后卻變得平庸。
(3)對于年幼的兒童,他們最應該得到的教育是什么?一定是開發(fā)他們的天分嗎?價值觀的養(yǎng)成、對興趣的培養(yǎng)、批判思維和創(chuàng)新精神的培養(yǎng)是否重要呢?過早地開發(fā)他們的智力就一定是有益的嗎?
(4)我們在考慮這個問題時,是否考慮過孩子自己的想法呢?他們的想法對于原命題的成立是否重要?有何影響?例如:孩子的體力和腦力也許并不能承受大量的培訓,另外,孩子感興趣的領域并不一定是自己有天分的。
(5)如果社會真的這樣做會有什么好處?又有什么壞處?例如:可能使得一些孩子的天分得到更好的發(fā)揮,成為某領域的卓越人才;但也可能扼殺孩子快樂的童年,讓他們失去童真,產生心理陰影。
翻譯練習:
首先,沒有任何可行的評估體系用來挑選這些“有天賦的”孩子。事實上,很多偉大的人物在人生的初級階段并沒有嶄露出任何特別的能力。愛因斯坦,盡管現(xiàn)在被公認為世界上最偉大的物理學家之一,在年輕時被認為智力不超過平均水平。
參考答案:
In the first place, there is no feasible evaluation system to single those“talented” children out. In fact, many great figures showed nothing special at the early stage of their lives. Einstein, though now accepted as one of the most outstanding physicists throughout the world, was deemed no more than average when he was young.
翻譯練習:
除了專業(yè)知識,良好的道德品格對一個人的發(fā)展同樣至關重要。將這些有才能的孩子和同齡人分開并給予他們過度的關注會使他們自我膨脹( boost their egos)到一定程度,以至于他們在將來無法正確地應對失敗。
參考答案:
Aside from specific knowledge, a sound moral character is also instrumental to one's development. Separating these talented children from their peers and giving them too much attention may boost their egos to such an extent that they may not be able to deal with failures properly in the future.