Education

17 Education

A

…in our times no man is worthy ofthe honored name of statesman who does not include the highest practicable education of the people in all his plans of administration.

Education alone can conduct us to that enjoyment which is,at once,best in quality and infinite in quantity.

—Horace Mann

B

I do not think the greatest things have been done for the world by its bookmen.Education is not the chips of arithmetic and grammar,—nouns,verbs and the multiplication table;neither is last year's almanac of dates,or series of lies agreed upon,which we so often mistake for history.Education is not Greek and Latin and the air pump.Still,I rate at its full value the training we get in these walls.Though what we actually carry away is little enough,we do get some training of our powers,as the gymnast or the fencer does of his muscles….

—Wendell Phillips

practicable adj可行的(=feasible)

rate v认为;评价

conduct v引导,带领(=lead)

in these walls在校园内

chip n碎片(=scrap)

gymnast n体育家;健身运动员

almanac n历书;年鉴

fencer n击剑手

中译 教育的真谛

A

……在我们这个时代,凡在其执政计划中不为人民提供最高的、切实可行的教育的人,是配不上政治家这个荣誉称号的。

……

唯独教育才能把我们领向至高无上、无穷无尽的快乐境界。

——霍勒斯·曼

B

我认为,世界上最伟大的事业并非文人所为。教育不是算术和语法的琐碎知识——名词、动词和乘法表;它也不是去年的年历里的日期或我们通常误认为是历史而实际上只是人们信以为真的一系列谎言。教育不是希腊文、拉了文和气泵。然而,我依旧高度评价我们在校园内所受到的教育。尽管我们在学校内所得有限,我们的才能得到了训练,宛如体操运动员和击剑者使他们的肌肉得到了锻炼一样。

——温德尔·菲利普斯

原来如此!

A段说出了教育的重要性。B段则指出教育不单是学习零碎的科目,而是才能的锻炼(training of our powers)。

在英语中,违反常规的特殊表现手法颇多,通过“双重否定”(double negation)来突出意义是其中常用的一种。有趣的是,这种强调语气的结构和汉语颇相似。例如,“无人不喜欢这部电影”的语气比“人人喜欢这部电影”要强一些。下面略举两例,以见一斑:

There is no rule that has no exceptions.

凡是规则,皆有例外。

Nothing great was ever achieved without pains.

不下苦功,任何大事都是做不成的。

这比通常的说法Every rule has exceptions.和Anything great was achieved with pains.更为有力。A段中的第一句“no man…who does not include…”用的也是这种强调结构。

另一种常见的强调结构是:在肯定句中的动词前加上do (does/did)以突出词义或语意。例如B段中的“we doget some training…of our powers…”。又如:

这种强调结构又常常用以表示对所说之事实或意见的一种否认或对比。例:

She is generally reserved,but if she doestalk,she may set the world on fire.(她平素缄默,然而一旦开口,她会一鸣惊人。)

但文中原句后半“as the gymnast…doesof his muscles”的does却不作强调用,而只是代替前面出现过的get some training,其目的是避免重复。又如:

Copper wire allows a greater current than iron wire does.(铜线比铁线能容许更大的电流通过。)

增值英语

①no man is worthy of the honored name…

句式 be worthy ofsth/be worthyto obtain sth义为“应得某物,值得收/受某物”(=deservesth):

Yourbehaviourisworthyofpraise./Yourbehaviour deservespraise.你的表现值得称赞。

She is worthyto receive the honourthey gave her.她配得上他们给她的荣誉。

注意 worthy(adj)一字不能单独用作表语,但可作定语,解“受敬重的”:

He is a worthymember of society.他是受敬重的社会一分子。

注意 is worthy of只能用于褒义;deserve则可用于褒义或贬义:

Good people deserverespect;wicked people deservedespise.

好人应受尊敬;恶人应受鄙视。

句式 以上worthy(of)所指的是某人/事物本身的价值,应受别人推崇。但如要说某事物对我们有用,有价值,则要用be worthv-ing/n:

This book is worthreading.这书值得阅读。(不是worthy to read或worthy of reading)

It isnot worththe troubleto revise this.不值得费工夫修改这个。

This computer is worth$10,000.这台电脑值一万元。

注意 worth不能单独用作表语,后面必须加上名词或动名词。

②…series of lies agreed upon

句式 to agree upon/onsth表示“一致同意某事物”:

They agree onthe next move.他们一致同意下一步行动。

句式 to agree withsth/sb表示“同意某事物/某人(与之意见相同)”:

She agrees withthe book's analysis.她同意书中的分析。(=她的意见同书的分析一样。)

I agree withyou.我同意你的看法。

I agree withwhat you just said.我同意你刚说的。(=我的看法同你刚说的意思一样。)

句式 to agree tosth表示“同意/接纳某事物”:

They agreed tothe price of the goods.他们同意那批货的价格。

I agree toyour suggestion.我接纳你的提议。