Passage 51
学霸导读 在一位曾在上海知名国际学校任教的外教老师眼中，中国学生缺了点什么？
Imagine you are on a path leading to two doors， each of which is guarded by an angel. Through one door leads the path for the splendors （ 壮丽 ） of Heaven. The other door leads to the pits （ 深渊 ） of Hell. You know one thing about the two angels. The angel guarding Heaven will speak truthfully， while the angel guarding Hell will lie. You are allowed to ask one question before choosing your path. What will your question be？ Why？
Now i 1 you are holding a box. You do not know what is in it. You are left to guess. Shake the box， feel its weight and listen to it rattle （ 发出撞击声 ）. Any guesses？ Give up？ Well， I don’t know any better than you what is inside. But p 2 you can f ind out for yourself.
Have I l 3 you confused? Have you begun to ask questions of yourself ? Good, that was what I was hoping. Most times, knowing the correct questions to ask is as important as knowing the answers. When you ask yourself a question, you have begun the process of thinking critically about something. By asking the right questions, we are given the t 4 to power innovation. By learning critical thinking skills, students will not only begin thinking o 5 the box, but they will start thinking about how to change what’s inside the box.
I taught at an exemplary school （ 示范性学校 ） in Shanghai that has been the highlight of my professional career. It was f illed with disciplined and respectful young men and women. It is small wonder that the future of China looks so bright. Even so I found it at times diff icult to engage my students with questions that called for them to critically analyze an issue or a subject. There are many reasons why a student is u 6 to answer a diff icult question. But what I d 7 most from these experiences was that education was not giving them the “critical” tools to answer open-ended questions.
F 8 ， the latest national high school curriculum guidelines have begun focusing more on students’ critical thinking skills as a way of inspiring innovation in education and society. Education authorities realize that innovation is f 9 a product of critical thinking. It materializes （ 实现 ） in society from asking the right questions and crafting （ 精心打造 ） the right solutions.
Steve Jobs, one of the most famous innovators of our time, once said, “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a f 10 .” Just remember: Once you start to think outside the box, and f igure out what you put into the box, the world is going to be following.
1.__________2.__________3.__________4.__________5.__________
6.__________7.__________8.__________9.__________10.__________
高频词汇
confused /kən'fjuːzd/ adj. 迷惑的；糊涂的
highlight /'haɪlaɪt/ n. 最好的部分
engage /ɪn'geɪdʒ/ v. 吸引住，使感兴趣
open-ended /ˌəʊpən'endɪd/ adj. 无限制的
f igure out 弄懂，弄明白；想出