哈佛大学校园英语情景对话19：注重人文教育（mp3+中英）

Han Meimei and Li Lei are still on the phone, talking about Harvard’s way of education.
H: Li, a question shot my brain just now, but I forgot it soon after you began to pour out your complaints.

H:李，刚才有个问题在我脑子里一闪而过，你一开始诉苦我就忘了。

L: Aren’t you a little too young for menopause？

L:你应该还没到更年期吧？

H: What?

H:什么？

L: Ha! Han, I confess I have a notoriously dry sense of humor.

L:哈！韩，我承认我的笑话很冷，众所周知。

H: We’re a million miles away from the point.

H:我们离题十万八千里了。

L: Fine, let’s get back on track. Do you remember your question now?

L:好啦，回到正题，你现在记得你的问题了吗？

H： Yes. Are you still learning history in university? Isn’t it a subject in high school? Universities are supposed to train specialized talents.

H:嗯，你在大学里还学历史？那不是高中的课程吗？大学 应该培养专业人才。

L: We have a field of concentration, but it’s not enough. You know what? Harvard has been promoting the development of “liberal arts education”.

L:我们有专业，但这不够。你知道吗,哈佛一直在推动“人 文教育"的发展。

H: What’s that?

H:那是什么？

L: An education whose aim is to cultivate people with balanced personalities. As the new Harvard president Faust said “ a university is not about results in the next quarter; it is not even about who a student has become by graduation. It is about learning that molds a lifetime, learning that transmits the heritage of millennia; learning that shapes the future”.

L: 一种旨在培养人格和谐发展的教育。就像哈佛的新校长福斯特说的一样，"大学不关乎未来几个月的结果，也不关乎学生毕业时成为什么人。它关乎影响终生的学 问，一种传承千年传统的学问，一种创造未来的学问”。

H： Wow, your memory is amazing.

H:哇，你记忆力惊人啊。

L: These words are frequently citied.

L:这些话经常被人引用。

H: They’re really illuminating.

H:确实很有启发性。

L： So at Harvard, we have to learn many courses that cover a variety of fields.

L:所以在哈佛，我们要学很多领域的课程。

H: That’s quite necessary. If we only specialize in one field, our horizons will become more and more narrow.

H:那很有必要。如果我们只专注一个领域，我们的视野就会变得越来越窄。

L: You bet! So Harvard offers an education that prepares students not for a career or something, but for their whole life.

L:说得对！所以哈佛的教育不是为某个职业什么的做准备，而是为一生做准备的。

H: I think a lot of American colleges pay much attention to such a liberal education.

H:我想很多美国大学都很注重人文教育吧。

L: Right. Every year, a criteria for ranking schools is “liberal arts college". Students who graduate from liberal arts colleges are like hot cakes for which most famous graduate schools battle.

L:对，每年学校排名的一项标准就是"人文大学_’。从这些人文大学毕业的学生会 成为名牌研究生学校的抢手货。

H: Really?

H:真的吗？

L: Of course. It is the liberal education that ensures the high qualified education of most colleges and graduate schools.

L:当然，人文教育保证了很多大学和研究生学校的高教育质量。

H： I’ve heard of a lot stories telling that some students in China are not be admitted by any university, but they are enrolled by famous colleges in the U.S.,

H:我听过很多学生在国内设有被任何大学录取却被美国知名大学录取。

L: A Harvard education is not to produce bookworms, but a real person. Moreover, a Harvard education aims to produce useful people for the society. Therefore, in addition to the various subjects we learn at school, we are encouraged to go out of school and participate in social activities and social services.

L:哈佛教育不是培养书呆子，而是培养真正的人。另外，哈佛教育旨在为社会铉养 有用的人才。所以，除了在学校学习各种科目，学校还鼓励我们走出学校，参加 社会活动和社会服务。

H: What do you often do?

H:你们都做什么？

L： Such as going to the nursing home to tend elderly people, nursing patients at hospitals, helping new immigrants with immigration laws, or even being assistants of congressmen and senators.

L:比如去养老院照顾老人；到医院看护病人；给新移民辅导移民法；甚至去绐议员 做助手。

H: But didn’t you say that Harvard worships truth rather than utility very much?

H:但你不是说哈佛崇尚真理，而不是追求功利吗？

L: The purpose of these activities or services is to cultivate students' sense of responsibility, to let them know that they’re from society and have to go back to society. In China, we also advocate serving people, but we seldom put it into practice.

L：这些活动或服务的目的就是培养学生的责任感，让他们知道他们来自社会，要回 归社会。在中国，我们也提倡服务人民，但却很少付诸实践。

H: That’s ironic. I thought American people are selfish. It only turns out that I was wrong.

H:很讽刺啊，我以为美国人很自私呢，看来我错了。

L: We are often informed that some Chinese teenagers win the gold or silver medals in some international mathematics competitions. Where are they when they grow up? Do they become great scientists?

L：我们经常听说某些中国青少车在某些国际数学比赛中得金奖、银奖了，他们长大 后去哪了？成为伟大的科学家了吗？

H; You hit the nail on the head. Some students are only trained to be memory machines. But when they grow up, they’ll find they can hardly blend into society.

H:切中要害。一些学生被培养成记忆机器，但长大后却发现自己很难融入社会。

L: That’s why a liberal education is so important.

L：这就是为什么人文教育这么重要。