LettertoaBstudent课文原文

Letter to a B student Your final grade for the course is B. A respectable grade. Far superior to

LettertoaBstudent YourfinalgradeforthecourseisB.Arespectablegrade.Farsuperiorto the"Gentleman'sC"thatservedasthenormacoupleofgenerationsago.Butin thosedaysA'swererare:onlytwooutoftwenty-five,asIrecall.Whateverour normis,ithasshiftedupward,withtheresultthatyouareprobably disappointedatnotdoingbetter.I'mcertainthatnothingIcansaywillremove thatfeelingofdisappointment,particularlyinaclimatewheregradesdetermine eligibilityforgraduateschoolandspecialprograms. Disappointment.It'sthestuffbaddreamsaremadeof:dreamsoffailure, inadequacy,lossofpositionandgoodrepute.Theessenceofsuccessisthat there'sneverenoughofittogoroundinazero-sumgamewhereoneperson's winningmustbeoffsetbyanother'slosing,oneperson'sjoyoffsetbyanother's disappointment.You'vegrownupinasocietywherewinningisnotthemost importantthing—it'stheonlything.Tolose,tofail,togounder,togo broke—thesearedeadlysinsinaworldwhereprosperityinthepresentisseen asasuresignofsalvationinthefuture.Inadifferentsociety,your disappointmentmightbesomethingyoucouldshrugaway.Butnotinours. Mypurposeinwritingyouistoputyourdisappointmentinperspectiveby consideringexactlywhatyourgrademeansanddoesn'tmean.Idonotproposeto argueherethatgradesareunimportant.Rather,Ihopetoshowyouthatyour grade,takenatfacevalue,isapttobedangerouslymisleading,bothtoyouand toothers. Asasymbolonyourcollegetranscript,yourgradesimplymeansthatyou havesuccessfullycompletedaspecificcourseofstudy,doingsoatacertain levelofproficiency.Thelevelofyourproficiencyhasbeendeterminedbyyour performanceofratherconventionaltasks:takingtests,writingpapersand reports,andsoforth.Yourperformanceisgenerallyassumedtocorrespondto theknowledgeyouhaveacquiredandwillretain.Butthisassumption,asweboth know,isquestionable;itmaywellbethatyou'veactuallygottenmuchmoreout ofthecoursethanyourgradeindicates—orless.Lackingmoreprecise measurementtools,wemustinterpretyourBasaratherfuzzysymbolatbest, representingaquestionablejudgmentofyourmasteryofthesubject. Yourgradedoesnotrepresentajudgmentofyourbasicabilityorofyour character.Courage,kindness,wisdom,goodhumor—thesearetheimportant characteristicsofourspecies.Unfortunatelytheyarenotpartofour curriculum.Buttheyareimportant:cruciallyso,becausetheyarealwaysin shortsupply.Ifyouvaluethesecharacteristicsinyourself,youwillbe valued—andfarmoresothanthosewhoseidentitiesaremeasuredonlybylittle marksonapieceofpaper.YourBisapricetagonagarmentthatisquite separatefromtheliving,breathinghumanbeingunderneath. Thestudentasperformer;thestudentashumanbeing.Thedistinctionisone weshouldalwayskeepinmind.IfirstlearnedityearsagowhenIgotoutof theserviceandwentbacktocollege.Therewerealotofusthen:olderthan thenorm,inahurrytogetourdegreesandmoveon,impatientwiththetests