Unit1TextACollege—ATransitionPointinMyLifeAuthorUnknownWhenIfirstenteredcollegeasafreshman,IwasafraidthatIwasnotabletodowellinmystudies.Iwasafraidofbeingoffbymyself,awayfrommyfamilyforthefirsttime.HereIwassurroundedbypeopleIdidnotknowandwhodidnotknowme.IwouldhavetomakefriendswiththemandperhapsalsocompetewiththemforgradesincoursesIwouldtake.WeretheysmarterthanIwas?CouldIkeepupwiththem?Wouldtheyacceptme?Isoonlearnedthatmylifewasnowuptome.IhadtosetastudyprogramifIwantedtosucceedinmycourses.IhadtoregulatethetimeIspentstudyingandthetimeIspentsocializing.Ihadtodecidewhentogotobed,whenandwhattoeat,whenandwhattodrink,andwithwhomtobefriendly.ThesequestionsIhadtoanswerformyself.Atfirst,lifewasabitdifficult.ImademistakesinhowIusedmytime.Ispenttoomuchtimemakingfriends.IalsomadesomemistakesinhowIchosemyfirstfriendsincollege.Shortly,however,Ihadmylifeundercontrol.Imanagedtogotoclassontime,domyfirstassignmentsandhandthemin,andpassmyfirstexamswithfairlygoodgrades.Inaddition,ImadeafewfriendswithwhomIfeltcomfortableandwithwhomIcouldsharemyfears.Isetuparouti精品docnethatwasreallymyown—aroutinethatmetmyneeds.Asaresult,Ibegantolookuponmyselffromadifferentperspective.Ibegantoseemyselfasapersonresponsibleformyselfandresponsibleformyfriendsandfamily.Itfeltgoodtomakemyowndecisionsandseethosedecisionsturnouttobewiseones.Iguessthatthisisallpartofwhatpeoplecall“growingup.”Whatdidlifehaveinstoreforme?Atthatstageinmylife,IreallywasnotcertainwhereIwouldultimatelygoinlifeandwhatIwoulddowiththeyearsaheadofme.ButIknewthatIwouldbeabletohandlewhatwasaheadbecauseIhadsuccessfullyjumpedthisimportanthurdleinmylife:Ihadmadethetransitionfromapersondependentonmyfamilyforemotionalsupporttoapersonwhowasresponsibleformyself.TextBWhatIHopetoGainfromaCollegeEducationAlexisWaltonAftergraduationfromhighschool,Iplantodoseveralthings.ThemostimportantthingIplantodoistogotocollege.Otherthanadegree,fromacollegeeducationIplantopursuehigherlearning,tobeginacareer,andtomakehistoryinmyfamily.ThefirstthingIhopetogainfromacollegeeducationishigherlearning.Learninggoesfarbeyondahighschooleducationandisverynecessaryintoday’ssociety.Itallowsustobefamiliarwithourenvir精品doconmentandeveryoneinitanditallowsustomaintainassuranceofourselves.Alotofuswouldbelostwithoutanylearningatall,andourworldwouldbeveryconfused.Onemustlearntodosuchthingsasapplyingmathskillsaswellasbeingresponsibleandindependent.Iknowthatacollegeeducationwouldallowmetoacquiretheseabilities.Secondly,Ihopetobeginacareerasaresultofmycollegeeducation.Asacollegestudent,Iplantostudychemicalengineering.Aftertakingalltheclassesnecessaryforthismajorandcompletingthemsuccessfully,IhopeI’llbeabletobeginacareerasachemicalengineer.MakinghistoryinmyfamilyisyetanotherimportantthingIhopetogainfrommycollegeeducation.Neitherofmyparentsgraduatedfromcollege,nordidanyofmythreebrothers,buttheydid,however,graduatefromhighschool.Takingalookbackhasmotivatedmetoreachfarther.Iplantomakehistoryinmyfamilybybeingthefirsttogetacollegeeducation.Pursuinghigherlearning,beginningacareer,andmakinghistoryinmyfamilyarethingsIhopetogainfrommycollegeeducation.ItisveryimportantthatIaccomplishthesegoalssothatIwillhavecontinuedsuccess.Iknowallofthesethingsandmanymorearepossible.IfIbelieveit,thenIcanachieveit.TextC精品docDevlin’sAdvice（忠告）KeithDevlinDearNewStudent:Whatawaits（等待）youinthecomingyears—yourcollegeyears?Andwhatawaitsyouafteryourgraduationfromcollege?Foranenteringcollegestudent,thelikelihood（可能性）isthatthejobyouwillbedoingtenyearsfromnowdoesnotyetexist（存在）.Youwillbedoingsomethingthatatpresentnooneisdoing,orhardlyanyone.Howcanyoupossiblyprepareforsuchafuture?Mystrongestadvicewouldbetovalue（珍視）thebreadth（寬度，廣度）oftheeducationavailable（可得到的）toyou.Thekeytobeingsuccessfulintheworldoftodayortomorrowisanabilitytolearn.Athighschoolyouhadateacher.Butwhenyouareoutatworkyouwillprobably（很可能）havetogoitalone（自個(gè)兒干）.Collegeisahalf-wayhouse（中途歇腳的客棧；過渡場所）.Theprofessorsaretheretohelpandguideyou.Butasteachers,themostimportantthingtheyaretryingto“teach”youishowtolearn.Forexample,yourmathematicsprofessorisnottheretoteachyoumathematics.Heorsheistheretoshowyouhowtolearnma精品docthematics,andtohelpyouintheprocess(過程).That’sabigdifferencefromhighschool.Mysecondpieceofadviceistoworkhardestatthosesubjects（科目）youdon’tlikeorthinkyoucanneverdo.Formanystudents,thesubjectthattheydon’tlikeismathematics.Butformanycareerpaths(道路),mathematicsiswhattheyneedtoknowinordertobesuccessful.Forconstruction(建筑)workersandengineers,geometry(幾何學(xué))iswhatyouneedtoknow.Forfutureteachers,itisstatistics(統(tǒng)計(jì)學(xué))thatyouneedtoseeifyourtestsarefairtoyourstudents.Evenforsomeonewhojustwantstobeastay-at-homemom,calculations(計(jì)算)areneededtokeepahousehold(家庭).Infact,whatIamsayingappliestoallofyouwhenyoufindyourselffacedwithanysubject.Collegesanduniversitiesdon’thaveallthosegraduationrequirements(要求)inordertomakeyousuffer.Theyaretheretohelpyoubroaden(開闊)yourmind,andtoprepareyoutoliveyourlifetothefullest.Myfinalpieceofadviceistoenjoyyourlifeatcollege.Ioftenhearpeoplesaythatcollegeisnottherealworld;thatthepurpose(目的)ofyourcollegeyearsistoprepareyoufo