公共英語PETS三級閱讀與翻譯試題日常訓(xùn)練Wemight marvelattheprogress madein every field ofstudy, themethodsoftestingaperson ’sknowledgeandabilityremainasprimitiveasevertheywere.Itreallyisextraordinarythatafteralltheseyears,educationistshavestillfailedtodeviceanythingmoreefficientandreliablethanexaminations. 個領(lǐng)域所取得的進步感到大為驚異，然而測試一個人的知識和能力的方法依然原始如初。確實是令人吃驚，這么多年以后，教育家們還沒有找到比考試更為有效和可靠的手段。Forallthepiousclaimthatexaminationstestwhatyouknow,itisthattheymoreoftendotheexactopposite.Theymaybeagoodmeansoftestingmemory,ortheknackofworkingrapidlyunderextremepressure,buttheycantellyounothingaboutaperson ’strueabilityandaptitude. 知道什么，對于所有這些虔誠的說法，普遍認(rèn)為往往適得其反。考試可能是檢驗記憶力，或者在極度緊張的情況下發(fā)現(xiàn)快速工作竅門的好方法。但是它Asanxiety-makers,examinationsaresecondtonone.Thatisbecausesomuchdependsonthem.Theyarethemarkofsuccessoffailureinoursociety.Your

wholefuturemaybedecidedinonefatefulday. Itdoesn’tmatterthatyouweren’tfeelingverywell,orthatyourmotherdied.Littlethingslikethatdon’tcount:theexamgoeson.Noonecangiveofhisbestwhenheisinmortalterror,orafterasleeplessnight,yetthisispreciselywhattheexaminationsystemexpectshimtodo. 為制造焦慮者，考試是最好的手段。這是因為它決定著很多事。它是一個人能發(fā)揮出他的最佳水平，不過這正是考試制度期望他這樣做的。 Theachild begins school, heenters aworld ofvicious competition wheresuccessandfailureareclearlydefinedandmeasured.Canwewonderat the increasing numberof “drop-outs”: young people whowrittenoffasutterfailuresbeforetheyhaveevenembarkedonacareer?Canwebesurprisedatthesuiciderateamongstudents? 孩子開始上學(xué)的那一刻起，他就走進了一個成功和失敗界限分明和可以衡量的惡毒競爭之中。我們會對數(shù)目不斷增加的“輟學(xué)者”——甚至在年輕人開始事業(yè)之前認(rèn)為他已完全失敗——感到詫異嗎？面對學(xué)生的自殺率我們能感到吃驚嗎？Agoodeducationshould,amongotherthings,trainyoutothinkforyourself.Theexaminationsystemdoesanythingbutthat.Whathastobelearntisrigidlylaiddownbyasyllabus,sothestudentisencouragedtomemorize.Examinationsdonotmotivateastudenttoreadwidely,buttorestricthisreading;theydonotenablehimtoseekmoreandmoreknowledge,butinducecramming. 當(dāng)包括培養(yǎng)你的能力。而考試制度絕對沒有這樣的作用。必須學(xué)的東西被強硬地用課程大綱給制定出來，鼓勵學(xué)生去死記。考試不能激勵學(xué)生去廣泛閱讀，而是限制他閱讀；考試不能使學(xué)生探索越來越多的知識，而是起到填鴨式的作用。Theylowerthestandardsofteaching,fortheydeprivetheteacherofallfreedoms.Teachersthemselvesareoftenjudgedbyexaminationresultsandinsteadofteachingtheirsubjects,theyarereducedtotrainingtheirstudentsinexamtechniqueswhichtheydespise. Themost successful candidates are not always the besteducated; they arethebest trained in thetechnique ofworking duress. 考試促使降低教學(xué)，因為它剝奪了老師的一切自由。對老師本人教學(xué)水平的評判通常就是看學(xué)生的考試成績。老師們不去教授他們的課，而是簡化教學(xué)，對學(xué)生進行他們嗤之以鼻的考試技巧培訓(xùn)。最成功的投考者不總

是知識水平最高者；他們是高壓之下掌握考試技巧最老練者。 Theresults which so muchdepends are often nothing morethan a subjectiveassessmentbysomeanonymousexaminer. Examinersareonly human.gettired andhungry; theymakemistakes. Yettheyhavetomarkstacksofhastilyscrawledscriptsinalimitedamountoftime.Theyworkunderthesamesortofpressureasthecandidates.Andtheirwordcarries weight. After ajudge’sdecisi onyouhavetheright ofappeal,butnotafteranexaminer ’s. 眾多因素所依賴的考試成績只不過是某個然而，他們不得不在有限的時間內(nèi)為大隊的匆匆草書的試卷判分。跟投考者一樣，他們也在相同的壓力之下工作，不過他們的話很有分量。在鑒定人鑒定之后，而不是主考官判卷后，你才有權(quán)提出查卷的申請。Theremustsurelybemanysimplerandmoreeffectivewaysofassessingaperson”strueabilities.Isitcynicaltosuggestthatexaminationsaremerelyaprofitablebusinessfortheinstitutionsthatrunthem?Thisiswhatit boilsdownto in thelastanalysis. Thebestcommentonthesystemisthisillit eratemessagerecentlyscrawledonaw