TED演讲:我们不要一成不变的教育(4)

 　　You know, I always wonder, who makes up those rules? 我一直都挺郁闷的，到底是谁制定这样的臭规定啊？

　　For years I went to -- Look, I went the Harvard Ed School. I thought I knew something. 多年以来，我一直会去哈佛的Ed学校。我想我还是了解一些情况的。

　　They said it was the agrarian¹ calendar, and people had -- but let me tell you why that doesn't make sense. 他们说，这样规定是因为农时的问题，人们...但让我来告诉你，为什么这种说法站不住脚。

　　I never got that. I never got that, because anyone knows if you farm, you don't plant crops in July and August. 我从来不相信这些鬼话，因为，人所共知，如果你务过农，你不会在七、八月份播种的。

　　You plant them in the spring. So who came up with this idea? Who owns it? Why did we ever do it? 你应该在春天播种。那是谁想到这样的借口的呢？始作俑者是谁呢？我们以前为什么一直这样做了呢？

　　Well it just turns out in the 1840s we did have, schools were open all year. 事实上，在19世纪40年代，我们确实还有全年上课的学校的。

　　They were open all year, because we had a lot of folks² who had to work all day. 这些学校整年都在上课，这是因为我们有太多的人要整天工作，

　　They didn't have any place for their kids to go. It was a perfect place to have schools. 他们又没有地方安置自己的孩子。而学校是一个最合适不过的地方。

　　So this is not something that is ordained³ from the education gods. 所以，这并不是什么教育圣人定的金科玉律。

　　So why don't we? Why don't we? Because our business has refused to use science. Science. 所以，我们为什么不可以做一下变通？为什么不呢？因为我们这个行业拒绝运用科学。拒绝科学！

　　You have Bill Gates coming out and saying, "Look, this works⁴, right? We can do this." 我们来听听比尔·盖茨是怎么说的，“看，这真的管用，是吧？我们可以这样做。”

　　How many places in America are going to change? None. None. 在美国会有多少地方会改变这种现行的教育制度呢？一个也没有。没有。

　　Okay, yeah, there are two. All right? 好吧！可我真见过两个，信不？

　　Yes, there'll be some place, because some folks will do the right thing. 对，在某一个地方会有这种事，因为有些人会做正确的事。

　　As a profession, we have to stop this. The science is clear. 作为教育工作者，我们必须停止这样做。科学是很清晰的。

1 agrarian   

adj.土地的，农村的，农业的

参考例句：

• People are leaving an agrarian way of life to go to the city.人们正在放弃农业生活方式而转向城市。
• This was a feature of agrarian development in Britain.这是大不列颠土地所有制发展的一个特征。

2 folks   

n.人们；父母；亲人；家属；人们( folk的名词复数 )；亲属；大伙儿；民间音乐

参考例句：

• Ask yourself what the folks in Peoria will think of it. 想一想皮奥里亚的人会如何看待这件事。
• When good folks meet, evil men keep their distance. 好人相逢，恶人远离。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 ordained   

v.任命（某人）为牧师( ordain的过去式和过去分词 )；授予（某人）圣职；（上帝、法律等）命令；判定

参考例句：

• He was ordained in 1984. 他在一九八四年被任命为牧师。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was ordained priest. 他被任命为牧师。 来自辞典例句

4 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。