TED演讲：用"云"建立一所学校(1)

 　　What is going to be the future of learning? 未来学习是什么样子的？

　　I do have a plan, but in order for me to tell you what that plan is, I need to tell you a little story, which kind of sets the stage. 我有个计划，但是为了向你们介绍我的计划，我需要先给你们讲一个小故事，作为铺垫。

　　I tried to look at where did the kind of learning we do in schools, where did it come from?  我试着思考我们在学校里学习的方式源自于哪里？

　　And you know you can look far back into the past, but if you look at present-day schooling¹ the way it is,  这可以追溯到很久之前，但如果你问的是如今的学校教育形式，

　　it's quite easy to figure out where it came from.  很容易就能找到源头。

　　It came from about 300 years ago, and it came from the last and the biggest of the empires on this planet. 它起源于大约300年前，起源于这个星球上最大的也是最后一个帝国。

　　Imagine trying to run the show, trying to run the entire planet, without computers, without telephones, with data handwritten on pieces of paper, and traveling by ships.  想想一下在没有电脑、也没有电话的情况下，管理整个帝国，文件资料需要靠手抄，出差需要靠轮船。

　　But the Victorians actually did it.  但维多利亚时代的人们确实做到了。

　　What they did was amazing. They created a global computer made up of people.  他们所做的事令人惊奇。他们创造了一台由人组成的覆盖全球的计算机。

　　It's still with us today. It's called the bureaucratic² administrative³ machine.  这台计算机如今仍在运行着。它被称为公务员行政体系。

　　In order to have that machine running, you need lots and lots of people.  为了让这个系统运作，需要许许多多人。

　　They made another machine to produce those people: the school.  这就催生了另一个体系去培养这些人：学校。

　　The schools would produce the people who would then become parts of the bureaucratic administrative machine.  学校会培养这些人，他们会在将来成为公务员体系一分子。

　　They must be identical to each other. They must know three things: They must have good handwriting, because the data is handwritten;  他们必须是协调一致的。他们必须了解三件事：书写要规范，因为资料都是手写的；

　　they must be able to read; and they must be able to do multiplication⁴, division, addition and subtraction⁵ in their head.  有阅读能力； 会在脑子里作加减乘除。

　　They must be so identical that you could pick one up from New Zealand and ship them to Canada and he would be instantly functional⁶.  他们必须是一模一样的，这样才可以从新西兰随便的挑一个人送去加拿大，并能立刻派上用场。

　　The Victorians were great engineers.  维多利亚时代的人们是些伟大的工程师。

　　They engineered a system that was so robust⁷ that it's still with us today, continuously producing identical people for a machine that no longer exists.  他们设计了这样一个有蓬勃生命力的系统，至今，仍在为那个已不复存在的帝国源源不断地输送着同质的人才。

　　The empire is gone, so what are we doing with that design that produces these identical people,  帝国已逝，这个产生了那些同质人才的设计，我们能用它来做什么？

　　and what are we going to do next if we ever are going to do anything else with it? 如果我们想用它做点别的事情，下一步要做些什么？

1 schooling   

n.教育；正规学校教育

参考例句：

• A child's access to schooling varies greatly from area to area.孩子获得学校教育的机会因地区不同而大相径庭。
• Backward children need a special kind of schooling.天赋差的孩子需要特殊的教育。

2 bureaucratic   

adj.官僚的，繁文缛节的

参考例句：

• The sweat of labour washed away his bureaucratic airs.劳动的汗水冲掉了他身上的官气。
• In this company you have to go through complex bureaucratic procedures just to get a new pencil.在这个公司里即使是领一支新铅笔，也必须通过繁琐的手续。

3 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

4 multiplication   

n.增加，增多，倍增；增殖，繁殖；乘法

参考例句：

• Our teacher used to drum our multiplication tables into us.我们老师过去老是让我们反覆背诵乘法表。
• The multiplication of numbers has made our club building too small.会员的增加使得我们的俱乐部拥挤不堪。

5 subtraction   

n.减法，减去

参考例句：

• We do addition and subtraction in arithmetic.在算术里,我们作加减运算。
• They made a subtraction of 50 dollars from my salary.他们从我的薪水里扣除了五十美元。

6 functional   

adj.为实用而设计的，具备功能的，起作用的

参考例句：

• The telephone was out of order,but is functional now.电话刚才坏了，但现在可以用了。
• The furniture is not fancy,just functional.这些家具不是摆着好看的，只是为了实用。

7 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。