跳转到路径导航栏
不支持Flash
跳转到正文内容

2004年Text 4

http://www.sina.com.cn   2008年09月20日 00:51   新浪考试

  Americans today don‘t place a very high value on intellect. Our heroes are athletes, entertainers, and entrepreneurs, not scholars. Even our schools are where we send our children to get a practical education——not to pursue knowledge for the sake of knowledge. Symptoms of pervasive anti-intellectualism in our schools aren’t difficult to find.

  “Schools have always been in a society where practical is more important than intellectual,” says education writer Diane Ravitch. “Schools could be a counterbalance.” Razitch‘s latest bock, Left Back: A Century of Failed School Reforms, traces the roots of anti-intellectualism in our schools, concluding they are anything but a counterbalance to the American distaste for intellectual pursuits.

  But they could and should be. Encouraging kids to reject the life of the mind leaves them vulnerable to exploitation and control. Without the ability to think critically, to defend their ideas and understand the ideas of others, they cannot fully participate in our democracy. Continuing along this path, says writer Earl Shorris, “We will become a second-rate country. We will have a less civil society.”

  “Intellect is resented as a form of power or privilege,” writes historian and professor Richard Hofstadter in Anti-Intellectualism in American life, a Pulitzer Prize winning book on the roots of anti-intellectualism in US politics, religion, and education. From the beginning of our history, says Hofstadter, our democratic and populist urges have driven us to reject anything that smells of elitism. Practicality, common sense, and native intelligence have been considered more noble qualities than anything you could learn from a book.

上一页 1 2 下一页

    更多信息请访问:新浪考研频道 考研论坛 考研博客圈

  特别说明:由于各方面情况的不断调整与变化,新浪网所提供的所有考试信息仅供参考,敬请考生以权威部门公布的正式信息为准。

Powered By Google

相关链接

·改革30年30城市变与迁 ·新浪《对话城市》 ·诚招合作伙伴 ·新企邮上线更优惠

新浪简介About Sina广告服务联系我们招聘信息网站律师SINA English会员注册产品答疑┊Copyright © 1996-2009 SINA Corporation, All Rights Reserved

新浪公司 版权所有