Unit 14 Five Traits of the Educated Man 课文翻译 综合教程一_百度文

Unit 14 Five Traits of the Educated Man

A question often asked is: "What are the marks of an educated man" It is plain

that one may gain no inconsiderable body of learning in some special field of

knowledge without at the same time acquiring tho habits and traits which are the

marks of an educated gentleman. A reasonable amount of learning must of cour

accompany an education, but, after all, that amount need not be so very great in

any one field. An education will make its mark and find its evidences in certain

traits, characteristics, and capacities which have to be acquired by patient

endeavor, by following good examples, and by receiving wi discipline and sound

instructions.

The traits or characteristics may be variously described and classified, but

among them are five that should always stand out clearly enough to be en by all

men. The first of the is correctness and precision in the u of the mother tongue.

The quite shocking slovenliness and vulgarity of much of the spoken English, as well

as not a little of the written English, which one hears and es, proves beyond

peradventure that years of attendance upon schools and colleges that are thought

to be respectable have produced no impression. When one hears English well spoken,

with pure diction, correct pronunciation, and an almost unconscious choice of the

right word, he recognizes it at once. How much easier he finds it to imitate English

of the other sort!

A cond and indispensable trait of the educated man is refined and gentle

manners, which are themlves the expression of fixed habits of thought and action.

"Manners make the man," wrote Wykeham William over his gates at Winchester and at

Oxford. He pointed to a great truth. When manners are superficial, artificial, and

forced, no matter what their form, they are bad manners. When, however, they are

the natural expression of fixed habits of thought and action, and when they reveal

a refined and cultivated nature, they are good manners. There are certain things

that gentlemen do not do, and they do not do them simply becau they are bad manners.

The gentleman instinctively knows the difference between tho things which he may

and should do and tho things which he may not and should not do.

A third trait of the educated man is the power and habit of reflection. Human

beings for the most part live wholly on the surface of life. They do not look beneath

the surface or far beyond the prent moment and that part of the future which is

quickly to follow it. They do not read tho works of pro and poetry which have

become classic becau they reveal power and habit of reflection and induce that

power and habit in others. When one reflects long enough to ask the question how

He is on the way to knowing something about science. When he reflects long enough

to ask the question why He may, if he persists, even become a philosopher.

A fourth trait of the educated man is the power of growth. He continues to grow

and develop from birth to his dying day. His interests expand, his contacts multiply,

his knowledge increas, and his reflection becomes deeper and wider. It would appear

to be true that not many human beings, and even not many of tho who have had a

college education, continue to grow after they are twenty-four or twenty-five years

of age. By that time it is usual to ttle down to life on a level of more or less

contented intellectual interest and activity. The whole prent day movement for

adult education is a systematic and definite attempt to keep human beings growing

long after they have left school and college, and, therefore, to help educate them.

A fifth trait of the educated man is his posssion of efficiency, or the power

to do. The mere visionary dreamer, however charming or however wi, lacks something

which an education requires. The power to do may be exercid in any one of a thousand

ways, but when it clearly shows itlf, that is evidence that the period of study,

of discipline, and of companionship with parents and teachers has not been in vain.

Given the five characteristics, one has the outline of an educated man. That

outline may be filled in by scholarship, by literary power, by mechanical skills,

by professional zeal and capacity, by business competence, or by social and political

leadership. So long as the framework or outline is there, the content may be pretty

much what you will, assuming, of cour, that the fundamental elements of the great

tradition which is civilization, and its outstanding records and achievements in

human personality, in letters, in science, in the fine arts, and in human

institutions, are all prent.

教养的五个特征

常常有这么一个问题：“一个有教养的人的标志是什么”很显然，可能一个人在获取了

某个专业知识领域大量的知识的同时，却未能养成作为一个有教养的人标志性的那些习惯和

特征。教育理所当然会伴随着一定量的合理学习，而终究来说，这个量不可过多集中于某一

个领域。一种教育会留下自身的标志并表现出一定的特征、特性和能力，而这些又需要通过

耐心的努力，学习榜样，以及接受明智的管教和有效的指导才能获得。

对这些特征或特性的描述和分类可能不尽相同，而所有人都应该能注意到，其中有五个

特征是非常明显的。第一个是对母语的精确运用。人们在英语口语中会惊奇地听到大量混乱

和粗俗的用法，在英语书面语中也读到不少，这些都无疑表明多年在中学、大学里接受的高

尚教育没能在人们脑海里留下任何印象。当一个人听到规范的英语，纯正的发音方式，准确

的发音和脱口而出的正确措辞，他会马上明白：模仿另一种不规范的英语要容易得多！

第二个不可或缺的特征是温文尔雅的举止，这本身就是自身的思维和行为习惯的表现。

维克汉·威廉在温切斯特和牛津大学的门上写着“举止造就人”。他指出了一个伟大的真理。

如果举止是肤浅的、虚伪的以及被迫的，那么无论外在形式怎样，都是不良举止。而当举止

是自身固有的思维和行动的自然表现，或是展示出了优雅和有教养的天性，那就是优良举止。

有一些事情绅士们不会去做，他们不去做的原因就是因为那是不良的举止。绅士会本能地知

道哪些是可以并且应该做的事，哪些是不可以并且不应该做的事。

教养的第三个特征是深思的能力和习惯。大多数人完全关注于现实或者超越现实考虑即

将到来的未来。他们不去阅读已经成为经典的散文和诗歌作品，因为他们已表现出了深思的

能力和习惯，并且促使其他人形成了这样的能力和习惯。当一个人经过长时间思索问出“怎

么样”的问题时，他已经接近科学了。当一个人经过长时间思索问出“为什么”的问题时，

一旦坚持下去，他就有可能成为哲学家。

教养的第四个特征是成长的能力。他从出生到死亡一直在成长和发展。他的兴趣扩大，

交流增多，知识递增。思考得更为深邃和开阔。有不多的人甚至少有受过大学教育的人能够

在二十四五岁后仍能继续成长，这种事似乎是真的。到那时人们通常已经安于生活，并多多

少少满足于一定水平的乐趣和智力活动。目前的成人教育活动就是一项帮助离开中学或大学

的人继续成长，并因此帮助教育他们的系统的、明确的行动。

教养的第五个特征是行动的效率，或者说是做事的能力。如果仅是一个空想家，无论多

么迷人或博学，都缺少受教育者的一些特征。可以有上千种锻炼做事的能力的方法，而在能

力明明白白展现出来的那一刺，才证明了那些花在学习、训练和接受家长、教师辅助上的时

间没有白费。

一个人拥有了这五个特性，他就具备了有教养的基本轮廓。这轮廓里可以包括学识、文

学水平、技术技巧、专业热情和才能、商业竞争力和社会及政治领导力。只要有这个框架或

轮廓，并将伟大传统——文明——的基本因素以及文明在人类天性、文学、科学、美术和人

类风俗中留下的辉煌记录和卓越贡献都包括在内，则其内容尽可随你所愿。