Dear Daughter,

As we drove off from Columbia, I wanted to write a letter to you to tell you all that is on my mind．

First, I want to tell you how proud we are．Getting into Columbia is a real testament of what a great well-rounded student you are．It is in college that you will truly discover what learning is about．I encourage you to be curious, but I also want to tell you “Education is what you have left after all that is taught is forgotten”．That is really what learning in college is about–this will be the period where you go from teacher-taught to master-inspired, after which you must become self-learner．So do take each subject seriously, and even if what you learn isn’t critical for your life, the skills of learning will be something you cherish forever．

There is no single simple answer to any question．Remember during your high school debate class, I always asked you to take on the side that you don’t believe in? I did that for a reason– things rarely “black and white”, and there are always many ways to look at a problem．You will become a better problem solver if you recognize that．This is called “critical thinking”, and it is the most important thinking skill you need for your life．This also means you need to become tolerant and supportive of others．I will always remember when I went to my Ph．D．advisor and proposed a new thesis topic．He said “I don’t agree with you, but I’ll support you．”

Do your best in classes, but don’t let pressure get to you．Your mother and I have no expectations for your grades．If you graduate and learn something in your four years, we would feel happy．Please don’t be worried．The only thing that matters is that you learned．The only metric you should use is that you tried．Grades are just silly letters that give the vain people something to brag, and the lazy people something to fear．You are too good to be either．

College is the four years where you have:·the greatest amount of free time．·the first chance to be independent．·the most flexibility to change．·the lowest risk for making mistakes．

So please treasure your college years．

Love,

Dad (& Mom)

(A letter from Kaifu Lee)

1．According to Kaifu Lee, the underlined sentence in the second paragraph means_________．

A．you should learn by yourself instead of learning from your teachers．

B．the knowledge isn’t as important as the ability to learn．

C．the knowledge from college is of less worth than that acquired after college．

D．education is nothing but what you have remembered．

2．Kaifu Lee expects his daughter to _________．

A．agree with those who hold the opposite opinions．

B．find out the difference between ‘right and wrong’．

C．think of more ways to solve a problem critically．

D．step into others’ shoes and think from others’ positions．

3．Based on the letter, it can be inferred that ________．

A．high grades are not important for people．

B．Kaifu Lee and his wife don’t care about their daughter’s grades or college life．

C．Kaifu Lee doesn’t expect her daughter to make any mistakes in her life．

D．Kaifu Lee’s daughter is a freshman in Columbia University．

4．We can conclude that Kaifu Lee’s daughter is _________．

A．dependent and curious                         B．tolerant and supportive

C．well-rounded and worried                         D．excellent and hard-working 

Dear Daughter,

　　As we drove off from Columbia, I wanted to write a letter to you to tell you all that is on my mind．

First, I want to tell you how proud we are．Getting into Columbia is a real testament of what a great well-rounded student you are．It is in college that you will truly discover what learning is about．I encourage you to be curious, but I also want to tell you “Education is what you have left after all that is taught is forgotten”．That is really what learning in college is about–this will be the period where you go from teacher-taught to master-inspired, after which you must become self-learner．So do take each subject seriously, and even if what you learn isn’t critical for your life, the skills of learning will be something you cherish forever．

There is no single simple answer to any question．Remember during your high school debate class, I always asked you to take on the side that you don’t believe in? I did that for a reason– things rarely “black and white”, and there are always many ways to look at a problem．You will become a better problem solver if you recognize that．This is called “critical thinking”, and it is the most important thinking skill you need for your life．This also means you need to become tolerant and supportive of others．I will always remember when I went to my Ph．D．advisor and proposed a new thesis topic．He said “I don’t agree with you, but I’ll support you．”

Do your best in classes, but don’t let pressure get to you．Your mother and I have no expectations for your grades．If you graduate and learn something in your four years, we would feel happy．Please don’t be worried．The only thing that matters is that you learned．The only metric you should use is that you tried．Grades are just silly letters that give the vain people something to brag, and the lazy people something to fear．You are too good to be either．

College is the four years where you have:·the greatest amount of free time．·the first chance to be independent．·the most flexibility to change．·the lowest risk for making mistakes．

So please treasure your college years．

Love,

Dad (& Mom)

(A letter from Kaifu Lee)

1．According to Kaifu Lee, the underlined sentence in the second paragraph means_________．

A．you should learn by yourself instead of learning from your teachers．

B．the knowledge isn’t as important as the ability to learn．

C．the knowledge from college is of less worth than that acquired after college．

D．education is nothing but what you have remembered．

2．Kaifu Lee expects his daughter to _________．

A．agree with those who hold the opposite opinions．

B．find out the difference between ‘right and wrong’．

C．think of more ways to solve a problem critically．

D．step into others’ shoes and think from others’ positions．

3．Based on the letter, it can be inferred that ________．

A．high grades are not important for people．

B．Kaifu Lee and his wife don’t care about their daughter’s grades or college life．

C．Kaifu Lee doesn’t expect her daughter to make any mistakes in her life．

D．Kaifu Lee’s daughter is a freshman in Columbia University．

4．We can conclude that Kaifu Lee’s daughter is _________．

A．dependent and curious                     B．tolerant and supportive

C．well-rounded and worried                         D．excellent and hard-working 

完形填空

　　Liberal education is becoming the task of teachers. It is 1 not only to teach and learn knowledge, but also develop a person’s character. Its 2 is to teach each student to think for himself and make 3 decisions. Now liberal education has a great effect on the world. Much work has been done to 4 a better way of teaching.

　　In a liberal 5 , students are encouraged to have their own thoughts and their own ideas 6 they have lessons which are often held in the form of 7 . They are properly guided to 8 the knowledge learned. Punishment 9 exists. Teachers and students are just like 10 .

　　The 11 is of course a perfect one if it can really be carried out. However, it 12 exists in the imagination and will never be realized. We must admit that children should at least be 13 properly. Just close your 14 and think how many students will 15 the duties of a student if they are not pushed. What is the 16 of advice only if it is not supported by a reasonable 17 of control and punishment?

　　It is 18 for us to judge the success and failure of the kind of education now, but 19 the behavior of the children, which is actually the 20 of liberal education; we can see that something must be done to help these children.

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