What Makes a Teacher?
为师之道

唐代文学家、思想家韩愈在《师说》中写到：“古之学者，必有师。师者，所以传道受业解惑也。”强调了老师可以给人传授道理、教授学业和答疑解惑。事实上，老师的作用远不止于此。真正的老师并不局限于教授知识，还懂得如何激发学生的求知欲，教学生自己去探索和发现。所谓“授人以鱼不如授人以渔”就是这个道理。

It is customary for adults to forget how hard and dull and long school is. The learning by memory of all the basic things one must know is a most incredible and unending effort. Learning to read is probably the most difficult and revolutionary thing that happens to the human brain and if you don't believe that, watch an illiterate adult try to do it. School is not easy and it is not for the most part very much fun, but then, if you are very lucky, you may find a real teacher. Three real teachers in a lifetime is the very best of my luck. My first was a science and math teacher in high school, my second, a professor of creative writing at Stanford, and my third was my friend and partner, Ed Ricketts.

I have come to believe that a great teacher is a great artist and that there are as few as there are any other great artists. It might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit.

My three had these things in common: they all loved what they were doing. They did not tell, they catalyzed a burning desire to know. Under their influence, the horizons sprung wide and fear went away and unknown became knowledge. But most important of all, the truth, that dangerous stuff, became beautiful and precious.

I shall speak only of my first teacher because in addition to the other things, she brought discovery. She aroused us to shouting, book-waving discussion. She had the noisiest class in school and she didn't even seem to know it. We could never stick to the subject. Our speculation ranged the world. She breathed curiosity into us so that we brought in facts or truths shielded in our hands.

成年人通常会忘了校园生活是多么艰辛、枯燥和漫长。通过死记硬背来学习一个人必须掌握的基础知识，需要付出最难以置信且无休止的努力。对于人类大脑来说，学习阅读很有可能是最困难、最具革新性的事情。如果你不相信这一点，那么可以去观察一下成年文盲尝试学习阅读的过程。学习并非易事，大多数时间还很枯燥，但是，如果你足够幸运，你会遇到一位真正的老师。能拥有三位真正的老师是我此生最大的幸事。第一位老师是我高中时的科学兼数学老师，第二位是斯坦福大学教授创意写作的教授，第三位是我的朋友兼搭档埃德·理克茨。

我日益笃信，一位伟大的教师就像是一位伟大的艺术家。伟大的老师和其他伟大的艺术家一样罕见。教育可能是最伟大的艺术，因为它是通过人类的思想和精神来实现的。

我的三位老师具有这些共同之处：他们都十分热爱自己所从事的工作，他们不单纯讲授知识，而是激发学生强烈的求知欲。在他们的影响之下，学生的视野开阔，恐惧消失，未知也得到填补。最重要的是，学生不再认为真理是危险的东西，反倒是认为它们美好、珍贵。

我只细说一下我的第一位老师，因为她除了教授其他东西之外，还教会了我们去发现。她激发我们去高声地挥动着课本讨论。她的课堂是全校范围内最吵闹的，但是她似乎全然不知。我们从不局限于一个主题。我们思辨的内容覆盖全世界。她激发了我们的好奇心，使我们将事实或真理紧紧地握在手中。

巧记词汇

dull [dʌl] a. 无趣的

【拓】interesting [ˈɪntrəstɪŋ] a. 有趣的

incredible [ɪnˈkredəbl] a. 难以置信的

【拓】credible [ˈkredəbl] a. 可信的

unending [ʌnˈendɪŋ] a. 无休止的

【拓】endless [ˈendləs] a. 无休止的

illiterate [ɪˈlɪtərət] a. 文盲的

【拓】literate [ˈlɪtərət] a. 受过教育的

catalyze [ˈkætəlaɪz] v. 刺激，促进

【拓】stimulate [ˈstɪmjuleɪt] v. 刺激，鼓舞

speculation [ˌspekjuˈleɪʃn] n. 思索；推测

【拓】speculate [ˈspekjuleɪt] v. 思索；推测

趣学短语

stick to 坚持

【例】He told me that I should stick to my vision and figure out what is really important for me. 他跟我说我应该坚持自己的愿景，并弄明白对于我来说真正重要的是什么。