Unit 1 College Life
Passage A So Much to Learn
It was the last day of final examinations in a large Eastern university. On the steps of one building, a group of engineering niors huddled, discussing the exam due to begin in a few minutes. On their faces was confidence. This was their last exam before they went on to commencement and jobs.
Some talked of jobs they already had; others of jobs they would get. With all this assurance of four years of college study, they felt ready and able to conquer the world.
The approaching exam, they knew, would be a snap. The professor had said they could bring any books or notes they wanted, requesting only that they did not talk to each other during the test.
Jubilantly, they filed into the classroom. The professor pasd out the papers. An
d their smiles broadened as the students noted there were only five essay-type questions.
Three hours pasd. Then the professor began to collect the papers. The students no longer looked confident. On their faces was a frightened expression. No one spoke as the professor faced the class with the papers in her hand.
She surveyed the worried faces before her, then asked: “How many completed all five questions?”?
Not a hand was raid.
“How many answered four?”
Still no hands.
“Three? Two?”
The students shifted restlessly in their ats.
“One, then? Certainly somebody finished one.”
But the class remained silent. The professor put down the papers. “That is exactly what I expected,” she said.
“I just want to impress upon you that, even though you have completed four years of engineering, there are still many things about the subject you don’t know. The questions you could not answer are relatively common in everyday practice.” Then, smiling, she added: “You will all pass this cour, but remember that even though you are now college graduates, your education has just begun .”
The years have obscured the name of this professor, but not the lesson she taught.
A篇 学无止境
故事发生在一所东部大学里。那是终考的最后一天。一幢教学楼的台阶上围着一群大四的工科生，都在谈论即刻就要开始的考试。他们脸上都带着自信。这是毕业前的最后一场考
试了，考完后，即是毕业典礼。然后他们将各奔前程。
话题转到了工作上，有的谈起了找好的工作，有的则谈论着要找的工作。4年的大学学习给了他们自信，使他们觉得自己足以征服世界。
眼前这场考试，不过是一碟小菜罢了。老师已经说过可以携带所需的任何书本或笔记，只要不在考试时交头接耳就行了。
学生们兴高采烈地步入教室。试卷发下来了。看到只有5道论述题，他们一个个脸笑上开了花。
3小时过去后，老师开始收卷。学生们先前的那份自信再也看不到了，而是满脸惊慌。老师握着试卷，面对全班，大家都沉默不语。
她扫了一眼眼前这一张张不安的脸，问道："5道题全答完的有多少？" 没人举手。 "做完4道的有多少？" 还是没人举手。 "3道呢？两道呢？" 学生们再也坐不住了。 "那么一道呢？总有做完一道的吧。" 教室里依然鸦雀无声。老师搁下试卷，说道："这我早料到了。"
"我只是想让你们牢牢记住，即使你们已经完成了4年工科学习，这个领域你们还有很多东西要学。其实，她笑了笑，接着说，"这门课你们都能通过，但要记住，你们虽然已经大学毕业，但学习才刚刚开始。"
多年后，我已忘了这位老师的姓名，但牢牢记住了她的教诲。
Passage B Wish for the Freshman Year
After four years, the time has come. In less than two weeks, I will have graduated. I look back now and I can't believe how fast it all went. I can still remember the first day of class, looking on the map on the back of the Schedule of Class and asking where the classroom building was. Now I'm a nior, looking at freshmen with envy. Every day I wish I could freeze time and make the next two weeks go more slowly. I know a lot of people who can't wait to graduate, but for me it's the opposite. I want to turn back time instead and cherish every day of my college experience once again.
For me, college has been a great learning experience, and most of the learning process has taken place outside of the classroom. My sophomore year of college was perhaps the most remarkable year of my life. This was the year that I finally convinced my mom that I was going to be OK living on campus, and she finally let me go. This was the year that I made some lifelong friends, and through many triu
mphs and failures I came to know more about mylf. My sophomore year involved experimenting with new things, such as camping in mountains, attempting to prent some lousy poems to newspapers and drawing cartoons of my teachers in class.
As I walk down the familiar routes on campus, I find mylf doing a lot of soul-arching and reminiscing. I find mylf wanting to start all over again and recapture the fun and excitement of my college days. I have been panicking at the idea of graduating. I have been going to school for as long as I can remember, and I feel like there is so much more that I want to learn, but instead I have to graduate. The world is enormous and the possibilities are endless. For the past four years I have been surrounded with a safety net. The student status has been a somewhat comforting feeling, giving me an escape from the realities of the world outside.
With less than two weeks left of school, I'm getting a queasy feeling deep down every time I think about the fact that I'm going to be graduating. For as long as I ca
n remember, I have been a student. I feel like I'm living in denial about graduating. Every time I get asked about what I'm going to do after college I feel like screaming at the top of my lungs. I don't know what I want to do with the rest of my life. It's too difficult to even contemplate the idea that soon I will be waking up in the mornings and not have a class to which I should be going.
On a recent interview, I was asked, "Is this the profession you want for the rest of your life?" I was amud and almost laughed at the question, but I gave an honest answer. I don't know what the future holds. During the last four years I have changed my mind so many times, the idea of a lifetime commitment to a certain job ems like torture.
