Unit One Thinking as a Hobby

I. Warm-up activities

1. Quotations on Thinking

Intelligence is something we are born with. Thinking is a skill that must be learned.                                                                     — Edwardde Bono

Most people can't think, most of the remainder won't think, and the small fraction who do think mostly can't do it very well.                                                                                                            — RobertHeinlein

I think, therefore I am.                  —René Déscartes

I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.   —Socrates

We think too small. Like the frog at the bottom of the well. He thinks the sky is only as big as the top of the well. If he surfaced, he would have an entirely different view.                            —Mao Zedong

Thinking is what a great many people think they are doing when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.                         —William James

Nurture your mind with great thoughts.             —BenjaminDisraeli

What is the hardest task in the world? To think.    —Ralph Waldo Emerson

2. Background information

1. William Gerald Golding

Sir William Gerald Golding (September 19, 1911—June 19,1993) was an English novelist, poet and winner of 1983 Nobel Laureate in Literature: “… for his novels which, with the perspicuity of realistic narrative art and the diversity and universality of myth, illuminate the human condition in the world of today.”（具有清晰的现实主义叙述技巧以及虚构故事的多样性与普遍性，阐述了今日世界人类的状况。）

威廉·戈尔丁（William Golding）是一位英国小说家，诗人，1983年诺贝尔文学奖获得者。他的小说富含寓意，广泛地融入了古典文学，神话，基督教文化以及象征主义。其作品主题一般是与黑暗邪恶有关，但他的小说中也表达一种昏暗的乐观主义。他的第一本小说《蝇王》（1954年）突出了他一直不停探讨的主题：人类天生的野蛮与文明的理性的斗争（“人性恶”/ “人心的黑暗”）。这部小说也奠定了戈尔丁的世界声誉。

   Born at St. Columb Minor, a village near Newquay, Cornwall, he started writing at the age of seven.

   He went to Oxford University (Brasenose College) in 1930, where he studied natural sciences and English language. His first book, a collection of poems, appeared a year before Golding received his BA.

   He married Ann Brookfield, an analytical chemist, in 1939. He became a teacher of English and philosophy at Bishop Wordsworth's School in Salisbury.

   During World War II he served in the Royal Navy and was involved in thesinking of Germany's mightiest battleship, the Bismarck. He participated in theinvasion of Normandy on D-Day and at war's end went back to teaching andwriting.

   In 1961 his successful books allowed Golding to leave his teaching post and he spent a year as writer-in-residence at Hollins College in Virginia. He then became a full-time writer.

   He received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II in 1988.

   William Golding died in his home at Perranarworthal, near Truro, Cornwallon June 19, 1993.

WilliamGolding's main works:

     Poems (1934)

     Lord of the Flies (1954)

     The Inheritors (1955)

     Pincher Martin (1956)

     Free Fall (1959)

     The Spire (1964)

     Darkness Visible(1979)

     The Trilogy Rites of Passage (1980, Booker Prize)

     Close Quarters (1987)

     Fire Down Below (1989), republished under the general title To The Ends of the Earth

2. Rodin’s Thinker

Resting on the horizontal panel above the doors, TheThinker became the focal point of The Gates of Hell and subsequently perhaps the most well-known sculpture of all time. The athletic-looking figure, inspired by the sculpture of Michelangelo, depicts a man in sober meditation, yet whose muscles strain with effort — possibly to evoke a powerful internal struggle. Rodin initially referred to the figure as Dante but eventually what we know as The Thinker evolved into a more symbolic representation of creativity, intellect, and above all — thought.

3. Goddess Venus

Venus de Milo (about 150—100 BC) is considered by many art historians to be the ideal of Hellenistic beauty. It was carved out of marble and stands approximately 205 cm (6 ft 10 in) high.

As Roman Goddess of Love and Beauty, Venus is associated with cultivated fields and gardens and later identified by the Romans with the Greek Goddess of Love, Aphrodite.

4. Grammar school 文法学校

In Britain, it refers to a scbool for children over 11 who are academically bright. Today, there are few grammar schools. Most secondary scbools are called "comprehensive" and take in all children over 11 whatever their abilities. In the United States, a grammar school used to mean an elementary school, but this term is now considered old-fashioned.

https://www.bangli.uk/post/239729

文法学校（Grammarschool）是英国历史上传承下来的学校分类中的一种。最开始的时候，文法学校是指那些教授拉丁文的学校，现在，是指以学生学术成绩为第一位的英国中学。

文法学校就是英国的公立“重点中学”。他们的教育水平和优秀的私校不分上下，但又不用缴纳私校高昂的学费。进入文法学校需要经过严苛的考试。这些考试在11岁（小学六年级）进行，所以也称“11+考试”。如果不参加考试或是落选，就直接按学区就近入学读普通高中。要进入文法学校，要么之前接受过英国的私校教育，要么请家教。

文法学校的历史

上世纪五六十年代开始，英国工党及宣扬平等主义的教育家们发现文法学校里面的学生大都来自中产阶级家庭，而普通高中学生则大都来自工人阶级和低收入家庭，认为文法学校加剧了阶级分化和中产阶级的特权，不利于社会的公平，所以开始反对文法学校。1965年，英国政府宣布开始建立新的综合学校以逐步取代原有的文法学校；自1970年代以来，综合中学逐渐成为英国中学的主流，文法中学的数量和招生数量逐步下降；70年代末，执政的保守党试图为文法学校“平反”未果；到1998年，时任首相工党党魁布莱尔宣布禁止开办新的文法学校。

现在，英国的普通中学在英格兰有3000所，但文法学校只有164所，其中69所在北爱尔兰地区。如果不是有一些地方政府在1965年后抵制住了来自中央政府的压力，仅存的这164所可能也早进入历史教科书了。

文法学校完胜贵族公学

每年英国教育部都会统计每所中学的高考成绩，并在报纸上发布学校排行榜。令人大跌眼镜的是，长期以来，英国排名前十的学校里，绝大部分都是文法学校而非贵族公学。根据去年的排名，前10名里有7所公立学校、3所私立学校，而这7所公立学校中就有6所是文法学校。

英国文法学校的主要历史特征

1. 古典性

文法学校主要培养具有广博知识、能言善辩的政治家、雄辩家等社会上层的官员和教会主持，所以文法学校自开设之日起，就以教授古典语言、修辞、文法作为教育的最高宗旨和根本目标。古典主义传统在鉴定了文法学校较高的历史地位和学术价值上功不可没，但其轻视实科，背离时代需要且严重阻碍社会经济的发展，也决定了从古典性、学术性向世俗性、科学性靠拢是文法学校的最终发展道路。

2. 宗教性

基督教会从事教育是英国教育史的一个显著特点。在传教士看来，宗教和教育是密不可分的，属于教会的职责。在过去近1000年的时间，教会一直对教育控制着，直到1870年，这种势力才逐渐减弱。即使如此，在1988年教育改革法“国家课程”中，仍然把宗教作为必修课之一，足可见宗教对英国社会和教育影响之深刻印记。教会对教育的热心，在不同时期不同程度，客观上促进了教育的发展，但宗教权威至上、禁欲主义的教育目的，不仅阻碍了教育的世俗化，也成为国家兴办公立学校的保守力量。

3. 贵族性

捐办是文法学校的主要办学特色。在以教会、寺院、个人或团体捐款为主的文法学校，初创目的是培养当时使用拉丁语为职业所需的英才学生，在选拔时向社会所有阶级开放。但随着文法学校教育质量的提高，教育经费不断上升，文法学校逐渐被贵族和中上阶层所占有，走上了精英教育之路。资产阶级取得政权后，文法学校的培养对象从原来的贵族、僧侣子弟逐渐扩大到大工业家、大商人、乡绅等阶层子弟，而下层阶级的入学机会几乎完全被剥夺。

4. 纪律性

纪律性表现在文法学校的教学与管理方法上。中世纪的文法学校的许多特点持续保留到近代初期。如文法学校一般招收12~16岁的学生，一间教室，一个老师，每天上课时间很长，可能是10小时以上，每周学习6天，采用体罚。作为英国上层社会流行的拉丁语，其文法规则繁缛复杂，一直以教师讲述为主，学生记录、背诵，课业负担很重。教师教学严厉，体罚盛行。文艺复兴后，英国乃至欧洲多位哲学家对其暴力性的教育方法不断抨击，这种近乎斯巴达式的教育方式才有所改观。直到20世纪以后，社会对儿童心理有较深刻认识后开始有所改革，学生在学习中的主体性地位逐渐受到重视。事实上，这种严厉的教育方法和手段，在一定程度上对促进学生掌握深奥、系统的知识确有收效，但如果使用不当会引起反效果，学生的内心会留下阴影。

3. 原文及译文