教育旨在培養社會需要的各類人才，而非只以考場論英雄。然而，現行教育體制下確實存在考試決定一切的現象，它已造成了太多的負面影響。
Examinations Exert a Negative Influence on Education
Though all the pious claim that examinations test what you know, it is common knowledge that they more often do the exact opposite.① They may be a good means of testing memory, or the knack of working rapidly under extreme pressure, but they can tell you nothing about a person’s true ability and aptitude.
As anxiety makers, examinations are second to none. That is because so much depends on them. They are the mark of success or failure in our society. Your whole future may be decided in one fateful day. The moment a child begins school, he enters a world of sharp competition where success and failure are clearly defined and measured. Can we wonder at the increasing number of drop-outs, young people who are written off as utter failures before they have even begun a career? Can we be surprised at the suicide rate among students?
A good education should, among other things, train you to think for yourself. The examination system does anything but that. What has to be learnt is rigidly laid down by a syllabus, so the student is encouraged to memories.② Examinations do not motivate a student to read widely, but to restrict his reading; they do not enable him to seek more and more knowledge, but induce cramming.③ The most successful candidates are not always the best educated; they are the best trained in the technique of working under pressure.
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行文點評
本文采用總分結構進行論證，第一段，開頭舉出一種反面觀點：考試可以測試掌握知識的程度，然后予以反駁，舉出與此相悖的共識，并加以闡述從而提出作者觀點：考試并不能說明一個人真正的能力和資質。然后下面的兩段分別論述了考試的兩個弊病。第二段主要論證考試作為焦慮癥制造者對于學生身心發展的影響，并結合事實引起讀者共鳴。第三段論述考試的第二個弊端，不能訓練人獨立思維的能力反而與之相悖。
本文的論述十分精彩，第二段詳盡的論述將論點表述得淋漓盡致。兩個反問句的連續使用加強了語氣使得論證更有震撼力。第三段中結合實際論述了考試在訓練學生思維方面的欠缺之處，but否定句式更加強了說服力。
好文妙譯
考試對教育的負面影響
盡管有很多人虔誠地宣稱考試可以測出你掌握的知識，卻有這樣一個普遍的共識，即考試所做的往往與之相悖。考試或許是一種測驗記憶力的好方法，或許是測驗在極端壓力下快速工作的訣竅。但是它卻不能說明一個人真正的能力和資質。
考試作為“焦慮癥制造者”是無人能及的。這是因為有那么多事情都有賴于考試。考試在我們的社會中是成功或失敗的標志。在具有決定意義的某一天，你的一生可能就被決定了。一個孩子步入學校大門那一刻起，他便步入了一個殘酷競爭的世界。在那里，成功和失敗都被明白無誤地加以定義和衡量。輟學者的數量日漸增加——那些年輕人甚至還沒有開始從事一種職業便被作為徹底的失敗者而被判出局——對此，我們難道不納悶嗎?我們難道對學生中的自殺率不感到驚詫嗎?
除了其他目的之外，良好的教育應該訓練人獨立思維的能力�？荚噮s根本做不到這一點。學生必須學些什么已由教學大綱生硬地規定了下來的東西，這便鼓勵了學生去死記硬背�？荚嚥坏茨芗ぐl學生去廣泛地閱讀，反而限制了他們的閱讀范圍。它不但未使學生能夠去追求更多的知識，反而誘導了死記硬背。最成功的應試者往往不是受教育最好的人，他們只不過是在應付工作壓力的技巧方面最訓練有素罷了。
詞匯斟酌
exert vt.盡(力),施加(壓力等),努力 v. 發揮,竭盡全力
pious a. 虔誠的, 盡責的
knack n. 訣竅
aptitude n. (尤指學習能力方面的)才能，能力，資質，天資
dropout n. 中途退學，輟學學生
utter a. 全然的，徹底的，絕對的；vt. 發出，作聲
syllabus n. 課程提綱，教學大綱
induce vt. 勸誘，促使，導致
cram v.強行灌輸，死記硬背
佳句臨摹
�、� 【注釋】it is...that…常見的強調句式，加強語氣
【臨摹】It is huge sums of money that ( which ) Western health care system are spending on the surgical treatment of the disease. 西方國家醫療保健機構在心臟病的手術治療上，開支確實是巨大的。
�、凇咀⑨尅縧ay down規定，制定；放下，交出
【臨摹】Lay down the law and tell her you will not stand for this kind of behavior.把話講清楚，告訴她你不會容忍這種行為。
【臨摹】We are never afraid to lay down our lives for the right cause.為了正義的事業我們絕不怕犧牲自己的生命。
③【注釋】not…but…不是…而是…
【臨摹】What we concern is not the result of your exam but your attitude toward your study.我們在乎的并不是考試的結果而是你對學習的態度。
思如泉涌
Education does not mean teaching people to know what they do not know; it means teaching them to behave as they do not behave.教育不在于使人知其所未知，而在于按其所未行而行。
Education has produced a vast population able to read but unable to distinguish what is worth reading.教育造就了一大批人，他們能讀書，但是不能區別什么書值得讀。
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