问答题 For more than 40 years, a controlling insight in my educational philosophy has been the recognition that no one has ever been -- no one can be -- educated in school or college.
46) That would be the case if our schools and colleges were at their very best, which they certainly are not, and even if the students were among the best and the brightest as well as conscientious in the application of their powers.
The reason is simply that youth itself -- immaturity -- is an unconquerable obstacle to becoming educated. Schooling is for the young. Education comes later, usually much later. 47) The very best thing for our schools to do is to prepare the young for continued learning in later life by giving them the skills of learning and the love of it. Our schools and colleges are not doing that now, but that is what they should be doing.
48) To speak of an educated young person or of a wise young person, rich in the understanding of basic ideas and issues is as much a contradiction in terms as to speak of a round square. The young can be prepared for education in the years to come, but only mature men and women can become educated, beginning the process of their 40s and 50s and reaching some amount of genuine insight, sound judgment and practical wisdom after they have turned 60.
This is what no high school or college graduates know or can understand. As a matter of fact, most of their teachers do not seem to know it. 49) In their obsession with covering ground and in the way in which they test or examine their students, they certainly do not act as if they understood that they were only preparing their students for education in later life rather than trying to complete it within the realms of their institutions.
There is, of course, some truth in the ancient insight that awareness of ignorance is the beginning of wisdom. But, remember, it is just the beginning. From there on one has to do something about it. 50) And to do it intelligently one must know something of its muses and cures -- why adults need education and what, if anything, they can do about it.

【正确答案】假如我们的中小学和大学都处于最佳状态(实际上不可能)，假如学生出类拔萃且聪慧绝顶，而且在运用他们的才能方面又很勤奋，那么情况也许会是那样。

【答案解析】[要点] 这个句子是主从复合句，句架为That would be the case if our schools and colleges．．．，which．．．．and even if．．．．．。主句为That would be the case，其后是由if及even if引导的条件状语从句，前一个从句中，which引导的是非限制定语从句，其先行词是our schools and colleges were at their very best这个句子。词汇方面，at one's best“处于最佳状态”；conscientious“认真(负责)的，勤勤恳恳的”。

【正确答案】我们的学校最应该做的事就是教给孩子们学习的本领，培养他们热爱学习，为他们在以后的生活中不断学习做好准备。这正是我们的学校应做而未做的事情。

【答案解析】[要点] 前一个句子中有两个不定式结构，for our schools to do 作thing的定语；to prepare直到句子结束，是一个完整的不定式短语，作整个句子的表语，在这个不定式短语中，by之后的成分作不定式的方式状语。词汇方面，very“(加强语气)就是，正是”。例如：That's the very thing I've been looking for．(那正是我要找的东西。) prepare for“为…准备”。例如：Working on a part-time basis can prepare them for a future career．(业余打工为大学生将来的职业做好准备。)

【正确答案】说某个受过教育的年轻人或聪明的年轻人对基本概念和问题富于理解力，这种说法就如同说一个圆形是四方的一样不相干。

【答案解析】[要点] 这个句子的句架是To speak of…，is as much a contradiction in terms as to speak of…，是一个同级比较。在前后两个部分中都用了“to speak of sb./ sth. +形容词…”的结构，其中的形容词部分用作宾语的补足语。词汇方面，in terms “明确地，毫不含糊地”。round在这里用作名词，意为“圆形”。由于square也可用作名词，此处极易出错。根据上下文的结构，square在这里应为形容词，作round的补足语。

【正确答案】老师们埋头教书，沉迷于测试学生的方式方法，他们这样做的确不像是明白他们只是为学生今后的继续教育做好准备，而不是努力在校园内就完成对学生的教育。

【答案解析】[要点] 这个句子的句架是In…and in．．．，they certainly do not act as if they understood…。主句为they certainly do not act，as if引导的是方式状语从句，在从句中that引导的从句作understood的宾语。词汇方面，obsession n．“执意；着迷，困扰”。例如：the Western obsession with dieting(西方对节食减肥的着迷)。Rather than“与其…不如…，不是…(而是)”。例如：He is writer than a teacher．(与其说他是教师，不如说他是作家。)
realm “领域；范畴”。例如：the realm of science(科学领域)。

【正确答案】要明智地做到这件事(指认识无知)，一个人必须对无知的原因及其对策有所了解——了解成年人为什么需要教育，进而看看他们对此还能做些什么努力。

【答案解析】[要点] 这个句子比较简单。本句开头的不定式短语用作目的状语，主句为one must know something of its causes and cures，破折号之后的内容补充说明causes and cures。if anything“如果有什么别的话”，在句中是插入语，起条件状语的作用。