第二章单元测试
My Advice to Students: Education Counts
Bill Gates
Hundreds of students send e-mail each year asking for advice about education. They want to know what to study, or whether it’s okay to dropout of college since that’s what I did.
A smaller number of parents send messages, seeking guidance for their son or daughter. “How can we steer our child toward success?” they ask.
My basic advice is simple and heartfelt: Get the best education you can. Take advantage of high school and college. Learn how to learn.
It’s true that I dropped out of college to start Microsoft, but I was at Harvard for three years before dropping out –and I’d love to have the time to go back. As I’ve said before, nobody should drop out of college unless they believe they face the opportunity of a lifetime. And even then they should reconsider.
Kathy Gridland, a six-grade teacher in Ohio, wrote to say, “Several of my students claim that you never finished high school. Since you are a success, my students perceive that as a reason not to care much about getting a good education.”
I finished high school!
The computer industry has lots of people who didn’t finish college, but I’m not aware of any success stories that began with somebody dropping out of high school. I actually don’t know any high school dropouts, let alone any successful ones.
In my company’s early years we had a bright part-time programmer who threatened to dropout of high school to work full-time. We told him no.
Quite a few of our people didn’t finish college, but we discourage dropping out. Having a diploma certainly helps somebody who is looking to us for a job.
College isn’t the only place where information exists. You can learn in a library. But somebody handing you a book doesn’t automatically foster learning. You want to learn with other people, asking questions, try out ideas and have a way to test your ability. It usually takes more than just a book.
Education should be broad, although it’s fine to have a deep interests, too.
In high school there were periods when I was highly focused on writing software, but for most of my high school years I has wide-ranging academic interests. My parents encouraged this, and I’m grateful that they did.
Although I attended a lot of different kinds of classes in college, I sighed up for only one computer class the whole time. I read about all kinds of things.
One parent wrote me that her 15-year-old son “lost himself in the hole of computer.” He got an A in website design, but other grades were sinking, she said.
This boy is making a mistake. High school and college offer you the best chance to learn broadly –math, history, various sciences – and to do projects with other kids that teach you first-hand about group dynamics. It’s fine to take a deep interest in computers, dance, language or any other discipline, but not if it jeopardizes(危及，影响) breadth.
If you fall into an obsessive pattern in high school, you’ve got two problems. One is that you’re unlikely to change when you go to college. The other is that if you don’t get reasonably good grades, it’s hard to go to a college that has the highly motivated, capable students who can really help you learn about the world.
In college it’s appropriate to think about specialization. Getting real expertise in an area of interest can lead to success – unless the specialty ends up being a dead end or you’re not good at. Graduate school is one way to get specialized knowledge, although extended college education isn’t always a good investment from a purely economic standpoint.
In the 1960s, medical researchers Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe developed a checklist of stressful events. They appreciated the tricky point that any major change can be stressful. Bad events like “serious illness of a family member” were high on the list, but so were some helpful life changing events like marriage.
When you take the Holmes Rahe you must remember that the score does not show how you deal with stress -- it only shows how much you have to deal with. And we now know that the way you deal with these events dramatically affects your chances of staying healthy. By the early 1970s, hundreds of similar studies had followed Holmes and Rahe. And millions of Americans who work and live under stress worried over the reports. Somehow the research got boiled down to a memorable message. Women’s magazines ran headlines like “Stress causes illness.” If you want to stay physically and mentally healthy, the articles said, avoid stressful events.
But such simplistic advice is impossible to follow. Even if stressful events are dangerous, many－like the death of loved one－are impossible to avoid．Moreover, any warning to avoid all stressful events is a prescription for staying away from chances as well as trouble. Since any change can be stressful, a person who wanted to be completely free of stress would never marry, have a child, take a new job or move.
The idea that all stress makes you sick also takes no notice of a lot of what we know about people. It supposes we're all vulnerable(脆弱的) and not active in the face of the difficult situation. But what about human ability and creativity? Many come through periods of stress with more physical and mental strength than they had before. We also know that a long time without change or challenge can lead to boredom and physical and mental strain.
答案:Bill Gates' advice to students and parents regarding education: 1. **Basic Advice**: The fundamental piece of advice given by Bill Gates is to strive for the best education possible, utilizing both high school and college opportunities. Emphasizing the importance of learning how to learn. 2. **College Dropout Myth**: Contrary to popular belief, Gates clarifies that he attended Harvard for three years before dropping out to start Microsoft. He advises against dropping out of college unless one is certain they're facing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, suggesting that even then, reevaluation might be wise. 3. **High School vs. College Education**: While he acknowledges the existence of success stories involving individuals who didn't finish college, Gates points out that none of these success stories started with dropping out of high school. He stresses the value of a diploma and encourages students to appreciate the comprehensive learning environment that colleges provide, which goes beyond just classroom instruction. 4. **Broad Education vs. Deep Specialization**: Gates advocates for a broad education during high school and college years, suggesting that students should explore various disciplines while maintaining a deep interest in specific areas. He warns against becoming overly focused on one subject at the expense of breadth, which could limit future educational and career opportunities. 5. **Importance of College Education**: He supports the idea of thinking about specialization in college, as it can lead to success in one's field of interest. However, he also cautions about the potential limitations of prolonged education from an economic standpoint and suggests considering graduate school as one way to achieve specialized knowledge. In summary, Bill Gates' advice centers around the importance of a well-rounded education, the value of learning how to learn, and the judicious approach to specialization versus broad exploration during the formative years of high school and college.
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