1、2007年6月一、Ive been writing for most of my life. 我一辈子大部分时间都在从事写作。The book Writing Without Teachers introduced me to one distinction and one practice that has helped my writing processes tremendously. 写作无师自通这本书想我介绍了一种区别和一种练习。帮助我大大提高了写作水平。The distinction is between the creative mind and the critical min
2、d. 区别是关于创造性思维和评判性思维之间的区别。While you need to employ both to get to a finished result, they cannot work in parallel no matter how much we might like to think so.你需要做的是运用两者帮助你得到一个结果，但是他们不能同时起作用，无论我们多么想要这样做。Trying to criticize writing on the fly is possibly the single greatest barrier to writing that mos
3、t of us encounter.试图匆忙地批判写作内容可能是我们大多数人在写作时遇到的最大障碍。If you are listening to that 5th grade English teacher correct your grammar while you are trying to capture a fleeting （稍纵即逝的） thought, the thought will die. 如果你按照五年级英语老师教你的，在努力抓紧稍纵即逝的想法的同时纠正你的语法，这个想法肯定会消失。If you capture the fleeting thought and simp
4、ly share it with the world in raw form, no one is likely to understand. 如果你抓住了稍纵即逝的想法，但仅以其原始的形式和世界分享，或许没有人能够理解。You must learn to create first and then criticize if you want to make writing the tool for thinking that it is.如果你想要把写作作为思考的工具，必须学会首先创造，然后批判。The practice that can help you past your learned
5、 bad habits of trying to edit as you write is what Elbow calls “free writing.”练习是指 ELbow 所说的“自由写作”，它可以帮助你改正边写边改的话习惯。In free writing, the objective is to get words down on paper non-stop, usually for 15-20 minutes. 在自由写作中，我们的目标是在15-20分钟的时间内不间断写作。No stopping, no going back, no criticizing. 不停顿，不回头，不作批
6、判。The goal is to get the words flowing. 这样做的目的是使文字流畅起来。As the words begin to flow, the ideas will come from the shadows and let themselves be captured on your notepad or your screen.当语言开始流畅，想法就会从阴暗处涌现出来，呈现在你的笔记本或者电脑屏幕上。Now you have raw materials that you can begin to work with using the critical min
7、d that youve persuaded to sit on the side and watch quietly. 现在，你有进行评判性思维的原材料了，建议你坐下静静地查看文稿。Most likely, you will believe that this will take more time than you actually have and you will end up staring blankly at the pages as the deadline draws near.通常，你会认为这个环节所需的时间比你实际需要的时间要长，并且直到最后一刻，你还盯着文稿，头脑一片空
8、白。Instead of staring at a blank start filling it with words no matter how bad. 不要盯着空白的屏幕，无论多么糟糕，都开始写下去。Halfway through you available time, stop and rework your raw writing into something closer to finished product.写作时间进行到一半时，停下来整理你的初稿，让它更接近终稿。Move back and forth until you run out of time and the fin
9、al result will most likely be far better than your current practices.不断前后重复，直到时间用尽。这样，你所得到的终稿会比你用现在在练习中写的文稿要好得多。二、I dont ever want to talk about being a woman scientist again. 我不想再谈关于作为一位女性科学家的问题了。There was a time in my life when people asked constantly for stories about what its like to work in a f
10、ield dominated by men.有一段时间，人们不断地问我在男性主导的领域中工作的故事。I was never very good at telling those stories because truthfully I never found them interesting. 我不擅长将这些故事，因为实际上我并不觉得它们有趣。What I do find interesting is the origin of the universe, the shape of space-time and the nature of black holes.我真正感兴趣的是宇宙的起源，时
11、空的形状和黑洞的本质。At 19, when I began studying astrophysics, it did not bother me in the least to be the only woman in the classroom.在19岁的时候，我开始学习天体物理学，作为班上唯一的女性，我一点也不觉得苦恼。But while earning my Ph.D. at MIT and then as a post-doctor doing space research, the issue started to bother me. 但是当我在麻省理工学院攻读博士学位和之后作
12、为博士后进行太空研究时，这一点开始让我觉得苦恼。My every achievementjobs, research papers, awardswas viewed through the lens of gender (性别) politics.So were my failures.我的每一项成就-工作，研究论文，奖项 -都被人们从性别政治的角度进行审视。我的失败也一样。 Sometimes, when I was pushed into an argument on left brain versus (相对于) right brain, or nature versus nurtur
13、e (培育), I would instantly fight fiercely on my behalf and all womankind.有时候，当我陷入左脑和右脑，天赋与培育的争论中时，我会立刻为我自己和所有的妇女进行激烈的抗辩。Then one day a few years ago, out of my mouth came a sentence that would eventually become my reply to any and all provocations: I dont talk about that anymore.然后再很多年以后的一天，我口中冒出一句最终
14、成为我对所有挑衅的回答：“我不再讨论这个问题了 ”It took me 10 years to get back the confidence I had at 19 and to realize that I didnt want to deal with gender issues. 我花了十年的时间重获19岁时的自信，让自己认识到我不再想要处理性别的问题。Why should curing sexism be yet another terrible burden on every female scientist? 为何性别歧视要成为每位女性科学家的另一个可怕的负担？After all
15、, I dont study sociology or political theory.毕竟，我不是社会学或政治理论的研究者。Today I research and teach at Barnard, a womens college in New York City. 现在，我在 Barnard-纽约的一所女子学院进行研究和授课。Recently, someone asked me how may of the 45 students in my class were women.最近，有人问我班上的45个学生中有多少是女性。You cannot imagine my satisfact
16、ion at being able to answer, 45. 你很难想象我在回答时的满足感：45。I know some of my students worry how they will manage their scientific research and a desire for children.And I dont dismiss those concerns. 我知道有些学生会担心如何处理科学俺就和生儿育女之间的矛盾，我不会不理会这些担心。Still, I dont tell them “war” stories. Instead, I have given them th
17、is: the visual of their physics professor heavily pregnant doing physics experiments.但是，我也不会跟她们讲述“战争” 的故事，相反，我会告诉他们：他们的物理教授身怀六甲仍然坚持做物理实验的景象。And in turn they have given me the image of 45 women driven by a love of science. And thats a sight worth talking about.作为回报，他们给我我45个热爱科学的女性的形象。这才是值得谈论的景象。2007年
18、12月一、By almost any measure, there is a boom in Internet-based instruction. 无论如何，网络教学已经十分流行。In just a few years, 34 percent of American universities have begun offering some form of distance learning (DL), and among the larger schools, its closer to 90 percent. 近几年来，有34%的美国大学开始提供不同形式的远程教学，而在较大的大学里，这个
19、数字已经接近90%。If you doubt the popularity of the trend, you probably havent heard of the University of Phoenix. 如果你对这与潮流表示质疑，那么或许你还没有听过凤凰城大学。It grants degrees entirely on the basis of online instruction. It enrolls 90,000 students, a statistic used to support its claim to be the largest private universi
20、ty in the country.这所大学的学位都是通过网络教学授予的，目前学生总数为9万人，该数字使之号称是美国最大的私立学校。While the kinds of instruction offered in these programs will differ, DL usually signifies a course in which the instructors post syllabi (课程大纲), reading assignments, and schedules on Websites, and students send in their assignments b
21、y e-mail.尽管这些课程的具体教学内容不尽相同，但远程教学通常意味着老师会在网站上公布教程大纲，阅读作业和进度安排，而学生通过电子邮件交作业。Generally speaking, face-to-face communication with an instructor is minimized or eliminated altogether.一般而言，师生间面对面交流会很少，甚至没有。The attraction for students might at first seem obvious. 起初，这种教学形式对学生的吸引是显而易见的。Primarily, theres the
22、 convenience promised by courses on the Net: you can do the work, as they say, in your pajamas (睡衣). 主要是网络课堂很便利，正如其宣传的一般，学生可以穿着睡衣来上学。But figures indicate that the reduced effort results in a reduced commitment to the course. 然而数据表明，课堂参与的减少导致学生学习不是很努力。While dropout rates for all freshmen at American
23、universities is around 20 percent, the rate for online students is 35 percent. 美国大学本科新生的退学率约为20%，而对于参加网络教学的学生而言，这个数字达到了35%。Students themselves seem to understand the weaknesses inherent in the setup.学生本身也明白这个机制的不足之处。对In a survey conducted for eCornell, the DL division of Cornell University, less tha
24、n a third of the respondents expected the quality of the online course to be as good as the classroom course.康奈尔大学远程教学部的调查结果显示，只有不到三分之一的受访者热认为网络课程的质量和传统课堂一样。Clearly, from the schools perspective, theres a lot of money to be saved.无疑，从学校的角度，网络教学能节约大量金钱。Although some of the more ambitious programs req
25、uire new investments in severs and networks to support collaborative software, most DL courses can run on existing or minimally upgraded(升级) systems. 尽管部分更艰巨的项目需要新资金的注入来构建服务器的网络以支持协作软件。其余大多数的网络课程都可在现有或略微提升的系统上得以实现。The more students who enroll in a course but dont come to campus, the more the schools
26、 saves on keeping the lights on in the classrooms, paying doorkeepers, and maintaining parking lots.网络教学招生越多，学校节约的成本就越多：因为学院不来学校，学校的灯无需开着，不必雇佣门卫，停车场也不用维修。And, while theres evidence that instructors must work harder to run a DL course for a variety of reasons, they wont be paid any more, and might we
27、ll be paid less.同时，有证据显示对于远程教育的导师来说，诸多原因使得他们必须更加努力地授课；也许他们的薪酬不会增加，还有可能减少。二、In this age of Internet chat, videogames and reality television, there is no shortage of mindless activities to keep a child occupied. 在这个充斥着网聊，电子游戏与真人秀的时代，并不缺乏让小孩子沉迷的玩物。Yet, despite the competition, my 8-year-old daughter Re
28、becca wants to spend her leisure time writing short stories. 尽管有着这些诱惑，我8岁的女儿 Rebecca，却希望花时间写写小故事。She wants to enter one of her stories into a writing contest, a competition she won last year.她打算将其中一个作品拿去比赛- 一个去年她获胜的比赛。As a writer I know about winning contests, and about losing them. 作为一名作家，我十分了解写作比赛
29、中赢和输意味着什么。I know what it is like to work hard on a story to receive a rejection slip from the publisher. 我知道，当辛辛苦苦写完一个故事却遭到出版社的拒绝是一种什么样的心情；I also know the pressures of trying to live up to a reputation created by previous victories.我也知道，要维护从前的成功所带来的声望需要承受多么大的压力。What if she doesnt win the contest aga
30、in? 加入女儿这次赢不了比赛会怎么样呢？Thats the strange thing about being a parent. So many of our own past scars and dashed hopes can surface.作为父母，这是无比奇怪的事情。我们以往的很多伤痕和破碎的梦想会慢慢浮现出来。A revelation (启示) came last week when I asked her, “Dont you want to win again?” “No,” she replied, “I just want to tell the story of an
31、 angel going to first grade.”知道上星期，我得到了启示。我问她：“你想再赢一次吗？”“不”女儿回答，“我只想告诉大家一个天使上一年级的故事”I had just spent weeks correcting her stories as she spontaneously (自发地) told them.我其实已经花了好几个星期在女儿不自觉地讲述时修正她的故事。Telling myself that I was merely an experienced writer guiding the young writer across the hall.我告诉自己，这无
32、非是一个有经验的作家在引导一个新作家而已。I offered suggestions first grade was quickly “guided” by me into the tale of a little girl with a wild imagination taking her first music lesson. 我给了她不少建议，关于角色，冲突以及故事的结局，在我的“指引” 下，这个原本讲小天使担惊受怕地开始念一年级的故事，很快变成了一个充满丰富想象力的女孩开始第一节音乐课的历程。I had turned her contest into my contest witho
33、ut even realizing it.在我不经意时，我已经把她的比当成了自己的比赛。Staying back and giving kids space to grow is not as easy as it looks.放手给孩子空间成长不想看起来那么简单。Because I know little about farm animals who use tools or angels who go to first grade. 因为我对能用工具的农场动物，或者一年级的小天使一无所知。I had to accept the fact that I was co-opting (借用)
34、my daughters experience.我不得不承认我借用了女儿的经历。While steeping back was difficult for me, it was certainly a good first step that I will quickly follow with more steps, putting myself far enough away to give her room but close enough to help if asked. 尽管对于我来说放手不容易，但可喜的是，这回是一个好的开端，我很快可以学会更多，给自己一段合适的距离，既可以让女儿有发展的空间，同时在她需要时施以援手。All the while I will be reminding myself that children need room to experiment , grow and find their own voices.在这个过程中，我会一直提醒自己，孩子需要空间去尝试，去找到属于自己的路。
