Unit 11 Letter to a B Student

--Made by: Amanda

Contents:

1.A brief introduction to the author.

2.Background information about the text.

3.Some glossaries of the text.

4.Some extracurricular knowledge.

Who is Robert Oliphant?

?

Robert Oliphant

An American professor, writer,

columnist( 专栏作

家 ) and even executive director( 常务董

事 ).

In 1938, he graduated from Washington and Jefferson College.

Later, he became an English professor at California State University at Northridge, it’s one of the nation’s largest public universities.

Moreover , he was also a visiting professor( 客座教授 ) of English and Linguistics( 语言学 ) at Stanford University where he had studied medieval lexicography( 中世纪词典学 ) and got a Ph.D.( 博士学位 ).

His main works:

A Piano for Mrs. Cimino

“Oscar Wilde’s Earnest: A Chamber Opera for Eight Voices and Chorus.” 

“Keynesian Pedagogy: An orthodoxy in Search of a Dustbin (1986)” ；

“Stalking the Soft Option: Some Notes on Overinflated Grading Standards (1980)” ；

“Toward a Theory of Reading Sequence (1973)” and so on.

If you want to read more his articles, click on the link below...

http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/Home.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=ERICSearchResult&_urlType=action&newSearch=true&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=au&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=%22Oliphant+Robert%22

Background information of the text:

“Letter to a B Student” is an excerpt of a sensitive and thoughtful letter to a student on keeping a sense of perspective on grades. It appeared in Liberal Education in 1986.

The purpose of this article, as the author put forward, is to enlighten B students on keeping an appropriate perspective on grades.

Now, let me show you some glossaries in this

text…

(1)”Gentleman’s C”-----P1L2

A decent( 得体的，正派的 ) grade(in the past). It’s considered that “Gentleman’s C” as an

average grade( 平 均 等 级 ) is seriously behind the times( 过 时 ， 落 伍 ), today’s “average” grade is a “B”. A few years ago, the “Gentleman’s C” prevailed( 流行，盛行 ) in universities.

Gentleman’s agreement n. 君子协定 Gentlemanship n. 绅士的身份、品格

(2)”A zero-sum game”-----P2L3

Zero sum game （ 零 和 游 戏 / 博 弈 ） ： A situation in which if one person gains an advantage form it, someone else involved in it must suffer an equivalent disadvantage.

博弈论的英文名为 game theory ，直译就是“游戏理论”。游戏

者有输有赢，一方所赢正是另一方所输，游戏的总成绩永远是零。“零和游戏”之所以广受关注，主要是因为人们发现，在社会的方方面面都有与“零和游戏”类似的局面，胜利者的光荣后面往往隐藏着失败者的辛酸和苦涩。

Positive sum game 正和游戏 (“ 双赢”或“多赢” )

Negative sum game 负和游戏 ( 没有赢家 )

(3)”The services”-----P6L3

Usually the plural form( 复数形 式 ) “services” is used to refer to the three armed forced, i.e. the army, the navy, and the air force.

(4)”GI-Bill students”-----P7L3

GI (pl. GIs or GI‘s) is an American soldier , especially an enlisted one( 现 役 军 人 ). GI-Bill or the GI-Bill of Rights is the popular name for the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, which provided US World War II veterans with special assistance.

1944 年 ， 《 退 伍 军 人 权 利 法 案 》 (Servicemen’s Readjustment Act ，或 GI Bill“ 大兵法案” ) 出台。根据这一法案，政府资助二次大战的退伍军人接受大学教育，旨在帮助退伍军人更好地适应平民生活。此外，政府还为退伍军人提供医疗 ,卫 生 , 住 房 等 方 面 的 优 惠 政 策 。 这 些 军 人 学 生 就 称 为 GI-Bill students 。

At last, I want to share some extracurricular knowledge with you .

(1)How to Calculate Grades

Grade Description 4-point Equivalent

100-point

A Superior 4.0 96-100

A- Superior 3.7 90-95

B+ Good 3.3 87-89

B Good 3.0 83-86

B- Good 2.7 80-82

Grade Description 4-point Equivalent

100-point

C+ Satisfactory 2.3 77-79

C Satisfactory 2.0 73-76

C- Satisfactory 1.7 70-72

D Poor 1.0 65-69

F Failure 0.0 0-64

(2)Military Rank( 军衔 ) in the Army

General 上将

Lieutenant/Major/ Brigadier general 中将、少将、准将

Colonel 上校 Lieutenant colonel 中校 Major 少校

Captain 上尉 A 1st lieutenant 中尉 A 2nd lieutenant 少尉

A 1st sergeant 上士 Sergeant 中士 Corporal 下士 Private 列兵

美军上将军衔一般授予兵种中的最高军事长官。这是美国 美 军 上 将 约 翰 . 克 拉 多 克(John Craddock) 。

(3)Some Words Related to Education

   Educational system  学制 Academic year  学年 Term/ semester  学期 Diploma  文凭 Tuition  学费 University  大学 College  学院 Academy  高等专科院校 Normal school  师范院校 Major  主修课 Minor  辅修课

      Specialized course  专业课 Compulsory course  必修课 Optional course  选修课

Dean of studies  教务处长 Dean of students  教导主任 Department chairman  系主任

Professor  教授 Associate professor  副教授 Guest/Visiting professor  客座教授 Lecturer  讲师

References:

http://sfs.scnu.edu.cn/tblogs/zhanghh/article.asp?id=631

http://www.docin.com/p-13036104.html

http://www.docin.com/p-43954439.html

http://www.educationnews.org/commentaries/21599.html

http://www.eric.ed.gov/ http://www.ioffer.com/i/98311405 http://zhidao.baidu.com/question/7116

223.html http://money.163.com/05/0907/16/1T2FID8J0025http://www.putclub.com/article.php?articleid=761K7B_2.html

Thank you for your appreciation!