一起翻译《Beyond Feelings》--引言部分

说明:因为之前的这篇文章,部分单词合到一起,影响阅读,对大家造成不必要的困扰,现在更正重发,希望求得谅解。

一起翻译一本书,公众号“追随己心”将带领大家一起翻译《Beyond Feelings: A Guide to Critical Thinking》,将学习了多年的英语真正用起来,体会原版书籍和英文的美。

Introduction

引言

Feelingsis designed to introduce you to the subject of critical thinking. The subject may be new to you because it has not been emphasized in most elementary and secondary schools. In fact, until fairly recently, most colleges gave it little attention. For the past four decades, the dominant emphasis has been on subjectivity rather than objectivity, on feeling rather than on thought.

《超越感觉》这本书是为了向你介绍批判性思维而撰写的。这一主题对于你来说也许是崭新的,因为在大部分的小学和中学里没有被强调过。事实上,直到最近,大部分大学也几乎没有关注这一科目。在过去的四十年里,我们主要强调的是主观性而非客观性,是感觉而非思考。

Dominant英[ˈdɒmɪnənt]美[ˈdɒmɪnənt]adj.占优势的;统治的,支配的; [生]显性的;高耸的;n.[生]显性性状,显性基因;优势物种; [乐]全阶第五音;主因,要素;

Over the past several decades, however, a number of studies of America’s schools have criticized the neglect of critical thinking, and a growing number of educators and leaders in business, industry,and the professions have urged the development of new courses and teaching materials to overcome that neglect.

但是,过去的几十年,许多美国学校的研究报告中批判了这种对理性思考的忽视,越来越多的教育者和工商业界的领导者以及职业人士,竭力请求开发新的课程和教材,以弥补这种忽视。

It is no exaggeration to say that critical thinking is one of the most important subjects you will study in college regardless of your academic major. The quality of your schoolwork, your efforts in your career, your contributions to community life, your conduct of personal affairs—all will depend on your ability to solve problems and make decisions.

毫不夸张的说,在大学里不管你的专业是什么,批判性思维都将是你应该学习的最重要的课程之一。你功课的质量,职业生涯的表现,对社区生活的贡献,个人事务的处理,所有这些都取决于你解决问题和做决定的能力。

The book has three main sections. The first, “The Context,” will help you understand such important concepts asindividuality,critical thinking, truth, knowledge, opinion, evidence, andargumentand overcome attitudes and ideas that obstruct critical thinking. The second section,“The Pitfalls,” will teach you to recognize and avoid the most common errors in thinking. The third section, “A Strategy,” will help you acquire the various skills used in addressing problems and issues. This section includes tips on identifying and overcoming your personal intellectual weaknesses as well as techniques for becoming more observant, clarifying issues,conducting inquiries, evaluating evidence, analyzing other people’s views, and making sound judgments.

这本书涵盖三大部分:第一部分是“背景”,它将帮助你理解像个性、批判性思考、真相、知识、观点、论据和论点等重要概念,并且克服那些阻碍批判性思考的态度和观念。第二部分是“易犯的错误”,它将教会你识别和避免在思考中常犯的一些错误。第三部分是“策略”,它将帮助你获得处理问题和事务的技巧。这个部分既包括识别和克服你个人智力上的弱点的窍门,也包括一些更有观察力、澄清问题、进行探究、评估论据、分析其他人的观点并作出正确判断的技巧。

Obstruct英[əbˈstrʌkt]美[əbˈstrʌkt] vt.阻塞;堵塞;阻碍;阻止; vi.阻塞;妨碍;(给…)设置障碍;

Pitfalls英['pɪtfɔ:lz]美['pɪtfɔ:lz]n.(捕猎野兽用的)陷阱( pitfall的名词复数);意想不到的困难,易犯的错误;

Intellectual英[ˌɪntəˈlektʃuəl]美[ˌɪntəˈlektʃuəl] adj.智力的;有才智的;需用智力的;智力发达的;n.知识分子;脑力劳动者;有极高智力的人;凭理智(而非感情)办事的人;

At the end of each chapter, you will find a number of applications to challenge your critical thinking and help you exercise your skills. These applications cover problems and issues both timely and timeless. The final application in each of the first thirteen chapters invites you to examine an especially important issue about which informed opinion is divided.

在每个章节的结尾,会有一定数量的练习,用以激发你的批判性思考并帮助你训练自身的技巧。这些练习包含的问题和议题,有些是当下的、有些是永恒的。前十三章最后的练习部分要求你检查一个特别重要的议题,在此议题上那些有见识的意见发生了分歧。

Students sometimes get the idea that a textbook must be read page by page and that reading ahead violates some unwritten rule. This notion is mistaken. Students’ background knowledge varies widely; what one student knows very well, another knows only vaguely and a third is totally unfamiliar with. Any time you need or want to look ahead to an explanation in a later chapter, by all means do so. Let’s say you make a statement and a friend says, “That’s relativism, pure and simple.”If you aren’t sure exactly what she means, go to the index, look up“relativism,” proceed to the appropriate page, and find out.

有时,一些学生认为一本教科书应该逐页阅读,超前阅读会违反一些不成文的规则。这种观念是错误的。学生的背景知识各不相同,对一个课题,一个学生了然于心,另一个学生可能模糊不清,而第三个学生可能完全一无所知。所以无论什么时候,你需要或者想提前查阅后面章节的解释,你都可以径直地做。假设你提出了一个陈述,而你的朋友说:“那是不折不扣的相对主义。”如果你不确定她的准确含义,那就去翻书的索引,查找“相对主义”,找到出现该词条的页码,把它弄明白。

Relativism英[ˈrelətɪvɪzəm]美[ˈrelətɪvɪzəm]n.相对论,相对主义;

Looking ahead is especially prudent in the case of concepts and procedures relevant to the end-of-chapter applications. One such concept is plagiarism. If you are not completely clear on what constitutes plagiarism, why it is unacceptable,and how to avoid it, take a few minutes right now to learn. Look for the section “Avoiding Plagiarism” toward the end of the Chapter 2. Similarly, if you are not as skilled as you would like to be doing library or Internet research, it would be a good idea to read Chapter 17 now. Doing so could save you a great deal of time and effort completing homework assignments.

当出现的概念和流程与文章末尾的练习相关时,提前阅读是特别明智的。“剽窃”就是这样一个概念。如果你还不完全清楚什么构成了剽窃,为什么它是不可接受的,如何去避免,现在就花几分钟去了解,找到第二章节末尾的“避免剽窃”这部分。同样,在利用图书馆或者因特网检索方面,如果你未能如自己期望的那般熟练,那么现在就去阅读第十七章,会是一个好主意。这样做可以节省你很多时间和精力完成课外作业。

Prudent英[ˈpru:dnt]美[ˈpru:dnt] adj.小心的,慎重的;精明的,节俭的;顾虑周到的,稳健的;世故的,精明的;

Plagiarism英[ˈpleɪdʒərɪzəm]美[ˈpleɪdʒərɪzəm] n.剽窃;抄袭;剽窃物;抄袭物;

记:一路学习过来,原来发现自己算不上一个会思考的人,很多时候人云亦云,却忽略了心底属于自己的声音;可能有些人一辈子都活的很痛苦,也没有勇气活出真正的自我,一直在俗世和旁人的眼光里苟且,究其原因只是没有养成独立思考的习惯,思考质量不佳,没有从所有的声音中剥离出真正的自我,也就认不清自己,更无从追随自我。你看,养成批判性思考,是最需要学习的技能,没有之一。

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