2007年3月2日 星期五

買了蒙田隨筆全集

過年前後整理房間,找到了二年前買的商務印書館禮卷二張,裡頭大概還剩4~500元,趁著今天下午錄影帶課程上完有點空閒,跑了一躺商務,看找不找得到機會用掉。
商務歷年來,在2~3月,也就是過年前後,都會有些風漬書出清。這些風漬書一般而言品相都還過得去,價位比之架上的書籍,少說也能打到5折左右,算是不錯的選擇。且這個時段,也正逢商務的週年慶,一般新書也有75折,很適合愛書的人去找些有的沒的。

拉回原題,總之到商務之後,找了幾本不錯的風漬書,正計算總價時,眼前出現了一本「蒙田隨筆全集下卷」,正好前面半年,中了Eric Hoffer的毒,正想看看Eric Hoffer那精闢的觀察力是從何而來,當下便把手上其他書放下,開始看看能不能順便撈到其他卷,把整套湊齊了,回去好好觀摩一下。
世事總不能盡如人意,找了一陣,風漬書那一區再也撈不出別的卷數,只好摸摸鼻子,到另一側架上拿了上,中兩卷。自行計算了一下,也不夠餘錢再拿別的書了,便到櫃台結帳,走人。

到結帳的時候,倒是有些趣事,因為二年前買禮卷時,門市的小姐推銷時有提過,使用商務的禮卷,就算在打折期間,也可以再加算折扣上去。可今天到了櫃台亮出禮卷後,服務人員卻說:因為今年的折扣是75折,禮卷的優惠只能加算在8折以上時。聽到這話,我立時楞了一下,接著笑了笑,提出質疑:之前好像不是這樣吧?接著便是服務人員忙著解釋說,因為公司的政策改了之類的...
接下來呢,照一般的情況,通常是會兩方爭執一陣,然後可能就有一方跑到網路上開始抱怨一些澳客,黑店之類的...然後又是萬丈高樓平地起,一堆有關無關的人在旁邊搧風點火兼閒話家常。不過如果事情是這樣就沒什麼好提的了,令我相當訝異的是,當我提出「兩年前我買禮卷時,你們並沒有跟我講八折的限制。」旁邊一位小姐,立刻很客氣的同意把禮卷的折扣加上去,並向我為商務政策的改變道歉。實在的說,我原本只是覺得這樣片面改變條款,做法上不是很好,所以提出來,並沒有想到要爭取折扣,沒想到商務方面,居然那麼周到,確實讓我對商務的印象又更好了。
(好店家要多支持,也請大家多去商務逛逛,多多充實自己^^)

結帳之後,帶著三本蒙田,跑到了台大的圖書館,唸了一下GRE單字後,便拿起上卷稍微看了一下。初步的印象是...這書的結構及文筆還真鬆散!!思緒似乎飄來飄去的,很難掌握,比起來Hoffer的書結構還算是嚴謹的了(雖然Hoffer自己不這麼認為)。不過書中大量的引用其他文人/哲人的話語,以及一些近代(對蒙田而言)的史事的寫法,倒是能看出Hoffer所受影響的由來。
總而言之,言而總之,再怎麼說,不把整本看完,大概也不會了解這本書為何能風行400多年,影響後世那麼多人。還是努力點,多搾點時間看完後再說吧!

2007年2月26日 星期一

GRE ISSUE 分類整理初步

———————————————
研究範疇的爭議
ISSUE 1
"Money spent on research is almost always a good investment, even when the results of that research are controversial."
即使研究的成果具有爭議性,花在研究上的金錢大抵上都是良好的投資。

ISSUE 10
"Scholars and researchers should not be concerned with whether their work makes a contribution to the larger society. It is more important that they pursue their individual interests, however unusual or idiosyncratic those interests may seem."
學者與研究者不需關心他們的研究對於廣大社會是否有所助益。追求他們個人的興趣更為重要,即便這些興趣看來多麼不尋常或與眾不同。

ISSUE 14
"Government should not fund any scientific research whose consequences, either medical or ethical, are unclear."
政府不應贊助任何在醫學或道德上其所導致之後果不明確的研究。


———————————————
大專院校與現實社會的差距
ISSUE 2
"A school or college should pay its teachers at the same rate in all disciplines, regardless of differences in salaries for related fields in the world outside of school. For example, entry-level teachers in mathematics and in the arts should receive the same pay, even if outside of school, math specialists earn a much higher salary on average than do specialists in the arts."
各級學校應給予不同科目的教師同樣的薪水,不論學校以外的各相關領域是否在薪資上有所差異。例如數學與藝術的新進教師應領取同樣的薪資,儘管在學校之外,數學專家平均而言比藝術家賺取更高的薪資。

ISSUE 4
"Instead of requiring students to take courses in a variety of disciplines—that is, courses ranging from the arts and the humanities to the physical and biological sciences—colleges and universities should allow students to enroll only in those courses that will help prepare them for jobs in their chosen fields. Such concentration is necessary in today's increasingly work-oriented society."
與其要求學生修習各式各樣的課程--其範圍從藝術與人文,到物理與生物科學--大專院校應該只讓學生登記那些在學生所選擇的領域中,對就業有所幫助的課程。在現今愈形重視工作導向的社會中,集中心力[學習某一領域]有其必要。

ISSUE 9
"The intellectual benefits of attending a university or college are vastly overrated: most people could learn more by studying and reading on their own for four years than by pursuing a university or college degree."
就讀大專院校在智力上的益處,受到過高的評價:大多數人花四年時間自修與閱讀所學得的,比追求大專學位所學得的更多。

ISSUE 20
"In order to improve the quality of instruction at the college and university level, all faculty should be required to spend time working outside the academic world in professions relevant to the courses they teach."
為了改進大專院校教學的品質,所有的教職人員應花費一段時間在校園之外的相關領域工作。

ISSUE 22
"Education encourages students to question and criticize, and therefore does little to promote social harmony."
教育鼓勵學生提問與批判,因此對提昇社會的和諧並無太多助益。

———————————————
教育方式的討論
ISSUE 21
"Education will be truly effective only when it is specifically designed to meet the individual needs and interests of each student."
教育只有在針對學生需求及興趣量身訂作的情形下,才能真正產生效果。

ISSUE 22
"Education encourages students to question and criticize, and therefore does little to promote social harmony."
教育鼓勵學生提問與批判,因此對提昇社會的和諧並無太多助益。

ISSUE 23
"College and university education should be free for all students, fully financed by the government."
大專教育應免收所有學生的費用,而讓政府完全負責其經費。

ISSUE 25
"Competition for high grades seriously limits the quality of learning at all levels of education."
對高分的競爭嚴重的限制了各階段教育學習的品質。


———————————————
政府與公務人員相關的議題
ISSUE 13
"To be an effective leader, a public official must maintain the highest ethical and moral standards."
為了成為眾人表率,公職人員應堅守最高的倫理道德標準。

ISSUE 15
"Government officials should rely on their own judgment rather than unquestioningly carrying out the will of the people whom they serve."
比起亳無疑問的去實現所服務的民眾的期望,政府官員更應相信自己的判斷。

ISSUE 26
"Governments should focus more on solving the immediate problems of today rather than trying to solve the anticipated problems of the future."
政府應更專注於解決當下的問題,而非試圖解決未來可能的問題。

———————————————
競爭或是合作,獨立或是群體的選擇
ISSUE 7
"In most societies, competition generally has more of a negative than a positive effect."
在大多數社會中,競爭通常弊多於利。

ISSUE 16
"While some leaders in government, sports, industry, and other areas attribute their success to a well-developed sense of competition, a society can better prepare its young people for leadership by instilling in them a sense of cooperation."
儘管部分政府,體育,工業以及其他領域的領導者將他們的成功歸因於發展良好的競爭,但社會藉由灌輸年輕人合作的觀念,更能夠培養其領導能力。

ISSUE 25
"Competition for high grades seriously limits the quality of learning at all levels of education."
對高分的競爭嚴重的限制了各階段教育學習的品質。

ISSUE 29
"Too much emphasis is placed on role models. Instead of copying others, people should learn to think and act independently and thus make the choices that are best for them."
我們太過於強調行為典範。與其模仿他人,人們更應學習獨立思考與行動,如此才能做出最有利於己的選擇。

———————————————
智力的重要性及相關議題
ISSUE 9
"The intellectual benefits of attending a university or college are vastly overrated: most people could learn more by studying and reading on their own for four years than by pursuing a university or college degree."
就讀大專院校在智力上的益處,受到過高的評價:大多數人花四年時間自修與閱讀所學得的,比追求大專學位所學得的更多。

ISSUE 17
"Society does not place enough emphasis on the intellect—that is, on reasoning and other cognitive skills."
社會對於智能--亦即推理及其他認知技巧--的重視尚有所不足。

ISSUE 25
"Competition for high grades seriously limits the quality of learning at all levels of education."
對高分的競爭嚴重的限制了各階段教育學習的品質。

———————————————
歴史議題
ISSUE 6
"The greatness of individuals can be decided only by those who live after them, not by their contemporaries."
個人的成就只能蓋棺論定,而不能由當代評論。

ISSUE 18
"The study of history places too much emphasis on individuals. The most significant events and trends in history were made possible not by the famous few, but by groups of people whose identities have long been forgotten."
歷史的研究太過強調個人。歴史上最重要的事件與風潮並非由少數知名人士所推動,反而是由長久以來被人所遺忘的大眾所促成。


ISSUE 24
"History teaches us only one thing: knowing about the past cannot help people to make important decisions today."
歴史唯一告訴我們的是:了解過去無益於幫助人們在今日做出重要決定。

———————————————
現代社會與過往的比較
ISSUE 8
"In the age of television, reading books is not as important as it once was. People can learn as much by watching television as they can by reading books."
在電視普及的時代,閱讀書籍不再如過去重要。人們藉由觀看電視所學到的,與閱讀書本不相上下。

ISSUE 28
"The increasingly rapid pace of life today causes more problems than it solves."
今日愈形急促的生活步調,所產生的問題比其解決的多。