校園笑話：10、 Failing the math test 數(shù)學(xué)考試不及格

10. Failing the math test

A little boy was failing math. His parents tried everything, but to no avail. Finally, they decided to enroll1 him in a private Catholic school. After the first day, they were surprised when he walked in after school with a stern, focused and very determined expression on his face. He went straight right to his room and closed the door. For nearly two hours he toiled away in his room with math books strewn2 about his desk and the surrounding floor. He emerged3 long enough to eat, and after quickly cleaning his plate, went back to his room, closed the door and worked feverishly at studies until bedtime.

This behavior continued until the end of the first term. The boy walked in with his term report. His mother amazingly saw a large red ‘A' under the subject of math. Overjoyed, she and her husband rushed into their son's room, thrilled at his remarkable progress.

Was it the nuns that did it? the father asked. "No."

Was it the one-to-one tutoring? "No."

The textbooks? The teachers? The curriculum? "No," said the son. "On that first day, when I walked in the front door and saw that guy nailed4 to the plus sign, I KNEW they meant business!"

Notes:

1.enroll 注冊(cè)報(bào)名，錄取

2. strewn 散落

3. emerge 出現(xiàn)

4. nail 釘住，釘在……上

數(shù)學(xué)考試不及格

一個(gè)小男孩數(shù)學(xué)總是不及格。父母想盡了一切辦法都沒(méi)什么用。最后，他們決定讓兒子去一個(gè)私立的天主教學(xué)校上學(xué)。第一天放學(xué)后，男孩的父母驚訝地發(fā)現(xiàn)他帶著一臉堅(jiān)決、專注的表情走進(jìn)家門，直接走進(jìn)自己的房間并關(guān)上了房門。整整兩個(gè)小時(shí)他都在自己房間用功，桌子上和周圍地板上堆滿了數(shù)學(xué)書(shū)。吃飯時(shí)他磨蹭了很久才出來(lái)，很快地吃完盤中餐，直接回到房間關(guān)上門，狂熱地一直學(xué)習(xí)到睡覺(jué)時(shí)間。

這一舉動(dòng)一直持續(xù)到第一學(xué)期末，男孩帶著成績(jī)報(bào)告單走進(jìn)家門，母親驚喜地發(fā)現(xiàn)他的數(shù)學(xué)科目下是個(gè)大大的“A”（滿分）。她和丈夫喜出望外地沖進(jìn)孩子的房間，為他的非凡進(jìn)步而興奮不已。

“是修女們的功勞嗎？”父親問(wèn)道。“不是。”

“是一對(duì)一教學(xué)的功勞嗎？”“不是?！?

“是課本？老師？課程安排？”

“不是”，兒子回答，“第一天當(dāng)我走進(jìn)前門發(fā)現(xiàn)那個(gè)釘在十字架上的男人時(shí)，我就知道他們是要來(lái)真的。”

Useful link:

從19世紀(jì)以來(lái)，美國(guó)的天主教學(xué)校就已經(jīng)很盛行。此類學(xué)校的教育指導(dǎo)思想是：教學(xué)，不僅僅是為了考試，而是要重視發(fā)掘出每一個(gè)學(xué)生的潛能，指導(dǎo)學(xué)生實(shí)現(xiàn)人生的成功遠(yuǎn)比明天考試的分?jǐn)?shù)重要。