Peking University Address硕博英语精读阅读课堂练习.doc

Peking University Address Neil L. Rudenstine I come to you in the spirit of friendship and learning. This is my first visit to China, so I am at the beginning of a voyage of discovery—one I have looked forward to for many years. Our universities, as well as our societies, have different cultures and traditions, and much still to learn about one another. At the same time, we hold many things in common. One of them—perhaps the most important—is our belief in the power of education: a belief that all of us, through a devotion to learning, can lead lives of value to the societies in which we live. This brings me to the importance of what we might refer to as “humane” learning. There has been growing pressure, in the United States and elsewhere, to demonstrate the value of university education and research in terms of its direct, tangible economic benefits. It is certainly important that university research contribute to economic well being. And it is certainly important that a university education help students to pursue useful and satisfying work. At the same time, however, there is much more to excellent education than can be measured in dollars or RMB. The best education not only helps us to be more productive in our professions, it also makes us more reflective, more inquiring and insightful, more complete and fulfilled human beings. It helps scientists to appreciate the arts, and artists to appreciate the sciences. It helps us to see connections across different fields of learning that we otherwise might not grasp. It helps us to lead more interesting and valuable lives: as individuals, and as members of our communities. And so, at Harvard we are working exceptionally hard—under complicated conditions—to sustain a tradition of what we call a “liberal education” in the arts and sciences. Our undergraduate students, during their four years in residence, do intensively pursue a major field of study, whether in chemistry, economics, political science, art, or some oth