托福英语写作范文.docxVIP

托福英语写作范文

ModernAmericanUniversities

?Beforethe1850’s,theUnitedStateshadanumberofsmallcolleges,

mostofthemdatingfromcolonialdays.Theyweresmall,churchconnected

institutionswhoseprimaryconcernwastoshapethemoralcharacteroftheir

students.

?ThroughoutEurope,institutionsofhigherlearninghaddeveloped,

bearingtheancientnameofuniversity.InGermanuniversitywasconcerned

primarilywithcreatingandspreadingknowledge,notmorals.Betweenmid-

centuryandtheendofthe1800’s,morethanninethousandyoung

Americans,dissatisfiedwiththeirtrainingathome,wenttoGermanyfor

advancedstudy.Someofthemreturntobecomepresidentsofvenerable

colleges-----Harvard,Yale,Columbia---andtransformthemintomodern

universities.Thenewpresidentsbrokealltieswiththechurchesandbrought

inanewkindoffaculty.Professorswerehiredfortheirknowledgeofa

subject,notbecausetheywereoftheproperfaithandhadastrongarmfor

discipliningstudents.Thenewprinciplewasthatauniversitywastocreate

knowledgeaswellaspassiton,andthiscalledforafacultycomposedof

teacher-scholars.DrillingandlearningbyrotewerereplacedbytheGerman

methodoflecturing,inwhichtheprofessor’sownresearchwaspresentedin

class.GraduatetrainingleadingtothePh.D.,anancientGermandegree

signifyingthehighestlevelofadvancedscholarlyattainment,was

introduced.Withtheestablishmentoftheseminarsystem,graduatestudent

learnedtoquestion,analyze,andconducttheirownresearch.

?Atthesametime,thenewuniversitygreatlyexpandedinsizeand

courseofferings,breakingcompletelyoutoftheold,constrictedcurriculum

ofmathematics,classics,rhetoric,andmusic.ThepresidentofHarvard

pioneeredtheelectivesystem,bywhichstudentswereabletochoosetheir

owncourseofstudy.Thenotionofmajorfieldsofstudyemerged.Thenew

goalwastomaketheuniversityrelevanttotherealpurs