我当时在阅读大儿子的短文时曾经有过一个困惑。我们知道作文的不二法则——“show not tell"(请看文尾注释),用中文话说,描述而不要叙述,这与我们说的“为文要曲”其实如出一辙。那么500字的短文里面,怎样才能把一个题目Show(描述)而不Tell(叙述)出来,而又能充分表达了内容和思想呢?我当时觉得,这实在是太难了,几乎找不到平衡点。后来,我问上面提到的这位老师的时候,觉得他说得有一定道理。他说,对于公立学校的申请(一般没有推荐信,只要两篇短文),几乎需要100%的Tell,否则的话,无法传递需要的信息不说,甚至会让评委认为浪费时间。试想,评委要在8分钟内,看到一个全面立体的申请人,他需要的一定是Tell。如果你只是Show的话,他不仅没有那个时间,也没有那个心情去体味你文字下面隐含着的内容。是不是很有道理?他还认为,申请私立大学的时候,Show和Tell的比例,应该是对半分(私立大学一般需要三到四封推荐信,另外还有额外的问题需要申请人单独回答)。这样,就既可以展示“文学文字”水平,又不至于忽略需要“炫耀”的内容。私立学校通常因为录取人数少,所以,评委对材料的阅读相对会更加“认真”,更加“从容”。
与SAT相类似的,美国大学也都认可的另一个考试叫做ACT,原文是“American College Testing”,中文名称为“美国大学入学考试”。与SAT的区别在于,相对而言,SAT1更注重基础“能力”的测试,而ACT,则更关注基础“知识”的测试。满分36分,据说一般34分以上,都是满分成绩。美国大学一般要求学生提供二者其一就行,有些学校也有特别的规定,只要其中一种,这需要关注各大学的招生须知。
I sat there, allowing the plethora of information to permeate through my cranium while actively reducing the porosity of my mind. The third episode of Planet Earth had just transitioned to a scene illustrating Iguassu Falls, one of the widest waterfalls in the world. My minds porosity dropped to 0; “Planet Earth, Episode Three, Fresh Water” had just trekked onto my domain, abstract fluid dynamics.
The efficiency of my mind grew to optimal levels; its capacity for memory proliferated; all thought processes warped into parallel, and out of my control.
The narrator explained: "Iguassu Falls, on the boarder of Brazil and Argentina, is one of the widest waterfalls in the world – one and a half miles across. In flood, 30 million liters of water spill over every second.” As the data permeated through my skull my mind inevitably pondered. It questioned: "How were these computations carried out?". It wondered: "what data was necessary to validate this statement?". It sought: "how would researchers measure such a vast amount of water with accuracy?".
The next day at my internship at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, while discussing practical uses of Lattice Boltzmann simulations with a seasoned researcher and expert in fluid dynamics, I suggested: "Couldn't the Lattice Boltzmann Scheme be applied to a waterfall to compute the average outpour of water per second?”
“Maybe. Explain.”
I then proceeded to describe the problems with measuring the outpour of water per second of Iguassu Falls, and suggested: “Perhaps researchers set up devices to measure the progression of water depth as the water approaches the mouth of the waterfall over several equal sub-intervals to map Iguassu's geography."
“With slight but inevitable complications of course.”
I continued: "to ensure accuracy, maybe researchers measured the water's initial velocity at each sub-interval as the water enters the region of study."
“That would be a must!”
I hypothesized: "with this data, researchers would be able to run 3d Lattice Boltzmann simulations that compute the accumulated water flow crossing the edge of the waterfall over a definite period of time."
“They very well could.”
I concluded: "this series of computations calculates the permeability of the river system. It's almost like measuring the permeability of a certain layer of a porous rock, but on a macroscale.”
His response was simple: "excellent.”
Version 2
Planet Earth, by BBC, is one of my absolute favorite television series. I've recorded and re-watched each of the eleven episodes numerous times. Each episode discusses the ecology of a different ecosystem such as glaciers, caves, and deep oceans, its geological characteristics, and the specific, fascinating organisms that reside within each ecosystem.
I found one particular episode to be especially intriguing. The narrator explained, "Iguassu Falls, on the boarder of Brazil and Argentina, is one of the widest waterfalls in the world – one and a half miles across. In flood, 30 million liters of water spill over every second.” On my own accord, I started to hypothesize ways scientists could have calculated Iguassu's rate of outpour, realizing that there must have been a more scientific and abstract approach to solving this problem because it's impossible to physically measure such a large measure of water with accuracy.
I made the connection to my project at Lawrence Berkeley National Labs. As an intern, I was working on two-dimensional porous media (e.g. a rock), and in the process, I learned how to calculate the permeability of a structure, or the rate at which water could flow through the material. The waterfall system was essentially a porous medium in that fluids flow through a maze-like porous structure. The only difference is: the waterfall had a depth at each location that affects the speed of the water, and thus, how much water would be deposited into the river beneath the waterfall.
The next day at work, I discussed the dilemma of computing the large scale waterfall outpour rate with a professional researcher. I had already come up with a thoroughly thought through solution to the problem. The next step was to validate my hypothesis. I suggested: “Perhaps researchers set up devices to measure the progression of water depth as the water approaches the mouth of the waterfall over several equal sub-intervals to map Iguassu's geography."
“With slight but inevitable complications of course.”
I continued: "to ensure accuracy, maybe researchers measured the water's initial velocity at each sub-interval as the water enters the region of study."
“That would be a must!”
I hypothesized: "with this data, researchers would be able to run 3d Lattice Boltzmann simulations that compute the accumulated water flow crossing the edge of the waterfall over a definite period of time."
“They very well could.”
I concluded: "this series of computations calculates the permeability of the river system. It's almost like measuring the permeability of a certain layer of a porous rock, but on a macroscale.”. 作者: pp_dream 时间: 2012-8-31 23:41 标题: 家家这本难念的经呀(9)—— 面试