I've cheated in school when I thought that I could get away with1 it. I'm not proud of it and I don't usually feel very good about myself afterward, but sometimes it's the only way possible to survive in a pressure cooker2. My parents are really set on3 my getting good grades. They study my report card the same way they scrutinize4 the newspaper's stock market page. And they make me feel that I've got to live up to5 their expectations6.

　　I can't remember my mother or father ever asking me about what I actually learned in school or if I enjoyed a particular subject. Instead, it's always been, “ How are you doing in geometry7?” or “ How'd your English teacher like your paper?”

　　It's hard to disappoint them. When my grades even begin to drop at all, I feel as though I've failed. It's an awful feeling.

　　Some teachers are really rough. They'll give tests containing at least one or two questions on materials we've never even covered8 in class. It's not always possible to come out ahead.

　　I don't think that most teachers understand how much we're expected to produce. Or even what good grades and our class rank can mean to us. If you want to get into a really good college, you've got to have a top academic record. Without that, all the extracurricular9 activities you may have engaged in can mean nothing.

　　But often it's like each teacher acts as if his is the only subject we have. They think nothing of piling on10 our homework or giving surprise quizzes11. Sometimes we have to take two or three tests in different subjects on the same day. I'd like to see a lot of adults I know preparing for that.

　　When the work load becomes too difficult, some kids may resort to12 cheating. If you have three or four subjects to study for, you're not going to be able to devote enough time to each subject in order to be well prepared for each class.

　　Nevertheless,you're still expected to ace13 everything.And you'll usually end up cheating in the classes you are least prepared for.Those usually turn out to be the subjects you don't like or tend to do poorly in.It may be the only way left to live up to your parents' expectations and compete with the top students in the class.

Everybody knows that if you cheat, it's crucial14 not to get caught. Few things can cause more of an uproar15. Once my older brother got caught cheating on a math final. My parents acted as though he'd committed a federal offense16. The assistant principal called them to school, but although the incident sparked17 several conferences, I don't think that anybody ever really understood what my brother was going through18. We're just supposed to perform exceptionally as well as always act honestly, but how many adults can actually live up to the standards they set for us?

　　My father has gotten countless traffic tickets19 for parking in no? parking zones or for not coming to a full stop at stop signs. And you're always hearing about people who don't file their income tax honestly. Sometimes they're even admired for their cunning in cheating the IRS20. How about all the corruption in government? Successful adults often accept dishonesty in order to achieve their business goals. Are kids the only ones who are supposed to be perfect?

　　Most of my friends have cheated on tests in school at one time or another.The kids who never cheat are usually either afraid of getting caught or just don't know how to do it safely. Nobody wants to cheat. But if it's a choice of being honest or of getting a grade, most kids will try for the A.That may sound wrong, but we didn't make the rules, we're just trying to get by.



誰也不想作弊
我在學(xué)校作過弊，當(dāng)時(shí)我想大概不會(huì)被發(fā)現(xiàn)。對(duì)此我并不感到驕傲，而且事后我對(duì)自己也總是不太滿意，但有時(shí)，在壓力重重之下為了求生存，這是惟一的辦法。我父母總是要求我能得好分?jǐn)?shù)。他們審查我的成績報(bào)告，就像仔細(xì)看報(bào)紙上的股票市場(chǎng)版一樣認(rèn)真。他們讓我覺得，我必須達(dá)到他們對(duì)我的期望才行。

　　我不記得我媽媽還是爸爸曾否問過我在學(xué)校到底學(xué)到了什么，或我是否喜歡某個(gè)課程。他們總是問我：“你的幾何課怎么樣?”或者“你的英語老師對(duì)你寫的論文如何評(píng)價(jià)?”

　　令他們失望是不好受的。我的分?jǐn)?shù)哪怕剛有點(diǎn)下降，我就會(huì)覺得好像自己已經(jīng)失敗了，那種感覺非常可怕。

　　有些老師非常嚴(yán)厲。他們的測(cè)驗(yàn)至少都有一兩個(gè)我們?cè)谡n堂的課本中從未學(xué)過的問題。在班上名列前茅并非一件易事。

　　我想多數(shù)老師不明白別人期望我們付出多少。甚至高分和在班里的排名對(duì)我們意味著什么，他們也不明白。要是你想進(jìn)入一所真正不錯(cuò)的大學(xué)，你的學(xué)習(xí)成績就得是數(shù)一數(shù)二的。沒有這個(gè)，你所參加的所有課外活動(dòng)都會(huì)無濟(jì)于事。

　　但每個(gè)老師的做法往往是，似乎我們只上他這一門課。他們給我們留一大堆作業(yè)，或搞突擊測(cè)試，對(duì)此他們覺得沒有什么。有時(shí)我們?cè)谝惶飚?dāng)中得考兩三門課程。我倒想看看我認(rèn)識(shí)的一些成人面對(duì)這么多的測(cè)試是如何準(zhǔn)備的。

　　學(xué)習(xí)負(fù)擔(dān)變得太重了，有些學(xué)生就可能采取作弊的辦法。假若你得學(xué)習(xí)三四門課，便不可能為每一門課的課前準(zhǔn)備都花上足夠的時(shí)間。

　　盡管如此，人們還是希望你在所有功課上都得到好成績。于是你往往就在準(zhǔn)備不足的課目上采取作弊手段。這些課通常是你不喜歡的或是學(xué)得不好的課程。作弊可能是你達(dá)到你父母的期望并和班上的高材生競(jìng)爭的惟一手段。

　　人人都知道，要是作弊的話，至關(guān)重要的是絕不能被抓住。什么事也不如作弊那樣能引起軒然大波。有一次我哥哥在數(shù)學(xué)期末考試作弊時(shí)被抓住了。我父母當(dāng)時(shí)的表現(xiàn)就像我哥哥犯了彌天大罪似的。校長助理把他們叫到學(xué)校，雖然由于那件事召開了幾次會(huì)，但我覺得沒有人真正能明白我哥哥遭受了怎樣的折磨。人們要求我們表現(xiàn)出色，而且還要永遠(yuǎn)誠實(shí)，但有多少成年人能真正達(dá)到他們?yōu)槲覀冊(cè)O(shè)定的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)?

　　我爸爸因把車停在不許停車的地方或看到紅燈沒有停車而多次受到交通懲罰。你也總會(huì)聽說有人在填寫其收入所得稅時(shí)作假。他們?cè)谄垓_國內(nèi)收入署中表現(xiàn)出的滑頭甚至還得到人們的贊賞。還有政府中所有的腐敗呢?成功的成年人為了達(dá)到他們生意上的目的，經(jīng)常也采取不誠實(shí)的做法。難道只有小孩子才應(yīng)該完美無缺嗎?

　　我的大多數(shù)朋友在學(xué)校測(cè)驗(yàn)時(shí)都作過一兩次弊。從來沒有作過弊的學(xué)生，通常要么害怕被抓住，要么就是不知道怎樣才能安全地作弊。誰也不想作弊。但若是在誠實(shí)和高分二者之間選擇，多數(shù)孩子將選擇得一個(gè)A。這聽起來可能不正確，然而規(guī)則并不是我們制定的，我們只是想盡力對(duì)付過去而已。

1.getawaywith[口]做成(某壞事而未被發(fā)覺)

2.pressurecooker(情緒或社會(huì)環(huán)境的)壓力重重

3.seton促使，鼓勵(lì)

4.scrutinize[5skrutinaiz]vt.仔細(xì)觀察，細(xì)看，細(xì)閱

5.liveupto不辜負(fù)(期望)，符合

6.expectation[7ekspek5teiFEn]n.[常作～s]期望

7.geometry[dVi5Cmitri]n.幾何(學(xué))

8.cover[5kQvE]vt.包括，涉及，論及

9.extracurricular[eskstrEkE5rIkjJlE]adj.課外的

10.pileon堆積，羅列

11.quiz[kwiz][復(fù)]quizzesn.考查，測(cè)驗(yàn)

12.resort[ri5zC:t]vi.憑借，采用

13.ace[eis]vt.在…中得好成績，對(duì)…取得絕對(duì)優(yōu)勢(shì)

14.crucial[5kru:FiEl ]adj.關(guān)鍵性的，至關(guān)重要的

15.uproar[5QprC:]n.騷亂，吵鬧，喧囂

16.offence[E5fens]n.犯罪行為，罪行，犯錯(cuò)

17.spark[spB:k]vt.觸發(fā)

18.gothrough遭受，經(jīng)受，經(jīng)歷(苦難等)

19.trafficticket[美]交通違章通知單

20.IRSabbr.InternalRevenueService(美國)國內(nèi)收入署

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