By any standards, this is a classroom where education is being carried out. First of all, it is a room and a lesson is being taught in class. There is a blackboard on the wall, with lines of words written on it and an instructor is explaining the meaning of the words and the lines of a poem. Obviously there is a group of schoolboys and schoolgirls. They have desks on which they can do their assignments. Every two students have to share a desk, and the bench. They do not have any comfortable chairs. Comfort is a luxury that simply does not fit this place. At least, the room has sufficient sunlight and the students are sitting in the front of the classroom so that they can recognize what is written on the blackboard fairly well. The instructor is fully dedicated to his teaching while the students are all ears, listening with absolute attentiveness. Though there is no projector, no state-of-art computer-aided multimedia technology, no heating or cooling systems, it is nevertheless a classroom, very legitimately.

But then we notice something unusual. Why all the students are all concentrated in the front of the classroom? They do not have to because the room is large enough. This is because the roof in the rear part of the classroom has been damaged and in the case of a rainy day (season) leaking becomes inevitable. It appears that this is indeed the case because a major stream has formed, winding all its way up to the front of the classroom. We also notice that there are some twigs soiled by mud. If those twigs are dry, they can be used to cook meals on the stove inside this classroom (which we cannot see). Those are the boarding students because their homes are 10 or 20 miles away in the big mountain. What about the bottle? It cannot be a beer bottle, that is for sure. None of them can afford to be alcoholic, not even the instructor. The bottle used to contain vegetable oil for cooking and they have used up the oil, so it is now empty.

The scene as presented in this picture is perhaps utterly beyond the imagination of even the most imaginative Americans, but it is real. In the impoverished rural areas of China, such a scene is not uncommon. When I was a high school student, I visited one of such schools in the remote rural area of Beijing. Before the trip, I launched a donation campaign on campus as chairman of the student union. We donated books, cash (with which we bought a computer) and stationery and, led by our schoolmaster, several student representatives and I first traveled by a vehicle and then when the road became inaccessible we walked on foot on the zigzag mountain trails. When we finally arrived at the school, we found that we could not teach the kids how to use the computer. There was no electricity! Nevertheless, I taught them the first English sentence that they have learned in their life—“We must study!”

My feeling for the instructors and the students in such schools is not sympathy, but respect. I respect them for their greatness because even in such woefully primitive physical conditions they still believe in the power of education to change their destiny. This piety for education, for learning and for knowledge is what makes them great.

While the government should be primarily responsible for improving the conditions of education in the country, we as individuals must ask ourselves a question: “what we can do for those school kids?” Generously donating whatever we have, of course. But for me, my experience constantly reminds me to cherish the education opportunities that I have and prepare myself for performing important responsibilities in the future. As Mahatma Gandhi said, “We must become the change we want to see in the world.”

(651 words)

　　不论以什么标准来衡量，你都不能否认这是一间正在传道授业的学堂。首先，这是一间校舍，有人正在上课。墙上挂着黑板，上面写着几行字，一位老师正在解释一些字词和几行诗歌的意思。显而易见，这里有一群读书的孩童，还有一些课桌以备写作业之用。每两个孩子合用一张课桌，以及一张长凳，他们没有舒适的椅子。这里，舒舒简直就是一种奢侈，完全不适用。但是至少，这间课堂阳光充足，这样，学童们坐在教室靠前的地方，以便能够很好地认清黑板上写的字。老师专心致志正在讲解，而学生们也听得聚精会神，心不旁涉。尽管没有投影仪，没有高科技的电脑辅助多媒体技术，没有暖气或空调系统，但这仍不失为一间教室，从如何意义上讲，一间名符其实的教室。

　　然而，我们却很快注意到事情有些异乎寻常。为什么所有的学生都集中坐在教室的前面？他们根本不必这么做，因为教室宽敞有余。事实是，房子后面的屋顶已经洞开，一旦遇到雨天（或雨季），屋漏如注便不可避免。画面给人的印象是，这一情形已成事实，因为一条大大的溪流已然形成，蜿蜒流向教室的前方。另外，我们也注意到有些树枝沾满了泥浆。如果这些树枝是干的，那它们可以作为柴火，用来在教室里的土灶上生火做饭（我们未能在图片中看到这个土灶）。上课的这些学生是住校生，他们的家坐落在距此数十里之外的大山深处。那个瓶子又是什么呢？可以肯定，它绝对不是个啤酒瓶。他们中没人能买得起酒，甚至包括那位老师。瓶子曾用来盛做菜用的油，但现在油已经用光，所以瓶子是空的。

　　本图片的画面所呈现的场景，极有可能完全超出哪怕是最具想象力的美国民众的想象。但是，这却是真实的。在中国贫困的农村山区，这种场景并不罕见。犹记得，当我还是个高中生时，我去到北京偏远的农村走访过一所这样的学校。在去之前，我以学生会主席的身份，在校园里发起一场募捐活动。我们捐献了书籍，现金（以此买了一个电脑），以及文具，在我们校长的带领下，我和几位学生代表先是乘坐汽车，之后，但车辆根本无法在道路上行驶时，我们便徒步走过曲曲折折的山路，终于到达学校。那时我们才发现，根本无法教学童们使用电脑，因为那里竟然还为通电！虽然如此，我还是教了他们一生中的第一个英语句子—“我们必须读书”。

　　我对这种学校的师生所还有的感情，是敬意，而不是同情。我尊敬他们的伟大，因为即使身处这样可悲的、近乎原始的物质条件当中，他们依然坚信教育改变命运的力量。正是这种对教育、对学习、对知识的虔诚，造就了他们的伟大。

　　尽管政府对中国农村教育条件的改善承担着主要责任，作为社会中的个体，我们必须扪心自问:“我们能为这些学生做些什么?”慷慨地捐出我们的所有，这是必须的。但就我而言，我的那段经历时刻提醒我，要珍惜已拥有的教育机会，并且学好本领，以期能在未来履行重大的职责。正如圣雄甘地所言：“我们必须成为我们所欲在这个世界上目睹的变革的一部分”。