Unit-2-How-to-be-a-good-graduate-student-(王立新-张泳-李

Unit 2 How to Be a Good Graduate Student
Maríe Dejardíns
［1] Why go to graduate school at all？The usual reasons given are that a Ph。

D. is required or preferred for some jobs, especially research and academic positions; that it gives you a chance to learn a great deal about a specific area; and that it provides an opportunity to develop ideas and perform original research。

Wanting to delay your job hunt is probably not a good enough reason。

Graduate school is a lot of work and requires strong motivation and focus。

You have to really want to be there to make it through。

［2] It helps to have a good idea of what area you want to specialize in，and preferably a couple of particular research projects you might like to work on。

Look for books and current journals and conference proceedings in your area, and read through them to get an idea of who's doing what where. (You'll be doing a *lot ＊of reading once you start graduate school, so you might as well get used to it。

）This is where advisors first enter the scene：faculty members ought to be willing to talk to undergraduates and help them find out more about research areas and graduate schools。

Try to get involved in research: ask professors and TAs whether they need someone to work on an ongoing project，or start an independent research project, with guidance from a faculty member.
[3] For many new graduate students, graduate school is unlike anything else they've done。

Sometimes it’s hard to know exactly what it is you're supposed to be learning。

Yes，you have to complete a dissertation, but how do you start？What should you spend your time doing？
[4］Graduate school is a very unstructured environment in most cases。

Graduate students typically take nine hours or less of coursework per semester，especially after the second year。

For many，the third year —- after coursework is largely finished and preliminary exams have been completed -- is a very difficult and
stressful period. This is when you're supposed to find a thesis topic, if you’re not one of the lucky few who has already found one. Once you do find a topic，you can expect two or more years until completion，with very few landmarks or milestones in sight。

［5] Being a good researcher involves more than ``merely’’ coming up wit h brilliant ideas and implementing them. Most researchers spend the majority of their time reading papers, discussing ideas with colleagues, writing and revising papers, staring blankly into space —- and, of course，having brilliant ideas and implementing them。

[6] Keeping a journal of your research activities and ideas is very useful. Write down speculations，interesting problems，possible solutions，random ideas，references to look up, notes on papers you've read, outlines of papers to write，and interesting quotes. Read back through it periodically. You'll notice that the bits of random thoughts start to come together and form a pattern，often turning into a research project or even a thesis topic. I was surprised, looking back through my journal as I was finishing up my thesis, how early and often similar ideas had cropped up in my thinking，and how they gradually evolved into a dissertation. [7］You'll have to read a lot of technical papers to become familiar with any field, and to stay current once you've caught up. You may find yourself spending over half of your time reading, especially at the beginning. This is normal. It’s also normal to be overwhelmed by the amount of reading you think you ``should'' do. Try to remember that it’s impossible to rea d everything that might be relevant: instead, read selectively. When you first start reading up on a new field, ask your advisor or a fellow student what the most useful journals and conference proceedings are in your field，and ask for a list of seminal o r ``classic’’ papers that you should definitely read。

Start with these papers and the last few years of journals and proceedings。

[8] Before bothering to read ＊any＊paper，make sure it’s worth it. Scan the title, then the abstract, then —- if you haven’t completely lost interest already -- glance at the introduction and conclusions. (Of course, if your advisor tells you that this is
an important paper，skip this preliminary step and jump right in!) Before you try to get all of the nitty-gritty details of the paper, skim the whole thing, and try to get a feel for the most important points. If it still seems worthwhile and relevant，go back and read the whole thing. Many people find it useful to take notes while they read。

Even if you don't go back later and reread them, it helps to focus your attention and forces you to summarize as you read。

And if you do need to refresh your memory later，rereading your notes is much easier and faster than reading the whole paper。

[9］Keep the papers you read filed away so you can find them again later，and set up an online bibliography I find it useful to add extra fields for keywords，the location of the paper （if you borrowed the reference from the library or a friend），and a short summary of particularly interesting papers. This bibliography will be useful for later reference，for writing your dissertation, and for sharing with other graduate students （and eventually，perhaps，advisees).
[10］At times, particularly in the ``middle years,'’ it can be very hard to maintai n a positive attitude and stay motivated。

Many graduate students suffer from insecurity, anxiety，and even boredom. First of all, realize that these are normal feelings。

Try to find a sympathetic ear -— another graduate student, your advisor，or a friend outside of school. Next，try to identify why you're having trouble and identify concrete steps that you can take to improve the situation. To stay focused and motivated，it often helps to have organized activities to force you to manage your time and to do something every day. Setting up regular meetings with your advisor，attending seminars, or even extracurricular activities such as sports or music can help you to maintain a regular schedule.
［11］Be realistic about what you can accomplish，and try to concentrate on giving yourself positive feedback for tasks you do complete，instead of negative feedback for those you don’t。

Setting daily，weekly，and monthly goals is a good idea，and works even better if you use a ``buddy system’' where you and another st udent meet at regular intervals to review your progress. Try to find people to work with：doing research is much easier if you have someone to bounce ideas off of and to
give you feedback.
［12］Breaking down any project into smaller pieces is always a good tactic when things seem unmanageable。

At the highest level, doing a master's project before diving into a Ph.D。

dissertation is generally a good idea (and is mandatory at some schools)。

A master’s gives you a chance to learn more about an area, do a smal ler research project, and establish working relationships with your advisor and fellow students。

［13］The divide-and—conquer strategy works on a day-to-day level as well。

Instead of writing an entire thesis，focus on the goal of writing a chapter, section, or outline. Instead of implementing a large system，break off pieces and implement one module at a time。

Identify tasks that you can do in an hour or less；then you can come up with a realistic daily schedule。

If you have doubts，don't let them stop you from accomplishing something —- take it one day at a time. Remember，every task you complete gets you closer to finishing。

Even if you don't make any obvious progress, you'll have learned something，although it may be “don’t waste your time on this task again。

[14］In order to do original research, you must be aware of ongoing research in your field. Most students spend up to a year reading and studying current research to identify important open problems。

However，you’ll never be able to read everything that might be relevant -- and new work is always being published. ［15］Try to become aware and stay aware of directly related research -— but if you see new work that seems to be doing exactly what you're working on, don’t panic。

It’s common for graduate students to see a related piece of work and think that their topic is ruined。

If this happens to you, reread the paper several times to get a good understanding of what they’ve really been accomplished。

Show the paper to your advisor or someone else who's familiar with your topic and whose opinions you respect. Introduce yourself to the author at a conference or by e-mail, and tell them about your work。

By starting a dialogue，you will usually find that their work isn't quite the same, and that there are still directions open to you. You
may even end up collaborating with them。

Good researchers welcome the opportunity to interact and collaborate with someone who's interested in the same problems they are。

［16］Graduate students often think that the thesis happens in two distinct phases：doing the research，and writing the dissertation。

This may be the case for some students, but more often，these phases overlap and interact with one another。

Sometimes it's difficult to formalize an idea well enough to test and prove it until you’ve written it up; the results of your tests often require you to make changes that mean that you have to go back and rewrite parts of the thesis; and the process of developing and testing your ideas is almost never complete (there's always more that you could do) so that many graduate students end up ``doing research'' right up until the day or two before the thesis is turned in。

［17] The divide—and-conquer approach works as well for writing as it does for research。

A problem that many graduate students face is that their only goal seems to be ``finish the thesis。

’’ It is essential that you break this down into manageable stages，both in terms of doing the research and when writing the thesis。

Tasks that you can finish in a week, a day，or even as little as half an hour are much more realistic goals。

Try to come up with a range of tasks，both in terms of duration and difficulty。

That way，on days when you feel energetic and enthusiastic，you can sink your teeth into a solid problem, but on days when you’re run-down and unmotivated, you can at least accomplish and few small tasks and get them off your queue。

［18] It also helps to start writing at a coarse granularity and successively refine your thesis。

Don’t sit down and try to start wr iting the entire thesis from beginning to end. First jot down notes on what you want to cover；then organize these into an outline （which will probably change as you progress in your research and writing)。

Start drafting sections，beginning with those you're most confident about. Don’t feel obligated to write it perfectly the first time: if you can't get a paragraph or phrase right，just write ＊something* （a rough cut，a note to
yourself，a list of bulleted points) and move on。

You can always come back to the hard parts later; the important thing is to make steady progress。

[19］When writing a thesis，or any technical paper，realize that your audience is almost guaranteed to be less familiar with your subject than you are。

Explain your motivations，goals, and methodology clearly。

Be repetitive without being boring，by presenting your ideas at several levels of abstraction，and by using examples to convey the ideas in a different way。

[20］Having a ``writing buddy’’ is a good idea. If they’re working on thei r thesis at the same time，so much the better, but the most important thing is that they be willing to give you feedback on rough drafts，meet regularly to chart your progress and give you psychological support，and preferably that they be familiar enough with your field to understand and review your writing.
［21] In the final push to finish your thesis，though，you will almost certainly have less time for social activities than you used to。

Your friends may start to make you feel guilty，whether they intend to or not. Warn them in advance that you expect to turn down lots of invitations, and it’s nothing personal —— but you need to focus on your thesis for a while。

Then you'll be all done and free as a bird! （Until the next phase of your life starts。

..）
文化背景补充：
斯皮尔伯格2016年哈佛大学演讲（视频+文本）http：//language。

chinadaily。

/2016—06/06/content_25622079。

htm
Words & Phrases
make it through（para 1) 通过，度过
e。

g。

Surely I can find the courage to make it through one day。

They are your support，they are the ones who will help you make it
through this rough patch.
proceeding（para2）n. 行动，进行,会议录, 学报
dissertation （para 3）n. （学位)论文, 专题, 论述, 学术演讲
milestone （para 4) n。

里程碑，里程标, 重要事件, 转折点
come up with （para 5) 想出，提出
e。

g. No one has come up with a definitive answer as to why this should be so。

random （para 6）adj. 任意的，随便的, 胡乱的
crop up（para 6) 突然发生；意外地发现
seminal paper （para 7) 重要作品(研讨论文)
nitty—gritty（para 8) n。

〈非正式〉本质;事实真相；实质问题
adj。

基本的；根本的
bibliography (para 9）n. 书目，参考书目
seminar (para 10）n。

研讨会
extracurricular (para 10) adj. 课外的, 业余的
interval (para 11）n。

时间间隔
mandatory（para 12) adj. 命令的，强制的, 托管的
module（para 13）n. 模数, 模块
panic（para 15) n。

惊慌，恐慌
overlap（para 16) v。

（与。

.)交迭
sink one's teeth into （para 17) 专注于，认真处理; 紧紧抓住
granularity (para 18) n。

间隔尺寸，粒度
methodology (para 19) n. 方法学, 方法论
turn down (para 21) 拒绝;减少,关小；驳回
e.g. I thanked him for the offer but turned it down。

She could not bear the relentless music and turned down the volume。

Close Reading
1. They are required or preferred for some jobs。

A lot of work and strong motivation and focus。

2. The manners of taking up coursework are different between graduates and undergraduates. Graduate students typically take nine hours or less of coursework per semester, especially after the second year.
3. Because most researchers choose to spend the majority of their time reading
papers，discussing ideas with colleagues, writing and revising papers, staring blankly into space The journal contains random thoughts, problems, speculations, references, etc。

. These bits of ideas may come together and form a pattern，often turning into a research project or even a thesis topic
4. When you first start reading up on a new field，ask your advisor or a fellow student what the most useful journals and conference proceedings are in your field, and ask for a list of seminal or ``classic’' papers that you should definitely read。

Start with these papers and the last few years of journals and proceedings。

5。

To make sure the paper is worth reading.
6。

At times，particularly in the ``middle years，'’ it can be very hard to maintain a positive attitude and stay motivated。

To stay focused and motivated, it often helps to have organized activities to force you to manage your time and to do something every day
7。

Those from “buddy system。

8。

Don’t panic。

If this happens，reread the paper several times to get a good understanding of what they’ve really been accomplished。

Show the paper to your advisor or someone else who’s familiar with yo ur topic and whose opinions you respect。

Introduce yourself to the author at a conference or by e-mail，and tell them about your work. By starting a dialogue，you will usually find that their work isn't quite the same, and that there are still directions open to you。

You may even end up collaborating with them. Good researchers welcome the opportunity to interact and collaborate with someone who’s interested in the same problems they are。

9. This may be the case for some students，but more often, these phases overlap and interact with one another. Sometimes it’s difficult to formalize an idea well enough to test and prove it until you've written it up; the results of your tests often require you to make changes that mean that you have to go back and rewrite parts of the thesis; and the process of developing and testing your ideas is almost never complete (there's always more that you could do) so that many graduate students end up ``doing research'’ right up until the day or two before the thesis is turned in.
10。

It takes time and patience to do it well.
Further Reading
I Text
If I Were a Freshman Again
Thomas Arkle Clark
It is the habit of age to give sage advice to youth. One of the pastimes in which everyone periodically indulges is the pleasant hallucination that if he were given the opportunity to live his youth over again he would do it differently and more successfully。

We are all of us, even though we have no more than reached middle age，given to regretting our neglected opportunities and our lost youth。

It gives one a virtuous feeling in imagination to dodge all error but it is extremely doubtful if many of us, even if we had a second chance，would avoid many of the pitfalls into which we stumbled，or follow a straighter path than that by which we have so far come。

If it is merely pleasant for us to conjecture what we should do if we had a second try at it, it may be profitable for those who are younger to listen。

If only foresight could be as accurate as the backward view！
Work Fewer Hours
If I were a freshman again I should not work so many hours as I did。

I put in enough hours with my books in my hands, but I did not accomplish much。

I had little concentration。

Many students whom I knew, and I was one of this sort，spent a great deal of time in getting ready to work. With a book in hand they look out of the window at the clouds or at the pretty girls passing along the street，and all the time they deceive themselves with the idea that they are working。

Many an evening，when the work was heavy, I would determine to begin early and get it over with; but I could spend half an hour in arranging my books and getting myself seated in a comfortable chair。

All this time I imagined I was working. I spent as much time in goading myself on to duties that I should have liked to shirk or in getting ready to work as I did in actual labor。

If I were a freshman I should plan my work, I should try to develop concentration ― I should work harder but not so long。

Learn to Work with People about Me
I should learn to work with people about me。

As it was I lived a somewhat isolated life。

I did
my reading and my studying alone, and though there were some advantages in this method, there were serious objections. Now I must often work under different conditions than those by which I was surrounded in college; there is work to be done where there is no quiet, and I do it with difficulty。

As I tried on a crowded ocean steamer to put these wandering thoughts on paper I was constantly annoyed by the confusion about me and by the spasmodic attempts at conversation made by a well-intentioned but misguided young man at my side。

If I had learned to work under different conversations I might have turned the conversation aside as a steep roof sheds the rain。

I believe it is a great advantage for a young man to do his work himself，but he should not subject himself to the slavery of doing it alone.
Take More Difficult Work
I should take as a freshman, if I had my work to do over again，more work that I have no special fondness for or that I find difficult。

I like an easy time as well as any one, and I do not wish to give the impression that I think it an error for a student to follow the profession he enjoys or to do the work he likes. In point of fact I believe that a student should choose those lines of work along which his tastes lead him。

I think it very likely that those things we do most easily we shall do best; but I have found that training comes through struggle，and that those people are developed most who resist most, or who struggle against difficulty and opposition and overcome。

I had known a good many geniuses, but they generally had the most commonplace careers because they never learned to do difficult or disagreeable things.
Students come into my office every day who want to get out of work or to drop a subject，or to cut a class exercise for no better reason than that they find the duty difficult or the instructor or the subject dull. Much of the work of life is not pleasant. Half the things I am forced to do during the busy days of the college year are unpleasant things and things I dislike doing. I have been forced to learn to give these things my best attention whether I like them or not。

I wish I had learned in my freshman year to do more such things。

Just yesterday as I was sitting at the breakfast table talking to a young freshman, in whom I have a rather vital interest, as to next year’s course，I suggested a subject which I thought good for him to take。

"Is it easy?” was his first question, and when I answered in the negative his interest waned. In the world in which we must in time work there are few easy roads，few snap courses. We shall be forced to do a great many hard things。

If I were a freshman I should learn to
do such things early。

Become A Ready Speaker
Like a great many people，I suppose I am not now doing the work that as a college student I planned to do。

I am in no sense a fatalist，but I am convinced that men have their work chosen for them quite as often as they themselves choose it。

If I had supposed that I should be called upon to speak on the most unforeseen occasions and upon the most unfamiliar topics，I should have given myself while in college the practice which I believe is the method everyone must employ if he is to become a ready speaker。

I have learned that, sooner or later，every intelligent man is called upon publicly to express his ideas, and no matter how abundant these thoughts may be, he will suffer much pain and have little success unless he has had pretty regular and persistent practice.
I ran across an old classmate last spring, an engineer of no little repute, whom I had not met since the day of our graduation。

”How would you change your course," I said to him, expecting that he would long for more mathematics，"if you had it all to do over again?"
”I should learn to write and I should learn to speak," he answered, "and I should begin as a freshman. As it was I avoided every opportunity to do either，with the idea that only ministers and lawyers have need of such practice，and I suffer for it every day. My boy is to be an engineer, but I am going to see that he does not make the mistake that I made. ”
When I am called upon unexpectedly to speak, and my knees shake, and my voice falters, and the word that I long for comes with difficulty, or fails to come at all，I agree with my classmate, and I feel sure that if I were a freshman again I should learn to speak correctly and without notes。

Ⅱ.Language Points
Introduction to the author
Thomas Arkle Clark (1862-1932) was head of the Department of Rhetoric in the University of Illinois in 1895。

Seven years later, he was named dean of men，the first in America to have that title. ”Unofficially，he won the title of Keeper of the University’s Conscience through his in sistence on high ethical and moral standards” records the ATO Story。

Words
1. Concentration （Line。

19)
1）Concentration on something involves giving all your attention to it. 专注力，注意力；专注（n.）
→Concentrate on （doing）sth。

Neal kept interrupting，breaking my concentration.
尼尔不断打扰，打断我的注意力。

2）A concentration of something is a large amount of it or large numbers of it in a small area。

集中（n。

)
The area has one of the world's greatest concentrations of wildlife.
该地区有世界上野生生物最集中的区域之一。

3）The concentration of a substance is the proportion of essential ingredients or substances in it. 浓度（n.）
The concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere。

The concentration of power of the hands in a few。

2。

Deceive （Line。

23）
1）to deceive oneself 自瞒自欺；误解,想错（v.）
She deceived herself in this matter。

她误会这件事。

Nothing is easier than to deceive oneself.
没有什么比欺骗自己更容易的了。

2)If you deceive someone, you make them believe something that is not true （v.）→ deception(n.)
2）If you deceive someone, you make them believe something that is not true (v。

）→ deception Deceive somebody into doing sth.
He tried to ~ the public into thinking the war could still be won.
Deceive sb。

About sth。

3）To give sb a wrong belief or opinion about sth。

=mislead
Do not be deceived by claim s on food labels like “light" or “low fat。

“ ？
4 ) Word family
Deceiver，deception，
deceptive欺诈的，迷惑的，虚伪的:~ advertisement
3 goad (Line. 19)
1) If you goad someone, you deliberately make them feel angry or irritated 刺激（v.) = provoke
Charles was always goading me。

Goad sb。

Into (doing）sth.
Kathy ～ed him into telling her what he had done.
goad sb。

On
They ~ed him on with insults。

4 isolate
1)To isolate a person or organization means to cause them to lose their friends or supporters.
使使孤立（v.)
The US has sought to ~ Cuba both economically ans politically.
Isolate sb。

From sb。

Isolate sb from sth. = keep sth。

Away from sb.
New born babies must be ~ed from possible contamination。

2） to isolate something such as an idea or a problem, 单独考虑
Our anxieties can also be controlled by isolating thoughts, feelings and memories.
我们的焦虑也可以通过对思想、感情和记忆分别进行考虑来加以控制.
3）To isolate a sick person or animal 隔离
Patients will be isolated from other people for between three days and one month after treatment.
治疗之后，患者将被与他人隔离3天到1个月
5 objection
1）If you express or raise an objection to something, you say that you do not like it or agree with it. 反对(n。

）
have no objection to
objectionable讨厌的;会引起反对的；有异议的（adj.)
object
1）目标；物体；客体；宾语(n。

）
2）If you object to something，you express your dislike or disapproval of it。

反对(VI.)
A lot of people will object to the book.
很多人会反对这本书。

6 surround
1) If a person or thing is surrounded by something，that thing is situated all around them. 围绕（vt。

)
The small churchyard was surrounded by a rusted wrought-iron fence。

这个小墓地被一道生锈的锻铁栅栏围着。

He has always been ～ed by people who adore him.
2) Surround onself with 确保身边一直有
The designer surrounded himself with exquisite objects。

7 annoy
1）V-T If someone or something annoys you, it makes you fairly angry and，impatient。

使心烦，惹恼（vt。

)= irritate
It annoyed me that I didn't have time to do more ironing。

It really ~s me when I see people dropping litter。

It annoyed me to be kept waiting so long。

What ~ed him most was that he had received no apology.
Annoyed（adj.) 感到愤怒的
Be annoyed with /at
Look/ get annoyed
Annoying 烦人的
口语中多用get on someone's nerves
She got on his nerves with her stupid questions。

8 subject n。

1)话题，主题
It was I who first raised the subject of plastic surgery.
是我首先提起了整形手术这个话题。

2）subject of criticism, study，or an investigation …的对象
3）科目
Surprisingly, maths was voted their favourite subject。

令人吃惊的是，数学被评为他们喜爱的科目。

compulsory course/subject
optional course
4) 主语
subject v。

1)If you subject someone to something unpleasant, you make them experience it。

使遭受
Police ～ed him to house of questioning.
subject （adj。

)
1)To be subject to something means to be affected by it or to be likely to be affected by it。

（可能) 受…影响的
All flights are ～to delay。

Prices may be subject to alteration。

价格可能会受变更影响。

If someone is subject to a particular set of rules or laws, they have to obey those rules or laws. 受…支配的
You should ～yourelf to my command。

使服从
paraphrase
1.I spent as much time in goading myself on to duties that I should have liked to shirk or getting ready to work as I did in actual labour. (Para. 3）
•Paraphrase：I spent the same amount of time forcing myself to do my work with much annoyance which I should have avoided or preparing to do it as I actually engaged myself in doing it。

•I spend as much time （in…) or （in …) as …
•Spend time in doing …
•Goad oneself on to sth.
•Duties that …
•结果下决心(以便担负起一件自己本来有心躲避的责任）和做准备的时间竟与我实际工作的时间相等。

2。

As I tried on a crowded ocean steamer to put these wandering thoughts on paper I was constantly annoyed by the confusion about me and by the spasmodic attempts at conversation made by a well-intentioned but misguided young man at my side. （Para. 4）
As … I was constantly annoyed…
Be annoyed by …
Conversation （which/that was) made by a young man at my side.
比如当我此刻想把我的许多飘浮思想在这十分拥挤的甲板之上写下来时，这周围的混乱糟杂，特别是我身边一名好心但不懂事的青年的阵阵谈话声音，就使得我不堪其扰。

3.I have known a great many geniuses，but they generally had the most commonplace careers because they never learned to do difficult or disagreeable things。

(Para。

5) •Paraphrase：I have many friends who are geniuses , however they did not succeed in their careers simply because they never tried to learn to cope with difficulties and problems。

4.If I were a freshman I should determine to do some one line of work well。

As I remember，I was princi pally concerned in “getting through”。

(Para。

13）
•Paraphrase：If I was a first-year student, I should determine to study a certain subject well. So far as I can remember, I was mainly worried about “pass” –sixty per cent when I was a student.
5.But at least in one subject，I wish I had made it a point to take time to give the matter careful thought. (Para 13）
•Paraphrase：Yet at any rate，I wish I could spend enough time paying much attention to one certain subject，which I think is important and necessary。

6.The conception of the average freshman is that the college instructor is a somewhat abnormal mortal full of knowledge. （Para 14)。