My Primary School Years 我的小学生活
I went to kindergarten both in China and in America. There was a big difference between them. In China, the teachers were trying to teach children how to follow instructions. For instance, if a teacher drew a cat on the blackboard, he would expect every child to draw the same cat. The more alike, the better. However, in America, the teachers were trying to teach children how to develop their own ideas. If the teacher drew a cat, he would want you to draw a cat too, but differently. The more different, the better.
我在中国和美国都上过幼儿园，它们之间有很大的不同。在中国，老师总是试图教会孩子们如何去服从命令。例如，如果一个老师在黑板上画了一只猫，他将期望每一个孩子画出同样的猫，越相像越好。但是，在美国，老师们则试图教会孩子们如何拿出自己的主意。如果一个老师画了一只猫，他将让你也画一只，但是要画得不一样，越不相似则越好。
In China, the thing that I hated most was having lunch. The teacher forced me to finish all the rice and meat in my bowl. It took me a long time to finish it because I really couldn't eat that much. In America, what I liked most was the teachers because they weren't strict and they made learning fun.
在中国，我最讨厌的事情就是吃午饭。老师强迫我吃下碗里所有的饭菜。这要花费我很长的时间，因为我真的吃不了那么多。在美国，我最喜欢的是老师，因为他们不严厉，并让学习变得有趣。
Another memorable thing was our kindergarten graduation. We all made our own square paper hats, and wore them through our graduation. We each got a diploma. Many parents came to take pictures or just to see their kids graduate from kindergarten. My parents also came and my dad took a lot of pictures of me to remember the first graduation of my life.
另外一件让人难以忘记的事情是我们的幼儿园毕业典礼。我们每人都自己动手做纸质的四方帽子，在毕业典礼上戴着它们。我们都得到一个毕业证。许多家长来照相，或者只是来看孩子们从幼儿园毕业。我的父母也来了，我的爸爸给我照了许多照片，纪念我人生中的第一次毕业。
My first grade teacher was Mrs. Hing. She was born in America but the land of her ancestors was China. I began to learn how to write. I also learned how to do math in her class. Math was my favorite subject at that time and still is.
我一年级的老师是Hing夫人。她出生于美国，但祖籍中国。我开始学习如何写作，我也学习如何计算。那时数学课是我最喜欢的学科，直到现在。
In the second grade, we learned about food. My teacher was Miss. Phillips. We learned how to balance our diet. Our class had a pet rabbit. His name was Thumper. He was so cute!
二年级，我们学习饮食。我的老师是Phillips小姐。我们学习如何平衡饮食。我们班养了一只宠物兔，它的名字叫Thumper，它是如此伶俐可爱。
I enjoyed the third grade, too! This time, my teacher was Mrs. Adair. She required us to bring back our homework every day. If we did, she would give us a ticket. At the end of each week, she would put out lots of things, such as notebooks or pencils. We could buy anything by using our earned tickets. We got the idea how much each item costs and how we could save up "money" to buy the things we wanted.
我的三年级过得也不错！这一次，我的老师Adair夫人。她要求我们每天做家庭作业。如果我们做了，她就会给我们一张票。每周末，她将拿出许多东西，比如笔记本和铅笔。我们可以用赚得的票买任何东西。我们知道了每一件物品值多少钱，以及如何省钱去买我们想要的东西。
Mrs. Smith was my fourth grade teacher. She was strict with us. We had lots of homework—at least four to five pages every day. She also used tickets as rewards. I wrote my first book in the fourth grade. It was called Neat Noble Nancy . In the book it talked about my school years, my family and things I like.
Smith夫人是我的四年级老师，她很严格。我们有许多家庭作业，每天至少四五页。她也用票作为奖励。这时我写了平生第一本书《整洁高贵的南希》。书中谈到了我的学校生活，我的家庭和我喜欢的东西。
My fifth grade teacher was Mrs. Ratto. She was my favorite teacher so far because we always did funny things that everyone enjoyed, such as making art projects or having P. E. I really enjoyed the fifth grade because I made a lot of friends then.
我的五年级老师是Ratto夫人。她是至今为止我最喜欢的老师，因为我们经常做每个人喜欢的有趣的事情，比如制作工艺品或者上体育课。我真的喜欢我的五年级生活，因为那时我交了许多朋友。
Nancy from America
南希 美国
【点评】
本文作者南希是一个美国中学生，在文章里她详细地描写了自己的幼儿园生活和小学生活，其中提到的有关中美教师之间的差别非常有意思。
