高考英语阅读文本剪裁的“中国味道”的附件:2018年高考英语I卷完形填 ...

来自 : 新浪博客 发布时间：2021-03-24

A few \"short\" years ago, during my sophomore yearat The City College of New York, some fellow Caribbean classmatestold me that the education department was offering a \"free\" course,called Thinking Chess, for three credits.

As an international student from Barbados, payingalmost four times more in tuition than locals, the idea of getting\"free\" credits in a system where we had to pay for everything wasnothing short of a miracle. I jumped at the idea of taking theclass because, after all, who doesn\'t want to save a few dollarsliving in a foreign country away from one\'s family?

More than that, I\'d always wanted to learn chess.And, as if I weren\'t psyched enough about free credits, the kickersold me — the class was going to be taught by an internationalgrandmaster. I may have been a novice at chess, but I sure knewthat a grandmaster meant I would be learning from one of the game\'sbest. Details about our instructor-to-be got even more exciting.Not only was he a grandmaster, but he was the firstAfrican-American and Jamaican-born grandmaster in chess — adesignation that brought me immense pride as a WestIndian.

“I have had students come up to me later as grownadults to tell me about how chess has helped to transform theirlives with their ability to think more critically, to process datamore rapidly and to make better decisions.

Maurice Ashley, grandmaster and recent inducteeinto the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame

His name is Maurice Ashley. It was my first timehearing about him, but I could hardly wait to meet him and learnthe game that brought him fame — and of course, earn those freeeasy credits. Ashley was amiable and smart, a proud alum returningto his alma mater to teach, and this assignment was no game forhim; he meant business.

In his introduction, he told us that ours was anaddition to the many classes he\'d been teaching throughout New YorkCity since 1988 to students ages 5 to 18. His lessons, he noted,were not simply to instruct students on how to play chess, but howto apply its tactics and strategies to life.

Ashley made it clear that our credits would behard-earned, and in order to pass the class, among other criteria,we had to (1) attempt to checkmate him in a limited number of movesand (2) write a paper on how we plan to apply the tactics andstrategies of chess to our respective chosen professions and,ultimately, our lives.

All of a sudden, what I thought would be threeeasy credits seemed as daunting as the chances of my actuallybecoming a grandmaster.

MauriceAshley ponders a move while playing 30 children in a chess match atthe U.S. Chess Center in Washington, D.C.

I didn\'t checkmate Ashley in my practical chessexam, but I got an A in that course and learned life lessons thathave served me well beyond the classroom.

These nuggets came to mind last week when Ashleymade headlines. As the U.S. Chess Championships got underway, hereceived one of the highest honors bestowed to an American chessgrandmaster — induction into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame in St.Louis.

The occasion caused me to reflect on his journeyfrom Jamaica to the world stage and how for almost 30 years he hasinfluenced the lives of countless students — mine included —through teaching chess.

Thinking Chess With Maurice Ashley

I found my old college essay from the chess courseI took with Ashley and I reached out to him for an interview. Onrevisiting my essay, I smiled at how my takeaway from that classwas in sync with what he told me this past week.

In part, my essay said:

\"My most profound lesson from learning thestrategies and tactics of chess is the cognizance of theconsequence of my actions. ... I learned that similar to findingevery possible convergent square on the chess board, to thinkthrough all available options I have when faced with a problem ordecision and to consider what may be the result of myactions.\"

And when I asked Ashley recently what he mostwants to teach when instructing students on the game, his answerreiterated what I\'d learned: \"The absolute most important skillthat you learn when you play chess is how to make good decisions.On every single move you have to analyze a situation, process whatyour opponent is doing and evaluate the best move from amongst allyour options.\"

Ashley says he finds great gratification inreconnecting with students.

\"I have had students come up to me later as grownadults to tell me about how chess has helped to transform theirlives with their ability to think more critically, to process datamore rapidly and to make better decisions,\" he says.

Taking Ashley back down memory lane, I asked himwhat he\'d accomplished from teaching my class (whose students weremostly education majors).

\"The class allowed me to teach the principlesbehind chess and important critical thinking skills that studentsdevelop when they play the game,\" he says. \"It was my goal toinfect teachers with a love for the game and the belief that theythemselves could teach chess in an actual classroom.\"

Taking Chess To Ferguson

Most of Ashley\'s teaching engagements over theyears have been through the Chess in the Schools program in NewYork City and the Harlem Educational Activities Fund. These days,he has also partnered with the Chess Club and Scholastic Center ofSt. Louis to bring chess to places like Ferguson, Mo.

\"It always warms my heart to be able to teach kidsin the five boroughs of New York City, but also to be able toimpact young people nationwide,\" he says.

Several of Ashley\'s students have participated innational competitions, and three teams — including the Raging Rooksand the Dark Knights — have won national championships. While he\'sproud of students who become great chess players, he insists hismotivation is not to create grandmasters.

\"I\'ve had students who have gone onto Harvard,NYU, Yale, the University of Michigan and many other topuniversities because they\'ve taken those skills from chess thathave allowed them to apply [them] to academics and to life. That\'sreally what\'s critical for me, that they are learning to be betterstudents, role models and citizens.\"

From Jamaica To The Chess Hall Of Fame

Ashley, 50, was 12 years old when he emigratedfrom Jamaica to New York City with his mother. He grew up on thetough streets of Brooklyn, and during his teenage years at BrooklynTechnical High School, he honed his chess playing skills in thecity\'s parks and chess clubs.

\"Sometimes I didn\'t feel as though the world couldhear my voice or that people really cared,\" he says. \"But I foundthat with hard work and especially with pursuing your passion, youcan grow in ways that you could never have imagined.\"

Ashley got his first big title in 1992 when heshared the U.S. Game/10 chess championship with Maxim Dlugy. In1999, he created history by becoming not only the firstAfrican-American international grandmaster, but also the firstJamaican- born.

He\'s won several other accolades for various rolesin chess, but says his April 13 induction into the U.S. Chess Hallof Fame has been like a \"fairy tale ride.\" He says he never thoughtthat one day his name and face would be mounted on a wall with thegreatest chess players of all time. In fact, he doesn\'t even fancyhimself a great chess player.

\"A grandmaster, yes, but I am not among theall-time top players,\" he says. \"So I\'m humbled because this isrecognition of not only some of my accomplishments as a player, butprimarily for my accomplishments as a promoter and as an ambassadorof the sport.\"

He adds, \"It means that everything that I\'ve putinto this game that I love, the blood, sweat and tears, the hardwork, and the suffering through the lean times have been recognizedas meaningful to others.\"

Inspiring Others Through Chess Success

Ashley sees his accomplishments as a way ofinspiring others, particularly those who come from similarbeginnings. And he\'s encouraging everyone to follow their dreams,no matter how nontraditional. His focus, however, remains onteaching.

\"Everyone should introduce their children to thegame of chess,\" he says. \"It\'s an inexpensive way of teaching yourchildren lifelong skills that they will use for the rest of theirlives.\"

I can testify to that. Ten years after my chessclass with Maurice Ashley, I\'m still putting to use the lessons hetaught me. These sentiments, in another excerpt from my ThinkingChess essay, rings true today in my role as ajournalist:

\"The most pertinent strategy from chess that I canimmediately apply to my profession is the concept of loyalty thatsurrounds protecting/securing the king. ... One must utilize thefull army of pawns, bishops, knights, rooks and the powerful queento destroy enemies and safeguard the mighty king. As a journalist,my immediate loyalties are to the company for which I work, mysources, my contemporaries, the ethics of my profession and myselfin upholding integrity.\"

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