Mr. Whitson taught sixth-grade science. On the first day of class， he introduced a creature called the cattywampus， an ill-adapted1 animal that was wiped out during the Ice Age. He passed around a skull as he talked. We all took notes and later had a quiz.

When he returned my paper， I was shocked. There was a big red X through each of my answers. I had failed. There had to be some mistake！ I had written down exactly what Mr. Whitson said. Then I realized that everyone in the class had failed. What had happened？

Very simple， Mr. Whitson explained. He had made up2 all the stuff about the cattywampus. There had never been any such animal. The information in our notes was， therefore， incorrect. Did we expect credit3 for incorrect answers？

Needless to say， we were outraged. What kind of test was this？ And what kind of teacher？ We should have figured it out， Mr. Whitson said. After all， at the every moment he was passing around the cattywampus skull （in truth， a cat’s）， hadn’t he been telling us that no trace of the animal remained？ He had described its amazing night vision4， the color of its fur and any number of other facts he couldn’t have known. He had given the animal a ridiculous name， and we still hadn’t been suspicious. The zeroes on our papers would be recorded in his grade book， he said. And they were.

Mr. Whitson said he hoped we would learn something from this experience. Teachers and textbooks are not infallible5. In fact， no one is. He told us not to let our minds go to sleep， and to speak up6 if we ever thought he or the textbook was wrong.

Every class was an adventure with Mr. Whitson. One day he told us that his Volkswagen was a living organism. It took us two full days to put together a refutation7 he would accept. He didn’t let us off the hook8 until we had proved not only that we knew what an organism was but also that we had the fortitude to stand up for the truth. We carried our brand-new skepticism into all our classes. This caused problems for the other teachers， who weren’t used to being challenged.

I haven’t made any great scientific discoveries， but Mr. Whitson’s class gave me and my classmates something just as important： the courage to look people in the eye and tell them they are wrong. He also showed us that you can have fun doing it.

Not everyone sees the value in this. I once told an elementary school teacher about Mr. Whitson. The teacher was appalled. “He shouldn’t have tricked you like that，” he said. I looked that teacher right in the eye and told him that he was wrong.

惠特森先生教的是六年級(jí)的自然科學(xué)。上課的第一天，他介紹了一種叫cattywampus的生物，這是一種在冰河時(shí)代因不適應(yīng)環(huán)境而滅絕的動(dòng)物。他在講解時(shí)還給大家傳看了一個(gè)動(dòng)物頭骨。我們都記了筆記，后來還做了一個(gè)小測(cè)驗(yàn)。

當(dāng)他返給我卷子時(shí)，我驚呆了。在我的每個(gè)答案上都畫有一個(gè)大大的紅叉。我的成績不及格。一定是有什么地方搞錯(cuò)了！我寫下的恰恰全都是惠特森先生所講的啊。隨后，我意識(shí)到班上的每個(gè)人都成績不及格。這到底是怎么回事？

很簡單，惠特森先生解釋說。他編造了所有關(guān)于cattywampus的資料。從來都沒有這種動(dòng)物。因此我們筆記上的信息是錯(cuò)誤的。難道我們還想用的錯(cuò)誤的答案來考及格嗎？

不用說，我們都被激怒了。這是個(gè)什么測(cè)試？而且這是個(gè)什么老師??？我們應(yīng)該識(shí)破他的謊言的，惠特森先生說。畢竟，他在給大家傳看cattywampus的頭骨（事實(shí)上是一只貓的）時(shí)，不是每時(shí)每刻都在告訴我們這種動(dòng)物沒留下任何遺跡嗎？而他卻描述了它驚人的夜視力、毛皮的顏色以及許多他本不應(yīng)知曉的其他事實(shí)。他還給這個(gè)動(dòng)物取了這么個(gè)荒誕古怪的名字，而我們依舊沒產(chǎn)生懷疑。我們?cè)嚲砩系牧惴謱⒈挥涗浽谒某煽儍?cè)里，他說。后來他確實(shí)這么做了。

惠特森先生說他希望我們能從這次經(jīng)歷中學(xué)到一些東西。老師和課本并不是絕無差錯(cuò)的。事實(shí)上，沒人能做到這一點(diǎn)。他告訴我們不要讓自己的思想“睡大覺”，如果我們?cè)谌魏螘r(shí)候認(rèn)為他或是課本有差錯(cuò)，就要大膽說出來。

跟惠特森先生上的每一堂課都像是一次歷險(xiǎn)。一天，他告訴我們，他的那輛大眾汽車是一個(gè)活著的有機(jī)體。我們花了整整兩天的時(shí)間才整理匯總出一個(gè)他能接受的反駁論據(jù)?？伤]有輕易放過我們，直到我們證明自己不僅知道一個(gè)有機(jī)體是什么，而且還能勇敢地站出來維護(hù)事實(shí)真相。我們把自己全新的懷疑態(tài)度帶到了我們所有的課程中。這給其他老師帶來了麻煩，他們不習(xí)慣自己的權(quán)威被挑戰(zhàn)。

我并沒有搞出什么重大的科學(xué)發(fā)現(xiàn)，但惠特森先生的課卻給了我和我的同學(xué)們一個(gè)有著同等重要意義的啟示：有勇氣去坦然地直視對(duì)方，并指出他們的錯(cuò)誤。他還向我們展示了我們可以享受到這樣做的樂趣。

并不是所有人都能明白這其中的價(jià)值。有一次，我告訴一位小學(xué)教師有關(guān)惠特森先生的事。那個(gè)老師驚駭不已?！八辉撓衲菢佑夼弪_你們的，”他如是說。而我則坦然地正視著那位老師的眼睛，并告訴他，他錯(cuò)了。

單詞卡片

1. ill-adapted： 不適應(yīng)的，不協(xié)調(diào)的；wipe out： 徹底摧毀，消滅；Ice Age： 【地】冰河時(shí)代，冰川期。

2. make up： 捏造，（尤指為了欺騙）臨時(shí)編造，虛構(gòu)。

3. credit ： （學(xué)生成績單上某門課程的）及格記錄。

4. night vision： 夜里（或黑暗中）看清東西的能力，夜視力；any number of： 〈口〉好多，許多。

5. infallible： 不可能錯(cuò)誤的，永無過失的。

6. speak up： 大膽地說，自由發(fā)表意見。

7. refutation： 可供反駁用的證據(jù)（或論據(jù)）。

8. off the hook： 〈口〉脫離困境，脫身；fortitude：堅(jiān)忍，剛毅；stand up for：支持，維護(hù)。