Three years ago I spent my summer vacation trying to find a new way to help persuade the students in my class at Haverhill High School that history is not a dead subject but a vital one valued by many people today.1 I got an idea of writing well-known people to solicit2 their aid in teaching history. But how would I involve the students?3 I decided I would let them devise a question, choose the recipients, and each write to his or her own choice directly.4

I gave them a single guideline5: Pick someone you respect. Receiving an answer from such a person would bring a clear message: History matters to this person you admire, so maybe it should matter to you. In September the students and I spent a good deal of time formulating6 the question.

The question we arrived at was: "Whom do you wish you had been taught more about in history class, but weren't? Why?"

The results have been extraordinary. The wonderful variety of people who answered and their willingness to share their thoughts greatly affected the students.

Barbara Bush7
　　Former First Lady

I'm delighted you have taken such an active interest in history, which is why I'm thrilled to participate in Haverhill High School's project. While I cannot pinpoint8 one important person whom I wish I had studied more, I do want to offer youa little personal opinion.

I firmly believe it is important to study successful people ?nbsp;people who have made a real difference in their family, school, community, or place of worship9. Successful people do not necessarily have to be famous like Hollywood celebrities or sports figures or people you always read about in the paper or see on television. Truly successful people are all around us. My advice to you is to seek out the great role models10 right there in Haverhill. Find out what makes them tick11 and study their good qualities and habits.

Above all, remember that you determine your success.

Tom Hanks12
　　Actor

Not only did Jacques Cousteau invent, or help invent, scuba-diving apparatus, but he used that marvelous mechanism to explore our world's seas and labored to educate us all about the dangers of pollution and how we must understand the need for clean oceans.13 He was a great man.

John Glenn14
　　Astronaut/former U.S. Senator from Ohio

It is indeed a difficult task to choose one person from the annals of history to learn more about. We have had some incredible individuals who have made significant contributions to the world we live in today.15 However, if I had to choose one person, it would be George Washington16.

He had the courage to lead our new nation. He had a commitment and dedication to the ideals of democracy and making our Constitution work.17 Today we realize what a revolutionary18 document the Constitution was, and we appreciate all the more what President Washington did for our young nation in those earliest years.

Tim O'Brien19
　　Author

Emily Dickinson20, because her poetry is so beautiful and has influenced so many good writers since. (Poets and novelists are a part of our national history yet they're virtually ignored in favor of politicians. Why?)

 

Rosa Parks21
　　Activist

The people I wish I had been taught more about in high school were Sojourner Truth22 and Harriet Tubman23. I used them both as models for my Pathways to Freedom program. They both exemplified a Godly spirit, self-determination, and a willingness to make any sacrifice necessary to free African-Americans from slavery.24

Oprah Winfrey25
　　Talk-show host

Sojourner Truth. No question about it. I think our lives paralleled26, only in different centuries. She's a mentor for me. Her life was a bridge to my own. I can't read enough about her.

1. 历史不是一门死气沉沉的科目，而是被当今许多人重视的重要学科。

2. solicit: 请求，要求。

3. 但是如何让学生参与呢？

4. devise: 设计，策划；recipient: 接受者。

5. guideline: 指导方针，标准。

6. formulate: 构想出（计划、方法等）。

7. Barbara Bush: 芭芭拉·布什。 美国前总统乔治·布什的夫人，现任美国总统布什的母亲。

8. pinpoint: 准确描述，确定。

9. place of worship: 教堂, 清真寺, 佛教庙宇等拜神的地方。

10. role model: 行为榜样。

11. 找到他们工作的动力是什么。tick: <口>工作，起作用。

12. Tom Hanks: 汤姆·汉克斯，美国著名演员。主要作品有《西雅图未眠夜》、《阿甘正传》、《网络情缘》、《拯救大兵瑞恩》等。

13. 雅克·库斯特奥不仅发明，或者说协助发明了斯库巴潜水器，他还用这个神奇的装置探索世界上的海洋，并孜孜不倦地教育我们污染的危害和我们为什么需要洁净的海洋。JacquesCousteau: 雅克·库斯特奥，法国著名科学家和海洋学家；scuba-diving: 戴水肺的潜水，斯库巴潜水。

14. John Glenn: 约翰·格林，美国著名宇航员，原美国参议员。1962年他成为环绕地球飞行的第一位美国人。1998年，他以77岁的高龄又一次穿上宇航服。

15. 有一些了不起的人物为我们现在生活的这个世界作出了杰出贡献。incredible:〈口〉惊人的，了不起的。

16. George Washington: 乔治·华盛顿（1732－1799）。第一任美国总统。

17. 他为实现民主政体和建立宪法的理想做出了无私的奉献。the Constitution: 美国宪法。

18. revolutionary: 大变革的，突破性的。

19. Tim O'Brien: 蒂姆·奥布莱恩，1946年生，美国当代作家。

20. Emily Dickinson: 艾米莉·狄金森（1830－1886）。美国著名女诗人。诗风独特，以文字细腻、观察敏锐、意象突出著称。

21. Rosa Parks: 罗莎·帕克斯，民权先锋。1955年黑人妇女罗莎·帕克斯在公共汽车上因为拒绝给一名白人乘客让座而遭逮捕，这件事激起广大黑人群众的义愤，在马丁·路德·金等黑人领袖的组织下，展开了声势浩大的抵制公共汽车运动。

22. Sojourner Truth: 索杰纳·特鲁斯（1797－1883），美国南北战争时期的废奴主义者和女权运动领袖。

23. Harriet Tubman: 哈里特·塔布曼（1820－1913），废奴主义者，“地下铁道”的著名组织者。她从前也是奴隶，后来协助大批的黑人奴隶逃向北方。

24. 在她们身上都体现了神圣的灵魂、独立的意志和为将非洲裔美国人从奴隶制中解脱出来不惜牺牲一切的精神。

25. Oprah Winfrey: 欧普拉·温弗瑞，美国著名脱口秀主持人。

26. parallel: 与……相似，与……相当。