“Experience may possibly be the best teacher, but it is not a particularly good teacher.”

“Experience may possibly be the best teacher, but it is not a particularly good teacher.” You might think that Winston Churchill or perhaps Mark Twain spoke those words, but they actually come from James March, a professor at Stanford University and a pioneer in the field of organizational decision making. For years March (possibly be wisest philosopher of management) has studied how humans think and act, and he continues to do so in his new book The Ambiguities of Experience.
He begins by reminding us of just how firmly we have been sticking to the idea of experiential learning: “Experience is respected；experience is sought；experience is explained.” The problem is that learning from experience involves serious complications (复杂化), ones that are part of the nature of experience itself and which March discusses in the body of this book.
In one interesting part of the book, for example, he turns a doubtful eye toward the use of stories as the most effective way of experiential learning. In our efforts to make stories interesting, he argues, we lose part of the complicated truth of things. He says “The more accurately reality is presented, the less understandable the story, and the more understandable the story, the less realistic it is.”
Besides being a broadly knowledgeable researcher, March is also a poet, and his gift shines through in the depth of views he offers and the simple language he uses. Though the book is short, it is demanding: Don’t pick it up looking for quick, easy lessons. Rather, be ready to think deeply about learning from experience in work and life.
【小题1】According to the text, James March is .A．a poet who uses experience in his writingB．a teacher who teachers story writing in universityC．a researcher who studies the way humans think and actD．a professor who helps organizations make important decisions【小题2】According to James March, experience . A．is overvaluedB．is easy to explainC．should be actively soughtD．should be highly respected【小题3】What can we learn from Paragraph 3?A．Experience makes stories more accurate.B．Stories made interesting fail to fully present the truth.C．The use of stories is the best way of experiential learning.D．Stories are easier to understand when reality is more accurately described.【小题4】What’s the purpose of this text?A．To introduce a book.B．To describe a researcher.C．To explain experiential learning.D．To discuss organizational decision making.C

(答案→)C 解析：文章介绍了James March这个作家和他的一本新书叫做《前车可鉴》。【小题1】考查细节理解。根据第一段中“For years March…has studied how humans think and act…”可知James March 是一位一直在从事人类思想和行动方法研究的科学家。选C【小题2】考查推理判断。根据文章最后一句话“Don’t pick it up looking for quick, easy lessons. Rather, be ready to think deeply about learning from experience in work and life.”结合全文不难看出以往人们对经验估价的过高。选A【小题2】考查细节理解。根据倒数第二段中“In our efforts to make stories interesting, he argues, we lose part of the complicated truth of things.” 可知我们在努力增加故事的趣味性的时候，丢掉了它的真实性。选B【小题3】考查主旨大意。整篇文章主要介绍了James March 的一本叫做《前车可鉴？》的书。选A

感谢回答，我学习了