Beyond Feelings is designed to introduce you to the subject of critical thinking. The subject may be new to you because it has not been emphasized in most elementary and secondary schools. In fact, until fairly recently, most college give it little attention. For the past four decades, the dominant emphasis has been on subjectivity rather than objectiity, on feelling rather than on thought.
超越感觉这本书是为了向你介绍批判性思考这一主题而写。因为在大多数小学和中学里从未讲过它，所以这个话题对你来说可能是崭新的。事实上，直到近期，许多大学也还没有教授过这门课程。在过去的四十年里，人们主要关注的仍然是主观性和感觉，而不是客观性和思考。
生词本:
elementary:adj. 基本的；初级的；[化学] 元素的
secondary :adj. 第二的；中等的；次要的；中级的
fairly: adv. 相当地；公平地；简直
dominant: adj. 显性的；占优势的；支配的，统治的
Over the past several decades, however, a number of students of America's schools have criticized the neglect of critical thinking, and a growing number of educators and leaders in business, industry, and the professions have urged the development of new courses and teaching materials to overcome that neglect.
然而，在过去的几十年中，已经有有很多美国学校的学生开始批判教育中对批判性思维的忽视。同时，越来越多的教育工作者、工商界领袖及职业人士已经开始极力催促开发新课程和教材，用以弥补这种忽视。
It is no exaggeration to say that critical thinking is one of the most important subject you will study in college regardless of your academic major. The quality of your schoolwork,your effects in your career, your contributations to community life, your conduct of personal affairs---all will depend on your ability to solve problems and make decisions.
毫不夸张的说，无论你学什么专业，批判性思考都是你在大学学习中最重要的科目之一，你课外作业的品质、你职业生涯中的努力，你对社会生活的贡献、你个人事务的处理---所有的一切都取决于你解决问题和作出决定的能力
生词本:
exaggeration：n. 夸张；夸大之词；夸张的手法
conduct： v/n. 举止，表现；组织，实施，进行；指挥（音乐）；带领，引导；
The book has three main sections. The first, "The Context," will help you understand such important concepts as individuality, critical thinking, truth, knowledge, opinion, evidence, and argument and overcome attitudes and ideas that obstruct critical thinking. The sceond section, "The Pitfalls," will teach you to recognize and avoid the most common errors in thinking. The third section, "A Strategy," will help you acquire the various skills used in addressing problems and issues. This section includes tips on identifying and overcoming your personal intellectual weakness as well as techniques for becoming more observant, clarifying issues, conducting inquires, evaluating evidience, analyzing other people's views, and making sound judgements.
这本书有三大部分。第一部分是“背景”，将帮助你理解个性、批判性思考、真理、知识、观点、证据以及论证等重要概念，并且客服阻碍批判性思考的态度和观念。第二部分是“易犯的错误”，这部分将教你辨认并避免思考过程中常见的错误。第三部分是“策略”，将帮你获得解决问题和争议的各种技巧。这部分包括帮助你识别并克服自己知识上弱点的小技巧，也包括让你变得更加善于观察、澄清问题、进行询问、评价证据、分析别人的观点并给出自己判断的小技巧。
生词本：
Context：n. 环境；上下文；来龙去脉；背景
obstruct： vt. 妨碍；阻塞；遮断
Pitfalls：n.误区；陷阱；未预料到的困难
addressing problem： 解决问题
inquires：vt/vi. 询问；查究；问明
At the end of each chapter, you will find a number of applications to chanllenge your critical thinking and help you exercise your skills. These applications cover problemes and issues both timely and timeless. The final application in each of the thirteen chapters invites you to examine an especially important issue about which informed option is divided.
在每章的最后，你将发现很多应用练习，用以 激发你的批判性思考并帮助你训练自身技巧。这些应用联系包含了一些针对本章的或永久性的问题和议题。前十三章每章后面的应用联系要求你考察一个尤为重要的议题，有见识的意见再次议题上发生了分歧。
生词本：
informed：adj. 见多识广的；消息灵通的；有根据的；明智的（猜测或决定）
Students sometimes get the idea that a textbook must be read page by page and that reading ahead violates some unwritten rule. This notion is mistaken. Students' background knowledge varies widely; what one student know very well, another knows only vaguely and a third is totally unfamiliar with. Anytime you need or want to look ahead to an explanation in a later chapter, by all means do so. Let's say you make a statement and a friend says, "That's relativism, pure and sample." If you aren't sure exactly what she means, go to the index, look up "relativism," proceed to the appropriate page, and find it.
通常学生会认为一本教科书应该一页一页往后读，超前阅读会违背一些不成文的规则，这种观点是错误的。不同学生们的L背景知识差别很大，对于一个知识点，一名学生可能熟练掌握，另一名学生可能模糊不清，第三名学生则甚至会一无所知。一旦当你需要或者想要往后阅读后面章节里的内容，请一定去做。假设你提出了一个陈述，而你的朋友却说“这是不折不扣的相对主义”。如果你不确定他所说的是什么意思，打开本书索引，寻找“相对主义”，然后找到相应的页码，弄个明白。
生词本：
violates： 违反；亵渎；侵犯
vaguely： adv. 含糊地；暧昧地；茫然地
relativism： n. 相对主义；相对论
Looking ahead is especally prudent in the case of concepts and procedures relevant to the end-of-chapter applications. One such concept is plagiarism. If you are not completely clear on what constitutes plagiarism, why it is unacceptable, and how to avoid it, take a few minutes right now to learn. Look for the scetion "Avoiding Plagiarism" toward the end of the Chapter 2, Similarly, if you are not as skilled as you would like to be doing library or internet research, it would be a good idea to read Chapter 17 now. Doing so could save you a great deal of time and effort completing homework assignments.
当说到与每章最后面的应用练习有关的概念和程序时，提前阅读时非常明智的。剽窃就是一个这样的概念，当你不能完整清楚都知道构成剽窃的要素，为什么剽窃是不可接受的，以及如何避免剽窃，那么现在就花一点时间去了解它，找到第二章结尾的“避免剽窃”这一标题。同样，如果你并不擅长在图书馆或者互联网上进行检索，那么现在不妨去读读第十七章。这样做可以节省大量时间和精力用于完成课外作业。
生词本：
prudent：adj. 谨慎的；精明的；节俭的
procedures： n. 程序；规程
plagiarism：n.剽窃；剽窃物
assignments：n. 分配；任务；作业；功课
