Mr．Whitson taught sixth-grade science．On the first day of class，he gave us a lecture about a creature called the cattywampus，an animal that was wiped out(灭绝)during the Ice Age．He passed around a skull(头骨)as he talked．We all took notes and later had a test．

　　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 up all those things about cattywampus．There had never been any such animal．The information in our notes was wrong．Did we expect praise(表扬)for wrong answers？

　　We were very angry．What kind of test was that？And what kind of teacher？

　　We should have figured it out(弄……明白)，Mr．Whitson said．At the very moment he was passing around that cattywampus skull，hadn’t he been telling us that no trace(迹象)of the animal remained(存在)？He had described its color and other facts he couldn’t have known．He had given the animal a strange name，and we still hadn’t been suspicious(有疑心的)．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 notebooks are not never wrong．In fact，no one is．He told us not to let our minds go to sleep and to speak up if we ever thought he or textbook was wrong．

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

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　　The teacher stood before his class of 30 students and was about to hand out the final exam papers．“I know how hard you have all worked to prepare for this test,”he said．“Arid because I know you are all able to understand this material, I am ready to offer a B to anyone who would prefer not to take the test．”

　　A number of students jumped up to thank the teacher and left the classroom．The teacher looked at the remaining(余下的)students and said,“Does anyone else want to get a B?This is your last chance．”Two more students decided to go．Seven students stayed．The teacher then handed out the papers．There were only three sentences which were typed on the paper：Congratulations!You have received an A in this class．Keep believing in yourself．

　　I never had a teacher who gave a test like that, but I think that it is a test that any teacher could and should give．Students who do not have confidence in what they have learned are B students at most．

　　The same is true for students in real life．The A students are those who believe in what they are doing because they have learned from both successes and failures．They have learned life's lessons, whether from formal education or from evenis in their lives, and have become better people．Scientists say that by the age of eight, 80% of what we believe about ourselves has already been formed．You are a big kid now, and you realize that you have some limits(局限)．However, there is nothing you can't do or leant to be．Sir Edmund Hillary, the first person to reach the top of Mount Qomolangma(珠穆朗玛峰)said,“We do not conquer the mountain, but ourselves．”

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