The memorization of facts can be a handy tool when trying to impress upon someone how much you know about a subject, if that particular person doesn’t know much about the subject him or herself. But to truly learn about something, one must definitely understand more than the mere facts of the situation or subject to be able to go beyond simply regurgitating memorized details.

To begin with, the foundation of learning can be based on the facts themselves. It is necessary during the learning process to memorize some facts in order to grasp the essence of the subject that is being taught. For example, learning the years that certain events happened during Chinese history can help a student to place those events in context with what was happening in Chinese society and the rest of the world during those particular time periods. But simply learning the dates of the events will not give the student any insight into Chinese history or culture without knowing the circumstances leading up to and surrounding that particular event. It is a combination of the memorization of facts, along with studying the ideas, trends and concepts of the time period that will allow the student to master the subject at hand.

In the past, teachers believed that memorization of facts was the best way for a student to learn a subject. For some subject areas, this may still be the best method for a student to comprehend what is being taught. As one example, a student’s memorization of the multiplication tables can give him or her a solid foundation on which to build additional mathematical knowledge. Similarly, memorization of the table of elements gives the student a basis of reference for an entire lifetime of future scientific study. Memorizing the spelling of words is also very helpful in the sense that the student that knows how to spell the word most likely also knows the meaning of the word. With all of these examples, it is evident that sometimes merely learning facts can be enough to give the student a solid educational background, at least early on in life.

But merely learning the facts is not enough for a student to reach his or her fullest potential. It is in the application of those facts where the student reaches a higher state of knowledge. It would truly be impressive for someone to name the list of emperors and empresses in chronological order throughout Chinese history, but without any knowledge of what he or she did as a leader, there is little value in being able to do so. Simple memorization of facts is the lowest level of learning, while being able to apply those facts in different situations and to explain the theories behind those facts is the highest level of learning. Whether the student memorizes the facts first or firstly understands the ideas and concepts behind those facts makes no difference, it is the ability to coherently discuss the facts and their underlying concepts that a student truly shows his or her ability.

In summary, it is certainly not enough for a student to merely memorize facts. Memorization is at the lowest level of learning, it is in the ability to apply concepts and theories to different situations where a student reaches the highest level of learning. Whether the facts are memorized first or after the student understands the underlying theories does not matter, what matters is that the student truly grasps the subject with full comprehension to the best of his or her ability.

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参考译文

将事实记忆得滚瓜烂熟，这只有在试图使别人觉得你对某一学科知识渊博时才能成为一个好使的工具，如果那个人自己对该学科知之甚少。但要想真正学到知识，人们所需弄懂的就绝不仅仅只是关于某一情景或某一学科的某些事实。只有这样，才能超越对细节的呆板记忆。

首先，学习的基础可以基于事实本身。在学习过程中，有必要背诵记忆某些事实，以便掌握所授学科的精髓。例如，学习中国历史上某些事件发生的年代，这将有助于一个学生将这些事件置于中国社会及世界其它地方在这些特定的时代所发生的事件的大背景之中。但是，纯粹记忆这些事件的年代将无法使学生对历史或文化形成深刻的了解，因为学生并不懂得导致某一特定事件或围绕着某一特定事件的具体情况。只有将对事实的背诵记忆与对某一时代的思想、趋势和观念的学习结合起来，才能让学生掌握所要学习的学科。

过去，教师们相信，背诵记忆某些事实对于学生学习某一学科是一种最好的方法。对于某些学科领域来说，这可能仍不失为一种最好的方法让学生去理解所教的内容。举例来说，学生背诵乘法表可让他/她具备一个坚实的基础，据此建立起更多的数学知识。同样地，背诵记忆化学元素表可为学生提供一种参照的基础，使其未来终身的科学研究都能从中受益。牢记词汇的拼写也是非常有用的，因为懂得如何拼写的人最有可能也会知道词汇的含义。从所有这些例子中，显而易见，有时候仅仅熟记某些事实是能够给学生提供一个坚实的教育背景，尤其是在人生初期。

但是，仅仅熟记某些事实尚不足以让一个学生实现他/她全部的潜质。只有将这些事实加以应用，学生才能达到更高一层的知识境界。如果有人能按照年代顺序将中国历史上一长串男性和女性皇帝的名字逐一道出，这确实非同凡响。但是，如果根本不了解这些皇帝作为领导者都做了些什么，那么，即使能做到那样也是毫无价值的。对事实进行简单的诵记只能算作最低级层面上的学习行为，只有能将这些事实应用于不同的情况，并能解释这些事实背后所隐含的理论，这才是最高级层面上的学习行为。学生是首先熟记事实，还是首先领会这些事实背后的思想及观念，孰先孰后并不重要。能够严谨地探讨这些事实，并揭示其深层的理念，才充分体现着一个学生的真才实学。

总而言之，对于一个学生来说，仅仅熟记某些事实肯定是远远不够的。背诵只是属于学习的最低层面，将概念和理论应用于不同情况的能力，才能让一个学生抵达学习的最高层次。学生对事实的熟记是发生在弄懂了深层次的理论之前还是之后，这并不重要。重要的是，学生应尽其所能，在充分理解的基础上，真正掌握一门学科。