小　目　录
Personal Statement（附中文版）
Recommendation Letter

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Personal Statement

Applicant: Gu x x x Programme: PPE (Politics, Philosophy & Economics) at the University of Oxford

Philosophy tells us that there is always a rationale underlying each apparently complicated issue and that man’s all intellectual endeavors are precisely designed to make intelligible those seemingly chaotic and unintelligible issues. To achieve effective interpretations of sophisticated issues we must exercise our logic to stay away from deceptive evidence and to reach correct conclusions. Therefore, we must receive rigorous training in philosophy. But in this increasingly integrated modern world, hardly any issue can be treated in isolation. A broad range of perspectives on the economic, political, historical, cultural and even religious levels is perhaps required to facilitate our understanding of a single issue. Thus we need to receive trainings in many related fields. That is why an interdisciplinary program like PPE is appropriate and important for a student in his/her undergraduate career. The comprehensive knowledge from the PPE program will enable a student to understand the rapidly changing world analytically, critically, and insightfully.

For a young student, nothing is more important than the spirit of inquiry. Nicknamed “Baby Curious”, I grew up nagging my parents to explain whatever seemed unfamiliar and strange. Trivial and na?ve as some of my questions were, they helped to keep alive my curiosity. Even though my parents (my inborn teachers) and my teachers in elementary and middle schools have kept explaining the world to me, one thing I found perplexing—the more I knew about this world, the more ignorant I seemed to have become.

This paradox of knowledge made me reflect. My conclusion was that it is not that the more we know, the less knowledgeable we become. What is true is that as we know more, we are led to many other realms in the entire system of human knowledge. Another factor is that as we know more, we are required to face many new problems that are being created, because human society is changing and developing fast. Faced with this necessity to know more, we should persist instead of giving up in despair.

This realization resulted in my pursuit of knowledge in countries other than China. Having received a sound elementary and junior middle school education, with distinguished performance scholastically, especially in mathematics and history, I arrived in Great Britain, the country with the most proud educational tradition in the world, at the age of 15. After a six-month language program, I entered the renowned Queenswood School. By making extra efforts to catch up with and even surpass my classmates in my GCSE study, I achieved a scholastic performance well above average and I was an active member of the piano class, the school choir, and the tennis class. History continued to be my favorite subject. The best part of my British experience is the development of a pluralist cultural awareness and a western way of thinking, which, through a fusion with my Eastern way of thinking, has allowed me to look at things in a balanced and comprehensive manner.

Unfortunately, I had to stop my GCSE study after one year and return to China because of the poor state of health of my father. Luckily, my western-styled education was continued as I enrolled in Huijia Private Senior Middle School where the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program is offered. Apart from History, I found TOK (Theory of Knowledge, a course that challenges students to question the bases of knowledge, to be aware of subjective and ideological biases, and to develop the ability to analyse evidence that is expressed in rational argument) fascinating, and I continue to excel in mathematics.

Now, with educational and cultural experiences across both China and the UK, I am bent on a PPE program at Oxford to receive perhaps the best education in liberal arts in the world, an education that will deepen my academic buildup, and give me a more sophisticated understanding of the world. By the time I complete the PPE program, I plan to proceed onto a Master’s program in International Relationship.

In extracurricular activities, I would like to contribute my leadership. A winner of painting and singing, and IB Speech competitions, and national middle school English contest, honored as Outstanding Student and Student Leader, I have been the chairman of the Student Union, responsible for organizing Huijia School Fashion Show. I have been a student assistant to the school Principal, coordinating the communication between the students and the Principal. The “Golden Travel” program, sponsored by UNICEF to protect cultural and historical heritages in China and Europe, took me to several major European countries and to visit UNICEF’s headquarters in Paris. In a word, my commitment to public welfare will make me an activist on your campus.

“No man is an island and no man stands alone.” In this age of interactivity, young students bear important social responsibilities and historical missions. What role should I play? To become tomorrow’s leader, that is my answer.

(说明：因有些家长不善英文，要求提供中文译文以供参考。)

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　个 人 陈 述

申请专业：牛津大学政治经济哲学系

　　在巴勒斯坦与以色列围绕着土地问题展开的愈演愈血腥的冲突中，是否存在某些深层次的政治、历史和宗教因素？在近期于北京召开的朝鲜半岛核危机六方会谈中，中国政府一方面坚持朝鲜应终止其核计划，另一方面则坚持美国应该对朝鲜作出某种安全承诺，那么，在中国政府的这一外交立场中，是否有某些哲学上的指导方针，例如，孔子哲学中的中庸之道的原则？最后，在目前喧嚣尘上的中美之间围绕着人民币是否应该升值的问题所展开的争执中，是否纯粹只有经济原因，抑或还有某些清晰可辩的与即将到来的美国总统大选相涉的政治原因？

　　在当今这个越来越全球化，各种政治、社会、经济因素错综复杂交织在一起的世界中，对这些疑难问题的回答必然是开放式的。但无论答案是什么，有一事是确凿无疑的，即在每一个视若复杂的问题的深层，必然存在着一种合理的解释，而人类全部的理智努力恰恰就旨在去弄懂那些似若混乱和难以理解的问题。

　　为了在各种互为矛盾的证据和观点之中对这些复杂的问题形成有效的解释，我们必须发挥我们的逻辑思维能力。优秀的逻辑推理能力可使我们远离欺骗性的证据，达到正确的结论。因此，我们必须接受哲学所特有的那种严谨的训练。但在这个日益一体化的现代世界中，几乎没有任何一个问题是可以孤立对待的。为了促进我们对任何一个单一问题的理解，经济、政治、历史、文化、甚至宗教层面上一系列广泛的视角均十分必要。出于这一原因，我们需要在诸多相关领域接受训练。这就是为什么对于一个本科生来说，在其毕生理智发展的最为重要阶段，像PPE这样一个跨学科的学位课程就显得十分恰当和重要。PPE课程所带来的综合知识将会使一个学生以分析、批判和富有洞察力的方式来理解一个急遽变化着的世界。

　　对于一个年轻学生来说，在其理智发展过程中，没有任何东西能比探究精神来得更难得可贵的了。自小时起我就有“好奇娃娃”的绰号，在我童年整个成长过程中，我总是纠缠着我父母，让他/她们给我解释我对日常现象的观察中所遇到的新奇和不解之物。尽管有些问题微不足道，且不免幼稚，但它们总是使我保有一颗好奇之心，而随着时间的推移，这颗好奇之心则变得愈发强烈。虽然，除了我父母这两位与生俱有的老师之外，我中小学的老师在我人生不同阶段都扮演着世界解释者这一角色，但我还是发现有一件事情十分令人困惑——这就是，我对这个世界了解的越多，我似乎显得越无知。

　　知识的这种悖论使我开始反思。我的结论是，我们随着知识的增多反而变得越发无知的说法并非属实。实际的情况是，我们知道的越多，我们就越是被引导着进入人类知识的整个体系中的其它许多领域。另一个因素是，在知识增长的同时，我们被要求去面对许多新引发的问题，因为在过去一个世纪中，随着科技日新月异的进步，人类社会也在以越来越快的节奏在发展。面对着获取更多新知识的必要性，我们只有坚持下去，而不应绝望地放弃。

　　这一认识导致我走出国门，去往异国他乡追寻知识。在接受了良好的小学和中学教育，无论是在学业（尤其是数学和历史2门课）还是在课外活动方面取得出色表现后，我在15岁时远涉重洋抵达英国，在这个拥有世界上或许最令人骄傲的教育传统的国度里，去了解一个更为广泛的世界，这个世界在诸多重要的方面迥然有别于我自己的国家。在经过了半年的语言训练之后，我进入了英国最著名的女子高中之一的Queenswood中学。通过在我的GCSE学习中加倍努力以赶超我的同学，我取得了中等偏上的学业表现，而我也成为了钢琴班、校合唱诗班、网球课的积极成员。历史继续成为我的钟爱课程。对我来说，游学英国的最大收获在于，我形成了一种多元的文化意识和一种西方式的思维模式，这种思维模式一经与我东方思维模式相结合，使我得以用一种平衡的和综合的眼光来审视周围的一切。

　　不幸的是，由于我父亲的健康原因，一年之后，我不得不终止我的GCSE学业，返回中国。但值得庆幸的是，我西方式的教育得以持续下去，因为我所上的汇佳私立高中提供了国际学士文凭课（International Baccalaureate Diploma Program,简称IB）。 除历史课以外，我发现TOK（知识理论课，该课程旨在激励学生对知识的基础提出质疑，警惕主观和意识形态方面的偏见，培养去分析理性论据中所表述的证据的能力）引人入胜，在数学课上则继续有上乘的表现。

　　现在，凭借着中英两国的教育和文化体验，我决心申请攻读牛津大学的PPE课程，寻求接受世界上或许是最好的人文学科的教育。这种教育将加深我的学术构建，对世界形成一种更加细致入微的理解。完成该PPE课程之际，我将接下去功读国际关系专业的硕士课程。

在课外活动方面，我将贡献我的领导才华。 　　作为绘画、演唱、IB演讲比赛，全国中学生英语竞赛的获奖者，亦作为三好学生和优秀学生干部，我担任了校学生会副主席，负责组织过校规模盛大的时装表演和艺术节。我还是校长的学生助理，协调学生与校长之间的交流与沟通。由联合国教科文组织赞助的旨在保护中国与欧洲文化历史遗产的“金色之旅”活动带我到过欧洲几个主要国家，并参观了位于巴黎的教科文总部。总而言之，我致力于公益活动的精神将使我成为贵校校园上的活跃分子。

　　“没有人是一座孤岛，没有人能孑然独行”。在这个交互时代，年轻学子肩负着重要的社会责任和历史使命。这其中，我的人生角色又应该是什么呢？成为明日的领导人物，这便是我的回答。

To whom it may concern:

In my capacity as director of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Department of Beijing HuiJia Private School, coordinator between HuiJia IB and IBO, and as an experienced history teacher of Huijia IB program, I deem it a pleasure to provide this reference on behalf of Miss Gu x x who is currently applying for admission into Oxford’s PPE program.

Prior to her attendance at the IB Department of our school, Miss Gu received British education for a year and half, first a six-month training at a language school and then formal education at Queenswood School. Under the British education system, her academic performance improved significantly and her personality was allowed to fully develop. This important experience of British education and culture, together with her development of English proficiency, will constitute her unique strength in applying for admission into Oxford University. She returned to China in September 20xx because her father was seriously ill and she wanted to be with him. Thereupon, she came to attend our school, one of the few private schools in China which adopts a totally western style of education.

Benefiting from her British educational background, Miss Gu soon distinguished herself academically from her classmates. She displayed capacity for cogent logical analysis, broad academic perspectives, unique ways of looking at the world around her, and wide-ranged knowledge, qualities that are largely absent from most students who have received strictly conventional Chinese education. For this reason, she was honored as Outstanding Student for two consecutive years and was given the Outstanding Student Leader award. She is one of the two student assistants to the schoolmaster responsible for keeping smooth communications between students and the school committee.

In my History course, Miss Gu has also demonstrated important aptitudes and academic potential. She is especially interested in western history. When discussing the post-World War II western support for the establishment of Israel as a state, Miss Gu came up with two explanations—the general western sympathy for the tribulations that Israel people suffered during the two wars and America’s need to single out an ally in the midst of the Islam world. This is just one of the many instances in which Miss Gu applied her sociological, historical, and political analysis effectively, and showed her sound judgment.

In her course project Feudal Nepotism as the Root Cause for the Fall of Tang Dynasty in Chinese History, she substantiated this novel topic with thoughtful analyses, interesting views, comprehensive references and detailed bibliography. For her important research potential, I gave her the highest score in her class. In the Golden Travel activity sponsored by UNICEF to protect historical heritages in the world, in which I myself participated, students visited the UNESCO’s headquarters in France and Miss Gu used her history knowledge to raise several thought-provoking questions at a conference.

Miss Gu is seldom contented with what she has achieved. After achieving the standard level (the highest score) in IB history exam, she has proceeded onto the high-level study in order to lay a solid foundation for her PPE program. I also learned from her TOK (Theory of Knowledge) teacher that several term papers written by Miss Gu in English are among the best he has read over the past few years as those papers are invariably well-reasoned and well-structured, testifying to the writer’s fine knowledge in history and philosophy and other related subjects.

As the head teacher of Miss Gu’s class, I am also familiar with her extracurricular involvements. She is the vice chairperson of the Students Union and organized the school’s largest fashion show. She was the hostess of two major campus events, using both Chinese and English and she received two groups of international exchange students. She also directed the performance of an English drama. In all those activities, we can see a student official with effective leadership, strong organization and interpersonal skills.

Young as she is, Miss Gu has received academic training across different educational and cultural systems. She possesses pluralistic awareness and this awareness will be of immense value in her future PPE program. She will have much to contribute to your program and her demonstrated scholastic aptitudes make her a worthy candidate for your well-respected program. All that I must say is that she has developed almost all the necessary qualities for undertaking your challenging program and for completing it successfully. For those reasons, I recommend Gu x x most enthusiastically for your favorable consideration of her application.

Yours Sincerely

嘉文博译郑重声明：