The dean of Engineering had once walked into a class, and said "Good Morning".

 

The whole class chorused "Good Morning".

 

"Hi, you are freshmen¹, aren't you?" he asked.

 

One student bolder than the others asked him how he knew.

 

"Well," he said. "When I say 'Good Morning' to a class, if they are freshmen they say 'Good Morning' too. If they are sophomores², they quietly fold their papers away, and look at me. A class of juniors will look at me over the top of their papers, and then get back to them. A class of seniors will ignore my greeting, and keep reading the papers. When I say 'Good Morning' to a class of graduate students, they write it down."

 

一天，工程系的主任走进一间教室说：“早上好。”

 

全班同学异口同声地回答：“早上好。”

 

“你们是大一新生吧？”主任问道。

 

班级里一个胆子比较大的同学问主任是如何知道的。

 

“嗯，”主任说，“当我说‘早上好’的时候，假如是大一的新生，他们也一定会说‘早上好’的。假如他们是大二的学生，他们会轻轻地合上课本，然后集体看着我。大三的学生则会抱着书本，抬起头看我一眼，然后又继续读书。大四的学生则根本无视我的存在，一直看着书。至于研究生班的学生，我向他们‘问早上’好，他们就会把这句话写在笔记本上。”

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