When I was a law professor, a student reported that I made an error in grading his exam by giving him too many points．He was 1 and after thanking him for his honesty, I changed the grade in my 2 ．His beaming(欢笑的)face turned to shock．"You're 3 my grade?" he said angrily．"I would never have come in 4 …"
He didn't finish the 5 , but it was obvious that his display of honesty was 6 ．He thought he'd have it all －praise and the higher grade．
Several colleagues thought I should have let the higher grade 7 because all I'd accomplished was to discourage him from being 8 in the future．And every time I tell this story, some people agree to this 9 ．
But I can't see how I could give good reason for worsening my 10 in grading by undermining(损害)the honesty of all my grades by failing to 11 an error．The grade itself would be a dishonest 12 of his knowledge and it would have been 13 to other students．How could I 14 give a student a gift of an unearned grade?
I know 15 reporting an error in one's favor is unusual, but, like 16 too much change, it's clearly the right thing to do．People of character, those with real honesty, hate to give up 17 as much as anyone else．The difference is that for them a good conscience and reputation is 18 enough to give reason for the cost of doing the right thing．
Perhaps lowering the student's grade did 19 him from being honest in the future, but bribing(贿赂)him to be honest so that he does the right thing when its cost-free would have 20 him even more．The duty to be honest is about right and wrong, not risks and rewards．
In my third year as a high school athletics coach, I gave a speech telling students and parents about the benefits of football．I gave the same 1 each year, aimin g at recruiting(招收)new team members．I talked about 2 football wasn't just for 3 athletes and how everyone could 4 from it．This year, a 5 looking couple approached me after my speech．They said their son really wanted to play football．They had tried to 6 him out of it, but he had his heart 7 on joining the team．
When they told me his name, my heart sank．Michael was five feet and ten inches tall and weighed about 108 pounds．He was a 8 boy, the constant target of other kids' jokes, and as far as I knew he had never 9 sports．I knew he would never 10 it through football practice, let 11 as a player．But we told them we could give it a try．
On the opening day of practice, Michael was the first player on the field, we did 30 minutes of warming-up 12 starting a one-mile jog around the track．I 13 my eye on Michael．At 50 yards he fell, and I helped him to his feet．“Michael,”I said,“Why don't you just 14 the mile?”He said in tears that he wanted to run with the others, so I let him go on． 15 he fell, but each time 16 himself up．
The same thing happened every day for weeks, and Michael gained strength both 17 and physically．By the last week of practice, Michael could run the mile without falling, we had 18 only one game that season, 19 the team cheered louder for Michael's run than the victory they had, Afterward, Michael approached me, and I told him how 20 I was of him．
