Reading is not the only way to gain knowledge of the work in the past. There is another la

rge. reservoir which may be called experience, and the college students will find, that every craftsman (工匠) has something he can teach and will generally teach gladly any college student who does not look down upon them. The information from them differs from that in textbooks and papers chiefly in that its theoretical part—the explanations of why things happen, is frequently quite fantastic. But the demonstration (示范) and report of what happens, and how it happens are correct even if the reports are in completely unscientific terms. Presently the college students will learn, in this case also, what to accept and what to reject. One important thing for a college student to remember is that if Aristotle could talk to the fisherman, so can he.

Another source of knowledge is the vast store of traditional practices handed down from father to son, or mother to daughter, of old country customs, of folklore (风俗). All this is very difficult for a college student to examine, for much knowledge and personal experience is needed here to separate good plants from wild grass. The college students should learn to realize and remember how much of real value science has found in this wide and confused wilderness and how long scientific discoveries of what had existed in this area long.

In the last paragraph the phrase "this wide and confused wilderness" refers to ______.

A．personal experience

B．wild weeds among good plants

C．the information from the parents

D．the vast store of traditional practices