In this respect Ross urged his sensible opinion that, 'As democracy advances, manners and morals recede', and urged the staff to read The Rising Tide of Colour. He held that the defeat of Germany had come about 'because she thought that Science and materialism were stronger than religious thought and observance.' He called the scientific subjects 'low cunning', and would sniff and say, 'This room smells of mathematics! Go out and fetch a disinfectant spray!'

在纪律问题上，罗斯认为随着民主制的发展，纪律和道德的约束性会逐渐减弱。在科学问题上，他认为德国之所以战败，就是因为德国认为科学和唯物主义比宗教信仰更强大。他认为科学是低级而狡诈的学科，常会嗤之以鼻说：「这屋子闻起来一股数学味儿！拿消毒喷雾来！」

Alan used the time on something he found more interesting. Ross caught him doing algebra during time devoted to 'religious instruction', and wrote at half-term: inexactitude and slipshod, dirty, work, inconsistent though such inexactitude is in a utilitarian, but I cannot forgive the stupidity of his attitude towards sane discussion on the New Testament.

艾伦总是固执地把时间花在他认为有趣的事情上，有一次，他在「宗教传授时间」做代数，结果被罗斯逮到了。罗斯对此写道：我可以容忍他写那些玩意，尽管那是我见过的最恶心的东西，我也可以容忍他难辨的、像鸡爬一样的字迹，但我无论如何也不能容忍，他对待《新约》的那种愚蠢态度。

He ought not to be in this form of course as far as form subjects go. He is ludicrously behind.

他不应该再这么留在这个年级，这太荒唐了。

In December 1927, Ross placed him bottom in both English and Latin, attaching to the report an inky, blotted page which clearly indicated the negligible amount of energy conceded by Alan to the deeds of Marius and Sulla. Yet even Ross tempered his complaint with the comment 'I like him personally'. O'Hanlon wrote of his 'saving sense of humour'. At home, Alan's messy experiments might be tiresome, but he had a jolly way of coming out with scientific facts, and of telling jokes against his own clumsiness, naive and free from showing off, that it was hard not to like. He was certainly foolish in not making life easier for himself; lazy and perhaps arrogant in supposing he knew what was good for him; but he was not so much obstreperous as bewildered by demands which had nothing to do with his interests. Nor did he complain at home about Sherborne, for he seemed to regard it as the fact of life which indeed it was.

1927年12月，罗斯把艾伦的英语和拉丁语成绩排到最后一名，作为报告的附件，然后评论说「我私下挺喜欢他的」，来作为一种调和。艾伦在一张泼墨的纸上，愤怒地签字承认了这份报告。艾伦在家里时，家人也都挺喜欢他，尽管他那些乱七八糟的实验有点烦人，但他有自己的快乐和自由。他在家里也从不抱怨舍尔伯尼，他好像就是把这当成生命中的一个事实来接受，实际上，这也确实是。