新托福口語練習材料—學生是否僅學習書本討論(2)
2014-12-25 16:16:27留學網(wǎng)整理
II.Read
Readthefollowingpassages.Underlinetheimportantviewpointswhilereading.
1.ItIsNotProfitabletoStudy
Thissoundslikealarmisttalk,butthewholenationfacesthedangerofbelievingthatitisnotprofitabletostudy.
Thefollowingfigureswillserveasevidence:
Between1980and1988,morethan4millionprimaryandmiddleschoolstudentsquitschool.In1988alone,morethan6,000collegestudentsand2,000post-graduatestudentsleftschool.
Atthesametime,alargenumberofteachersresignedtofindbetter-payingjobs.Insomeareas,schoolshadtoclosebecausetherewerenoteachersavailable.
Althoughthecountrylackseducatedpeople,morethan5,000collegegraduateswereturneddownbytheworkunitstowhichtheyereassignedlastyear.
Astudyshowsthat35percentofthecountry’spopulationabovetheageof15isilliterateorhalf-literate.Thesituationcouldaffectsocialstandardsandthreatenthesurvivalofthenation.
AnarticlefromtheBeijing-basedEconomicsWeeklyattributedthedangeroussituationineducationtoinsufficientfunding.China’sonlyallocates3.7percentofitsgrossnationalproducttoeducation,lowerthansome100othercountriesoftheworld.China’spercapitaspendingoneducationequalsone-fourththatofotherdevelopingcountries.
Teachersarepoorlypaid.Accordingto1988statistics,teachergenerallyearnlessthanfactoryworkers,bankemployeesandtechnologicalpersonnel.
Teachers’housingproblemsaremoreseriousthanthoseofotheremployees.Lastyear,38percentoftheteachersatQinghuaUniversitylivedinextremelycrowdedquartersand4.5percenthadnoapartments,while600singleteacherslivedinroomssharedbythreeorfour.
Thetraditionoverthousandsofyearsthatscholarsshouldnotpursuematerialgoalshaschanged.Manyteachershavequittheirschooljobstodobusiness.Otherssaytheyhopethattheirchildrenwillnotbecometeacherslikethem.
Tomakethingsworse,thelimitedfundsforeducationhavenotalwaysbeenusedintherightway.
Between1985and1986,governmentauditingdepartmentsdiscoveredthatasmuchas500millionyuanwasspentonofficialbuildings,carsandbusinessactivities,wilemanystudentsattendedclassesinrundownclassroomsorevenoutdoors.
2.EducationIsaboutSomethingMoreImportant
Yes,butthatiseducationbout?Isitreallyaboutfactsandfigures,learningthingsbyheart-youknow,thethree"r’s"reading,writingandarithmetic(andthatshowssomebodycan’tspell,doesn’tit?)No,itgetsmereallycross.Peoplecriticizemoderneducationbecausesomekidsdon’tknowtheirseventimestable.Hell,whatdoesthatmatterintheageofcomputersandcalculators?No,educationisaboutsomethingmuchmoreimportant.It’saboutteachingpeoplehowtolive,howtogetonwithoneanother,howtoformrelationships.It’sabutunderstandingthings,notjustknowingthem.O.K.sevensevensareforty-nine.Butwhatdoesthatmean?It’snotjustaformula,youknow.Iwantmykidstounderstand.
