新托福口語練習材料—學生是否僅學習書本討論(2)

　　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.