Accordingtoasurvey,whichwasbasedontheresponsesofover188,000students,today’straditional-agecollegefreshmenare”morematerialisticandlessaltruistic(利他主义的)”thanatanytimeinthe17yearsofthepoll.
Notsurprisinginthesehardtimes,thestudent’smajorobjective“istobefinanciallywelloff.Lessimportantthaneverisdevelopingameaningfulphilosophyoflife.”Itfollowsthenthattodaythemostpopularcourseisnotliteratureorhistorybutaccounting.
Interestinteaching,socialserviceandthe“altruistic”fieldsisatalow.Ontheotherhand,enrollmentinbusinessprograms,engineeringandcomputerscienceiswayup.
That’snosurpriseeither.Afriendofmine(asalesrepresentativeforachemicalcompany)wasmakingtwicethesalaryofhercollegeinstructorsherfirstyearonthejob-evenbeforeshecompletedhertwo-yearassociatedegree.
Whileit’struethatweallneedacareer,itisequallytruethatourcivilizationhasaccumulatedanincredibleamountofknowledgeinfieldsfarremovedfromourownandthatwearebetterforourunderstandingoftheseothercontributionsmbetheyscientificorartistic.Itisequallytruethat,instudyingthediversewisdomofothers,welearnhowtothink.Moreimportant,perhaps,educationteachesustoseetheconnectionsbetweenthings,aswellastoseebeyondourimmediateneeds.
Weeklywereadofunionswhowentonstrikeforhigherwages,onlytodrivetheiremployeroutofbusiness.Nocompany;nojob.Howshortsightedinthelongrun!
Butthemostimportantargumentforabroadeducationisthatinstudyingtheaccumulatedwisdomoftheages,weimproveourmoralsense.Isawacartoonrecentlywhichshowsagroupofbusinessmenlookingpuzzledastheysitaroundaconferencetable;oneofthemistalkingontheintercom(对讲机):“MissBaxter,”hesays,“couldyoupleasesendinsomeonewhocandistinguishrightfromwrong?”
Fromthelong-termpointofview,that’swhateducationreallyoughttobeabout.
练习题：
Choosecorrectanswerstothequestion:
1.Accordingtotheauthor’sobservation,collegestudents_______.
A.haveneverbeensomaterialisticastoday
B.haveneverbeensointerestedinthearts
C.haveneverbeensofinanciallywelloffastoday
D.haveneverattachedsomuchimportancetomoralsense
2.Thestudents’criteriaforselectingmajorstodayhavemuchtodowith_______.
A.theinfluencesoftheirinstructors
B.thefinancialgoalstheyseekinlife
C.theirowninterpretationsofthecourses
D.theirunderstandingofthecontributionsofothers
3.Bysaying“Whileit’struethat...betheyscientificorartistic”(Lines1-3,Para.5),theauthormeansthat_______.
A.businessmanagementshouldbeincludedineducationalprograms
B.humanwisdomhasaccumulatedatanextraordinarilyhighspeed
C.humanintellectualdevelopmenthasreachednewheights
D.theimportanceofabroadeducationshouldnotbeoverlooked
4.Studyingthediversewisdomofotherscan________.
A.createvaryingartisticinterests
B.helppeopleseethingsintheirrightperspective
C.helpimproveconnectionsamongpeople
D.regulatethebehaviorofmodernpeople
5.Whichofthefollowingstatementsistrueaccordingtothepassage?
A.Businessmenabsorbedintheircareerarenarrow-minded.
B.Managersoftenfindithardtotellrightfromwrong.
C.Peopleengagedintechnicaljobsleadamorerewardinglife.
D.Careerseekersshouldnotfocusonimmediateinterestsonly.
