单选题
Passage Four
Education begins with teachers. Yet teaching seems to be losing its appeal for many of the best and brightest college students. In high school, many of the best students decide that they want to be teachers, but their relatives and friends soon convince them to change their minds. One student's mother kept reminding her of the relatively skimpy salaries teachers currently earn until the student changed to another major. Another student took computer science courses because his father thought that teachers were at the bottom of the social ladder. One said that none of her friends looked upon teaching as a worthwhile career, so she came to think of teaching as not noble enough and went into pharmacy instead. According to several recent reports on the shortcomings of American public schooling, teaching's lack of appeal for the brightest college students is one of the teaching profession's most worrisome problems.
Many articles on teaching, currently popular in newspapers, magazines, and professional education journals, concentrate on the negative aspects of teaching. The expression "teacher burnout" is commonly ascribed to thousands of thoughtful and dedicated teachers who are leaving the profession. Teacher burnout is caused by such problems as violence in the classroom, vandalism, inadequate salaries, involuntary transfers, interfering parents, oversized classes, and excessive paperwork. Even the best teachers cannot solve a child's problems, but many of them believe the public expects them to, and they give up teaching in despair.
Despite the more limited financial prospects, the deterioration of the American public's attitude toward teachers, and the problems caused by disruptive students, many of the best students conclude that they want to pursue careers in the classroom after all. The three students mentioned above discovered that they wanted personal fulfillment from their life's work more than they wanted material rewards. Each eventually chose to become a teacher. However, a growing body of evidence shows that such students are exceptions, rather than the rule, in America's more than 1,200 teacher-training programs. Many teacher-training schools are beginning to look at ways to recruit the kind of people who would be inclined toward the positive aspects of teaching. The teaching profession has to become more attractive to good students.
Prospective teachers will see increased emphasis by national teacher organizations, state certification agencies, and local districts on improving the status of the profession, as well as on improving teacher salaries. Continued efforts to eliminate jobs teachers do that are not teacher—such as policing the restrooms, hallways, and cafeterias—are important for upgrading the profession.
While teaching is not a wise career choice for all, teaching is a noble and rewarding profession for those who indeed seek personal fulfillment from their life's work. The first year of teaching is frequently the most frustrating year in a teacher's life. The experience of solving problems that deal with instruction, students, parents, administrators, and fellow teachers is of immeasurable value for future success.