单选题 Schools used to be considered places to prepare young people for life. After their education was finished, they were supposed to get ready to go out into the real world. But many adults these days are coming back to "schools of continuing education" and "centers of lifelong learning". They feel that one's education is never really ended, because one is never too old to learn.
A fast-growing number of older students are helping schools that once ignored their needs. Filling empty seats in classrooms from Maine to Hawaii, students who are 25 and older are having a great effect on all fields of higher education. In all, there are 17 million of them. Programs include courses offered by high schools, local governments, federal agencies, and private groups. But it is at the college level where effects are the greatest. Educators say the registration of older students is caused by a growing feeling of Americans that education is a life-long effort. It has provided new variety as well as needed dollars to schools, traditionally intended for students in their teens anti early twenties.
According to Census Bureau estimates, Olin Cook, Director of Higher Education for the state of Arkansas, says: "Adult education will keep the classes filled and the bills paid."
Teachers say that there has been a definite effect on classrooms and course work. Older students are described as more serious and mature, frequently more demanding of instructors, and more willing to contribute personal experiences to discussions. "They realize that they are here to do X, Y, Z, and they want the professor to teach them that. They are very attentive and concerned. " A Michigan educator, Elinor P. Waters says that the presence of older students on campus "will take us a step closer to the real world; there will he fewer irrelevant courses and more practical ones".
Why do adults want to re-enter academic life? School administrators say high unemployment is one of the biggest reasons, forcing many Americans to develop new skills. In addition, a large number of women who left school to raise families or who want jobs that require a college diploma are going back to school. College graduates are returning for second degrees to start new careers. And there are thousands of retired persons who are seeking good use of their free time.
Many students feel that they are better prepared for learning than they were when they were younger. For example, Jane Pirozzolo, who will soon receive a degree in English from Boston University, graduated from junior college in 1967 and has worked as a secretary since then Explaining her decision to return to school, she says: "I felt overqualified for the jobs I was doing, and they were becoming increasingly boring. Now I feel I can understand what the professor wants, and I can study and read better than I could ten years ago. I feel like I'm one step ahead of the young students."
Most educators are convinced that the growth of adult learning is an important change in American education. Proof of the great interest in adult education is the action being taken to attract adult students.

单选题 Many grown people now believe that ______.
A. it is not necessary for them to receive continuing education
B. one can learn all his life
C. it is difficult for them to learn
D. you can't teach an old dog new tricks

单选题 Adult education helps to ______.
A. develop tourism B. increase the population of the middle class
C. raise the standard of living D. increase the schools' finances

单选题 Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A. Adult education needs more attention and effort of the professors.
B. Adult education will lead to the reduction of irrelevant courses.
C. The presence of older students on campus will improve the relationship between the schools and the real world.
D. Older students know what they should learn on campus.

单选题 Many housewives go back to school in order to ______.
A. make good use of their spare time B. obtain a college diploma
C. get a second degree D. develop new skills

单选题 Older students feel that they ______.
A. are more capable of learning than younger students
B. have more talent than younger students
C. will get better jobs than younger students
D. are more serious and mature than they were younger