问答题
Read the following text(s) and write an essay to
1) summarize the main points of the text(s),
2) make clear, our own viewpoints, and
3) justify, your stand.
In your essay, make full use of the information provided in the text(s). If you use more than three consecutive words from the text(s), use quotation marks(" ").
You should write 160-200 words.
Now that we have doubled the number of young people attending college, a diploma cannot even guarantee a job. The most charitable conclusion we can reach is that college probably has very little, if any, effect on people and things at all. Today, the false premises are easy to see:
First, college doesn"t make people intelligent, ambitious, happy or liberal. It"s the other way around. Intelligent, ambitious, happy, liberal people are attracted to higher education in the first place.
Second, college can"t claim much credit for the learning experiences that really change students while they are there. Jobs, history, and most of all, the sheer passage of time, have as big an impact as anything even indirectly related to the campus.
Third, colleges have changed so radically that a freshman entering in the fall or 1974 can"t be sure to gain even the limited value research studies assigned to colleges in the 60s. The sheer size of undergraduate campuses of the 1970s makes college even less stimulating now than it was 10 years ago. Today even motivated students are disappointed with their college courses and professors.
Finally, a college diploma no longer opens as many vocational doors. Employers are beginning to realize that when they pay extra for someone with a diploma, they are paying only for an empty credential. The fact is that most of the work for which employers now expect college training is now or has been capably done in the past by people without higher education.
College, then, may be a good place for those few young people who are really drawn to academic work, who would rather read than eat, but it has become too expensive, in money, time, and intellectual effort to serve as a holding pen for large numbers of our young. We ought to make it possible for those reluctant, unhappy students to find alternative ways of growing up, and more realistic preparation for the years ahead.
【正确答案】
【答案解析】Years ago, college diploma was the stepping stone to a decent job, handsome salary and high social status. College graduates were deemed with respect as talented and intelligent people.
However, as time goes by, millions of students graduate from college every year and many of them even find it hard to find a job, let alone a satisfactory one. Some may feel that what they have learned in college seems to have little or nothing to do with what is required in the workplace.
Maybe it is time for us to evaluate the significance of college education in a more reasonable way. After all, it is practical skills rather than empty credentials that really matter in work.
In fact, for those who really have passion for research and academic work, college is an ideal place to receive profound and theoretical education, while for those who are not interested in reading books, it"s much wiser to invest their time and money in learning some practical skills. College diploma should be viewed from a rational perspective.