When your parents advise you to “get an education” in order to raise your income, they tel

When your parents advise you to “get an education” in order to raise your income, they tell you only half the truth. What they really mean is to get just enough education to provide manpower（人力资源） for your society, but not so much that you prove an embarrassment to your society.
Get a high school diploma, at least. Without that, you will be occupationally dead unless your name happens to be George Bernard Shaw or Thomas Alva Edison, and you can successfully dropout in grade school.
Get a college degree, if possible. With a B. A., you are on the launching pad. But now you have to start to put on the brakes. If you go for a master’s degree, make sure it is an M.B.A., and the famous law of diminishing(逐渐减少的) returns begins to take effect.
Do you know, for instance, that long-haul truck drivers earn more per year than full professors? Yes, the average salary for those truckers was $24000 while the full professors managed to earn just $23030.
A doctorate is the highest degree you can get. Except for a few specialized fields such as physics or chemistry where the degree can quickly be turned to industrial or commercial purposes, if you pursue such a degree in any other field, you will face a future which is not bright. There are more doctors unemployed or underemployed in this country than any other part of the world.
If you become a doctor in English or history or anthropology or political science or languages or—worst of all—in philosophy, you run the risk of becoming overeducated for our national demands. Not for our needs, mind you, but for our demands.
Thousands of doctors are selling shoes, driving cars, waiting on table, and endlessly filling out applications month after month. They may also take a job in some high school or backwater(闭塞) college that pays much less than the doorkeeper earns.
You can equate the level of income with the level of education only so far. Far enough, that is, to make you useful to the gross national product, but not so far that nobody can turn much of a profit on you.
【小题1】According to the writer, what the society expects of education is to turn out people who .A．will not be a disgrace to societyB．will become loyal citizensC．can take care of themselvesD．can meet the nation’s demand as a source of manpower【小题2】Many doctors are out of job because . A．they are improperly educatedB．they are of little commercial value to their societyC．there are fewer jobs in high schoolsD．they prefer easier jobs that make more money【小题3】The nation is only interested in people .A．with diplomasB．who specialize in physics and chemistryC．who are valuable to the gross national productD．who receive little education【小题4】Which of the following is NOT true? A．Bernard Shaw didn’t finish high school, nor did Edison.B．One must think carefully before pursuing a master’s degree.C．The higher your education level, the more money you will earn.D．If you are too well-educated, you’ll be overeducated for society’s demands.【小题5】The writer sees education as .A．a means of providing job security and financial security and a means of meeting a country’s demands for technical workersB．a way to broaden one’s horizonsC．more important than finding a jobD．an opportunity that everyone should haveD

(答案→)D 解析：文章阐述了教育是一种提供工作安全和财政安全的手段，一种满足国家对技术工人的要求的手段，有时教育的水平和收入并不能够成正比。【小题1】细节题：从文章第一段的句子：What they really mean is to get just enough education to provide manpower（人力资源） for your society, but not so much that you prove an embarrassment to your society.可知社会希望教育可以转向做为人力资源能够达到国家要求的人，所以选D【小题2】细节题：从文章第六段的句子：If you become a doctor in English or history or anthropology or political science or languages or—worst of all—in philosophy, you run the risk of becoming overeducated for our national demands. Not for our needs, mind you, but for our demands.可知很多博士失业是因为他们对社会没有什么商业价值，选B【小题3】细节题：从最后一段文章的句子：to make you useful to the gross national product, but not so far that nobody can turn much of a profit on you.可知国家只对国家产品总收入有价值的人感兴趣，选C【小题4】推理题：从文章第四段的句子：Do you know, for instance, that long-haul truck drivers earn more per year than full professors?可知你的教育水平越高，挣的钱就越多，这句话是错的，选C【小题5】细节题：从文章第一段的句子：Get a high school diploma, at least. Without that, you will be occupationally dead和第四段 A doctorate is the highest degree you can get. Except for a few specialized fields such as physics or chemistry where the degree can quickly be turned to industrial or commercial purposes,可知作者认为教育是一种提供工作安全和财政安全的手段，一种满足国家对技术工人的要求的手段，选A

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