II.Read
Readthefollowingpassages.Underlinetheimportantviewpointswhilereading.
1.ItIsNotProfitabletoStudy
Thissoundslikealarmisttalk,butthewholenationfacesthedangerofbelievingthatitisnotprofitabletostudy.
Thefollowingfigureswillserveasevidence:
Between1980and1988,morethan4millionprimaryandmiddleschoolstudentsquitschool.In1988alone,morethan6,000collegestudentsand2,000post-graduatestudentsleftschool.
Atthesametime,alargenumberofteachersresignedtofindbetter-payingjobs.Insomeareas,schoolshadtoclosebecausetherewerenoteachersavailable.
Althoughthecountrylackseducatedpeople,morethan5,000collegegraduateswereturneddownbytheworkunitstowhichtheyereassignedlastyear.
Astudyshowsthat35percentofthecountryspopulationabovetheageof15isilliterateorhalf-literate.Thesituationcouldaffectsocialstandardsandthreatenthesurvivalofthenation.
AnarticlefromtheBeijing-basedEconomicsWeeklyattributedthedangeroussituationineducationtoinsufficientfunding.Chinasonlyallocates3.7percentofitsgrossnationalproducttoeducation,lowerthansome100othercountriesoftheworld.Chinaspercapitaspendingoneducationequalsone-fourththatofotherdevelopingcountries.
Teachersarepoorlypaid.Accordingto1988statistics,teachergenerallyearnlessthanfactoryworkers,bankemployeesandtechnologicalpersonnel.
Teachershousingproblemsaremoreseriousthanthoseofotheremployees.Lastyear,38percentoftheteachersatQinghuaUniversitylivedinextremelycrowdedquartersand4.5percenthadnoapartments,while600singleteacherslivedinroomssharedbythreeorfour.
Thetraditionoverthousandsofyearsthatscholarsshouldnotpursuematerialgoalshaschanged.Manyteachershavequittheirschooljobstodobusiness.Otherssaytheyhopethattheirchildrenwillnotbecometeacherslikethem.
Tomakethingsworse,thelimitedfundsforeducationhavenotalwaysbeenusedintherightway.
Between1985and1986,governmentauditingdepartmentsdiscoveredthatasmuchas500millionyuanwasspentonofficialbuildings,carsandbusinessactivities,wilemanystudentsattendedclassesinrundownclassroomsorevenoutdoors.
2.EducationIsaboutSomethingMoreImportant
Yes,butthatiseducationbout?Isitreallyaboutfactsandfigures,learningthingsbyheart-youknow,thethreersreading,writingandarithmetic(andthatshowssomebodycantspell,doesntit?)No,itgetsmereallycross.Peoplecriticizemoderneducationbecausesomekidsdontknowtheirseventimestable.Hell,whatdoesthatmatterintheageofcomputersandcalculators?No,educationisaboutsomethingmuchmoreimportant.Itsaboutteachingpeoplehowtolive,howtogetonwithoneanother,howtoformrelationships.Itsabutunderstandingthings,notjustknowingthem.O.K.sevensevensareforty-nine.Butwhatdoesthatmean?Itsnotjustaformula,youknow.Iwantmykidstounderstand.