When they advise your kids to "get an education" if you want to raise your income, they tell you only half the truth. What they really mean is to get just enough education to provide manpower for your society, but not too much that you prove an embarrassment to your society.
Get a high school diploma, at least. Without that, you are occupationally dead, unless your name happens to be George Bernard Shaw or Thomas Alva Edison and you can successfully drop out 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 only from a first-rate university. Beyond this, the famous law of diminishing returns begins to take effect.
Do you know, for instance, that long-haul truck drivers earn more a year than full professors? Yes, the average salary in 1977 for those truckers was $24,000, while the full professors managed to average just$23,930.
A Ph.D.is the highest degree you can get, but except in a few specialized fields such as physics or chemistry, where the degree can quickly be turned to industrial or commercial purposes, you are facing a dim future. There are more Ph.D.s unemployed or underemployed in this country than in any other part of the world by far.
If you become a doctor of philosophy 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 Ph.D.s are selling shoes, driving cabs, waiting on tables and filling out fruitless applications month after month. And then maybe taking a job in some high school or backwater college that pays much less than the janitor 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.
1.According to the writer, what the society expects of education is to turn out people who_______.
A.will not be a shame to the society B.will become loyal citizens
C.can take care of themselves D.can meet the demands as a source of manpower
2.Many Ph.D.s are out of job because_______.
A.they are wrongly educated B.they are of little commercial value to the society
C.there are fewer jobs in high schools D.they prefer easy jobs with more money
3.The nation is only interested in people_______.
A.with diplomas B.specialized in physics and chemistry
C.valuable to the gross national product D.both A and C
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 going for a master's degree.
C.The higher your educational level, the more money you will earn.
D.If you are educated too much, you'll make things difficult for the society.
5.What is the attitude of the author to the education?
A.Education is necessary but not crucial. B.Higher education isn't equal to the higher income.
C.Education works not so good as technique. D.A Ph.D.can only work in schools or colleges.
長難例句分析
［長難例句］What they really mean is to get just enough education to provide manpower for your society, but not too much that you prove an embarrassment to your society.
［結構分析］本句是主系表結構。what引導的名詞從句作主語，系動詞是is，to do不定式作表語。在這個不定式中，動詞get的賓語有兩個，一個是enough education...，一個是not too much...，而enough education的賓語補足語是to provide...。
［參考譯文］他們真實的意思是受到足夠的教育可以為社會提供勞動力，可不要過度，否則你就只能在社會中困窘不堪。
［長難例句］Without that, you are occupationally dead, unless your name happens to be George Bernard Shaw or Thomas Alva Edison and you can successfully drop out in grade school.
［結構分析］本句中，主干是...you are occupationally dead...。without that是一個條件狀語，后面也是一個由unless引導的條件狀語從句，unless引導的條件狀語是由兩個并列的句子構成的。
［參考譯文］沒有中學文憑，你就會沒有工作，除非你碰巧是大名鼎鼎的喬治·蕭伯納或是托馬斯·阿爾瓦·愛迪生，并且成功地從中小學輟學。
［長難例句］A Ph.D.is the highest degree you can get, but except in a few specialized fields such as physics or chemistry, where the degree can quickly be turned to industrial or commercial purposes, you are facing a dim future.
［結構分析］本句的主干是A Ph.D.is the highest degree..., but... you are facing a dim future。在第一個分句中，you can get是一個定語從句修飾前面的degree。在第二個分句中，except引導的介賓短語作條件狀語，in...作except的賓語。在英語語法中，常見到介詞后面接介詞短語的情況。physics or chemistry后面是關系副詞where引導的非限定性定語從句。
［參考譯文］你能得到的最高學位是博士學位，可除非學習個別專業(yè)，諸如能把學位應用于工商業(yè)的物理或化學，否則你的前途就會很黯淡。
全文參考譯文
如果你要提高收入，他們就會建議你的孩子去“接受教育”，這種建議只對了一半。他們真實的意思是受到足夠的教育可以為社會提供勞動力?？刹灰^度，否則你就只能在社會中困窘不堪。
至少應該獲得中學文憑，否則你會沒有工作，除非你碰巧是大名鼎鼎的喬治·蕭伯納或是托馬斯·阿爾瓦·愛迪生，并且成功地從中小學輟學。
若可能的話，要得到大學文憑。擁有了大學文憑，你就像上了“發(fā)射臺”。不過此時，你就應該“剎車”了。如果你想申請碩士學位，那最好是一流大學的MBA。否則，再往后，著名的報酬遞減率就會起作用了。
舉例來說，你知道長途運輸司機的年收入就比正教授高嗎？沒錯，那些卡車司機1977年的平均收入是2.4萬美金，而教授的收入平均是2.393萬美金。
你能得到的最高學位是博士學位，可除了學習個別專業(yè)，諸如能把學位應用于工商業(yè)的物理或化學，你的前途就很黯淡。到目前為止，這個國家里失業(yè)或是收入低的博士要比世界上其他地區(qū)多得多。
假如你成為一名研究英語、歷史、人類學、政治、語言或者——最糟糕的——哲學的博士，你就有危險受到過度教育而超出了國家的需要。提醒你，不是超出了我們自身的需求，而是超出了國家對我們的需求。
成千上萬的博士或者賣鞋、開出租車，或者月復一月地坐在辦公桌旁填寫一些沒用的表格。也可能在一些中學或沒有前途的大學當差，掙的錢比看門人還要少得多。
你可以將收入的高低和受教育的高低對等起來，即讓你能夠為提高國民生產(chǎn)總值有點用處的教育就已足夠，而不要受過度的教育，以至于沒有人能夠從你身上得到利潤。
題目答案與解析
1.按照作者的觀點，培養(yǎng)出_________ 的人是社會對教育的期望。
A.不會成為社會羞恥 B.將成為忠誠的城市人
C.能夠自我照顧 D.可以滿足人力資源需求
【答案】D
【解析】本題的依據(jù)是第一段的最后一句話just enough education to provide manpower for your society，因此D項為正確答案。
2.很多博士生無法找到工作的原因是_________。
A.他們受到了錯誤的教育 B.他們對社會缺乏社會商業(yè)價值
C.高校中的工作職位太少 D.他們更喜歡掙錢多的簡單工作
【答案】B
【解析】本題的依據(jù)是第五段的第一句A Ph.D.is the highest degree you can get, but except in a few specialized fields such as physics or chemistry, where the degree can quickly be turned to industrial or commercial purposes，據(jù)此可知，他們的學識不能很快應用在工業(yè)或商業(yè)上。因此B項為正確答案。
3.這個國家僅僅對_________ 人感興趣。
A.有學位的 B.物理或化學專業(yè)的
C.對國民生產(chǎn)總值有用的 D.A和C類
【答案】D
【解析】本題可參照文章的第二段和第三段。這兩段告訴我們，社會對有文憑的人感興趣。但我們不能選擇A項，因為文中也提到有些學歷太高的人，社會也不需要，有的是賣鞋、開出租車和當看門人的博士。再參照最后一段，對國民生產(chǎn)總值有價值的人才能獲得較高的收入，因此C項也對。所以D項為正確答案。
4.下面各項中不正確的是哪項？
A.蕭伯納或是愛迪生都沒有上完高中?！.申請碩士學位前必須仔細考慮一下。
C.受到的教育水平越高，賺的錢越多?！.如果你受了過度教育，你將給社會制造麻煩。
【答案】C
【解析】從文中內(nèi)容可知，你有可能受教育過度。對國民生產(chǎn)總值有價值的人才能獲得較高的收入。又根據(jù)第四段里講到的例子——卡車司機的收入比教授的高，因此C項為正確答案。
5.作者對教育的態(tài)度是什么？
A.教育是必需的但不是決定性的?！.受教育水平高不等于收入水平高。
C.教育不如技術好使?！ .哲學博士只能在學校工作。
【答案】A
【解析】其他選項都過于絕對。
