新托福口語練習材料——關于學生兼職的討論(3)

　　II.Read

　　Readthefollowingpassages.Underlinetheimportantviewpointswhilereading.

　　1.JobsAttractingDrop-outs

　　Atquittingtime,athrongofveryyoungworkerswalkedtiredlyoutofthegateoftheLihuaPrintworks,atownshipenterprisenShenzhenSpecialEconomicZone,GuangdongProvince.Fiftypercentwereonly13yearsoldontheaverage,whiletheoldestwerenomorethan17.

　　Theteen-agershadtowork14or15hoursaday.Theystartedat7a.m.everydayandhadtoworkuntilnoon.Afteraone-hourlunchbreaktheyworkedto6p.m.andthenhadanotherone-hourrest.Thentheywenttosupperandwentbacktoworkagainforthreeorfourhours.

　　Althoughlifewasveryhard,noneofthemlift.Theyearned100yuanamonth."Ihavemuchmoremoneythanmyfather,whoisamiddleschoolteacher,"agirlsaidproudly.

　　InLinxia,thecapitalofHuiAutonomousPrefectureinGansuProvince,dozensofmosqueswereerected,attractingbothtouristsandpedlars.Atthestandsthatsoldbeef,vegetables,fruitsandbooks,childrenweredoingbusiness.Theoldestwerenomorethan16andtheyoungestaboutsix.Onechildweighedakilogramofapplesonhisbalancescale.Whenheliftedit,thepanofthebalancetouchedhisfeet.Hestaggeredamongthebustlingcrowdsoftouristscryingoutforbusiness.

　　SincetheSpringFestivalof1988,morethan1,000primaryandmiddleschoolstudentsatYulinprefectureinGuangxiZhuangAutonomousRegionhavelefthometoworkinfactoriesinShenzhenSpecialEconomicZoneandDongwanCountyinGuangdongProvince.

　　TwelvestudentsfromtheXingchangMiddleSchoolinLanzhou,GansuProvince,quitschool.Theyleftaletterthatsaid:"Dearteacher:Wearegrownup.Sinceyoutaughtustobeindependentandself-supporting,wearebeginningnow."thesechildren,whoseparentsareallwelleducated,weregoodstudentsintheirclass.

　　NotfarawayfromXi’an,anancientcapitalinShaanxiProvince,therewasacavedwellinginwhichmorethan30youthswerelivingtheywereallboysbetweentheagesof11and18."Wecameouttofindanewlife,"saidoneboy.Butlifewasnotasbeautifulastheyhaddreamed.Theyhadnojobandnomoney.eventually,theygatheredthere.

　　InGuangzhou77percentofthejuveniledelinquentsunder18werefoundtobetruants.

　　ChinaNewsServicereportedthatit’sverydifficultforwell-knownprofessorsintheuniversitiesinGuangzhoutoenrolltheirstudents.Whenamedicalcollegeplannedtoenroll33students,only26peopleapplied.

　　InMarch,1988,apost-graduatemajoringinmechanicalengineeringinShanghaiJiaotongUniversity,whocamefromaremoteruralarea,askedforpermissiontoquitschool.Hesaidthatforthesakeofchanginghisbackwardhometown,hedecidedtoreturnanddosomethingforit.buthedidnotgobackhome;hedecidedtoreturnanddosomethingforit.Buthedidnotgobackhome;hebecameabusinessmaninShanghai.

　　"Afterthreeyearsofstudy,wewillfinallygetourmaster’sdegreeand86.50yuanasamonthlysalary.Thatcannotbuytwosweaters.Knowledgeistoocheap."Saidagraduatestudentwhohadquitschool.

　　In1988,whentheStateCommissionofEducationdecidedtotryanewmethodofjobassignmentinsomeuniversities,lettingthegraduateschoosetheirownjobs,andvice-versa,itunexpectedlydisruptedtheeducationprocessitself.Everycollegestudentandgraduatewasbusylookingforjobs.Theyhadnotimetostudy.

　　"Wehavenoironricebowls.Theearlierwefindajobthebetter,"saidastudent.AwaveofquittingschoolandgoingintobusinesshassweptthecampusesofmanyuniversitiesandcollegesinChina.

　　Afterthechaotic10-year-long"culturalrevolution",Chinahadashortageof60millionengineers.Nowitseemsthereisasecondcrisis.Only11.8outofevery10,000peoplearereceivingahighereducation,429.1studyinginhighschooland1,324.7inprimaryschool.Moreandmoreilliteratesarelivinginthesociety.

　　2.ThoseWhoDoNotWanttoGotoCollege.

　　AccordingtotheAugust10thissueofTheYouth,outof30,000schoolgraduatesinShanghaiwhocouldtakethecollegeentranceexaminationthisyearonly23,000satforit.whathappenedtoalltheothers?Allowingfro2,000whowereexemptedfromtheexaminationandwentstraighttocollegefortheirbrillianceorforwhateverreasons,westillhave5,000unaccountedfor.Inotherwords,morethan16%ofschoolgraduatewhogotgoodmarksandwerequalifiedtotaketheentranceexaminationgaveupthechanceofgoingtocollege.Thisiscertainlyanewphenomenoneversince1977whencompetitiveentranceexaminationwasrestored,butthequestionis,"Isthisgoingtobeagrowingtendency?"

　　Toanswerthisquestionwehavetolookintothereasonswhythestudentsgaveuptheexamination.Didtheygiveupoutoftheirownfreewillorweretheyundersomesortofcoercion?Asimpleclear-cutanswer,Iamafraid,isimpossibletofind.Differentgroupsofstudentsgiveuptheexaminationsfordifferentreasons.

　　Thosefromthekeyschools(andtheyaremostlybrilliantstudents),giveupforthesimplereasonthattheywanttogoabroad.Oncetheybecomecollegestudents,theyareboundbycertainregulationswhichmakeitverydifficult,ifnotimpossible,forthemtoleavethecountry.Thentherearethosewhothinkthereisnotmuchpointingoingtocollegeanywaybecauseyoucanhardlyevergetanidealjobafteryougraduate.Thepayislowandmoreoftenthannotthejobisoutsideyourfieldsoyougetthefrustratedfeelingofhavingwastedfourpreciousyearsofyourlifeincollege.Besides,thereisalwaysthedangerofyourbeingassignedtopostinanotherpartofthecountry,sowhynotbepracticalandlookforawell-paidjobstraightaftermiddleschool?

　　Craduatesfromordinarymiddleschoolsgaveuptheirchancesbecausetheylackedself-confidence."WhytrywhenIstandverylittlechance?"Not.Onlythepoorerstudentsthemselvesthoughtthisway,someteachersevendidtheirbesttodissuadethemfromtakingtheentranceexamination.Iftheycouldnotincreasethenumberofsuccessfulcandidatesfromtheirschool,theycouldatleastdecreasethenumberofunsuccessfulcandidatesbynotallowingthepoorerstudentstositforit.Inotherwordsiftheycouldnotincreasetheabsolutenumbertheywouldraisetherationofsuccessfulcandidates.

　　Whatdoteachersgenerallythinkofthisnewphenomenon?Somearefranklyworried."Suchstudentslackdriveandwanttotakethingseasy.Thisisareflectionoflookingdownonknowledge,andshouldbetakenseriously."Otherteachersthinkthereisnothingtobealarmedabout."Don’tweoftentellthestudentsthatgoingtocollegeisnottheonlyroadtheycantake?Societyismadeupofdifferentstrataofusefulpeople.Nowthatthestudentshavemadetheirownchoiceinfindingtheirplaceinsociety,whymakesuchafussaboutit?"