College education or not, this is a dilemma for the graduates of high school

游客2023-11-30  23

问题     College education or not, this is a dilemma for the graduates of high school. In terms of this issue, people hold different opinions. The following is an article about a parent’s views on whether students should receive college education. Read it carefully and write your response in NO LESS THAN 300 words, in which you should:
    1. summarize briefly the author’s view;
    2. give your comment
            Is College Really Necessary for All High School Graduates?
    One of the biggest assumptions I read about in books and articles about financial planning for your children is the outright assumption that your child must attend a college or university of some sort after graduating from high school, so you’d better financially plan for it. To me, this assumption is one that needs to be seriously re-evaluated.
    Many people assume that if you don’t go to college and earn a degree, you’re destined for some miserable, failed life, earning minimum wage on a factory floor somewhere. That’s simply not true. There are many opportunities available to those who do not attend a post-secondary institution. For example, carpenters, electricians, plumbers, and other tradesmen do not have the need to earn a four year degree to ply their craft, and they’re always in demand.
    But in fact, I know from my own experience how beneficial college can be. You can learn critical thinking skills and also get the preparation you need for certain career paths. I spent six years earning two separate bachelor’s degrees and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
    After I graduated at age twenty three, I spent six years working at two different jobs directly related to my degrees, both of which I enjoyed quite a lot and both of which paid well. But the itch inside me told me that I needed to forge a different path, and now I find myself in a self-defined career as a writer focusing on personal finance topics. I’m not trained in English nor in finance, yet this is the path I’m following.
    The point is that college itself does not define the path that your life will follow. When you enter college after high school, you’re moving from thirteen years spent in the educational system directly into another number of years in the educational system. If you’re one of the lucky ones, you’ve already figured out your internal talents and passions and—even luckier—your parents have supported and fostered those talents and passions.
    But most incoming college students aren’t there yet. Most of them are either majoring in something that seemed vaguely interesting in high school, or are majoring in something that someone told them would earn them good money. And these were those kids in the minority that were even in college at all.
    Given all of this, my primary concern for my children’s educational growth is helping them find their natural talents and their natural passions. I intend to encourage their critical thinking skills as much as I can and try to expose them to as many areas as possible while still at home. They’ll try musical instruments, various art forms, sciences of all kinds, and so on, and we’ll see where their natural magnet leads them.
    I’m also going to strongly encourage them to be entrepreneurs in their spare time, from selling lemonade to mowing lawns. Or maybe even starting their own blogs—I’ve discovered some amazingly successful bloggers early in their teen years.

选项

答案             Why Not Go to College?
    As the value and even necessary of higher education is called into question now, the author of the above article gives a good answer to it. Contrary to the general idea, he thinks that the true value of college education lies in cultivating critical thinking skills and finding out internal talents and passion rather than guaranteeing a well-paid job after graduation. Therefore, his primary concern for children’s educational growth is not pushing them to go to college, but finding their talents and encourage them to think critically. I share the author’s opinion that going to college will eventually pay off, even though not in an economic way.
    First of all, higher education indeed offers students a platform for self-improvement, especially for those who are from poor areas. In universities, various majors are provided and accessible to everyone, regardless of one’s social and financial background. Students can choose one major they take great interest in and get proficient at it College education enables students to become deliberate learners capable of formulating their own perspectives on issues, helps them to explore new horizons and transforms them into mature persons.
    Besides, university also functions as a transitional phase or buffer time for students to strengthen their interpersonal skills. Regarded as a microcosm of society, a university is filled with people of every description. By interacting with different people, students can learn how to position themselves among the crowd, how to communicate and cooperate with others. As an educational organization, it is to some extent shielded from the evil cruelty in the harsh realities, enabling students to learn, to work and to experience without much pressure and certainly free from a boss breathing down their neck.
    There are many things in life that cannot be measured by financial rewards. Since going to college offers infinite opportunities for self-improvement, and provides a channel to develop the ability of interpersonal communication, why not go to college?

解析     材料以第一人称的口吻,结合自身的经历讨论上大学是否必要。
    前两段首先驳斥了大众对上大学的误解:孩子必须上大学,没有大学学历意味着失败(miserable,failed life)。作者认为这些想法必须重新评估(re-evaluated)。
    第三至五段结合自身的求学和工作经历说明大学其实不会决定学生的未来道路(does not define the path that your life will follow),但其真正价值所在是学会批评性思考(critical thinking skills)。
    最后三段指出,现在许多学生选择大学专业时,多选择那些似乎很有趣(vaguely interesting)又或是旁人认为是很赚钱的专业,而忽略自身的天赋和热情(internal talents and passions),因此作者建议在培养孩子时,应注重找出其天赋,鼓励他们进行评判性思考,并鼓励他们在空余时间创业(be entrepreneurs)。
    开篇:总结材料,概括作者的观点——大学教育的价值在于培养学生批判性思考的能力,从而引出自己的观点——上大学终究是有所回报的。
    主体:分两方面阐述原因。
    l.大学是学生自我提高的平台,为学生提供了各种专业;大学教育促使学生形成自己的价值观,引领他们探索新知识,使他们变得成熟。
    2.大学是强化人际交往的过渡和缓冲阶段。在大学里既能学会人际交往之道,又不至于被社会恶流所冲击。
    结尾:重申观点,总结上大学的好处。
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