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.

NotfarawayfromXian,anancientcapitalinShaanxiProvince,therewasacavedwellinginwhichmorethan30youthswerelivingtheywereallboysbetweentheagesof11and18.Wecameouttofindanewlife,saidoneboy.Butlifewasnotasbeautifulastheyhaddreamed.Theyhadnojobandnomoney.eventually,theygatheredthere.

InGuangzhou77percentofthejuveniledelinquentsunder18werefoundtobetruants.

ChinaNewsServicereportedthatitsverydifficultforwell-knownprofessorsintheuniversitiesinGuangzhoutoenrolltheirstudents.Whenamedicalcollegeplannedtoenroll33students,only26peopleapplied.

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

Afterthreeyearsofstudy,wewillfinallygetourmastersdegreeand86.50yuanasamonthlysalary.Thatcannotbuytwosweaters.Knowledgeistoocheap.Saidagraduatestudentwhohadquitschool.

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

Wehavenoironricebowls.Theearlierwefindajobthebetter,saidastudent.AwaveofquittingschoolandgoingintobusinesshassweptthecampusesofmanyuniversitiesandcollegesinChina.

Afterthechaotic10-year-longculturalrevolution,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.Dontweoftentellthestudentsthatgoingtocollegeisnottheonlyroadtheycantake?Societyismadeupofdifferentstrataofusefulpeople.Nowthatthestudentshavemadetheirownchoiceinfindingtheirplaceinsociety,whymakesuchafussaboutit?

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