2013年12月四级长篇阅读段落匹配IsCollegeaLousyInvestment

1、IsCollegeaLousyInvestment?A) Whyarewespendingsomuchmoneyoncollege?Andwhyarewesounhappyaboutit?Weallseemtoagreethatacollegeeducationiswonderful,andyetstrangelyweworrywhenweseefamiliesinvestingsomuchinthissupposedlyessentialgood.Maybeit'stimetoaskaquestionthatseemsalmostsacrilegious:isallthisinves

2、tmentincollegeeducationreallyworthit?B) Theanswer,Ifear,isthatit'snot.Foranincreasingnumberofkids,theextratimeandmoneyspentpursuingacollegediplomawillleavethemworseoffthantheywerebeforetheysetfootoncampus.C) Formyentireadultlife,aneducationhasbeenthemostimportantthingformiddle-classhouseholds.My

3、parentsspentmoreeducatingmysisterandmethantheyspentontheirhouse,andthey'renottheonlyones.and,ofcourse,foranincreasingnumberoffamilies,mostofthecostoftheirhouseisactuallythecostoflivinginagoodschooldistrict.Questioningthevalueofacollegeeducationseemsabitlikequestioningthevalueofhappiness,orfun.D)

4、 Theaveragepriceofallgoodsandserviceshasrisenabout50percent.Butthepriceofacollegeeducationhasnearlydoubledinthattime.Istheeducationthattoday'sstudentsaregettingtwiceasgood?Arenewworkerstwiceassmart?Havetheybecomesomehowmassivelymoreexpensivetoeducate?E) Perhapsabit.RichardVedder,anOhioUniversity

5、economicsprofessor,says,“Ilookatthedata,andIseecollegecostsrisingfasterthaninflationuptothemid-1980sby1percentayear.NowIseethemrising3to4percentayearoverinflation.Whathashappened?Thefederalgovernmenthasstarteddroppingmoneyoutofairplanes.”Aidhasincreased,subsidizedloanshavebecomeavailable,and“ethuniv

6、ersitieshavegottenthemoney.”EconomistBryanCaplan,whoiswritingabookabouteducation,agrees:“It'sagiantwasteofresourcesthatwillcontinueaslongasthesubsidiescontinue.”F) Promotionalliteratureforcollegesandstudentloansoftenspeaksofdebtasan“investmentinyourself.”Butaninvestmentissupposedtogenerateincome

7、topayofftheloans.Morethanhalfofallrecentgraduatesareunemployedorinjobsthatdonotrequireadegree,andtheamountofstudent-loandebtcarriedbyhouseholdshasmorethanquintupledsince1999.Thesegraduatesweretoldthatadiplomawasalltheyneededtosucceed,butitwon'tevengetthemoutofthesparebedroomatMomandDad's.For

8、many,themosttangibleresultoftheirfouryearsitsheloanpayments,whichnowaveragehundredsofdollarsamonthonloanbalancesinthetensofthousands.G) It'strueaboutthemoneysortof.Collegegraduatesnowmake80percentmorethanpeoplewhohaveonlyahigh-schooldiploma,andthoughtherearenopreciseestimates,thewagepremiumforan

9、eliteschoolseemstobeevenhigher.Butthat'snottrueofeverystudent.It'sveryeasytospendfouryearsmajoringinEnglishliteratureandbeerpongandcomeoutnomoreemployablethanyouwerebeforeyouwentin.Conversely,chemicalengineersstraightoutofschoolcaneasilymaketripleorquadruplethewagesofanentry-levelhigh-school

10、graduate.H) JamesHeckman,theNobelPrizewinningeconomist,hasexaminedhowthereturnsoneducationbreakdownforindividualswithdifferentbackgroundsandlevelsofability.“Evenwiththesehighprices,you'restillfindingahighreturnforindividualswhoarebrightandmotivated,”hesays.Ontheotherhand,“ifyou'renotcolleger

11、eady,thentheanswerisno,it'snotworthit.”Expertstendtoagreethatfortheaveragestudent,collegeisstillworthittoday,buttheyalsoagreethattherapidincreaseinpriceiseatingupmoreandmoreofthepotentialreturn.Forborderlinestudents,tuitionhikescanpushthosereturnsintonegativeterritory.I) Everyoneseemstoagreethat

12、thegovernment,andparents,shouldberethinkinghowweinvestinhighereducationandthatemployersneedtorethinktheincreasinguseofcollegedegreesascrudescreeningtoolsforjobsthatdon'treallyrequirecollegeskills.“Employersseeingasurplusofcollegegraduatesandlookingtofilljobsarejusttackingonthatrequirement,”saysV

13、edder.“Defacto,acollegedegreebecomesajobrequirementforbecomingabar-tender.”J) Wehavestartedtoseesomechangeonthefinanceside.Alawpassedin2007allowsmanystudentstocaptheirloanpaymentat10percentoftheirincomeandforgivesanybalanceafter25years.Butofcourse,thatdoesn'tcontrolthecostofeducna;tiiotjustshift

14、sittotaxpayers.Italsoencouragesgraduatestochooselower-payingcareers,whichdiminishesthefinancialreturntoeducationstillfurther.“You'resubsidizingpeopletobecomepriestsandpoetsandsoforth,”saysHeckman.“Youmaythinkthat'sagoodthing,oryoumaynot.”Eitherwayitwillbeexpensiveforthegovernment.K) Whatmigh

15、tbealotcheaperisputtingmorekidstowork:notnecessarilyasburgerflippersbutaspartofaneducationaleffort.Caplannotesthatworkalsobuildsvaluableskillsprobablymorevaluableforkidswhodon'tnaturallylovesittinginaclassroom.Heckmanagreeswholeheartedly:“Peoplearedifferent,andthoseabilitiescanbeshaped.That'

16、swhatwe'velearned,andpublicpolicyshouldrecognizethat.”L) Heckmanwouldliketoseemoreapprenticeship-styleprograms,wherekidscanlearnintheworkplacelearnnotjustspecificjobskills,butthekindof“softskills,”likegettingtoworkontimeandgettingalongwithateam,thatarecrucialforcareersuccess.“It'sabouthaving

17、mentorsandhavingworkplace-basededucation,”hesays.“TimeandagainI'veseenexamplesofthiskindofprogramworking.”M) Ah,buthowdowegettherefromhere?Withbetterpublicpolicy,hopefully,butalsobymakingbetterindividualdecisions.“Historicallymarketshavebeenabletohandlethesethings,”saysVedder,“andIthinkeventuall

18、ymarketswillhandlethisone.Ifitdoesn'timprovesoon,peoplearegoingtowakeupandask,WhyamIgoingtocollege?'”46. Caplansuggeststhatkidswhodidn'tloveschoolgotowork.47. Anincreasingnumberoffamiliesspendmoremoneyonhousesinagoodschooldistrict.48. Subsidizedloanstocollegestudentsareahugewasteofmoney,accordingtooneeconomist.49. Moreandmorekidsfindtheyfareworsewithacollegediploma.50. Forthosewhoarenotpreparedforhighereducation,goingtocollegeisnotworthit.51. Overtheyearsthecostofacollegeeducationhasincreasedalmostby100%.52. Alawpassedrecentlyallowsmanystudentstopayno