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I hope you will make a lot of money, but I’m sure you’ll be at a loss what to do when you are not signing checks. In other words, you can have a lot of money, but you may not live a meaningful and fulfilling life.
3) You are on the way to being new species of mechanized savage, the Pushbutton Neanderthal. (Para. 8)
Not getting in touch with what the best human minds have thought, you are going to be uncivilized humans or a new type of savages who can only operate machines by pushing buttons.
4) Our colleges inevitably graduate a number of such life forms, but it cannot be said that they went to college; rather, the college went through them — without making contact. (Para. 8)
A number of our college graduates have indeed turned out to be “new species of mechanized savage”. This only means that they have not received a college education though they have spent some time there, for they have failed to make contact with the best human minds in history.
5) If you are too much in a hurry, or too arrogantly proud of your own limitations, to accept as a gift to your humanity some pieces of the minds of Sophocles, of Aristotle, of Chaucer — and right down the scale and down the ages to Yeats, Einstein, E.B. White, and Ogden Nash — then you may be protected by the laws governing manslaughter, and you may be a voting entity, but you are neither a developed human being nor a useful citizen of a democracy. (Para. 10)
Even if you are too busy or feel complacent and, therefore, refuse to come into contact with the best human minds within history, you can still be protected by law and enjoy the right to democratic voting. But you can never be considered as an educated, civilized person; nor can you be accepted by society as a useful citizen in a democratic nation.
Checking Your Vocabulary Word Detective
1 Put down the right word from Text B in the space provided according to the given definition. The first letter of each word is already given.
Example: global: of or concerning the whole world
1) combine: join together; unite
2) implement: carry out or put into practice
3) illusion: a false idea, esp. about oneself
4) indispensable: too important or too useful to be without
5) intelligence: (good) ability to learn, reason, and understand
6) emphasis: special force or attention given to sth. to show that it is particularly important
7) reconcile: find agreement between (two ideas, situations, etc., that seem to be in opposition)
8) negotiate: talk with another person or group in order to try to come to an agreement or settle an argument
2 Fill in each blank with a word or phrase from Text B. Both the explanation and the number of the paragraph in which the target word or phrase appears are given in brackets. Be sure to use the proper form.
Example: The whole region is crying out for rain — it has been dry for three months.
(be in great need of; demand urgently: Para. 2)
1) There was a big surprise in store for Paul when he got to his office: he got promoted!
(about to happen: Para. 1)
2) He wants to buy a DVD player, and has been saving money to this end for these two months.
(to help achieve this aim or purpose: Para. 2)
3) His grandma died last month. And in accordance with her will (遗嘱), she was buried in France.
(in a way that fulfils or agrees with: Para. 2)
4) The details of this programme are dealt with in depth elsewhere in this book. (done with great thoroughness: Para. 5)
5) Before this road was built, the only access to the village was by boat. (means or right of using, reaching, or obtaining: Para. 8)
6) Don’t worry about your son’s shyness; it’s just a phase he’s going through. (a stage of development: Para. 10)
Checking Your Comprehension
1 Answer the following questions with the information contained in Text B.
1) On what should the role of education be based in the 21st century?
The role of education in the 21st century should be based on the hope for a world that is a better place to live in.
2) What are some of the problems in the 21st century that humankind should overcome in order to make the world a better place to live in?
We have to overcome the tensions between the global and the local, between tradition and modernity, between long-term and short-term considerations, between the need for competition and the concern for equality of opportunity and between the spiritual and the material so as to make the world a better place to live in.
3) In what way can we learn to live together?
We can learn to live together by understanding others and their history, traditions and spiritual values, implementing common projects and managing the inevitable conflicts in an intelligent and peaceful way.
4) Is the idea of being a multi-subject specialist feasible? Why or why not?
No. Because there are so many different types of knowledge; any attempt to know everything would be an illusion.
5) What’s the fundamental function of general education?
General education provides the passport to lifelong education. It enables people to learn other languages and become familiar with other subjects. It also arouses people’s interest in learning and thus lays the foundation for lifelong education.
6) Besides learning to do a job in industrial economies, what other competence do people need to acquire?