When your parents advise you to “get an education” in order to raise your income, they tell you only half the truth. What they really mean is to get just enough education to provide manpower for your society, but not so much that you prove an embarrassment to your society.
Get a high school diploma, at least. Without that, you will be occupationally dead, unless your name happens to be George Bernard Shaw or Thomas Alva Edison, and you can successfully drop out in grade school.
Get a college degree, if possible. With a B.A., you are on the launching pad （发射台）. But now you have to start to put on the brakes. If you go for a master’s degree, make sure it is an and only from a first-rate university. Beyond this, the famous law of diminishing returns（报酬递减率）begins to take effect.
Do you know, for instance, that long-haul truck drivers earn more per year than full professors? Yes, the average 1977 salary for those truckers was $24,000, while the full professors managed to average just $23,030.
A Ph. D. D.is the highest degree you can get, but except in a few specialized fields such as physics or chemistry, where the degree can quickly be turned to industrial or commercial purposes, you are facing a dim future. There are more Ph.D.s unemployed or underemployed in this country than any other part of the world by far.
If you become a doctor of philosophy in English or history or anthropology or political science or languages or—worst of all—in philosophy, you run the risk of becoming overeducated for our national demands. Not for our needs, mind you, but for our demands.
Thousands of Ph.D.s are selling shoes, driving cars, waiting on tables and filling out fruitless applications month after month. And then maybe taking a job in some high school or backwater college pays much less than the janitor （看门人）earns.
You can equate the level of income with the level of education only so far. Far enough, that is, to make you useful to the gross national product, but not so far that nobody can turn much of a profit on you.
1. According to the writer, what the society expects of education is to turn out people who______.
2. If you are as gifted as Bernard Shaw or Edison, ______.
3. Ph.D.s are most likely to .
4. Which of the following is NOT true?
5. The writer is critical of .
问题1选项
A.will not be a shame to the society
B.will become skilled workers
C.can take care of themselves
D.can meet the demands as a source of manpower
问题2选项
A.you can get a high school diploma without difficulty
B.you will be successful in a grade school
C.you can be professionally successful without a diploma
D.the least you should do is to get a diploma
问题3选项
A.have difficulties getting properly employed
B.be employed in the fields of commerce or industry
C.have to fill out application forms month after month for others
D.work in schools or colleges with low pay
问题4选项
A.Bernard Shaw didn’t finish high schools, nor did Edison
B.There are far more Ph D s than the society demands
C.The higher your education level, the more money you will earn
D.If you are too well-educated, you’ll make things difficult for the society
问题5选项
A.the employees
B.the Ph D s
C.the employers
D.the society
第1题:D
第2题:C
第3题:A
第4题:C
第5题:D
第1题:
【选项释义】
According to the writer, what the society expects of education is to turn out people who ____. 作者认为，社会对教育的期望是培养出____的人。
A. will not be a shame to the society A. 不会成为社会的耻辱
B. will become skilled workers B. 成为熟练工人
C. can take care of themselves C. 能够照顾自己
D. can meet the demands as a source of manpower D. 能够满足作为人力资源的需求
【考查点】事实细节题
【解题思路】根据选项关键词“a source of manpower”定位到第一段第二句“他们真正的意思是，接受足够的教育，为社会提供人力（get just enough education to provide manpower for your society），但又不要接受太多的教育，以免给社会带来尴尬。”由此可知，D选项符合原文。
【干扰项排除】
A选项根据原文“不要接受太多的教育，以免给社会带来尴尬（not so much that you prove an embarrassment to your society）”可知，作者言外之意是接受足够的教育为社会提供人力资源即可，太多教育反而不好，并不是说“社会希望培养不会成为社会的耻辱的人”，属于曲解原文；
B、C选项均未提及，属于无中生有。
第2题:
【选项释义】
If you are as gifted as Bernard Shaw or Edison, ____. 如果你像萧伯纳或爱迪生那样有天赋，____。
A. you can get a high school diploma without difficulty A. 你可以毫不费力地拿到高中文凭
B. you will be successful in a grade school B. 你会在小学取得成功
C. you can be professionally successful without a diploma C. 没有文凭你也能在职业上取得成功
D. the least you should do is to get a diploma D. 你最起码应该拿到文凭
【考查点】推理判断题
【解题思路】文章第二段提到“至少要拿到高中文凭。没有高中文凭，除非你的名字恰好是George Bernard Shaw或Thomas Alva Edison，你可以成功地在小学辍学，否则你在职业上就死定了。”根据“George Bernard Shaw”和“Thomas Alva Edison”可知，萧伯纳和爱迪生由于有天赋，所以他们尽管在小学时辍学也在各自领域中取得了辉煌的成就。由此可推断，如果你像萧伯纳或爱迪生那样有天赋，没有文凭你也能在职业上取得成功，C选项正确。
【干扰项排除】
A、D选项根据原文可知，萧伯纳和爱迪生没有高中文凭，属于反向干扰；
B选项根据原文可知，如果你像萧伯纳或爱迪生那样有天赋，你可以成功地在小学辍学（you can successfully drop out in grade school），并不是“会在小学取得成功”，属于曲解原文。
第3题:
【选项释义】
Ph.D.s are most likely to ____. 博士最有可能____。
A. have difficulties getting properly employed A. 很难找到合适的工作
B. be employed in the fields of commerce or industry B. 在商业或工业领域就业
C. have to fill out application forms month after month for others C. 不得不月复一月地为他人填写申请表
D. work in schools or colleges with low pay D. 在学校或大学工作，工资很低
【考查点】推理判断题
【解题思路】第五段第二句提到“在美国，失业或就业不足的博士人数远远多于世界上任何其他地方（There are more Ph.D.s unemployed or underemployed in this country than any other part of the world by far）。”由此可以推断，博士们很可能很难找到合适的工作，A选项正确。
【干扰项排除】
B选项定位到第五段第一句“博士学位是你能获得的最高学位，但除了在一些专业领域，如物理或化学，学位可以很快转向工业或商业用途之外，你面临着一个暗淡的未来。”由此可知，只有专业领域的博士会在商业或工业领域就业，而不是所有的博士，属于张冠李戴；
C选项定位到倒数第二段第一句“成千上万的博士在卖鞋、开车、做服务员，月复一月地填写毫无结果的申请表（filling out fruitless applications month after month）”，这里是指博士自己月复一月地填写申请表，而不是“为他人填写申请表”，属于偷换概念；
D选项定位到倒数第二段第二句“然后，也许在一些高中或落后的大学找一份工作，薪水比看门人要低得多。”这是作者举的一个例子，其折射出的根本问题是“博士们很难找到合适的工作”，所以不如A选项全面，属于以偏概全。
第4题:
【选项释义】
Which of the following is NOT true? 下列哪项是不正确的？
A. Bernard Shaw didn’t finish high schools, nor did Edison. A. 萧伯纳没有读完高中，爱迪生也没有。
B. There are far more Ph.D.s than the society demands. B. 博士的数量远远超过社会的需求。
C. The higher your education level, the more money you will earn. C. 学历越高，挣的钱越多。
D. If you are too well-educated, you’ll make things difficult for the society. D. 如果学历太高，会给社会带来困难。
【考查点】推理判断题
【解题思路】根据第五至七段的内容可知，博士虽然是能获得的最高学位，但博士们的就业情况并不好，成千上万的博士在卖鞋、开车、做服务员，月复一月地填写毫无结果的申请表。然后，也许在某个中学或偏僻的大学里找份工作，其收入远远低于看门人的收入。由此可知，“学历越高，挣的钱越多”不符合原文，故C选项正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项根据第二段“没有高中文凭，除非你的名字恰好是George Bernard Shaw或Thomas Alva Edison，你可以成功地在小学辍学，否则你在职业上就死定了。”可推断，萧伯纳和爱迪生都没有读完高中，属于反向干扰；
B选项根据第五段最后一句“在美国，失业或就业不足（unemployed or underemployed）的博士人数远远多于世界上任何其他地方。”可推断，博士的数量远远超过社会的需求，属于反向干扰；
D选项根据第一段“他们真正的意思是，接受足够的教育，为社会提供人力，但又不要接受太多的教育，以免给社会带来尴尬”可推断，如果学历太高，会给社会带来困难，属于反向干扰。
第5题:
【选项释义】
The writer is critical of ____. 作者对____持批评态度。
A. the employees A. 雇员
B. the Ph.D.s B. 博士
C. the employers C. 雇主
D. the society D. 社会
【考查点】推理判断题
【解题思路】文章最后一段讲“在学历和收入的对应关系上，你只能认为其对应关系仅限于，在让你自己对社会总产品的产出有用的范围内（收入才和学历是对等的），而当（超出一定范围）别人不能从你身上获取利润（的时候），这种关系就不是对等的了。”由此可推断，作者认为社会对博士教育的投入和回报不能成正比，社会并不一定能保证拥有博士学位的人能有更好的就业机会和更高的收入，这里隐含了作者对社会短视的批评态度，故D选项正确。
【干扰项排除】
A、B、C选项都是属于社会中的一员，一系列状况都是社会发展导致的，属于曲解原文。
