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Unit 8
Coping with an Educational Problem
Part I Pre-reading Task
Listen to the recording two or three times and then think over the following questions:
1. What was the teacher's purpose in asking his class the riddle?
2. What can you learn about Little Geoffrey from his answer to the riddle? Was he used to trying to think clearly? Had he formed the habit of making good use of his brain?
3. Is the story related to the theme of the unit — coping with an educational problem? In what way?
The following words and expressions in the recording may be new to you:
riddle
n. 谜语
scratch one's head
挠头（表示迷惑等）
knit one's brows
皱眉
Part II
Text A
Benjamin Stein weaves a tale to bring home to young Americans the need to change the way they think about education. Read it and see whether you think it holds any lessons for us as well.
FABLE OF THE LAZY TEENAGER
Benjamin Stein
One day last fall, I ran out of file folders and went to the drugstore to buy more. I put a handful of folders on the counter and asked a teenage salesgirl how much they cost. "I don't know," she answered. "But it's 12 cents each."
I counted the folders. "Twenty-three at 12 cents each, that makes $2.76 before tax," I said.
"You did that in your head?" she asked in amazement. "How can you do that?"
"It's magic," I said.
"Really?" she asked.
No modestly educated adult can fail to be upset by such an experience. While our children seem better-natured than ever, they are so ignorant — and so ignorant of their ignorance — that they frighten me. In a class of 60 seniors at a private college where I recently taught, not one student could write a short paper without misspellings. Not one.
But this is just a tiny slice of the problem. The ability to perform even the simplest calculations is only a memory among many students I see, and their knowledge of world history or geography is nonexistent.
Moreover, there is a chilling indifference about all this ignorance. The attitude was summed up by a friend's bright, lazy 16-year-old son, who explained why he preferred not to go to U.C.L.A. "I don't want to have to compete with Asians," he said. "They work hard and know everything."
In fact, this young man will have to compete with Asians whether he wants to or not. He cannot live forever on the financial, material and human capital accumulated by his ancestors. At some point soon, his intellectual laziness will seriously affect his way of life. It will also affect the rest of us. A modern industrial state cannot function with an idle, ignorant labor force. Planes will crash. Computers will jam. Cars will break down.
To drive this message home to such young Americans, I have a humble suggestion: a movie, or TV series, dramatizing just how difficult it was for this country to get where it is — and how easily it could all be lost. I offer the following fable.
As the story opens, our hero, Kevin Hanley 1990, a 17-year-old high school senior, is sitting in his room, feeling bitter. His parents insist he study for his European history test. He wants to go shopping for headphones for his portable CD player. The book he is forced to read — The Wealth of Nations — puts him to sleep.
Kevin dreams it is 1835, and he is his own great-great-great-grandfather at 17, a peasant in County Kerry, Ireland. He lives in a small hut and sleeps next to a pig. He is always hungry and must search for food. His greatest wish is to learn to read and write so he might get a job as a clerk. With steady wages, he would be able to feed himself and help his family. But Hanley's poverty allows no leisure for such luxuries as going to school. Without education and money, he is powerless. His only hope lies in his children. If they are educated, they will have a better life.
Our fable fast-forwards and Kevin Hanley 1990 is now his own great-grandfather, Kevin Hanley, 1928. He, too, is 17 years old, and he works in a steel mill in Pittsburgh. His father came to America from Ireland and helped build the New York City subway. Kevin Hanley 1928 is far better off than either his father or his grandfather. He can read and write. His wages are far better than anything his ancestors had in Ireland.
Next Kevin Hanley 1990 dreams that he is Kevin Hanley 1945, his own grandfather, fighting on Iwo Jima against a most determined foe, the Japanese army. He is always hot, always hungry, always scared. One night in a foxhole, he tells a friend why he is there: "So my son and his son can live in peace and security. When I get back, I'l1 work hard and send my boy to college so he can live by his brains instead of his back."
Then Kevin Hanley 1990 is his own father, Kevin Hanley 1966, who studies all the time so he can get into college and law school. He lives in a fine house. He has never seen anything but peace and plenty. He tells his girl friend that when he has a son, he won't make him study all the time, as his father makes him.
At that point, Kevin Hanley 1990 wakes up, shaken by his dream. He is relieved to be away from Ireland and the steel mill and Iwo Jima. He goes back to sleep.
When he dreams again, he is his own son, Kevin Hanley 2020. There is gunfire all day and all night. His whole generation forgot why there even was law, so there is none. People pay no attention to politics, and government offers no services to the working class.
Kevin 2020's father, who is of course Kevin 1990 himself, works as a cleaner in a factory owned by the Japanese. Kevin 2020 is a porter in a hotel for wealthy Europeans and Asians. Public education stops at the sixth grade. Americans have long since stopped demanding good education for their children.
The last person Kevin 1990 sees in his dream is his own grandson. Kevin 2050 has no useful skills. Machines built in Japan do all the complex work, and there is little manual work to be done. Without education, without discipline, he cannot earn an adequate living wage. He lives in a slum where there is no heat, no plumbing, no privacy and survives by searching through trash piles.
In a word, he lives much as Kevin Hanley 1835 did in Ireland. But one day, Kevin Hanley 2050 is befriended by a visiting Japanese anthropologist studying the decline of America. The man explains to Kevin that when a man has no money, education can supply the human capital necessary to start to acquire financial capital. Hard work, education, saving and discipline can do anything. "This is how we rose from the ashes after you defeated us in a war about a hundred years ago."
"America beat Japan in war?" asks Kevin 2050. He is astonished. It seems as impossible as Brazil defeating the United States would sound in 1990. Kevin 2050 swears that if he ever has children, he will make sure they work and study and learn and discipline themselves. "To be able to make a living by one's mind instead of by stealing," he says. "That would be a miracle."
When Kevin 1990 wakes up, next to him is his copy of The Wealth of Nations. He opens it and the first sentence to catch his eye is this: "A man without the proper use of the intellectual faculties of a man is, if possible, more contemptible than even a coward."
Kevin's father walks in. "All right, son," he says. "Let's go look at those headphones."
"Sorry, Pop," Kevin 1990 says. "I have to study."
(1213 words)
New Words and Expressions
fable
n. 寓言
teenager
n. a person who is between 13 and 19 years old 青少年
run out of
use up or finish a supply of (sth.) 用完，耗尽
file
n. a collection of papers on one subject 档案，卷宗
folder
n. holder for loose papers 文件夹
drugstore
n. (AmE) （兼营杂货的）药房
handful
n. 一把；少量
counter
n. 柜台
tax
n. 税
in amazement
with a feeling of great surprise or disbelief 惊讶地
modestly
ad. not in very large quantity, size, etc. 不太多，不太大，适中
upset
vt. make (sb.) worry or feel unhappy 使苦恼，使心烦意乱
ignorant
a. knowing little or nothing 无知的；不知道的
ignorance
n. 无知；愚昧
senior
n. (AmE) student in the last year of college or high school （大学或中学）毕业班的学生
slice
n. a part of sth.; a thin flat piece cut from sth. 部分；（薄薄的）一片
ability
n. 能力
nonexistent
a. not existing 不存在的
chill
v. become or make (sth. or sb.) cold （使）变冷；（使）不寒而栗
indifference
n. a lack of interest or feeling 漠不关心
sum
vt. 合计；总结；概述
sum up
总结，概括
compete
vi. 竞争
compete with/against
try to be better than (sb. else) 与…竞争
Asian
n., a. 亚洲人；亚洲（人）的
financial
a. connected with money 财政的；金融的
accumulate
v. collect, or gather together, esp. over a period of time 积累，积聚
ancestor
n. 祖先，祖宗
intellectual
a. 智力的
affect
vt. have an influence on 影响
industrial
a. 工业的
function
vi. operate; act 运作；起作用
n. 作用，功能
idle
a. lazy; not doing anything 懒散的；空闲的
jam
v. get stuck 发生故障；卡住；堵塞
break down
stop working; fail, collapse 停止运转；失败，垮了
drive home
make (sth.) clear so that people understand it 使清楚无误地理解
humble
a. 谦卑的；卑微的
suggestion
n. sth. suggested 建议
movie
n. film 电影
dramatize
vt. write (sth.) again in a form which can be performed 将…改编为剧本，将…戏剧化
European
a., n. 欧洲（人）的；欧洲人
portable
a. light and small enough to be easily carried or moved 便携（式）的，手提（式）的
CD = compact disc
激光唱片；（计算机用的）光盘
county
n. （英国的）郡；（美国的）县
hut
n. 小屋；棚屋
search for
look for 寻找
wage
n. 工资，工钱
poverty
n. the state of being poor 贫穷，贫困
leisure
n. spare time 空闲，闲暇
luxury
n. 奢侈品；奢华；奢侈
mill
n. a factory 工厂，制造厂
subway
n. (AmE) underground railway 地铁
better off
richer; more comfortable 更富有；更舒服
foe
n. (lit) an enemy 敌人
scare
v. frighten （使）惊慌，（使）恐惧
foxhole
n. 散兵坑（小型掩体）
security
n. the state of feeling safe and free from worry 安全
wake up
stop sleeping 醒了
porter
n. （旅馆、火车站等的）搬行李工人；搬运工人
wealthy
a. rich; having wealth 富的，富裕的
complex
a. not simple 复杂的
manual
a. 体力的；手工做的
adequate
a. enough 充分的，足够的
slum▲
n. 贫民窟
plumbing
n. （水、煤气等）管道设施
privacy▲
n. the state of being alone and undisturbed （不受干扰的）独处；隐私，隐秘
trash
n. (AmE) 垃圾；废物
befriend
vt. help; act as a friend to 帮助；以朋友态度对待
decline
vi., n. 衰败，衰退；下降
acquire
vt. get 取得，获得
ash
n. 废墟；灰，灰烬
astonish
vt. surprise very much 使惊讶
swear
vt. make a serious promise about 发誓，宣誓
make a living by
靠…维持生计
miracle
n. 奇迹
faculty
n. any of the powers of the body or mind 官能
contemptible
a. 令人鄙视的，可轻蔑的
coward▲
n. 懦夫
pop
n. (infml) father
Proper Names
Benjamin Stein
本杰明·斯坦
U.C.L.A. = University of California at Los Angeles
（美国）加利福尼亚大学洛杉矶分校
Kevin Hanley
凯文·汉利
Kerry
克雷（爱尔兰郡名）
Ireland
爱尔兰
Pittsburgh
匹兹堡（美国宾夕法尼来州城市）
Iwo Jima
硫黄岛（日本岛屿）
Brazil
巴西
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