Book 3   Unit 5

                    Text C Quality of Life Is Much More Than a Job
                                            Larry Fennelly

It has often been remarked that the saddest thing about youth is that it is wasted on the young. 

A recent newspaper report on a survey  conducted annually among college freshmen states that today's students are “more materialistic and less altruistic (利他主义的)” than at any other time in the 17 years of the survey.

Not surprising in these hard times, students' major objective “is to be financially well off. Less important than ever is developing a meaningful philosophy of life.”As a result, the most popular college course today is not literature or history but accounting.

Students' interest in teaching, social service and other altruistic fields is at a low, while enrollment (注册) in business programs, engineering and computer science is way up.

That's no surprise either. A friend of mine (a salesperson for a chemical company) was making twice the salary of her college instructors her first year on the job -- even before she completed her two-year associate degree. 

“What good does their music (or history or literature) do them?” she was fond of saying. And that was four years ago; I don't think I want to know how much she's earning now.

Frankly, I'm proud of the young woman -- not of her attitude, but of her success. But why can't we have it both ways? Can't we educate people for life as well as for a career?

In a time of increasing specialization -- a time when 90 percent of all the scientists who have ever lived are currently alive -- more than ever we need to know what is truly important in life. Most of us learn this too late in life.It's only between the ages of 30 and 50 that most people finally arrive at the inevitable conclusion that they were meant to do more than serve a corporation, a government agency, or whatever. We realize that quality of life is not entirely determined by a balance sheet. Sure, everyone wants to be financially comfortable, but we also want to feel that we have a perspective on the world beyond the confines of our occupation; we want to be able to serve our fellow men. 

If it's a fact that these realizations do not dawn (出现) until mid-life, is it then not the role of educational institutions to prepare the way for them?

While it's true that everyone needs a career -- preferably a well-paid one – it's equally true that our civilization has amassed (聚积) an incredible amount of knowledge in fields far removed from our own and that we are better for our understanding of these other contributions -- be they scientific or artistic. It is equally true that, in studying the diverse wisdom of others, we learn how to think. More important, perhaps, education teaches us to see the connections between things, as well as to see beyond our immediate needs.

But the most important argument for a broad education is that in studying the accumulated wisdom of the ages, we improve our moral sense. I saw a cartoon recently that shows a group of businessmen looking puzzled as they sit around a conference table; one of them is talking on the intercom . “Miss Baxter,” he says, “could you please send in someone who can distinguish right from wrong?”

In the long run that's what education really ought to be about. And I think it can be. My college roommate, now head of a large shipping company in New York, not surprisingly was a business major. But he also hosted a classical music show on the college's radio station and listened to Wagner as he studied his accounting. That's the way it should be. Oscar Wilde was right when he said that we ought to give our ability to our work but our genius to our lives.

Let's hope our educators answer the students' cries for career education, but at the same time let's ensure that the students are prepared for the day when they realize what life is really all about.


                        生活的质量远远不只是一份工作
                        拉里· 费纳利

    人们常说青春的最大悲哀就是浪费在青年人身上。

    最近报上有一份报道，关于每年都在大学新生中进行的调查，据报道称，如今的大学生比以往17年调查中的任何时候都“更注重物质利益，更缺乏利他精神”。

    在现在的困难时期，学生们的主要目标“是经济上要富裕。而培养一种有意义的人生哲学比以往都更不重要，”这一点并不令人惊奇。结果，如今最受欢迎的大学课程不是文学或历史而是会计。

    学生们对于教书、社会服务和其它有利于他人的专业的兴趣降到了一个很低的水平，而商业课程、工程和计算机科学的入学人数却直线上升。

    这也并不令人惊奇。我的一个朋友（一家化学公司的推销员）工作第一年赚的钱就是她的大学老师们年薪的两倍--而她甚至还未读完大专两年的准学士学位课程。

    “他们学的音乐（或历史或文学）对他们有什么用？”她过去常喜欢这么说。那是四年以前；我认为我并不想知道她现在赚多少钱。

    坦率地说，我为这位年轻女士感到骄傲--不是为她的看法，而是为她的成功。但为什么我们不能两者兼得呢？难道我们不能既为生活也为职业来教育人们吗？

    在一个越来越专业化的时代--一个所有出现过的科学家中90%现在还健在的时代--里，我们比以往任何时候更需要知道什么是生活中真正重要的。我们大多数人在懂得这一点时已为时过晚。只是到了30岁和50岁之间，大多数人才最终得出下面这个必然的结论，即他们不该只是为一家公司，一个政府机构或其它什么单位工作。我们意识到生活的质量并不完全取决于一张收支平衡表。当然，人人都想在经济上宽裕，但我们也想感觉到我们对职业范围以外的世界有个正确的认识；我们想能为我们的同胞服务。

    如果这些认识直到中年才会出现是事实的话，那么教育机构的作用难道不是为它们的出现作准备吗？

    确实，人人都需要一份工作--最好是一份高薪工作--但是我们的文明确实也已在与我们自己的专业相去甚远的领域中积累了多得令人难以置信的知识，而且由于我们对于其它领域中的这些贡献的了解：无论是科学上的贡献还是艺术上的贡献，我们的状况得到了改善。同样确实无误的是，在研究不同智慧时，我们可以学会如何思考。更重要的也许是教育教会了我们看到事物之间的联系，并看到我们的眼前需求以外的东西。
但是综合教育的最重要的理由是在学习世世代代积累的智慧时，我们可以增强道德意识。最近我看到一幅漫画，上面有一群生意人围坐在一张会议桌旁看上去迷惑不解；其中一个人在对着内部通话装置说话。“巴克斯特小姐，”他说，“请你派一位能够分辨是非的人进来好吗？”

    从长远的观点来看，这正是教育所真正应该做的。而我认为它也能够做到。我大学时的室友现在是纽约一家大航运公司的负责人，以前他是个商业专业的学生，这并不令人惊奇。但他当年还在大学的无线电台主持一档古典音乐节目，而且一边学习他的会计学一边听瓦格纳的音乐。事情就应该如此。奥斯卡· 王尔德说得没错，我们应该把能力用于我们的工作，而把天赋给予我们的生活。

    让我们希望我们的教师响应学生们对于职业教育的呼声，但同时也让我们保证学生们能为他们认识到生活真谛的那一天做好准备。