文档介绍：Unit One Why College
New Century English, Book I
郑州铁路职业技术学院
公共课教学部
公共外语教研室
You have a lot of choices after you graduate from high school, such as going to college, finding a job or joining the army. What would you like to do? Why?
Discussion
Some ideas
Earn more money
Get a higher degree
Prepare for a career
Background Information
Education in USA
The national system of formal education in the United States took shape in the 19th century. It differed from educational systems of other Western countries in three fundamental respects.
First, Americans were more inclined to regard education as a solution to various social problems.
Second, because they had this confidence in the power of education, Americans provided more years of schooling for a larger percentage of the population than other countries.
Third, educational institutions were primarily run by local authorities rather than by federal ones.
Education in the USA
The most notable characteristic of the American educational system is the large number of people it serves. In 1995, 87% of Americans between age 25 and 29 graduated from high school. Among those pleted high school, 62% completed at least some college, and 28% earned at least a bachelor’s degree. Expanding access to college education is an important priority for the US government. In his 1997 States of the Union Address ex-president Bill Clinton called for the creation of new public policy to enable virtually every high school graduate to receive some form of education.
Questions
How do you understand “the more you learn, the more you earn”?
Besides education, what makes people earn more?
“The more you learn, the more you earn,” said the pop singer Cyndi Lauper as she accepted her high school diploma — at the age of 35! Although Cyndi made it without a high school degree, most people don’t. In the . today, about 75% of jobs require some education or technical training beyond high school degrees; college graduates outearn thos