First Listening
Please listen to a short passage carefully and prepare to answer some questions.
Should schools simply prepare students for a job, or is there more to life? This is the focus of the following article. According to the author, educational institutions face a difficult choice. Most young students only want to learn what is needed for career success. Educators, on the other hand, have lived long enough to realize that quality of life is not entirely determined by a balance sheet. Human beings have collected a great amount of knowledge in many different fields, and people can lead better lives if they understand these things. The author tells of a cartoon where businessmen are having difficulty telling “right from wrong”. He concludes that educators must prepare students for such difficulties, as well as preparing them for a job.
Second Listening
Listen to the tape again. Then answer the following questions with your own experiences.
1. How do young students and older teachers see the role of education differently?
2. What is “quality of life” and how can it be improved?
3. According to the writer, what must educators prepare students for?
