考研英語閲讀理解：大學畢業生的擔憂

Angst for the educated

大學畢業生的擔憂

MILLIONS of school-leavers in the rich world are about to bid a tearful goodbye to their parentsand start a new life at university. Some are inspired by a pure love of learning. But most alsobelieve that spending three or four years at universityand accumulating huge debts in theprocesswill boost their chances of landing a well-paid and secure job.

發達國家數百萬的高中畢業生將要含淚告別他們的.父母，開始新的大學生活。有些人被純粹熱愛學習鼓舞着。但是大部分人同樣相信在大學待三、四年，雖然在這個過程中累積了大量的債務，但他們獲得高薪穩定工作的機率將會大大增加。

Their elders have always told them that education is the best way to equip themselves to thrivein a globalised world. Blue-collar workers will see their jobs offshored and automated, thefamiliar argument goes. School dropouts will have to cope with a life of cash-strappedinsecurity. But the graduate elite will have the world at its feet. There is some evidence tosupport this view. A recent study from Georgetown Universitys Centre on Education and theWorkforce argues that obtaining a post-secondary credential is almost always worth ational qualifications are tightly correlated with earnings: an American with a professionaldegree can expect to pocket $3.6m over a lifetime; one with merely a high-school diploma canexpect only $1.3m. The gap between more- and less-educated earners may be widening. Astudy in 2002 found that someone with a bachelors degree could expect to earn 75% moreover a lifetime than someone with only a high-school diploma. Today the premium is evenhigher.