Vocational Training Vs. Humanities 職業(yè)訓(xùn)練與人文學(xué)科(人文學(xué)科近來為何受冷落)

　　A new trend in higher education is the retreat from humanities to science and technology and other career–oriented specialized studies. Throughout the country, schools are under pressure to become more vocationalized.

　One reason is that it’s difficult to get grants for the liberal arts studies, for, unlike the specialized studies whose results can be immediately converted into profits, what the liberal arts studies produce is only helpful to the nurturing of ethics and human values. The second is that parents and students tend to scorn the courses that do not teach people how to become attractive to employers in a rapidly tightening job market. As a result, literature and philosophy are only regarded as intellectual adornments, contributing nothing directly to a job.

　　However, the goal of education is to produce not only specialists, but also the educated and developed minds because being productive requires not only professional capabilities, but also the ability to deal with people and the world around with grace and the ability to create the joy of living .So instead of trying to shrink the liberal arts, it’s time for us to find ways to infuse it into other specialized studies. Only by so doing can we produce the well–developed talents for the future.

核心詞匯：
1、retreat撤退；隱退處；休養(yǎng)所；(天主教)僻靜；退避,引退

The army's retreat was orderly. 軍隊(duì)的撤退井然有序。

He went to his mountain retreat for the weekend. 他去山中的休養(yǎng)所過周末。

The monks conducted a retreat. 僧侶們進(jìn)行靜修。

He spent a few days in retreat. 他暫時(shí)退隱了幾天。

2、liberal心胸寬闊的，開明的，公允的；不守舊的；大量的，充足的；慷慨大方的

The headmaster has liberal views about what his pupils should wear. 校長對(duì)他的學(xué)生應(yīng)穿什么服裝這一點(diǎn)持開明的態(tài)度。

The church has become more liberal in this century. 本世紀(jì)教會(huì)變得不那么守舊了。

He is liberal with his money. 他花錢大方。

My uncle gave me a liberal amount of money during my college years. 我上大學(xué)期間,我叔叔給了我很多錢。

3、infuse將...注入；(向...)灌輸；使充滿;鼓舞

infuse new life into the troops 給軍隊(duì)注入新的活力

The morning air is infused with something very nice. 清晨的空氣十分宜人。