The Value of a College Education

“I’ve been a long-time supporter of college education. I think that a college degree puts you so far ahead in life that it’s utterly necessary in today’s competitive business world.

Now the government released a report backing what I’ve said all along.

According to the Census Bureau, a bachelor’s degree is worth about $23,000 a year. That’s the average gap in earnings between adults who graduated from college and those who just have high school diplomas.

College graduates make an average of about $51,000 a year compared with only about $28,000 for people with just a high school diploma. High school dropouts, on the other hand, earn an average of roughly $19,000 … and those with advanced college degrees make approximately $78,000.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a man or a woman or what race or ethnic group you belong to. If you go to college, you end up making a lot more money. It’s that simple.

And I can’t think of a better reason to get a college degree.”

Vocabulary and Cultural Notes:

1. utterly [`Atəli] necessary – вкрай необхідно;

2. to release (a report) – опублікувати (обнародувати) (доповідь);

3. to back – підтримувати; підкріпляти;

4. all along – весь час; з самого початку; завжди;

5. the Census Bureau [`sen<sup>t</sup>səs `bjuərəu] (Bureau of the Census) – Бюро перепису населення (підрозділ міністерства торгівлі США, створений в березні 1902 року. До функцій Бюро відноситься проведення перепису населення кожні 10 років у відповідності із законодавством США);

6. advanced college degree – науковий ступінь; вчений ступінь (вище ступеня бакалавра);

7. to end up – припиняти(ся), завершувати(ся).

b) Think and answer.

1. Is a college degree utterly necessary in today’s competitive business world?

2. Does college education put people far ahead in life? Explain your answer.

3. Are you a supporter of college education? Why?

4. Are high school dropouts able of making a lot of money?

5. What are your reasons for getting a university degree?

6. If you go to college, you end up making a lot more money, don’t you?

7. Can successful life stories of such former college dropouts as Bill Gates or Richard Branson refute Donald J. Trump’s views on college education?

Task 31. Make up a list of Ukraine’s most successful entrepreneurs. Characterize their accomplishments using the words and phrases from the box.

artistic		to create		boldly
entrepreneurial spirit		dedication and desire
	ingenious		to develop
	outrageous business tactics
to invent oneself	to engineer	thrill seeking spirit
	imagination		formal training
		to revolutionize
to evolve				inventive
		a college degree
	appreciation		imaginative
innovative products	to innovate	business experience
	to keep one’s name famous
	to pioneer		innovative
to throw out the ideas		to drop out of college
creative		to design		original

Task 32. Speak on:

1. Different types of people doing business.

2. Characteristics of “a true entrepreneur.”

3. Entrepreneurship as an incredible force.

4. Life stories and accomplishments of successful entrepreneurs.

Task 33. Comment on the following sayings.

1. “The lifeblood of our business is that R&D spend. There’s nothing that flows through a pipe or down a wire or anything else. We have to continuously create new innovation that lets people do something they didn’t think they could do the day before.” (Steve Ballmer – Microsoft CEO)

2. “Since we live in an age of innovation, a practical education must prepare a man for work that does not yet exist and cannot yet be clearly defined.” (Peter Drucker – business management author)

3. “Genius is one per cent inspiration and 99% perspiration. ” (Thomas Edison – inventor and businessman)

4. “ Innovation is not the product of logical thought … although the result is tied to logical structure.” (Albert Einstein – physicist)

5. “ Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” (Steve Jobs – Apple Computers)

6. “Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember, you can achieve. ” (Mary Kay Ash – entrepreneur)

7. “It’s through curiosity and looking at opportunities in new ways that we’ve always mapped our path at Dell. There’s always an opportunity to make a difference.” (Michael Dell – Dell Computers)

8. “The link between my experience as an entrepreneur and that of a politician is all in one word – freedom. ” (Silvio Berlusconi – entrepeneur & Italian prime minister)

9. “A business has to be involving, it has to be fun, and it has to exercise your creative instincts. ” (Richard Branson – British Virgin group founder)

10. “The winners in life think constantly in terms of I can, I will, and I am. Losers, on the other hand, concentrate their waking thoughts on what they should have or would have done, or what they can’t do.” (Dennis Waitley – business expert).

11. “To succeed, you will soon learn, as I did, the importance of a solid foundation in the basics of education – literacy, both verbal and numerical, and communication skills.” (Alan Greenspan – Federal Reserve Chairman).

Дата добавления: 2014-11-29