An invisible border divides those arguing for computers in the classroom on the behalf of students’ career prospects and those arguing for computers in the classroom for broader reasons of radical educational reform.

有人以学生的就业前景为理由主张将计算机引入课堂，有人则因彻底的教育改革这样更宽泛的原因主张将计算机引入课堂。

Very few writers on the subject have explored this distinction– indeed, contradiction — which goes to the heart of what is wrong with the campaign to put computers in the classroom.

在这两类人中存在着一条无形的界限。很少有人就这一差别—实际上是矛盾—撰文进行探讨，但它却是将计算机引入课堂这一活动的关键所在。

An education that aims at getting a student a certain kind of job is a technical education, justified for reasons radically different from why education is universally required by law.

旨在使学生胜任某种工作的教育是职业教育，它存在的理由与法律所规定的普及教育之间有很大差别。

It is not simply to raise everyone’s job prospects that all children are legally required to attend school into their teens.

根据法律要求，所有儿童都必须上学至十几岁，其目的并非单纯地为了扩大其就业前景。

Rather, we have a certain conception of the American citizen, a character who is incomplete if he cannot competently assess how his livelihood and happiness are affected by things outside of himself.

而是，我们对美国公民有这样一种概念：如果他不能准确地判断自身的生活及幸福如何受外界影响，他就是一个不完善的公民。

But this was not always the case; before it was legally required for all children to attend school until a certain age, it was widely accepted that some were just not equipped by nature to pursue this kind of education.

但是情况并不总是如此；在法律要求所有儿童必须上学至一定年龄之前，人们普遍认为有些儿童天生就不适合接受这种教育。

With optimism characteristic of all industrialized countries, we came to accept that everyone is fit to be educated.

工业化国家特有的乐观精神使我们开始接受这样一种观念：人人都适合受教育。

Computer-education advocates forsake this optimistic notion for a pessimism that betrays their otherwise cheery outlook.

倡导计算机教育的人抛弃了这一乐观理念，代之的是与他们乐观外表相悖的悲观论调。

Banking on the confusion between educational and vocational reasons for bringing computers into schools, computered advocates often emphasize the job prospects of graduates over their educational achievement.

基于将计算机引入学校的“教育理由”和“谋职理由”的混淆，计算机教育倡导者常常只强调毕业生的就业前景，而忽略了他们的教育成就。

There are some good arguments for a technical education given the right kind of student.

对适当的学生实施职业教育也是合理的。

Many European schools introduce the concept of professional training early on in order to make sure children are properly equipped for the professions they want to join.

欧洲的许多学校很早就引进职业培训的概念，以确保儿童具备欲从事的职业所需的技能。

It is, however, presumptuous to insist that there will only be so many jobs for so many scientists, so many businessmen, so many accountants.

然而，去臆断会有这么多的工作给予这么多的科学家、商人、会计是武断的。

Besides, this is unlikely to produce the needed number of every kind of professional in a country as large as ours and where the economy is spread over so many states and involves so many international corporations.

此外，在我们这么大的一个国家里，经济拓展到这么多的州，涉及到这么多的国际公司，这种做法（欧洲式的职业教育）不大可能按照数量培养出所需要的各类专业人员。

But, for a small group of students, professional training might be the way to go since well-developed skills, all other factors being equal, can be the difference between having a job and not.

但是对少数学生而言，职业培训也许是可取之路，因为在其他因素相同的情况下，熟练的技能是能否得到工作的关键。

Of course, the basics of using any computer these days are very simple.

当然，目前使用计算机的基本操作非常简单。

It does not take a lifelong acquaintance to pick up various software programs. If one wanted to become a computer engineer, that is, of course, an entirely different story.

不需要花毕生的时间去熟悉各种不同的软件程序的使用。当然如果想成为一名计算机工程师，那就是另外一回事了。

Basic computer skills take — at the very longest — a couple of months to learn. In any case, basic computer skills are only complementary to the host of real skills that are necessary to becoming any kind of professional.

基本的计算机技能最长也只需一两个月即能学会。不管怎样，基本的计算机技能只是对成为专业技术人员所需的各种实际技能的补充。

It should be observed, of course, that no school, vocational or not, is helped by a confusion over its purpose.

当然应该看到的是，职业学校也好，普通学校也罢，混淆计算机教学的目的，都不会有何益处。

试题：

51. The author thinks the present rush to put computers in the classroom is.

[A] far-reaching

[B] dubiously oriented

[C] self-contradictory

[D] radically reformatory

52. The belief that education is indispensable to all children.

[A] is indicative of a pessimism in disguise

[B] came into being along with the arrival of computers

[C] is deeply rooted in the minds of computered advocates

[D] originated from the optimistic attitude of industrialized countries

53. It could be inferred from the passage that in the author’s country the European model of professional training is.

[A] dependent upon the starting age of candidates

[B] worth trying in various social sections

[C] of little practical value

[D] attractive to every kind of professional

54. According to the author, basic computer skills should be.

[A] included as an auxiliary course in school

[B] highlighted in acquisition of professional qualifications

[C] mastered through a life-long course

[D] equally emphasized by any school, vocational or otherwise