One of the bitterest and most time-worm debates in student union bars up and down the country is resolved as academic research confirms that in financial terms at least, arts degrees are a complete waste of time.Getting through university boosts students’earnings by 25%, on a weighted average, or $220,000 over theirlifetime, according to Professor Ian Walker of Warwick University-but if they study Shakespeare or the peasants’revolt instead of anatomy of contract law, those gains are likely to be completely wiped out.

　　The government is about to allow universities to charge students up to $3,000 a year for their degrees, arguing that it’s a small price to pay compared with the financial rewards graduates reap later in life. But Prof. Walker’s research shows there are sharp variations in returns according to which subject a student takes.

　　Law, medicine and economics or business are the most lucrative choices, making their average earnings 25% higher, according to the article, published in the office for national statistics’monthly journal. Scientists get 10-15% extra. At the bottom of the list are arts subjects, which make only a “small ”differenceto earnings- a small negative one, in fact. Just ahead are degrees in education-which leave hard pressed teachers anaverage of 5% better off a year than if they had left school at 18.

　　“it’s hard to resist the conclusion that what students learn does matter a lot; and some subject areas givemore modest financial returns than others,” Prof. Walker said. As an economist, he was quick to point outthat students might gain non-financial returns from arts degrees:”Studying economics might be very dull, forexample, and studying post-modernism might be a lot of fun.”

　　練習(xí)題：

　　Choose correct answers to the question:

　　1.What is the best title for the passage?

　　A.Professor Walker’s Research

　　B.How to Make Big Money.

　　C.Differences Between Science and Arts Degrees.

　　D.Studying Arts Has Negative Financial Outcome.

　　2.Universities charge students a rather high tuition mainly because_____

　　A.they provide the students with very prosperous subjects to learn

　　B.they assume that their graduates can earn much more than they had paid

　　C.they don’t get financial support from the government

　　D.they need much revenue to support the educational expenses

　　3.The word “l(fā)ucrative”(Line 1, Para. 4) most probably means _____

　　A.sensible

　　B.creative

　　C.profitable

　　D.reliable

　　4.Law, medical and business graduates could earn 25% more than ______

　　A.education graduates

　　B.arts graduates

　　C.those who had not studied at the university

　　D.the average income

　　5.We can safely conclude that the author ______

　　A.regards arts degrees as meaningless

　　B.finds this result disappointing and unfair

　　C.wants the students to think twice before they decide what to learn in college

　　D.holds that arts degrees are still rewarding despite its scarce financial returns