The illiteracy epidemic

In 1889, a person was judged literate if he could sign his name. In the machine economy of 1939, it meant completing the sixth grade. Today, the Information Age of computers and high technology requires a bare minimum of reading and writing skills at the high-school-graduate level.* Changes in workplace needs are so dramatic and unpredictable that people must be ready to adapt to jobs that did not even exist when they were in school.

There are 25 million Americans who cannot read or write at all. An additional 45 million are functionally illiterate without the reading and writing skills to find work – and that number is growing by more than 2 million a year.

Illiteracy is compounded by the attack on English as a national language, yet civilizations rise by literacy and a common language. Knowledge becomes accessible to all.

America, above all, drew inspiration from that ancient tradition of liberty and knowledge. Yet, curiously, we also have an anti-intellectual tradition of those who give the impression that they "know better." But in the post-industrial era, when the majority of people in the work force make a living with their minds, not their hands, it is education – more than coal or steel or even capital – that is the key to our economic future.

How can we restore America to preeminence by having the most educated work force in the world by the year 2000?

The first requirement is to organize schools that address the realities of modern life. Today, 60 per cent of women with children over the age of 3 work outside the home. Single-parent households and dual-income families* need year-round schools providing an extended school day and enriched day care to teach their children and keep them safe.

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* high school– (амер.) старшие классы средней школы

America also must fund preschools on a massive scale. A human being is capable of learning more in the earliest years than in the rest of his or her lifetime.

The second requirement is to establish performance standards. Not enough is expected academically of American students, our most successful competitors, the Japanese, have much higher levels of educational achievement because they have a longer school day and school year and because more is required of students. As a result, Japanese high-school graduates academically are equivalent to the average American starting junior year at a good college.

America must set standards for a basic academic diploma. As an incentive to school districts, the federal government should underwrite a national test that would reveal a demonstrated mastery of a core body of knowledge, including the essential documents of citizenship, history and literature and the principles of science and mathematics. Using the test would be voluntary, but Washington might encourage its use through scholastic aid to schools and students who excel.

Finally, the federal government should vastly increase its funding of research and development in education. Given the introduction of computers and computerized teaching programs, only the federal government has the resources to determine which programs would work best to maximize teaching performance.

Assignments:

1. Find in the text the English for:

грамотный, поставить свою подпись, требовать, навыки, уровень, приспособиться к, нападать на, доступный всем, черпать вдохновение из, производить впечатление, зарабатывать на жизнь, ключ к, семья без отца (или без матери), группы продленного дня, ограждать от опасностей, финансировать, стимул к, выявлять, отличаться (превосходить), сильно повысить уровень преподавания.

2. Form the derivatives from the following words:

literate, computer, require, nation, inspire, industry, economy, organize, perform, achieve, know, introduce.

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* dual-income families – семьи, в которых работают и отец, и мать

3. Answer the following questions:

1)What kind of person was considered literate in 1889?

2) What did literacy mean in 1939?

3)What kind of skills does the presentage require?

4) America drew inspiration from that ancient tradition of liberty and knowledge, didn't it?

5) What is the key to America's economic future?

6) How can they restore America by theyear 2000?