As we have seen in earlier chapters, the American definition of success is largely one of acquiring wealth and a higher material

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问题     As we have seen in earlier chapters, the American definition of success is largely one of acquiring wealth and a higher material standard of living. It is not surprising, therefore, that Americans have valued education for its monetary value. The belief is widely spread in the United States that the more schooling people have, the more money they will earn when they leave school. The belief is strongest regarding the desirability of an undergraduate university degree, or a professional degree such as medicine or law following the undergraduate degree. The money value of graduate degrees in "non-professional" fields such as art, history, or philosophy is not as great.
    This belief in the monetary value of education is supported by statistics on income. Ben Wattenberg, a social scientist, estimated that in the course of a lifetime a man with a college degree in 1972 would earn about ¥380,000 more than a man with just a high school diploma. Perhaps this helps to explain survey findings which showed that Americans who wished they had led their lives differently in some way regretted most of all that they did not get more education.
    The regret is shared by those who have made it to the top and by those who have not. Journalist Richard Reeves quotes a black worker in a Ford automobile factory. When I was in the ninth grade, I was getting bad grades and messing around. My father came home in the kitchen one night with a pair of Ford work pants and he threw them in my face. "Put these on," he said, "because you’re going to be wearing them the rest of your life if you don’t get an education."
    Douglas Fraser, the president of the United Auto Workers Union, regretted not finishing high school so much that he occasionally lied about it. He told Richard Reeves about his pride in graduating from high school, but then a few minutes later he said, "I wasn’t telling the truth about high school. I never finished. I quit in the twelfth grade to take a job. It’s funny after all these years, I still lie about it. Because the fact is, I still think it was a stupid thing to do. I should have finished my education." Even a man like Fraser, a nationally known and successful leader, was troubled by regrets that he did not climb higher on the educational ladder.
The survey conducted by Ben suggested that people regretted most ______ having not got more education.

选项 A、who hoped to teach
B、who were not content with their own way of living
C、who were proud of their social positions
D、who had quit high schools too early

答案B

解析 文章第2段最后一句:或许这可以帮助解释调查结果,这些结果显示,那些希望他们过去在某方面生活不同的美国人感到最为后悔的事就是没能受到更高的教育。A、C、D选项放在句中意思不符。
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