A Boom in Adult Education 成人教育的繁榮

　　Every Tuesday and Friday evening sees Miss Li， my neighbor and a secretary in a company rush home after a hard day's work， gulp down her meals and then hurry out to catch the bus for her English class. Miss Li's case is not unique， and now more and more city adults spend their leisure time trying to improve themselves at school or college.

　　There are a number of reasons for people to go back for their education. Some people， like Miss Li， are doing it to acquire another degree or diploma to impress the society. To them more knowledge， or rather， more credentials means more opportunities for better jobs and quicker promotion.

　　Other people， especially those who are laid off or out of employment go to vocational school to prepare to return to the job market. They are eager for new skills so that they can be qualified for the jobs in retail trade， administration， education and other service categories to which they are strange because most of them were blue-collar workers in the factory.

　　There are also people who come to take such courses as Chinese traditional medicine， painting， calligraphy and photography. As their working weeks decline people begin to have time to fulfill their old dream of their heart's desire.

　　Out of necessity or out of interest， people go back to school for the common goal——to improve themselves， and this boom in adult education， in turn， helps to raise the intellectual standard of the whole country.

　　每星期二和星期五晚上看到小姐李，我的鄰居和秘書在公司匆忙趕回家，一天的辛苦工作后，吞下她做的飯菜，然后趕緊出去趕公共汽車她英國人類。李小姐的情況并非獨特，現在越來越多的城市成年人度過他們的業余時間，試圖提高自己在學校或學院。

　　有很多理由可以為他們的教育。有些人，如李小姐，都在做這件事來獲得另一個學位或文憑來給社會留下深刻印象。對他們更多的知識，或者說，更多的證書意味著更多的機會，更好的工作和更快的晉升。

　　其他人，特別是下崗或失業的人去職業學校，準備回到就業市場。他們都渴望新的技能，使他們能夠有資格為的工作在零售業，政府，教育和其他服務類別，他們是奇怪的，因為他們中的大多數都是在工廠的藍領工人。

　　也有人前來參加中國傳統醫學、繪畫、書法、攝影等課程。當他們工作周的時候，人們開始有時間來滿足他們對他們內心的渴望的夢想。

　　出于必要或是出于興趣，人走回學校共同的目標——提高自己，這繁榮在成人教育，反過來，有助于提高整個國家的知識水平。