蕾妮·齐薇格及马特·达蒙，也都如此。获诺贝尔医学奖的哈罗德·瓦慕斯博士也学过人文学科。甚至迪士尼公司的总裁迈克尔·艾斯纳也主修人文学科。学习人文学科的有名人士确实可以列出一长串。显而易见，人文学能为我们从事许多不同的职业做准备，不管是医学、商务、科学或娱乐。如果我们仅学习数学，我们很可能只能申请数学家之类的工作。如果我们还学了人文学科，那我们就能突破许多障碍，只要我们愿意付出努力，敢于想象。

9 当然，在当下，如果我们单学人文学科，可能会失去很多机会。我们每个人都需要尽可能变得技能化、职业化，以满足现代生活的需要。事实上，技术知识和内在洞察力的结合越来越被看成是建立职业生涯的理想搭配。如果我是某个医学院的招生部主任，有两个人同时申请我们学校，这两个人都学过基础的科学课程，一个主修哲学，另一个仅是医学院的预科生，我会选择那位哲学专业的申请者。

10 总之，人文学科帮助造就全面发展的人，这些人具有洞察力，并理解全人类共有的激情、希望和理想。人文学科，这个古老、永恒的知识储蓄库，教我们如何以不同的方式看待事物，同时也拓宽我们的视野。在现代社会中，人文学科一如既往地同生活息息相关，也发挥着重要作用。我们在学习中花一些时间与人文学科——我们杰出、非凡的知识宝藏——相伴，这难道不是明智的吗？谁知道你将来会变得多有名气呢！

Unit 5

Spend or save — The student's dilemma

1 Do you feel as confused and manipulated as I do with this question, "Should I spend or should I save?" I think that the messages we get from our environment seem to defy common sense and contradict each other. The government tells us to spend or we'll never get out of the recession. At the same time, they tell us that unless we save more, our country is in grave danger. Banks offer higher interest rates so we increase savings. Then the same banks send us credit card offers so we can spend more.

2 Here's another familiar example: If we don't pay our credit card bill on time, we get demanding, nasty emails from the credit card company saying something like: "Your failure to pay is unacceptable. Pay immediately or you'll be in trouble!" Then, as soon as we pay, we get a follow-up email in a charming tone telling us how valuable a customer we are and encouraging us to resume spending. Which depiction is correct: a failing consumer in trouble or a valued customer? The gap between these two messages is enormous.

3 The paradox is that every day we get two sets of messages at odds with each other. One is the "permissive" perspective, "Buy, spend, get it now. You need this!" The other we could call an "upright" message, which urges us, "Work hard and save. Suspend your desires. Avoid luxuries. Control your appetite for more than you truly need." This message comes to us from many sources: from school, from parents, even from political figures referring to "traditional values". Hard work, family loyalty, and the capacity to postpone desires are core American values that have made our country great.

4 But the opposite message, advertising's permissive message, is inescapable. Though sometimes disguised, the messages are everywhere we look: on TV, in movies on printed media and road signs, in stores, and on busses, trains and subways. Advertisements