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BEC阅读：上大学意义不大
As the price of higher education continues to rise through a shaky economicrecovery, fewer Americans are considering college a good investment, especiallycompared to other needs for savings.
In a survey of 3,000 people, 63.5% said a college education is still a goodfinancial investment for young adults given rising costs, compared to 79.1% lastyear and 80.9% in 2008. The declining sentiment is reflected across all agegroups - 63.5% of those aged 18-29 said college is a good investment, comparedto 76.7% last year. Just 61.5% of those over 65 years old said it is a goodinvestment - 82.1% said the same in 2009.
A separate study released last month by Payscale, an online salary andcompensation information company, ranked 852 institutions across the country bythe colleges' returns on investment over 30 years.
The July priorities survey, released Tuesday by financial services groupCOUNTRY Financial, shows a shift in saving priorities through an uncertaineconomy.
Most Americans - 42.8% - said this year that saving for their own retirementwas more important than saving for their child's college education, indicatingan increase from last year's 40.7%. Consequently, the proportion of those whoprioritized saving for their child's education decreased - to 40.7% this yearfrom 47% last year. This year, 16.5% said they were not sure, marking thegreatest uncertainty over the last four years.
'It's understandable why Americans are questioning how to prioritize collegeeducation and retirement funding, particularly with the skyrocketing costs inboth areas. But with graduates likely to earn $1 million more in their lifetimethan non-grads, college remains an important investment in a family's futuredespite the rising price tag,' said Keith Brannan, vice president of FinancialSecurity Planning for COUNTRY Financial. 'The good news, however, is that peopleare putting their retirement savings first. You can always borrow to pay forcollege, but you can't borrow for retirement. With the proper planning,Americans can achieve their financial goals for both.'
This year's proportion of those who prioritize retirement savings, however,is in line with the 43% surveyed in 2007. There was least uncertainty in 2008,and 47.1% prioritized saving for their own retirement, the greatest proportionover the last four years.
Whereas those in the lower-income bracket tended to save for their child'seducation over their own retirement - 53.2% versus 23.8% for people making lessthan $20,000 - those on the other end who make more than $100,000 a year erredtoward prioritizing retirement savings - 38% said saving for their child'seducation was more important, 52.5% prioritized retirement.
Almost 31% of those surveyed took out loans to pay for college, and 64.3% ofthose who borrowed have paid them off. Of those who took out loans, about halfsaid their loans had little to no impact on life decisions like getting married,buying a home or saving for retirement.
But younger respondents reflected greater loan burdens. Of the 18-29year-olds who took out loans, 40% said education loans have significantlyimpacted their life decisions, 37.7% have been somewhat impacted, and 14.4% havebeen affected, but not much. Just 7.9% said loans have not affected theirdecisions at all.
Younger Americans, however, were also most likely to say parents shouldn'thave to pay for any college costs for their children. Of those ages 18-29, 15.2%said students should be the ones to pay for their own education. Across all agegroups, more than half of the respondents said parents and children should sharehigher education costs.
BEC阅读：Science Fiction:‘A Princess of Mars’
Last week we broadcast the second of our programs called “A Princess ofMars.”The story is from a series of books by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
Last week we told how John Carter was captured by a group of warriors on theplanet Mars.Later, he became one of them by defeating a huge warrior in afight.He is still a captive, but he is treated with honor because he is askilled fighter.We left John Carter at the beginning of a fierce battle betweenthe green warriors and their main enemy.The enemy came close to the greenMartians in huge air ships.The green Martians attacked. John Carter continutesto tell about what happens to him in Edgar Rice Burroughs’s story, “A Princessof Mars.”
JOHN CARTER:Another of the large air ships exploded high in the air. Membersof the crew fell to the ground.The huge ship lost control and began turningagain and again.
Soon it was close to the ground.The warriors climbed aboard the ship andbegan fighting the members of the crew who were still alive.Soon the fightingstopped.The warriors began taking everything from the ship.
At last, they brought a captive from deep within the ship.Two of the warriorshad their captive by each arm. I wanted to see what new and strange form of lifethis creature would be.

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