4.B。主旨题。根据文章第1段第2句及全文内容可推知此题答案为B。
(5)
Education
is not an end, but a means to an end. In other words, we do not educate
children only for the purpose of educating them. Our purpose is to fit them for
life.
In
some modem countries it has for some time been fashionable to think that by
free education for all - one can solve all the problems of society and build a
perfect nation. But we can already see that free education for all is not
enough; we find in such countries a far larger number of people with university
degree; they refuse to do what they think “low” work; and, in fact, work with
hands is thought to be dirty and shameful in such countries. But we have only
to think a moment to understand that the work of a completely uneducated farmer
is far more important than that of a professor; we can live without education,
but we die if we have no food. If no one cleaned our streets and took the rubbish
away from our houses, we should get terrible diseases in our towns…
In
fact, when we say that all of us must be educated to fit us for life, it means
that we must be educated in such a way that, firstly, each of us can do
whatever work suited to his brains and ability and, secondly, that we can
realize that all jobs are necessary to society, and that is very bad to be
ashamed of one’s work. Only such a type of education can be considered valuable
to society.