阅读理解

　　Ask most American children what they want to be when they grow up, and they probably will say“doctor”or“lawyer”．

　　Though our culture, our economy(经济)，indeed our very security(安全)are heavily dependent on science and engineering, only 12 percent of American high school students graduate with the prerequisites(先决条件)for a career in science or engineering．

　　Don't be too surprised．If you ask further why the majority of the high school students would choose a career in medicine or law, the answers will be straight out of some popular TV shows．

　　“Doctors help people．They save lives．”“Lawyers beat the bad guys．”Most students would say．

　　Now, how about science or engineering as a career choice?The answers will be just as predictable(可预见的)，“Get real!Who wants to be a geek?They all are nerds．Besides I hate maths．”

　　In our media, scientists and engineers typically are described as introverted(内向的)and humorless．They always wear white lab coats with a collection of pencils in their pocket protectors．They wear glasses with black plastic frames．

　　If more students are to choose technical careers, they must have a better view presented to them．

　　They need to be told, for example, that the invention of lifesaving equipment saves lives just as surely as the application(应用)of it in the hospital．

　　It also might help if someone points out to students that the lawyer who saved the defendant(被告)by introducing the DNA evidence(证据)would have seen him hanged had it not been for the scientists who discovered DNA．

　　Whatever we do, until students stop thinking of the term“engineer”as a synonym (同义词)“geek”, it is impossible to expect our children to change their views towards scientists and engineers．

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