On school days, American students usually get up at 7 a.m. Most students walk or take a yellow school bus. Very few students ride bicycles. When they arrive at school about 8.30 a.m., they meet their friends and talk about their activities. They put their backpacks (背包) in a small cupboard and take just one book for that subject, some writing paper and a pencil to each class. In middle school, their subjects are English, Maths, Science, Geography, Biology, P.E, Music and Art. At noon, the students eat lunch at school. They usually have meat, vegetables, fruit, bread and a drink. However, some students like pizza, hot dogs or hamburgers better. After lunch, they go to classes until 3.p.m. and then they go back home.

The junior high school graduates have to take a P.E. test in many places around China. The full marks are usually 50 points and it means much in the senior high school entrance exam.

In Tianshui, the test is often in May and June. Students have the test in schools. Each student is tested on four sports. They take part in long-distance running, rope skipping and football dribbling (运球). The pull-up is for boys and girls can choose the sit-up. Both boys and girls must run in the test.

Most students find the test easy and more than 90% of them can get high marks. That’s because they have been training for it during the three whole years. Students in Junior Three usually do lots of practice in P.E. classes. The training makes the test easier than it seems to be.

Running is one of the sports in a test. So in P.E. classes, they usually run a lot. Sometimes they have to run 1,500 meters in one class. Most teachers and parents say that the P.E. test is great. They say it helps students build up their health.

It is true that people with better education are usually able to get better paying jobs. In other words, they have more chances to choose a good job while people with little or no education don’t. It seems that the purpose of education is to make people get jobs. But this isn’t accepted by all people.

Some people may think that a person should spend the best years of his life getting education only for a way of living. This was probably one of the earliest reasons of education. In fact, if education is just a way of making a living, people don’t need to spend so much time in school. People can get education for a living in a short time. Subjects like history and geography need not be taught to everyone. Even language and mathematics need not be taught in detail (详细地), either. Here it is clear that education is much more than teaching a man to get a way of living.

Education is well-rounded and it is mainly for improving a man. It is not only to teach him to speak, read and write, but also to develop his creative thinking and other abilities. After that, it is to make him a wise man and thankfully enjoy the achievements of human. Education is to make a man lead a better life. Educated people are expected to be able to listen to good music, read good books, watch plays and most of all take an interest in the world.

I would agree that making a good living is an important reason for education, but certainly not the most important or the main reason.