2018年雅思考试阅读材料盘点：科技和教育引领终身学习

     　It is easy to say that people need to keep learning throughout their careers. The practicalities are daunting

　　WHEN education fails to keep pace with technology, the result is inequality. Without the skills to stay useful as innovations arrive, workers suffer-and if enough of them fall behind, society starts to fall apart. That fundamental insight seized reformers in the Industrial revolution, heralding state-funded universal schooling. Later, automation in factories and offices called forth a surge in college graduates. The combination of education and innovation, spread over decades, led to a remarkable flowering of prosperity.

　　当教育跟不上技术进步时，就会造成不平等。在创新到来之际，工人如果没有技能使自己对雇主仍然"有用"，他们就会遭殃。而如果落后的工人太多，社会就开始崩塌。这一根本性的洞见极大影响了工业革命时期的改革者，推动了国家资助全民教育的普及。后来，工厂和办公室自动化又引发了大学生人数猛增。教育和创新相辅相成，历经数十年，令繁荣之花耀眼绽放。