Only now，after college，can you really benefit from diversity. Start by getting toknow people whose skin is a different color from yours. Surround yourself withfriends of every political stripe，and listen to them respectfully. And get to knowothers in very different professions. Too often，after choosing a career，people windup learning more and more about less and less. Don??t fall into that trap. Keepbroadening your horizons by seeking out real diversity.
Read for pleasu re. This may strike you as odd advice since you??ve been readingbooks for years now. If you hadn??t read a few，you wouldn??t be here. But the tomesthat you??ve plowed through have titles like The Invention of Heterosexuality and TheSocial Construction of Freaks ( yes，they??re from actual college reading lists) . Nowonder you associate reading with bland textbooks and P. C. -Laden propaganda. Nowthat you??re free of all that idiocy，the last thing you probably feel like doing is sittingdown with a good novel，much less a serious magazine or newspaper.
And that??s a shame. As graduates，you??re feeling on top of the world，but there??sonly one way to stay there. Read. That simple act separates the leaders from thefollowers ，the real achievers from the rest of the crowd. It??s a truism because it??s true:Knowledge is power . And the habit for reading is the path to knowledge.
So try this: Head to the nearest bookstore and pick three titles that interest you.Next，read them. As you do，be certain to ignore any postmodern structuralsymbolism you may encounter in the text. In other words，just read for the enjoymentof reading. You??ll be amazed at the results.
Choose reality over theor y. There??s an old French saying that pretty much sumsup what??s wrong with most college professors: “We know it works in practice. Thequestion is，Does it work in theory? ”
There??s nothing wrong with theories. Theories can be interesting，as you know,having spent your lives so far involved in them. But you??ve been living inside abubble，protected from the harsh realities of the real world. That??s what college is.
Your teachers have thrived in that bubble，free to spout pet theories without worryingabout their practicality. There??s a reason that Marxism，which has never workedanywhere in the world，still has a core following in schools.
Now that you??re leaving college，though，you??re going to have to become arealist. What matters now is what works. If you don??t believe me，try asking thepeople who went broke chasing the theory that dotcoms were a certain path to riches.Reality intervened.
Welcome，then，to the unsentimental world we all live in. it??s not so bad，onceyou??ve left your pipe dreams at the door.
Forget about b eing“ a nything you want to be. ”You can??t. Sorry. A lot ofthat self -esteem training you got all through school was an exercise in wishfulthinking. You may feel great about yourself，but you??ll have to prove your talents toeveryone else.
Think about it. Some people are naturally suited for professional basketball. Mostaren??t. Ditto for nuclear physics and carpentry. In most professions，you either havewhat it takes or you don??t. Hard work ultimately separates the successful from theailed，but you??ve got to start with the materials God gave you. The idea of limitlessability and limitless choice is nonsense.
So cut to the chase. Figure out what you??re truly good at and go for it. If youdon??t wind up with the job of your dreams，dont sweat it. Your career will probablytake a number of twists and turns - most do - and you??re usually better for it. Alongthe way，you??ll discover what makes you happy. That??s almost always something thatmatches your natural skills.
A final thought，one that you??ve heard countless times. Unlike some platitudes,this one is on the money. Your life will be half over before you know it. It mayalready be. None of us can know. So don??t squander a moment. Get up，get moving.And good luck.
Notes on language a nd cultur e
1. excruciating: ( of pain) very bad
2. commencement: ceremony at which university or college students are given theirdegrees or diplomas
3. strut: walk in a proud strong way，esp. with the chest and trying to lookimportant
4. spout: pour out in a stream of words
5. nurturing: of training，education or developing
6. segregated: making separate arrangements for different，esp. racial，groups; forthe use of only one such group
7. shunt: ( cause to) go to one side，off course，or out of action
8. rhetoric: ( derog. ) speech or writing that sounds fine and important，but is reallyinsincere or without meaning
9. yeti: a large hairy manlike animal supposed to live in the Himalayas mountains
10. orthodox: generally or officially accepted
11. wind up: put oneself ( in a certain state or place) ，accidentally
12. heterosexuality: condition of or being a person attracted in the usual way bypeople of the other sex
13. freak: ( infml. ) person with rather strange habits or ideas
14. propaganda: ( often derog. ) ( action taken，esp. by a government，to influencepublic opinion or some matter by spreading ) true or false beliefs，ideas，news,etc.
15. truism: statement of something that is so clearly true that there is no need tomention it
16. symbolism: the use of symbols; ( often cap. ) a system of literature and art，exp.in 19th century France，in which symbols were used to represent real things,feelings，etc.
17. ditto: ( infml. ) the same
18. platitude: ( derog. ) statement that is true but not new，made by someone whothinks it is both
19. squander: spend foolishly; use up wastefully
C. Post -r eading a ctivityAnswer the following questions:
1. What is the main idea of paragraph 5 and what reasons does the author give toillustrate it?
2. How can graduates benefit from diversity after college?
3. What is the main idea of paragraph 6? What reasons does the author present toexplain it?
4. In what way is the college similar to a bubble?
5. What proves the idea of perfect ability and choice is wrong?
Ⅳ. Fast Read in g
In this part，you are required to read three passages and choose the best answersafter each passage，using the skill you have just learned.
( 1)
Money can buy a degree of happiness. But once you can afford to feed，clotheand house yourself，each extra dollar makes less and less difference.
