消费者说他们并没有陷入绝望，因为虽然报纸上的大标题看来让人沮丧，他们感觉自己的运气并没有什么损失。在大多数地区房地产价格仍很稳定。在曼哈顿，“四百万到一千万之间的房子非常抢手，主要是因为华尔街的分红”，房产经纪人Barbara Corcoran说。在旧金山，尽管疯狂的叫价已逐渐平息，但房价仍在攀升。“以前总是有20到30个来叫价的，而现在只有两三个”，海滨地区的一位房产经纪人John•Tealdi说。大多数人感觉还不错、对自己有能力找到并保住一份工作感到相当有把握。

　　许多人在这次经济萧条中仍能看到一线希望。想买房子的人会为低利率而高兴。老板们不会在意就业市场上少几个泡沫。许多消费者似乎受到了股市波动的影响，但投资者将此看作是持续增长的必要条件。就餐的人也能得到好处。过去能在曼哈顿时髦的新艾伦杜可斯饭店得张桌子是不可能的，现在情况就不一样了。因此，格林斯番和各大公司还是可以举杯庆祝一下的。

　　Text 4

　　Americans today don‘t place a very high value on intellect. Our heroes are athletes, entertainers, and entrepreneurs, not scholars. Even our schools are where we send our children to get a practical education——not to pursue knowledge for the sake of knowledge. Symptoms of pervasive anti-intellectualism in our schools aren’t difficult to find.

　　“Schools have always been in a society where practical is more important than intellectual,” says education writer Diane Ravitch. “Schools could be a counterbalance.” Razitch‘s latest bock, Left Back: A Century of Failed School Reforms, traces the roots of anti-intellectualism in our schools, concluding they are anything but a counterbalance to the American distaste for intellectual pursuits.

　　But they could and should be. Encouraging kids to reject the life of the mind leaves them vulnerable to exploitation and control. Without the ability to think critically, to defend their ideas and understand the ideas of others, they cannot fully participate in our democracy. Continuing along this path, says writer Earl Shorris, “We will become a second-rate country. We will have a less civil society.”

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