雅思写作：大学的功能有哪些

Parents think that the university education can preparetheir children for employment opportunities, but others believe thatuniversities have some more functions. What other functions do you think can auniversity perform?
 

With ushering in（到来，也可以说withthe advent） of the 21st century, many colleges and universities in the world grew much larger andserved a greater variety of purposes.It is absolutely natural for this transformation because education should,after all, be based on the economy.

While most colleges of the 19^thcentury focused on teaching a curriculum of classical languages and literature,in the 20^th century new multipurpose research universities gainedincreasing influence. Most public institutions began to provide a wider rangeof professional training. For instance, in China, we have such colleges asInstitute of Foreign Affairs that aims to train personnel involved in foreignaffairs, or College of Metallurgy that cultivates engineers engaged in thefield of metal work.

Another function that thecolleges and universities perform is to provide students with liberal arts thatmay have no direct vocational application. Students after four-year academicstudy may have the opportunity of furthering their education to pursue a master or doctoral degree and enter institutions of researchafter graduation. In China, these comprehensive universities like Fudan University and Beijing University are very popular.

The third category of collegesand universities that function otherwise is the ones of integratingacademic and vocational objectives, keeping academiccurriculum while adding vocational one to meet the needs of ever-growingeconomy. At present, China is advocating such a combination of curriculum sothat new faculties or modules are added to the existing curriculum, expandingtheir enrollment to accept students who wish to achieve both academic andvocational objectives.