dge.Itwasatimewhen\rignorancewasavirtueandknowledgewasacrime.Peopletrieddesperately\rtobeawayfromknowledge.Asaresult,Chinalaggedfartherbehindthe\rrapidprogressingworld.ThiswasthedarkesttimeinthehistoryofNew\rChina.Thecurvereturnedtoitsoriginalnon-zeropositionaround1978\randmovedupbutslowly.From1984on,ithasbeenshootingup.Theopen-up\rpolicyencouragespeopletostudyandtochanneltheirknowledgetothe\rmarketeconomy.MillionsofChinesearebetteringoffbymeansoftheir\rknowledgeandmoreChineseenjoythefruitsofknowledgeandsaygoodbye\rforgoodtopovertythathauntedthemforgenerations.\rAsourworldisrapidlyadvancingtowardstheInformationAge,\rincreasingnumberofpeoplerealizethatknowledgeispowerandcreativity\riseverything.OnlywhenChinabecomesabetter-educatednation,canChina\rbeagreatnationwithinternationalprestige.\r31