考研英語閱讀理解精讀100篇【教育類】

考研英語閱讀理解精讀100篇unit73
Unit 73
In the past few years, reformers have embraced a disarmingly simple idea for fixing schools: Why not actually flunk those students who don't earn passing grades? Both Democrats and Republicans have begun attacking the practice of "social promotion"--shuttling bad students to the next grade, advancing them with peers even if they are failing. Make F truly mean failure, the movement says.

Last week in Los Angeles, the reformers learned just how ornery the current system can be. According to a plan released Tuesday by the L.A. school district, ending social promotion there will take at least four years, could cost hundreds of millions of dollars--and probably would require flunking about half the district's students. That's a pessimistic assessment, but it's not just bureaucrats' caterwauling. Rather, L.A. school superintendent Ruben Zacarias was an eager convert to the crusade against social promotion. In February he unveiled an ambitious plan to end unwarranted promotions in five grades during the 1999-2000 school year--a full year ahead of the timetable set by a state law.

At the time, Zacarias acknowledged that his goal would be hard to meet. He estimated that as many as 6 of every 10 students would flunk if they had to advance on merit. Zacarias wanted to spend $140 million in the first year alone to help these kids. Why so much? Because a mountain of research shows that ending social promotion doesn't work if it just means more Fs. Kids who are simply forced to repeat grades over and over usually don't improve academically and often drop out. Zacarias wanted more tutoring, summer school and intensive-learning classes. Unqualified students wouldn't rise to the next grade; nor would they be doomed to redo work they already failed. It was a forward-looking plan that Zacarias, 70, didn't have the clout to enact. He wasn't popular enough--the school board recently bought out his contract after a bitter power struggle--but even fellow reformers think his plan was too much, too soon. Says board member David Tokofsky: "You've got the unions who want their say. And, of course, there's the facilities issue: Where do you send all these eighth-graders if you can't send them to high school?" The district now says it will stop advancing low-achieving students only in two grades (second and eighth), and it will begin next year.

Los Angeles isn't the only place that has run into roadblocks while trying to end social promotion. In New York City, some advocates have said in lawsuits that parents weren't notified early enough that their kids were flunking. And in Chicago, which led the nation on the issue, a parents' group has filed civil rights complaints alleging that the promotion crackdown holds back a disproportionate number of black and Latino kids.

Still, the war on social promotion could have one salutary consequence: if every school district takes L.A.'s approach, struggling students will get a lot more teaching help, not just a kick in the rear as they finish another unproductive school year.

注（1）：本文選自Time；12/13/99, p73, 2/3p, 1c
注（2）：本文習(xí)題命題模仿對象2001年真題text 2和text 4第4題（本習(xí)題第5題）

1.       “Social promotion” is ___________.

[A] a simple idea for fixing school
[B] flunking students who don’t earn passing grades
[C] making F more or less meaningless
[D] a political movement

2.       Education officials give the reform prospect a pessimistic assessment because_______.

[A] it takes too long time, costs too much and may produce undesirable result
[B] there is no feasible plan yet
[C] it involves too many students
[D] it is not approved by state legislature

3.       The writer mentioned the case of Zacarias to show that ______________.

[A] ending social promotion doesn’t work
[B] schools do not have the ability to enact his plan
[C] plans like his are too ambitious
[D] it’s hard to reach agreement on the issue of ending social promotion

4.       It seems that the effort at ending social promotion _____________.

[A] is confronting a lot of resistance
[B] has proved fruitless
[C] has little hope of success
[D] does more harm than good

5.       Toward the proposal of ending social promotion, the author’s attitude seems to be ________.

[A] pessimistic
[B] optimistic
[C] objective
[D] biased

答案：C A D A B

篇章剖析：
本篇文章圍繞教育改革派主張在美國中小學(xué)取消“自動升級”的問題展開了討論，第一段介紹了改革派的主張：取消“自動升級”。第二、三段以洛杉磯教育區(qū)為例，說明取消“自動升級”在實施過程中所面臨的巨大困難。第四段介紹了這種實踐引起的社會反響。最后一段介紹了它可能帶來的有益后果。

詞匯注釋：
disarmingly: [] adv. 使人消除警惕性[疑心]地, 使人不緊張的地
flunk: [] v. 使不及格
social promotion: 自動升級
shuttle: [] v. 穿梭運送
peer: [] n. 同等的人；同輩
ornery: [] adj. 脾氣壞的; 愛爭吵的
assessment: [] n. 評估，評價
bureaucrat: [] n. 官僚；官吏
caterwauling: [] n. 哀訴聲,抱怨聲
superintendent: [] n. 主管, 負責(zé)人, 指揮者, 管理者
convert: [] n. （常與to連用）改變信仰或意見的人
crusade: [] n. 討伐；改革運動；熱心于社會除惡的運動
unwarranted: [] adj. 無根據(jù)的, 未獲保證的, 無保證的, 未獲承認的
clout: [] n. 影響力
enact: [] v. 制定，制訂成法律
roadblock: [] n. 障礙, 障礙物
advocate: [] n. （常與of連用）擁護者；提倡者
notify: [] v. 正式通知（某人）
allege: [] v. 〈法〉指控
crackdown: [] n. 鎮(zhèn)壓, 打擊
disproportionate: [] adj. 不相稱的；不成比例的；不勻稱的
Latino: [] n. 拉丁美洲人
salutary: [] adj. 有益的

難句突破
And in Chicago, which led the nation on the issue, a parents' group has filed civil rights complaints alleging that the promotion crackdown holds back a disproportionate number of black and Latino kids.
主體句式：a parents’ group has filed complaints
結(jié)構(gòu)分析：本句是一個復(fù)雜句，在介詞in引導(dǎo)的狀語中包含了一個which引導(dǎo)的非限定性定語從句，修飾Chicago，在主句中包含一個分詞alleging引導(dǎo)的狀語，這個狀語自己還包含了一個that引導(dǎo)的賓語從句。
句子譯文：在芝加哥，一個家長團體提出了民權(quán)控訴，宣稱取消自動升級使相當(dāng)比例的黑人和拉丁美洲裔的孩子升不了級。

題目分析：
1. 答案為C, 屬事實細節(jié)題。從文章第一段破折號后對social promotion的解釋來看，它的意思是：就算差生考試不及格，他們照樣可以和其他同學(xué)一起進入下一年級。在從改革派反對“social promotion”，主張使F真正意味著“不及格”來看，social promotion 顯然使F失去了意義。
2. 答案為A，屬事實細節(jié)題。本文答案可以在that’s a pessimistic assessment前面的部分讀到。
3. 答案為D，屬推理判斷題。文章第三段先介紹了Zacarias的計劃，然后說明他的計劃為什么難以實施：他在校董事會的權(quán)力之爭中落敗，以及其他改革派對他的計劃所持的不同意見。以這樣一個例子旨在說明在取消“自動升級”問題上難以達成一致意見。
4. 答案為A，屬事實細節(jié)題。根據(jù)文章第四段所舉的例子可知，這一改革方案遭到了較多的抵制。
5. 答案為B，屬推理判斷題。雖然文章用了較大篇幅介紹取消“自動升級”所面臨的困難和計劃實施中存在的問題，但作者的態(tài)度仍然是積極樂觀的。這一點可以從作者評論Zacarias的計劃時所用的措辭“forward-looking”以及最后一段作者評論其有益后果看出。

參考譯文：
過去幾年，改革派一直堅持用一種令人毫無懷疑的簡單想法解決學(xué)校的問題：對于那些成績不達標的學(xué)生，為什么不讓他們留級？民主黨和共和黨已經(jīng)開始抨擊“自動升級”的做法---按照這種做法，就算差生考試不及格，他們照樣可以和其他同學(xué)一起進入下一年級。這場運動主張要讓“F”這個成績真的意味著“不及格”。

上周在洛杉磯，改革派領(lǐng)教了當(dāng)前體制令人不快的一面。根據(jù)洛杉磯教育區(qū)周二發(fā)布的一項計劃，取消“自動升級”將需要至少花費四年的時間，耗資成百上千萬美元---也許還會使地區(qū)一半左右的學(xué)生留級。這是悲觀的估計，但官員們并非危言聳聽。洛杉磯的學(xué)校督導(dǎo)員魯本•扎卡雷斯以前曾積極參與反對“自動升級”的活動。二月份他提出了一項很有挑戰(zhàn)性的計劃，以期在1999-2000學(xué)年在五個年級取消無根據(jù)的升級---這比該州法律設(shè)定的時間表提前了整整一年。

扎卡雷斯承認他的目標在當(dāng)時很難實現(xiàn)。他估計如果按照成績升級的話，十個學(xué)生中將有六個過不了關(guān)。僅第一年扎卡雷斯就打算花費1.4億美元來幫助這些孩子。為什么要花這么多錢呢？因為眾多研究表明如果取消“自動升級”僅僅意味著有更多學(xué)生無法升級的話，那么它就失去了意義。那些被迫一遍又一遍地復(fù)讀的孩子成績并沒有提高，甚至還經(jīng)常會退學(xué)。扎卡雷斯希望學(xué)生們能得到更多的指導(dǎo)，開設(shè)更多的夏季班和強化學(xué)習(xí)班。不合格的學(xué)生不會進入下一年級，但也不必把功課重學(xué)一遍。他提出的這一計劃很有遠見，但70高齡的扎卡雷斯本人并沒有足夠的影響力將其付諸實施---他還不夠受歡迎---在一場激烈的權(quán)力斗爭之后，該校董事會最近買斷了他的合同---但就連其他改革派也認為他的計劃太宏大，太迫切。另一位董事會成員大衛(wèi)•托科夫斯基說：“工會想要有發(fā)言權(quán)。當(dāng)然，還有設(shè)施的問題：如果不能把八年級學(xué)生送入中學(xué)，那該把他們送往哪里呢？”現(xiàn)在，該教育區(qū)宣布它將只在兩個年級（二年級和八年級）對成績較差的學(xué)生取消升級，并將從明年起實施。

洛杉磯并不是唯一一個在取消“自動升級”工作中遇到困難的地方。在紐約市，一些辯護律師在訴訟中稱家長沒有及時被告知他們的孩子會留級。在芝加哥，一個家長團體提出了民權(quán)控訴，宣稱取消自動升級使相當(dāng)比例的黑人和拉丁美洲裔的孩子升不了級。

然而，這場關(guān)于“自動升級”的戰(zhàn)爭還是會帶來一個有益的結(jié)果：如果每個教育區(qū)采用洛杉磯的做法，那些學(xué)習(xí)吃力的學(xué)生就會得到學(xué)習(xí)幫助，而不僅僅是在學(xué)完一年毫無收獲之外再被踢上一腳。
考研英語閱讀理解精讀100篇unit72
Unit 72
Sal Monella is a poisonous gangster hell bent on infection, and a pimple is a power-mad oil gland. That's life--and a quirky twist on salmonella and acne--in the animated world of Ozzy & Drix, part of the WB network's Saturday-morning lineup. This was the first season for what might be called a "smartoon." It was in the top programs among kids ages 2 to 11. And it's coming back this fall.

Instead of battling mystical monsters, Ozzy & Drix cleverly personifies body parts--a muscle cell is a police chief--to teach kids about their bodies. Rather than lecture kids about smoking, Ozzy & Drix turns nicotine into Nick O'Teen, a smarmy villain with long claws that hook into brains and cause addictions. Bad guys like Nick are taken down by the title stars: Osmosis "Ozzy" Jones, a street-smart white blood cell, and Drix, an uptight but intelligent cold pill with a chest full of medicine. White blood cells help fight infection, and Drix is a medicine chest. Get it?

Ozzy & Drix makes a point of tackling "issues that are very real to the day-to-day lives of kids," says David Foster, a Harvard University internist who helps develop story lines for the show. "We hope they take an interest in what is going on inside them." That's why all the action occurs within 13-year-old Hector, who contracts diseases, encounters peer pressure, and even drinks spoiled milk. "This poor kid has been through a lot," says Producer Alan Burnett.

Pun fun. The slap-your-knee, ba-dum-dum humor takes many forms. Ozzy and Drix set up a detective firm behind Hector's cornea--they're "private eyes"--to ensure him a safe adolescence. Blood cells race like cars through Hector's arteries and past a "roadside" billboard reading "Peace for the Middle Ear." There's a rock concert at the Diaphragm Club featuring the band Metabolica. Ozzy and Drix drive a Cel Camino.

"This is a very interesting direction for broadcasters to take," says Sandra Calvert, a psychologist and director of the Children's Digital Media Center at Georgetown University. "We rarely see someone go after the health area." Kids go for the slapstick and drama while adults are drawn to the puns and parodies, and the dual enjoyment sparks questions and conversation, she says.

Consider an upcoming episode in which Hector eats bad sausage containing parasitic worms. A spoof of jaws begins as his stomach becomes a sea of acid dotted with boats. On one, Ozzy teams up with grizzled Captain Quinine--recalling movie shark hunter Quint and the fact that quinine was once used to treat parasites. Ozzy and the Cap'n blow up the monsters with bicarbonate of soda. A soothing end, not for the worms, but for Hector's upset stomach.

注（1）：本文選自U.S. News & World Report；7/28/2003-8/4/2003, p40, 2p, 1c；
注（2）：本文習(xí)題命題模仿對象2002年真題text4和text2第5題；

1.       From the first three paragraphs, we learn that ___________.

[A] Ozzy & Drix is a cartoon about good-guy fighting bad guy.
[B] the target audience of Ozzy & Drix are children.
[C] smartoon is a new type of cartoon
[D] the purpose of Ozzy & Drix is to help children fight against diseases

2.       Which of the following statements is true according to the text?

[A] Ozzy in the cartoon lacks experiences.
[B] Hector’s friends show sympathy to him when he contracts disease.
[C] A new season of Ozzy & Drix will be on show this fall.
[D] Ozzy & Drix mainly deals with battling frightening creatures。

3.       According to Sandra Calvert, broadcasters may learn from Ozzy & Drix_________.

[A] how to create humorous effect
[B] that health area is worth exploring
[C] that dual enjoyment of both kids and adults is the key to Ozzy & Drix’s success
[D] that kids and adults alike take great fun in Ozzy & Drix

4.       Which of the following best defines the word “slapstick”?

[A] humorous acting
[B] serious theme
[C] interesting plot
[D] instructive stories

5.       The author uses the episode in which Hector eats bad sausage containing parasitic worms to show _____________.

[A] how the cartoon is plotted
[B] how children feel when they fall ill
[C] the pun and humor in the cartoon
[D] the way children can be educated

答案：B C B A C

篇章剖析：
本篇為說明文，通過點面結(jié)合來說明一檔流行的電視節(jié)目《奧茲和德里克斯》的內(nèi)容，特點，引人之處等。第一段是對熱門電視系列劇《奧茲和德里克斯》的簡要介紹，突出了其“出奇”和“熱門”兩大特色，第二段，第三段說明了這個電視劇的主要內(nèi)容，即以賦予身體各部分人性化的特點幫助孩子們了解自己的身體以及發(fā)生在日常生活中的問題；第四段，第五段介紹了該劇輕松幽默，老少咸宜的特點；第六段以一段劇情結(jié)束全文，讓人更加深刻的體會這部劇作。

詞匯注釋：
salmonella []n. 沙門氏菌
pimple []n. 丘疹, 面泡, 疙瘩
gland []n. 腺
quirky [ ] adj. 詭詐的, 離奇的
acne []n. 痤瘡, 粉刺
lineup [] n. 系列節(jié)目
personify []vt. 賦與...以人性, 使人格化
nicotine []n. 煙堿，尼古丁
smarmy []adj. 令人厭煩的, 愛說奉承話的, 虛情假意的
osmosis []n. 滲透(作用), 滲透性
street-smart: adj. 經(jīng)驗老到的
uptight []adj. 過分拘謹?shù)�；（行為，觀點和品味）極端保守的
internist []n. <美>內(nèi)科醫(yī)師
contract []v. 感染
cornea []n. [醫(yī)]角膜
artery []n. 動脈
slapstick [] n. 鬧劇；滑稽劇
parody: [] n. 模仿滑稽作品
spoof [] n. 胡說；戲弄；哄騙
grizzled [] adj. 灰色的, 頭發(fā)斑白的

難句突破
Rather than lecture kids about smoking, Ozzy & Drix turns nicotine into Nick O'Teen, a smarmy villain with long claws that hook into brains and cause addictions.
主體句式：Ozzy & Drix turns nicotine into Nick O'Teen
結(jié)構(gòu)分析：這是一個復(fù)雜句，主句為Ozzy & Drix turns nicotine into Nick O'Teen，Nick O’Teen后面有個較長的同位語，其中還含有定語從句。Rather than作為連接詞引導(dǎo)從句，通常表示否定意義，意為：“而不是”，用于和另外一種可以肯定的情況作比較。比如，Rather than sit in a cozy room, he works out in the cold air. 他沒有在舒適的房間里安坐，而是冒著嚴寒在室外工作。
句子譯文：對于吸煙，《奧茲和德里克斯》也沒有采用對孩子們說教的方式，而是把尼古丁變成了一個名叫尼克•丁的口蜜腹劍的惡棍，它長著長長的爪子，并用它來鉤住人的大腦，使人上癮。

題目分析：
1. 答案為B，屬事實細節(jié)題。文中第一段最后說這部卡通片“深受2-11歲孩子的歡迎�！钡诙�段說要通過卡通片教孩子們認識自己的身體，第三段都講卡通片涉及的是孩子們?nèi)粘Ｉ�活中面臨的真實問題。由此可見，答案為B：卡通片的目標人群為兒童。C項中的smartoon只是用來說明該卡通構(gòu)思巧妙，并不是新型卡通。
2. 答案為C，屬事實細節(jié)題。從文章第一段末it’s coming back this fall可知新一季的Ozzy& Drix即將在秋季上映。文中第二段提到Ozzy是street-smart，這個詞的意思是“閱歷豐富的，經(jīng)驗老到的”。文中第三段提到Hector患病后遭遇了peer pressure，即同伴的壓力，可見同伴們都不喜歡患病的他。第二段特意提到了instead of battling mystical monsters，也就是說這部卡通一改和怪物斗爭的模式，所以只有答案C是正確的。
3. 答案為B，屬推理判斷題。文章第五段一開頭就引用Sandra Calvert的話說，這是廣播公司可以發(fā)展的一個非常有趣的方向，接著又說，以前很少見到涉足保健領(lǐng)域的話題�？梢姡�她的意思是廣播公司在保健領(lǐng)域大有可為。
4. 答案為A，屬猜詞題。文章第四段開頭說“The slap-your-knee, ba-dum-dum humor takes many forms.”接下來舉例說明，并在第五段說孩子們喜歡這種slapstick，根據(jù)上下文判斷，“幽默的表演”應(yīng)該是最佳選項。
5. 答案為C，屬推理判斷題。從第三段可知雙關(guān)和幽默是該劇最大的特點，在最后一段的劇情里，作者說奎寧船長的名字讓人想起獵鯊專家奎恩特以及奎寧曾用于治療寄生蟲病的事情，可見作者是以此舉例說明這部卡通劇作的雙關(guān)和幽默。

參考譯文
沙門氏是一伙惡毒的，會傳染疾病的壞蛋，而一個粉刺則是一個迷戀權(quán)利的油脂腺。這就是在《奧茲和德里克斯》這檔華納電視網(wǎng)周六早晨節(jié)目中展現(xiàn)的生活---而且是對于沙門氏菌和粉刺最離奇的一次改編。而這僅是這部堪稱 “聰明卡通”的系列片的第一季。在2至11歲的孩子中，它是最受歡迎的一檔節(jié)目。今年秋季，它又將上演。

《奧茲和德里克斯》中并沒有和神秘怪獸作斗爭的內(nèi)容，而是將人體的某些部位賦予了人性化的特征——一個肌肉細胞擔(dān)任了警察局長——目的是教孩子們了解自己的身體。對于吸煙，《奧茲和德里克斯》也沒有采用對孩子們說教的方式，而是把尼古丁變成了一個名叫尼克•丁的口蜜腹劍的惡棍，它長著長長的爪子，并用它來鉤住人的大腦，使人上癮。像尼克這樣的壞蛋都被卡通片名里的明星們治服了：善于滲透的“奧茲”瓊斯是一個經(jīng)驗老到的白血球；拘謹聰明的德里克斯則是一粒肚子里裝滿藥的感冒藥丸。白血球們幫助抗擊感染，而德里克斯則是個藥箱子。這下明白了吧？

《奧茲和德里克斯》涉及的都是“孩子們?nèi)粘Ｉ�活中面對的真實問題”，參與該電視劇劇情編寫的哈佛大學(xué)內(nèi)科醫(yī)生大衛(wèi)•福斯特說道�！拔覀兿Ｍ�孩子們對發(fā)生在自己體內(nèi)的事情感興趣�！彼�以所有的故事都發(fā)生在13歲的赫克托爾體內(nèi)。這個孩子染病在身，感受到了來自同伴的壓力，甚至還喝下了變質(zhì)的牛奶�！斑@個可憐的小家伙受了不少罪，”制片人艾倫•伯內(nèi)特說道。

片中的雙關(guān)語非常有趣。拍膝蓋，打拍子這一類的幽默都通過很多形式表現(xiàn)出來。奧茲和德里克斯在赫克托爾的角膜后面成立了一家偵探事務(wù)所---他們是“私人的眼睛”---為的是確保他安全度過青春期。血細胞經(jīng)過赫克托爾的動脈時好像汽車一樣飛馳而過，經(jīng)過一個“路邊”廣告牌，上面寫著“中耳需要安寧。”“橫隔膜俱樂部”正在舉辦一場“新陳代謝樂隊”的專場搖滾音樂會。奧茲和德里克斯開的是一輛卡米諾牌細胞汽車。

“對于廣播公司來說，這是一種非常有趣的發(fā)展方向，”喬治敦大學(xué)兒童數(shù)字媒體中心主任，心理學(xué)家桑德拉•卡爾弗特說道。“我們很少見到有人在健康領(lǐng)域做文章。”孩子們喜歡有趣刺激的情節(jié)，而大人們也被片中的雙關(guān)語和滑稽的模仿所吸引，這種老少皆宜的片子能引發(fā)思考和討論。

以接下來的一幕中赫克托爾吃了含有寄生蟲的變質(zhì)香腸為例。危險的情況被以一種輕松搞笑的方式演繹了出來。他的胃變成一片酸性物質(zhì)的海洋，上面漂著幾頁扁舟。其中一艘小船上坐著奧茲和頭發(fā)花白的奎寧船長，他們同舟共濟---這讓人想起了電影中的獵鯊專家奎恩特，以及奎寧曾被用來對付寄生蟲的事。奧茲和船長用碳酸水中的重碳酸鹽把那些怪物統(tǒng)統(tǒng)炸死了。對蟲子們來說，這是滅頂之災(zāi)，但對赫克托爾翻江倒海的胃來說，結(jié)局令人寬慰。
考研英語閱讀理解精讀100篇unit73
Unit 73
In the past few years, reformers have embraced a disarmingly simple idea for fixing schools: Why not actually flunk those students who don't earn passing grades? Both Democrats and Republicans have begun attacking the practice of "social promotion"--shuttling bad students to the next grade, advancing them with peers even if they are failing. Make F truly mean failure, the movement says.

Last week in Los Angeles, the reformers learned just how ornery the current system can be. According to a plan released Tuesday by the L.A. school district, ending social promotion there will take at least four years, could cost hundreds of millions of dollars--and probably would require flunking about half the district's students. That's a pessimistic assessment, but it's not just bureaucrats' caterwauling. Rather, L.A. school superintendent Ruben Zacarias was an eager convert to the crusade against social promotion. In February he unveiled an ambitious plan to end unwarranted promotions in five grades during the 1999-2000 school year--a full year ahead of the timetable set by a state law.

At the time, Zacarias acknowledged that his goal would be hard to meet. He estimated that as many as 6 of every 10 students would flunk if they had to advance on merit. Zacarias wanted to spend $140 million in the first year alone to help these kids. Why so much? Because a mountain of research shows that ending social promotion doesn't work if it just means more Fs. Kids who are simply forced to repeat grades over and over usually don't improve academically and often drop out. Zacarias wanted more tutoring, summer school and intensive-learning classes. Unqualified students wouldn't rise to the next grade; nor would they be doomed to redo work they already failed. It was a forward-looking plan that Zacarias, 70, didn't have the clout to enact. He wasn't popular enough--the school board recently bought out his contract after a bitter power struggle--but even fellow reformers think his plan was too much, too soon. Says board member David Tokofsky: "You've got the unions who want their say. And, of course, there's the facilities issue: Where do you send all these eighth-graders if you can't send them to high school?" The district now says it will stop advancing low-achieving students only in two grades (second and eighth), and it will begin next year.

Los Angeles isn't the only place that has run into roadblocks while trying to end social promotion. In New York City, some advocates have said in lawsuits that parents weren't notified early enough that their kids were flunking. And in Chicago, which led the nation on the issue, a parents' group has filed civil rights complaints alleging that the promotion crackdown holds back a disproportionate number of black and Latino kids.

Still, the war on social promotion could have one salutary consequence: if every school district takes L.A.'s approach, struggling students will get a lot more teaching help, not just a kick in the rear as they finish another unproductive school year.

注（1）：本文選自Time；12/13/99, p73, 2/3p, 1c
注（2）：本文習(xí)題命題模仿對象2001年真題text 2和text 4第4題（本習(xí)題第5題）

1.       “Social promotion” is ___________.

[A] a simple idea for fixing school
[B] flunking students who don’t earn passing grades
[C] making F more or less meaningless
[D] a political movement

2.       Education officials give the reform prospect a pessimistic assessment because_______.

[A] it takes too long time, costs too much and may produce undesirable result
[B] there is no feasible plan yet
[C] it involves too many students
[D] it is not approved by state legislature

3.       The writer mentioned the case of Zacarias to show that ______________.

[A] ending social promotion doesn’t work
[B] schools do not have the ability to enact his plan
[C] plans like his are too ambitious
[D] it’s hard to reach agreement on the issue of ending social promotion

4.       It seems that the effort at ending social promotion _____________.

[A] is confronting a lot of resistance
[B] has proved fruitless
[C] has little hope of success
[D] does more harm than good

5.       Toward the proposal of ending social promotion, the author’s attitude seems to be ________.

[A] pessimistic
[B] optimistic
[C] objective
[D] biased

答案：C A D A B

篇章剖析：
本篇文章圍繞教育改革派主張在美國中小學(xué)取消“自動升級”的問題展開了討論，第一段介紹了改革派的主張：取消“自動升級”。第二、三段以洛杉磯教育區(qū)為例，說明取消“自動升級”在實施過程中所面臨的巨大困難。第四段介紹了這種實踐引起的社會反響。最后一段介紹了它可能帶來的有益后果。

詞匯注釋：
disarmingly: [] adv. 使人消除警惕性[疑心]地, 使人不緊張的地
flunk: [] v. 使不及格
social promotion: 自動升級
shuttle: [] v. 穿梭運送
peer: [] n. 同等的人；同輩
ornery: [] adj. 脾氣壞的; 愛爭吵的
assessment: [] n. 評估，評價
bureaucrat: [] n. 官僚；官吏
caterwauling: [] n. 哀訴聲,抱怨聲
superintendent: [] n. 主管, 負責(zé)人, 指揮者, 管理者
convert: [] n. （常與to連用）改變信仰或意見的人
crusade: [] n. 討伐；改革運動；熱心于社會除惡的運動
unwarranted: [] adj. 無根據(jù)的, 未獲保證的, 無保證的, 未獲承認的
clout: [] n. 影響力
enact: [] v. 制定，制訂成法律
roadblock: [] n. 障礙, 障礙物
advocate: [] n. （常與of連用）擁護者；提倡者
notify: [] v. 正式通知（某人）
allege: [] v. 〈法〉指控
crackdown: [] n. 鎮(zhèn)壓, 打擊
disproportionate: [] adj. 不相稱的；不成比例的；不勻稱的
Latino: [] n. 拉丁美洲人
salutary: [] adj. 有益的

難句突破
And in Chicago, which led the nation on the issue, a parents' group has filed civil rights complaints alleging that the promotion crackdown holds back a disproportionate number of black and Latino kids.
主體句式：a parents’ group has filed complaints
結(jié)構(gòu)分析：本句是一個復(fù)雜句，在介詞in引導(dǎo)的狀語中包含了一個which引導(dǎo)的非限定性定語從句，修飾Chicago，在主句中包含一個分詞alleging引導(dǎo)的狀語，這個狀語自己還包含了一個that引導(dǎo)的賓語從句。
句子譯文：在芝加哥，一個家長團體提出了民權(quán)控訴，宣稱取消自動升級使相當(dāng)比例的黑人和拉丁美洲裔的孩子升不了級。

題目分析：
1. 答案為C, 屬事實細節(jié)題。從文章第一段破折號后對social promotion的解釋來看，它的意思是：就算差生考試不及格，他們照樣可以和其他同學(xué)一起進入下一年級。在從改革派反對“social promotion”，主張使F真正意味著“不及格”來看，social promotion 顯然使F失去了意義。
2. 答案為A，屬事實細節(jié)題。本文答案可以在that’s a pessimistic assessment前面的部分讀到。
3. 答案為D，屬推理判斷題。文章第三段先介紹了Zacarias的計劃，然后說明他的計劃為什么難以實施：他在校董事會的權(quán)力之爭中落敗，以及其他改革派對他的計劃所持的不同意見。以這樣一個例子旨在說明在取消“自動升級”問題上難以達成一致意見。
4. 答案為A，屬事實細節(jié)題。根據(jù)文章第四段所舉的例子可知，這一改革方案遭到了較多的抵制。
5. 答案為B，屬推理判斷題。雖然文章用了較大篇幅介紹取消“自動升級”所面臨的困難和計劃實施中存在的問題，但作者的態(tài)度仍然是積極樂觀的。這一點可以從作者評論Zacarias的計劃時所用的措辭“forward-looking”以及最后一段作者評論其有益后果看出。

參考譯文：
過去幾年，改革派一直堅持用一種令人毫無懷疑的簡單想法解決學(xué)校的問題：對于那些成績不達標的學(xué)生，為什么不讓他們留級？民主黨和共和黨已經(jīng)開始抨擊“自動升級”的做法---按照這種做法，就算差生考試不及格，他們照樣可以和其他同學(xué)一起進入下一年級。這場運動主張要讓“F”這個成績真的意味著“不及格”。

上周在洛杉磯，改革派領(lǐng)教了當(dāng)前體制令人不快的一面。根據(jù)洛杉磯教育區(qū)周二發(fā)布的一項計劃，取消“自動升級”將需要至少花費四年的時間，耗資成百上千萬美元---也許還會使地區(qū)一半左右的學(xué)生留級。這是悲觀的估計，但官員們并非危言聳聽。洛杉磯的學(xué)校督導(dǎo)員魯本•扎卡雷斯以前曾積極參與反對“自動升級”的活動。二月份他提出了一項很有挑戰(zhàn)性的計劃，以期在1999-2000學(xué)年在五個年級取消無根據(jù)的升級---這比該州法律設(shè)定的時間表提前了整整一年。

扎卡雷斯承認他的目標在當(dāng)時很難實現(xiàn)。他估計如果按照成績升級的話，十個學(xué)生中將有六個過不了關(guān)。僅第一年扎卡雷斯就打算花費1.4億美元來幫助這些孩子。為什么要花這么多錢呢？因為眾多研究表明如果取消“自動升級”僅僅意味著有更多學(xué)生無法升級的話，那么它就失去了意義。那些被迫一遍又一遍地復(fù)讀的孩子成績并沒有提高，甚至還經(jīng)常會退學(xué)。扎卡雷斯希望學(xué)生們能得到更多的指導(dǎo)，開設(shè)更多的夏季班和強化學(xué)習(xí)班。不合格的學(xué)生不會進入下一年級，但也不必把功課重學(xué)一遍。他提出的這一計劃很有遠見，但70高齡的扎卡雷斯本人并沒有足夠的影響力將其付諸實施---他還不夠受歡迎---在一場激烈的權(quán)力斗爭之后，該校董事會最近買斷了他的合同---但就連其他改革派也認為他的計劃太宏大，太迫切。另一位董事會成員大衛(wèi)•托科夫斯基說：“工會想要有發(fā)言權(quán)。當(dāng)然，還有設(shè)施的問題：如果不能把八年級學(xué)生送入中學(xué)，那該把他們送往哪里呢？”現(xiàn)在，該教育區(qū)宣布它將只在兩個年級（二年級和八年級）對成績較差的學(xué)生取消升級，并將從明年起實施。

洛杉磯并不是唯一一個在取消“自動升級”工作中遇到困難的地方。在紐約市，一些辯護律師在訴訟中稱家長沒有及時被告知他們的孩子會留級。在芝加哥，一個家長團體提出了民權(quán)控訴，宣稱取消自動升級使相當(dāng)比例的黑人和拉丁美洲裔的孩子升不了級。

然而，這場關(guān)于“自動升級”的戰(zhàn)爭還是會帶來一個有益的結(jié)果：如果每個教育區(qū)采用洛杉磯的做法，那些學(xué)習(xí)吃力的學(xué)生就會得到學(xué)習(xí)幫助，而不僅僅是在學(xué)完一年毫無收獲之外再被踢上一腳。

二：資料下載

更多資料請訪問：考試吧考研欄目