考研英語(yǔ)閱讀理解精讀100篇unit78
Unit 78
There was a time when big-league university presidents really mattered. The New York Times covered their every move. Presidents, the real ones, sought their counsel. For Woodrow Wilson and Dwight Eisenhower, being head of Princeton and Columbia, respectively, was a stepping-stone to the White House. Today, though, the job of college president is less and less removed from that of the Avon lady (except the house calls are made to the doorsteps of wealthy alums).
Ruth Simmons, the newly installed president of Brown University and the first African American to lead an Ivy League school, is a throwback to the crusading campus leaders of old. She doesn't merely marshal funds; she invests them in the great educational causes of our day. With the more than $300 million she raised as president of Smith College from 1995 to 2001, Simmons established an engineering program (the first at any women's school) and added seminars focused on public speaking to purge the ubiquitous "likes" and "ums" from the campus idiom. At a meeting to discuss the future of Smith's math department, one professor timidly requested two more discussion sections for his course. Her response: "Dream bigger."
Her own dream was born in a sharecropper's shack in East Texas where there was no money for books or toys--she and her 11 siblings each got an apple, an orange and 10 nuts for Christmas. Though she was called n_____ on her walk to school, entering the classroom, she says, "was like waking up." When Simmons won a scholarship to Dillard University, her high school teachers took up a collection so she'd have a coat. She went on to Harvard to earn a Ph.D. in Romance languages.
Simmons has made diversity her No. 1 campus crusade. She nearly doubled the enrollment of black freshmen at Smith, largely by traveling to high schools in the nation's poorest ZIP codes to recruit. Concerned with the lives of minority students once they arrive at school, she has fought to ease the racial standoffs that plague so many campuses. At Smith she turned down a request by students to have race-specific dorms. In 1993, while vice provost at Princeton, she wrote a now famous report recommending that the university establish an office of conflict resolution to defuse racial misunderstandings before they boiled over.
Her first task at Brown will be to heal one such rupture last spring after the student paper published an incendiary ad by conservative polemicist David Horowitz arguing that blacks economically benefited from slavery. "There's no safe ground for anybody in race relations, but campuses, unlike any other institution in our society, provide the opportunity to cross racial lines," says Simmons. "And even if you're hurt, you can't walk away. You have to walk over that line."
注（1）：本文選自Time; 9/17/2001, Vol. 158 Issue 12, p70, 1p, 1c
注（2）：本文習(xí)題命題模仿對(duì)象2004年真題text 2.
1. What does the author intend to illustrate with the example of Woodrow Wilson and Dwight Eisenhower?
[A]The president of the first-class university was really very important.
[B]The presidents gave them some good advice.
[C]The presidents of the university could easily go to the white house.
[D]The presidents had more power and authority than Avon ladies.
2.What can we infer from the second paragraph?
[A]Simmons was an old crusading campus leader.
[B]Simmons wanted to expand her university.
[C]Simmons knew well about how to invest the money.
[D]Simmons was a competent and ambitious president.
3.The 4th paragraph mainly talks about _________.
[A]Simmons greatly sympathized the black people.
[B]Simmons wanted to diversify her university.
[C]Simmons made a great effort to solve the racial problems.
[D]Simmons never neglect the racial problems.
4.What does the author mean by “the job of college president is less and less removed from that of the Avon lady”(Line 4, Paragraph 1)?
[A]College president can get their position with the help of Avon lady.
[B]The jobs of college president and Avon lady are quite similar.
[C]College presidents got inspiration from the job of the Avon lady.
[D]The jobs of college presidents and the Avon lady should be separated.
5.Which of the following is true according to the text?
[A]Simmons had successfully solved the racial problems.
[B]Simmons owed her success to her high school teachers.
[C]Simmons didn't like “l(fā)ikes” and “ums” in campus idioms.
[D]Simmons asked her professor to be more ambitious and aggressive.
答案：ADCBD
篇章剖析
本文可以說(shuō)是一篇記敘文，主要記述大學(xué)校長(zhǎng)魯思•西蒙斯作為校園改革派的一些逸事。文章第一段就以前的大學(xué)校長(zhǎng)和當(dāng)今的大學(xué)校長(zhǎng)的不同之處進(jìn)行了對(duì)比；第二段記述了魯思•西蒙斯作為布朗大學(xué)的新任校長(zhǎng)和第一個(gè)一流學(xué)校的黑人校長(zhǎng)的一些做法；第三段描述了她的貧困家境以及求學(xué)的艱辛；第四段記述了她在以往任職的學(xué)校里的一些舉措；第五段記述了她在布朗大學(xué)所要解決的首要問(wèn)題。
詞匯注釋
crusader [] n.十字軍戰(zhàn)士, 改革者
compass [] n.羅盤(pán), 指南針, [pl.] 圓規(guī)
big-league adj.一流的, 最高的
removed (adj.) from 有區(qū)別；遙遠(yuǎn)；不同；遙遠(yuǎn)；關(guān)系遠(yuǎn)
alumni n. (口)校友(可指男女)
Ivy-League [] n. (美國(guó)東北部哈佛、哥倫比亞等八個(gè)名牌大學(xué)的)常春藤聯(lián)合會(huì); 屬于該組織的名牌大學(xué)或其師生; 名牌大學(xué)派頭
throwback [] n.【生】返祖現(xiàn)象; [喻]大倒退；逆轉(zhuǎn)；(電影中的)前景重現(xiàn); (小說(shuō)的)倒敘
of old 古時(shí)的, 從前的, 很久以前的
marshal [] v. 匯集
purge [] v. (使)凈化, 清除
ubiquitous [] adj.到處存在的, (同時(shí))普遍存在的
sharecropper [] n.(尤指美國(guó)西南部的)小佃農(nóng)
shack [] n.小室
sibling [] n.兄弟, 姐妹, 同胞, 同屬
ZIP code郵區(qū)代碼，郵政編碼(一種劃分美國(guó)郵政區(qū)域的五位數(shù)號(hào)碼)
recruit [] v.招生，使入學(xué)使加入或設(shè)法使加入
standoff [] n.避開(kāi), 冷淡
provost [] n.憲兵司令, 監(jiān)獄看守, 教務(wù)長(zhǎng)
boil over v. 因沸溢出, 發(fā)怒
heal [] v. 治愈, 醫(yī)治, 結(jié)束
rupture [] n.破裂, 決裂, 敵對(duì), 割裂
incendiary [] adj. 縱火的, 煽動(dòng)的
polemicist [ ] n. 善辯論者
難句突破
1. Her first task at Brown will be to heal one such rupture last spring after the student paper published an incendiary ad by conservative polemicist David Horowitz arguing that blacks economically benefited from slavery.
主體句式：Her first task …will be to heal…
結(jié)構(gòu)分析：本句是一個(gè)主從復(fù)合句。主句是Her first task at Brown will be to heal one such rupture last spring；主句后面跟的是由after引導(dǎo)的時(shí)間狀語(yǔ)從句； “by” 意為“由…做（寫(xiě)）”；arguing是現(xiàn)在分詞做狀語(yǔ)，對(duì)polemicist David Horowitz進(jìn)行補(bǔ)充說(shuō)明；后又跟that引導(dǎo)的賓語(yǔ)從句做argue的賓語(yǔ)。
句子譯文：去年春天，學(xué)生報(bào)上刊登了一篇由保守派辯論家戴維•霍羅威茨撰寫(xiě)的煽動(dòng)性文章。他在文章中詭稱，從經(jīng)濟(jì)角度講，黑人受益于奴隸制。文章一發(fā)表，就導(dǎo)致了種族關(guān)系的破裂。她在布朗大學(xué)的首要任務(wù)就是要修復(fù)這一裂痕。
題目分析
1．答案為A，屬事實(shí)細(xì)節(jié)題。文章第一段就以前的大學(xué)校長(zhǎng)和當(dāng)今的大學(xué)校長(zhǎng)的不同之處進(jìn)行了對(duì)比， “There was a time when big-league university presidents really mattered”是第一段前半部分的主題句，隨后作者以伍德羅•威爾遜和艾森豪威爾為例，進(jìn)一步說(shuō)明這一觀點(diǎn)。
2．答案為D，屬推理判斷題。第二段記述了魯思•西蒙斯作為布朗大學(xué)的新任校長(zhǎng)和第一個(gè)一流學(xué)校的黑人校長(zhǎng)的一些成功的做法，其中包括如何進(jìn)行資金運(yùn)做，這些說(shuō)明她是非常有能力的；在討論史密斯大學(xué)數(shù)學(xué)系發(fā)展前景的會(huì)議上，她對(duì)教授說(shuō)：“Dream bigger”表明，她還是非常有雄心的。
3．答案為C ，屬主旨大意題。第四段記述了魯思•西蒙斯在她以往任職的學(xué)校里為解決種族問(wèn)題進(jìn)行的一些努力和嘗試。
4．答案為B，屬猜詞題。文章第一段前半部分提到曾有一段時(shí)間一流大學(xué)的校長(zhǎng)是非常重要的人物。緊接著though引導(dǎo)的句子進(jìn)行了轉(zhuǎn)折，指出現(xiàn)在校長(zhǎng)的工作同雅芳小姐的工作差別越來(lái)越小了。這里主要考察“be removed from”的用法，其中removed是形容詞，詞組含義是“有區(qū)別；遙遠(yuǎn)；不同；遙遠(yuǎn)；關(guān)系遠(yuǎn)”。
5．答案為D，屬事實(shí)細(xì)節(jié)題。文中對(duì)應(yīng)信息是“one professor timidly requested two more discussion sections for his course. Her response: "Dream bigger." ”。
參考譯文
曾有一段時(shí)間，一流大學(xué)的校長(zhǎng)著實(shí)起著舉足輕重的作用。《紐約時(shí)代》雜志一直關(guān)注著他們的一舉一動(dòng)。就連總統(tǒng)也向他們征求意見(jiàn)。伍德羅•威爾遜和艾森豪威爾曾是普林斯頓和哥倫比亞大學(xué)的校長(zhǎng)，他們的大學(xué)校長(zhǎng)身份是他們?nèi)胫靼讓m的敲門(mén)磚。然而，今天大學(xué)校長(zhǎng)的差事與雅芳小姐的工作差別越來(lái)越小了(除登門(mén)拜訪有錢(qián)的校友外)。
魯思•西蒙斯是布朗大學(xué)的新任校長(zhǎng)，也是第一位領(lǐng)導(dǎo)一個(gè)名牌大學(xué)的黑人校長(zhǎng)，她就是過(guò)去校園改革派領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人的翻版。她不單單只籌集資金，她還把這些資金投到當(dāng)今偉大的教育事業(yè)之中。西蒙斯用她在1995－2001擔(dān)任史密斯學(xué)院院長(zhǎng)期間籌集到的3億美元的資金開(kāi)設(shè)了工程學(xué)專業(yè)(在所有女子學(xué)校里這個(gè)專業(yè)是第一次開(kāi)設(shè))，并增設(shè)演講研討會(huì)，以把那些無(wú)所不在的“如像”和“嗯”等廢話從校園用語(yǔ)中清除出去。在一次討論史密斯大學(xué)數(shù)學(xué)系發(fā)展前景的會(huì)議上，一個(gè)教授戰(zhàn)戰(zhàn)兢兢地提出能否給他的課再增加兩次討論。她是這樣回答的：“再大膽些。”
她自己的夢(mèng)想是在德克薩斯州東部的一個(gè)佃農(nóng)小屋里誕生的。家里沒(méi)錢(qián)買(mǎi)書(shū)或玩具——過(guò)圣誕節(jié)時(shí)，她和十一個(gè)兄弟姐妹每人只得到一只蘋(píng)果、一個(gè)橘子和十只堅(jiān)果。盡管在去上學(xué)的路上有人叫她黑鬼，但她進(jìn)教室時(shí)她卻說(shuō)：“這倒喚醒了我。”當(dāng)她獲得在迪拉德大學(xué)獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金時(shí)，她的高中老師慷慨解囊，湊錢(qián)讓她買(mǎi)一件外套。畢業(yè)后她接著上哈佛大學(xué)，攻讀拉丁系語(yǔ)言博士學(xué)位。
西蒙斯把多樣性作為校園改革的頭等大事。她幾乎使史密斯大學(xué)的黑人新生入學(xué)人數(shù)翻了一番。能做到這一步主要是靠她親自到美國(guó)最貧困地區(qū)的高中去招生的結(jié)果。少數(shù)民族學(xué)生來(lái)校后，她一直關(guān)心學(xué)生的情況，一直為緩解令很多校園十分苦惱的種族冷漠情緒而奮斗。在史密斯大學(xué)，她拒絕了學(xué)生提出的按種族分住公寓的要求。她在1993年任普林斯頓大學(xué)副教務(wù)長(zhǎng)期間，寫(xiě)了一篇至今仍很著名的報(bào)告。在報(bào)告中，她建議大學(xué)成立一個(gè)專門(mén)解決種族沖突的辦公室，以在種族誤解激化之前化解之。
去年春天，學(xué)生報(bào)上刊登了一篇由保守派辯論家戴維•霍羅威茨撰寫(xiě)的煽動(dòng)性文章。他在文章中詭稱，從經(jīng)濟(jì)角度講，黑人受益于奴隸制。文章一發(fā)表，就導(dǎo)致了種族關(guān)系的破裂。她在布朗大學(xué)的首要任務(wù)就是要修復(fù)這一裂痕。“在種族關(guān)系中，任何人都沒(méi)有什么安全的地方。但是校園不同于我們社會(huì)上的其它機(jī)構(gòu)，它給我們提供了跨越種族界限的機(jī)會(huì)，”西蒙斯說(shuō)，“即便你受到了傷害，你也不能一走了之，你得跨越這條線�！�
考研英語(yǔ)閱讀理解精讀100篇unit79
Unit 79
Largely for "spiritual reasons," Nancy Manos started home-schooling her children five years ago and has studiously avoided public schools ever since. Yet last week, she was enthusiastically enrolling her 8-year-old daughter, Olivia, in sign language and modern dance classes at Eagleridge Enrichment--a program run by the Mesa, Ariz., public schools and taught by district teachers. Manos still wants to handle the basics, but likes that Eagleridge offers the extras, "things I couldn't teach." One doubt, though, lingers in her mind: why would the public school system want to offer home-school families anything?
A big part of the answer is economics. The number of home-schooled kids nationwide has risen to as many as 1.9 million from an estimated 345,000 in 1994, and school districts that get state and local dollars per child are beginning to suffer. In Maricopa County, which includes Mesa, the number of home-schooled kids has more than doubled during that period to 7,526; at about $4,500 a child, that's nearly $34 million a year in lost revenue.
Not everyone's happy with these innovations. Some states have taken the opposite tack. Like about half the states, West Virginia refuses to allow home-schooled kids to play public-school sports. And in Arizona, some complain that their tax dollars are being used to create programs for families who, essentially, eschew participation in public life. "That makes my teeth grit,'' says Daphne Atkeson, whose 10-year-old son attends public school in Paradise Valley. Even some committed home-schoolers question the new programs, given their central irony: they turn home-schoolers into public-school students, says Bob Parsons, president of the Alaska Private and Home Educators Association. "We've lost about one third of our members to those programs. They're so enticing.''
Mesa started Eagleridge four years ago, when it saw how much money it was losing from home-schoolers--and how unprepared some students were when they re-entered the schools. Since it began, the program's enrollment has nearly doubled to 397, and last year the district moved Eagleridge to a strip mall (between a pizza joint and a laser-tag arcade). Parents typically drop off their kids once a week; because most of the children qualify as quarter-time students, the district collects $911 per child. "It's like getting a taste of what real school is like,'' says 10-year-old Chad Lucas, who's learning computer animation and creative writing.
Other school districts are also experimenting with novel ways to court home schoolers. The town of Galena, Alaska, (pop. 600) has just 178 students. But in 1997, its school administrators figured they could reach beyond their borders. Under the program, the district gives home-schooling families free computers and Internet service for correspondence classes. In return, the district gets $3,100 per student enrolled in the program--$9.6 million a year, which it has used partly for a new vocational school. Such alternatives just might appeal to other districts. Ernest Felty, head of Hardin County schools in southern Illinois, has 10 home-schooled pupils. That may not sound like much--except that he has a staff of 68, and at $4,500 a child, "that's probably a teacher's salary,'' Felty says. With the right robotics or art class, though, he could take the home out of home schooling.
注（1）：本文選自Newsweek，11/06/2000，p62
注（2）：本文習(xí)題命題模仿對(duì)象2005年Text 1。
1． In the opening paragraph, the author introduces his topic by
[A]posing a contrast
[B]justifying an assumption
[C]explaining a phenomenon
[D]making a comparison
2． The statement "That makes my teeth grit,''(Line 4, Paragraph 3) implies that
[A]I wanted to eat something.
[B]I was angry and dissatisfied.
[C]I was in favor of what the public school had done.
[D]I wanted not to bring my children to that school.
3． The public school system wants to offer home-school families something, because
[A]it does not want to lose much money from the increasing home-schoolers.
[B]home-schoolers have some difficulty in getting some particular knowledge.
[C]home-schoolers are eager to have a taste of what a real school is like.
[D]it has the responsibility to help the home-schoolers.
4． The statistics in Paragraph two helps us draw a conclusion that
[A]economics is greatly influenced by so many home-schoolers.
[B]the number of the home-schoolers is steadily increasing.
[C]it is a great loss for the public school system to have so many home-schoolers.
[D]home-schooling has an incomparable advantage over the public school system.
5． What can we infer from the last paragraph?
[A]The tuition the home schoolers have to pay for the public school is very high.
[B]Public school system gains much profit from the home schoolers.
[C]Home schoolers do not want to receive education at home any more.
[D]Public school system tries to attract the home schoolers back to school.
答案：CBACB
篇章剖析
本文采用提出問(wèn)題——分析問(wèn)題的模式，指出在家受教育的人對(duì)公立學(xué)校造成的經(jīng)濟(jì)威脅，以及公立學(xué)校對(duì)這一現(xiàn)象的不同反應(yīng)和做法。文中第一段以在家受教育的人為例，來(lái)說(shuō)明教育中存在的在家受教育這一現(xiàn)象；第二段分析公立學(xué)校不愿意放棄這些人的主要原因；第三段指出有些州不同的做法；第四段具體指出Eagleridge這一做法的目的以及給在家受教育的人帶來(lái)的好處；第五段指出一些公立學(xué)校的成功做法。
詞匯注釋
studiously []adv.有意地, 故意地
tack[]行動(dòng)方針；策略
eschew []vt.避開(kāi), 遠(yuǎn)避
grit []v.咬（牙）把（牙齒）緊咬在一起
enticing []adj.引誘的, 迷人的
難句突破
1．Yet last week, she was enthusiastically enrolling her 8-year-old daughter, Olivia, in sign language and modern dance classes at Eagleridge Enrichment--a program run by the Mesa, Ariz., public schools and taught by district teachers.
主體句式：she was… enrolling her 8-year-old daughter… in sign language and modern dance classes
結(jié)構(gòu)分析：這句話是個(gè)簡(jiǎn)單句。其中“enroll in”意為“在…方面注冊(cè),報(bào)名參加”;Olivia是daughter的同位語(yǔ)；a program是Eagleridge Enrichment的同位語(yǔ)，過(guò)去分詞run和taught做定語(yǔ)來(lái)修飾program。
句子譯文：然而上周，她卻急切地給她八歲的女兒奧利維亞報(bào)名參加在Eagleridge Enrichment舉辦的手語(yǔ)課和現(xiàn)代舞蹈課的學(xué)習(xí)。
題目分析
1． 答案為C，屬事實(shí)細(xì)節(jié)題。文中第一段以Nancy Manos為例，來(lái)說(shuō)明現(xiàn)在越來(lái)越多的人
傾向于在家受教育這一現(xiàn)象。
2． 答案為B，屬推理判斷題。第三段第一句話“Not everyone's happy with these innovations.”
是本段的主題句，意為“并不是所有人都認(rèn)同這些舉措。”后面舉出的例子用以說(shuō)明這一論點(diǎn)。其中“refuse”和“complain”都用來(lái)表示這些人的態(tài)度和反應(yīng)。又給出的這個(gè)例子也是這一用意，故猜出此意。
3．答案為A,屬事實(shí)細(xì)節(jié)題。第一段最后一句提出問(wèn)題“why would the public school system want to offer home-school families anything?”在第二段第一句作者做出了回答：“A big part of the answer is economics.”
4． 答案為C，屬推理判斷題。第二段的主題句是“A big part of the answer is economics.”然
后作者給出了一系列的數(shù)據(jù)來(lái)使這一論點(diǎn)更有可信性。
5． 答案為B，屬推理判斷題。第五段第一句話“Other school districts are also experimenting
with novel ways to court home schoolers.”是本段的主題句。后面舉出的例子是為了更好的說(shuō)明這一點(diǎn)，同時(shí)也說(shuō)明了這一做法給它們帶來(lái)的好處。
參考譯文
主要是由于“精神方面的原因”，南希•馬諾斯五年前開(kāi)始自己在家里教育孩子，并從此以后有意避開(kāi)公立學(xué)校。然而上周，她卻急切地給她八歲的女兒奧利維亞報(bào)名參加在Eagleridge Enrichment舉辦的手語(yǔ)課和現(xiàn)代舞蹈課的學(xué)習(xí)。Eagleridge Enrichment項(xiàng)目是由亞利桑那州的梅薩公立學(xué)校舉辦的，并由學(xué)區(qū)的老師授課。馬諾斯還想繼續(xù)教基礎(chǔ)課，但她希望Eagleridge教授其余的“我教不了的東西”。但是她的腦海里一直有一個(gè)疑問(wèn)：為什么公立學(xué)校愿意為進(jìn)行家教的家庭提供他們所需要的一切呢？
答案的主要部分是經(jīng)濟(jì)方面的原因。全國(guó)在家受教育的孩子的數(shù)量已經(jīng)從1994年估計(jì)的34.5千人上升到了190萬(wàn)人。那些靠按孩子人數(shù)從州政府和當(dāng)?shù)卣@得財(cái)政支持的學(xué)區(qū)開(kāi)始受到損害。在梅薩所在的馬利柯帕縣，在家受教育孩子的數(shù)量在這期間增長(zhǎng)了兩倍，達(dá)到了7,526人。按一個(gè)孩子4,500美元計(jì)算，這意味著一年所損失的收入將達(dá)到近3.4億美元。
并不是每個(gè)人都對(duì)這些舉措感到高興。有些州采取了與之相反的策略。同占半數(shù)的其它州的做法一樣，西弗吉尼亞拒絕讓在家受教育的孩子參加公立學(xué)校的運(yùn)動(dòng)比賽。在亞利桑那州，有人抱怨他們繳納的稅金被用來(lái)設(shè)立一些專門(mén)為那些實(shí)際上逃避社會(huì)生活的家庭參加的項(xiàng)目�！斑@真使我恨得咬牙切齒。”達(dá)夫妮•阿特基森這樣說(shuō)。他十歲的兒子在帕拉代斯瓦利公立學(xué)校上學(xué)。甚至那些堅(jiān)持在家接受教育的人也對(duì)此新計(jì)劃嗤之以鼻，表示疑問(wèn)：這些項(xiàng)目旨在把受家庭教育的人變成公立學(xué)校的學(xué)生，阿拉斯加個(gè)人和家庭教育者協(xié)會(huì)會(huì)長(zhǎng)鮑勃•帕森斯說(shuō)，“這些計(jì)劃已挖走了我們?nèi)种坏臅?huì)員。這些計(jì)劃實(shí)在是太誘人了�！�
四年前，當(dāng)意識(shí)到從那些在家接受教育的人身上損失了那么多的錢(qián)，并且當(dāng)這些人重新入學(xué)時(shí)他們又是那么的毫無(wú)準(zhǔn)備，梅薩便率先發(fā)起了Eagleridge項(xiàng)目。從它成立之日起，前來(lái)注冊(cè)的人數(shù)幾乎翻了一番，達(dá)到397人。去年，學(xué)區(qū)將Eagleridge項(xiàng)目遷移到一家商鋪密集的商業(yè)廣場(chǎng)(在一家比薩餅店與一個(gè)帶巨大標(biāo)記的拱廊之間)。孩子的父母一般每周只需送一次。由于大多數(shù)孩子只取得四分之一學(xué)生的資格，所以學(xué)區(qū)對(duì)每個(gè)孩子只收911美元的學(xué)費(fèi)�！斑@只是讓你體會(huì)一下去真正的學(xué)校上學(xué)是什么滋味。”十歲的查德•盧卡斯這樣說(shuō)道。他正在學(xué)習(xí)電腦動(dòng)畫(huà)制作和寫(xiě)作。
其它學(xué)區(qū)也在嘗試新辦法來(lái)獲取這些在家接受教育人的支持。阿拉斯加州的加利納鎮(zhèn)(人口600)只有178名學(xué)生。但是在1997年，學(xué)校負(fù)責(zé)人認(rèn)為他們可以(使學(xué)生人數(shù))超過(guò)這個(gè)數(shù)。按照學(xué)校計(jì)劃，學(xué)區(qū)為在家從事家庭教育的家庭免費(fèi)提供函授課程所用的電腦和互連網(wǎng)業(yè)務(wù)。作為回報(bào)，學(xué)區(qū)在這個(gè)項(xiàng)目中對(duì)每個(gè)注冊(cè)的學(xué)生收費(fèi)3,100美元——一年合計(jì)960萬(wàn)。學(xué)區(qū)把其中的一部分資金用來(lái)再建一所新的職業(yè)學(xué)校。這樣的方案對(duì)其他學(xué)區(qū)還是很有吸引力的。歐內(nèi)斯特•費(fèi)爾提是伊利諾斯州南部哈丁縣縣屬學(xué)校的負(fù)責(zé)人。他負(fù)責(zé)10個(gè)在家接受教育的小學(xué)生。這聽(tīng)起來(lái)沒(méi)什么大不了的——除了他有68位員工和每個(gè)學(xué)生收取4,500美元的學(xué)費(fèi)以外。費(fèi)爾提說(shuō)：“那差不多相當(dāng)于一個(gè)老師的工資”。憑借合適的機(jī)器人技術(shù)或美術(shù)課，他能夠讓那些在家接受教育的人不在家上課了。
考研英語(yǔ)閱讀理解精讀100篇unit80
Unit 80
Competition for admission to the country's top private schools has always been tough, but this year Elisabeth Krents realized it had reached a new level. Her wake-up call came when a man called the Dalton School in Manhattan, where Krents is admissions director, and inquired about the age cutoff for their kindergarten program. After providing the information (they don't use an age cutoff), she asked about the age of his child. The man paused for an uncomfortably long time before answering. "Well, we don't have a child yet," he told Krents. "We're trying to figure out when to conceive a child so the birthday is not a problem."
School obsession is spreading from Manhattan to the rest of the country. Precise current data on private schools are unavailable, but interviews with representatives of independent and religious schools all told the same story: a glut of applicants, higher rejection rates. "We have people calling us for spots two years down the road," said Marilyn Collins of the Seven Hills School in Cincinnati. "We have grandparents calling for pregnant daughters." Public-opinion poll after poll indicates that Americans' No. 1 concern is education. Now that the long economic boom has given parents more disposable income, many are turning to private schools, even at price tags of well over $10,000 a year. "We're getting applicants from a broader area, geographically, than we ever have in the past," said Betsy Haugh of the Latin School of Chicago, which experienced a 20 percent increase in applications this year.
The problem for the applicants is that while demand has increased, supply has not. "Every year, there are a few children who do not find places, but this year, for the first time that I know of, there are a significant number of children who don't have places," said Krents, who also heads a private-school admissions group in New York.
So what can parents do to give their 4-year-old an edge? Schools know there is no foolproof way to pick a class when children are so young. Many schools give preference to siblings or alumni children. Some use lotteries. But most rely on a mix of subjective and objective measures: tests that at best identify developmental maturity and cognitive potential, interviews with parents and observation of applicants in classroom settings. They also want a diverse mix. Children may end up on a waiting list simply because their birthdays fall at the wrong time of year, or because too many applicants were boys.
The worst thing a parent can do is to pressure preschoolers to perform--for example, by pushing them to read or do math exercises before they're ready. Instead, the experts say, parents should take a breath and look for alternatives. Another year in preschool may be all that's needed. Parents, meanwhile, may need a more open mind about relatively unknown private schools--or about magnet schools in the public system. There's no sign of the private-school boom letting up. Dalton's spring tours, for early birds interested in the 2001-2002 school year, are filled. The wait list? Forget it. That's closed, too.
注（1）：本文選自Newsweek，05/15/2000, p76
注（2）：本文習(xí)題命題模仿對(duì)象2003年Text 4.
1. The author uses the examples to show __________.
[A]the concern of Americans
[B]the charm of the private schools
[C]the fierce situation for preschoolers
[D]the economic situation of American families
2. What is implied in Paragraph 4?
[A]The harsh way of forming a class.
[B]The high expectation of the parents.
[C]The wise selection of the school.
[D]The difficulty of getting enrolled.
3. The author’s attitude toward this event is __________.
[A]indifferent
[B]apprehensive
[C]supportive
[D]indignant
4. Instead of giving their children great pressure to outperform, the parents should ______.
[A]avoid the competition and wait for another year
[B]give up their first choice and go to the unknown school
[C]let their children be and do what they want to do
[D]deal with the matter more casually and rethink the situation
5. The text intends to express _________.
[A]the popularity of the private schools
[B]parents’ worry about their children’s schooling
[C]the plight of the preschoolers
[D]the severe competition in going to school
答案:CABDC
篇章剖析
本文采用提出問(wèn)題---分析問(wèn)題的模式。文章以實(shí)例作為切入點(diǎn)，著重闡述了學(xué)齡前兒童所面臨的困境。第一段和第二段指出家長(zhǎng)對(duì)子女教育問(wèn)題的關(guān)注；第三段指出兒童入學(xué)難這一現(xiàn)象及其原因；第四段指出一些學(xué)校的招生辦法以及有些學(xué)生無(wú)法入學(xué)的原因；第五段指出父母應(yīng)該怎么做。
詞匯注釋
wake-up call (賓館提供的)喚醒服務(wù)，叫早服務(wù)
kindergarten [] n.幼兒園 adj.幼兒園的, 初級(jí)的, 啟蒙階段的
figure out v.合計(jì)為, 計(jì)算出, 解決, 斷定, 領(lǐng)會(huì)到
conceive [] v. 懷孕, 考慮, 設(shè)想
obsession [] n. 迷住, 困擾
glut [] n. 供應(yīng)過(guò)剩；充斥
edge [] n.刀口, 利刃, 鋒, 優(yōu)勢(shì), 邊緣, 優(yōu)勢(shì), 尖銳 give an edge to 加劇, 使尖銳化；鼓舞, 使興奮；給(刀等)開(kāi)刃, 使鋒利
foolproof [] adj.十分簡(jiǎn)單的, 十分安全的, 極堅(jiān)固的
sibling[] n.兄弟, 姐妹, 同胞, 同屬
alumni [] n. pl.男畢業(yè)生, 男校友
lottery [] n. 抽彩給獎(jiǎng)法
cognitive [ ] adj.認(rèn)知的, 認(rèn)識(shí)的, 有感知的
diverse [] adj.不同的, 變化多的
alternative [] n. 二中擇一, 可供選擇的辦法, 事物adj.選擇性的, 二中擇一的
magnet school有吸引力的學(xué)校。一種招收在形象和表演藝術(shù)上學(xué)術(shù)成績(jī)突出或者有天賦的學(xué)生的公立學(xué)校，從全城各個(gè)地區(qū)招收生源，提供較好的教育，并以此作為消除種族隔離的一種方法。
boom [] n. 繁榮, 隆隆聲
let up v. 停止, 中止, 放松
難句突破
1． But most rely on a mix of subjective and objective measures: tests that at best identify developmental maturity and cognitive potential, interviews with parents and observation of applicants in classroom settings.
主體句式：most rely on a mix of subjective and objective measures…
結(jié)構(gòu)分析：本句是一個(gè)簡(jiǎn)單句。冒號(hào)之后的成分做measures的同位語(yǔ)；tests，interviews和observation屬于并列結(jié)構(gòu)。
句子譯文：但大多數(shù)學(xué)校還是用主觀和客觀結(jié)合的方法：進(jìn)行考試，確定孩子的發(fā)育成熟程度和認(rèn)知潛能；同學(xué)生家長(zhǎng)面談，或在教室觀察孩子的反應(yīng)能力。
題目分析
1． 答案為C，屬事實(shí)細(xì)節(jié)題。文中頭兩段舉例說(shuō)明子女教育問(wèn)題成了美國(guó)家庭的頭等大事，
由此引發(fā)學(xué)齡前兒童入學(xué)難這一社會(huì)問(wèn)題。
2． 答案為A，屬推理判斷題。第四段闡述了學(xué)校選學(xué)生的一些傾向和做法。對(duì)于一個(gè)幾歲
的孩子及其家長(zhǎng)又是主觀考察，又是客觀考察，又是抽簽，還要考慮班里學(xué)生的多樣性，等等。對(duì)于孩子來(lái)講，真是有些勉為其難。
3． 答案為B，屬情感態(tài)度題。全文表達(dá)了對(duì)學(xué)齡前兒童的關(guān)注，以及對(duì)他們所處環(huán)境的憂
慮和擔(dān)心。
4． 答案為D，屬事實(shí)細(xì)節(jié)題。原文對(duì)應(yīng)信息“Instead, the experts say, parents should take a
breath and look for alternatives.”
5．答案為C，屬中心思想題。全文的中心都圍繞著學(xué)齡前兒童所處的困境這一點(diǎn)。
參考譯文
想要進(jìn)入國(guó)家最好的私立學(xué)校，競(jìng)爭(zhēng)往往是非常激烈的，但是今年，伊麗莎白•克倫茨卻意識(shí)到這種競(jìng)爭(zhēng)已經(jīng)達(dá)到了一個(gè)新的水平。克倫茨是曼哈頓多爾頓學(xué)校的招生辦主任。她的叫醒電話剛響，她就接到一名男子打給學(xué)校的電話，詢問(wèn)有關(guān)孩子參加幼兒園課程的年齡限制。答復(fù)了他的詢問(wèn)后(他們沒(méi)有年齡限制)，她問(wèn)他的孩子有多大。這名男子局促不安地遲疑了好大一會(huì)兒才回答說(shuō)，“噢，我們還沒(méi)有孩子，”他對(duì)克倫茨說(shuō)，“我們正在考慮什么時(shí)候要孩子好，以至于孩子的出生日期在入學(xué)時(shí)不會(huì)成為一個(gè)問(wèn)題。”
入學(xué)的困擾正在從曼哈頓傳向全國(guó)各地。我們無(wú)法得到有關(guān)私立學(xué)校的確切的最新數(shù)據(jù)，但是采訪私立學(xué)校和教會(huì)學(xué)校代表的情況表明，這些學(xué)校的情況都是一樣的：入學(xué)申請(qǐng)者供過(guò)于求，落選率高居不下�！坝腥舜螂娫拋�(lái)詢問(wèn)這兩年的入學(xué)狀況，” 辛辛那提市塞文西爾斯學(xué)校的瑪里琳•柯林斯說(shuō)，“我們還接到祖父母幫他們懷孕的女兒詢問(wèn)入學(xué)的電話。一次又一次的民意測(cè)驗(yàn)表明，美國(guó)人關(guān)心的頭等大事是教育。由于長(zhǎng)期的經(jīng)濟(jì)繁榮使父母有了更多的可支配的收入，即使私立學(xué)校的收費(fèi)每年超過(guò)一萬(wàn)美元，很多父母還是選擇私立學(xué)校。芝加哥拉丁語(yǔ)學(xué)校的貝特西•霍說(shuō)：“申請(qǐng)者的生源地較之過(guò)去更為寬泛�！边@所拉丁語(yǔ)學(xué)校今年申請(qǐng)入學(xué)的人比過(guò)去增長(zhǎng)了20%。
這些申請(qǐng)者所面臨的問(wèn)題是需求增加了，但供應(yīng)卻沒(méi)有。還擔(dān)任紐約私立學(xué)校錄取小組組長(zhǎng)的克倫茨說(shuō)：“每年都有少數(shù)孩子找不到就讀的學(xué)校，但今年，我第一次得知有相當(dāng)一大批孩子無(wú)處就讀�！�
那么家長(zhǎng)怎樣做才能使他們四歲的孩子出類拔萃呢？學(xué)校知道，沒(méi)有絕對(duì)穩(wěn)妥可靠的辦法去為那么小的孩子們選擇合適的班級(jí)的。許多學(xué)校往往優(yōu)先招收兄弟姐妹或校友的孩子，還有一些學(xué)校使用抽獎(jiǎng)的辦法招生，但大多數(shù)學(xué)校還是用主觀和客觀結(jié)合的方法：進(jìn)行考試，確定孩子的發(fā)育成熟程度和認(rèn)知潛能；同學(xué)生家長(zhǎng)面談，或在教室觀察孩子的反應(yīng)能力。他們還要考慮其他多種混合因素。可能只是由于孩子的出生月份與上學(xué)的要求不符，或是申請(qǐng)者中男孩的比例太高等原因，有些孩子最終被列在繼續(xù)等候的名單上。
父母做的最不明智的事情就是強(qiáng)迫學(xué)齡前孩子去做一些事情—比如，當(dāng)孩子還沒(méi)有發(fā)育到一定程度時(shí)就逼迫他們?nèi)ラ喿x或者做數(shù)學(xué)題。而專家表示，做父母的應(yīng)該歇口氣，放松放松，尋找其他的解決辦法。在幼兒園再待上一年可能是最好的辦法。同時(shí)，對(duì)于那些不太出名的私立學(xué)校—或者公立學(xué)校中那些有吸引力的學(xué)校，父母的眼界還要更擴(kuò)大一些。沒(méi)有跡象表明私立學(xué)校的迅速發(fā)展會(huì)使多爾頓學(xué)校停止其春季巡回招生工作，因?yàn)槟切⿲?duì)2001-2002學(xué)年感興趣的學(xué)校早已報(bào)滿了。排隊(duì)名單？算了吧。那也滿了。
二：資料下載
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08年考研英語(yǔ)閱讀理解精讀100篇【教育類】 |
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