4. C 推理题。本题主要针对文章第五段，这一段主要有三个数据，分别是40%、100万、75%，分别指教育财政支出的下降比例、毕业生的短缺数量和加州公立大学授予学位的比例。首先看A项，该项只与第一个数据40%有关，不够全面，所以可以排除。B项的描述不够准确，原文说的是到2025年，并非很快就要面临大学毕业生短缺的问题，因此可以排除该项。虽然原文中提到“这将给整个州的经济前景蒙上一层阴影”，但这并不意味着加州的经济会长期陷入萧条，所以D项也不正确。只有C项比较好地概括了资金短缺和由此导致的未来毕业生短缺的情况，所以C是正确答案。

5. B 推理题。本题考查对文章最后一段的理解。A项的描述不准确，因为原文提到的on leave是“休假”的意思，而不是说要解雇教职员工。C项针对的是该段中提到的各种应对措施，但是我们可以看出这并不是积极的应对，而是无奈的举措，而且最后一段重点要说明的问题是资金的短缺将导致人才的流失和学术水平的降低，所以该项也不正确。文章最后一句引用了费伯教授的话“我们现在可是在吃玉米种呀！”这句话的意思是我们现在根本没有为今后着想，而D选项的表述中说lose all its best professors and students，all一词过于绝对，所以也不正确。从前面提到的人才流失和学术水平降低，可以推断这将必然影响这些大学的核心竞争力，因此B是正确答案。





参考译文


要说世界上最好的公立高等教育恐怕非加州大学莫属，这一说法得到了由中国上海交通大学发布的一份研究型大学权威排名的鼎力支持。在这份排名中，加州大学伯克利分校位居第三，仅次于哈佛大学和斯坦福大学这两所私立大学。而加州大学其他十所分校中还有另外几所，如洛杉矶和圣地亚哥分校的排名也相当靠前。加州人完全有理由因此而感到自豪。这也是为何我们不能把这种荣耀可能行将终结视为小事。“我们的处境正在不可逆转地日益恶化。”加州大学圣克鲁斯分校的天体物理学教授桑德拉·费伯说，她的话道出了教职员工的心声，目前他们已经怨声载道。谈及大学的卓越，费伯说：“我们花了几十年的时间来创造，但毁掉它却只需要一年”。

加州一直处于一系列预算危机之中，最近的一次直到上个月州长阿诺德·施瓦辛格与立法机关达成了一项几乎令人绝望的协定而得以解决。根据该协定，加州预算大幅削减，其中高等教育部门的预算被砍掉了20亿美元。光是加州大学就在上一财年累积丧失了8.13亿美元国家基金，本财年则被削减了20%。处于第二层级的加州州立大学有23个分校，是全美最大的州立大学系统，它与处于第三层级的社区大学都在财政上遭受了沉重的打击。

这些削减威胁到两位富有远见的人士留下的遗产，他们是1959至1967年任加州州长的埃德蒙·“帕特”·布朗，和那几年加州大学的负责人克拉克·克尔。克尔预见到加州的公立大学是“实业面前晃来晃去的诱饵，比低税率或廉价劳动力更具吸引力。”在一份1960年做出的整体规划中，他创造了三个层级的体系。

他的目标很简单。首先，在能力可承受的范围内，尽量为更多的加州年轻人提供受教育的机会。最优秀的学生入读加州大学，较为优秀的人就读加州州立大学，其余人则进入社区大学，而且也有可能升入前两个层级的大学。其次，吸引学术界的超级明星。克尔像人才发掘者那样开展了这项工作，其继任者也纷纷效仿。加州大学各分校造就的诺贝尔奖获得者总人数比任何一所大学都要多。

但是，这个三层级的规划多年来都面临着各种压力。加州大学现任校长马克·尤多夫表示，自1990年以来，按通货膨胀因素进行调整后，分摊到加州大学体系内每个学生的州财政支出下降了40%。无党派智囊团，加州公共政策研究所预测，到2025年，加州将面临短缺100万大学毕业生的问题，这将给整个州的经济前景蒙上一层阴影。授予该州75%学士学位的公立大学将对此负有主要责任。

首先牺牲掉的就是学术水准。加州大学和加州州立大学正计划让教授和工作人员休假、扩大班级规模，并减少课程数量。要想吸引并留住学术明星以及随他们而来的研究资金将更为困难。费伯女士说，现在这个问题已经出现了。她最近聘请了三位世界一流的助理教授，但现在他们的工资可能不保。她说，其他大学已经开始与他们接洽，他们很可能会离开加州大学，而他们最优秀的学生也可能随之而去。费伯教授感叹道：“我们现在可是在吃玉米种呀（根本不替今后着想）”。





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）：本文选自Newsweek；

注（2）：本文习题命题模仿对象为2003年真题Text 4。

1. The author uses the example of Elisabeth Krents to show______.

A) the concern of Americans

B) the charm of 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 parents.

C) The wise way in selecting schools.

D) The difficulty of training children.

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 an unknown school

C) let their children 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 private schools

B) parents' worry about their children's schooling

C) the plight of preschoolers

D) the severe competition in going to school





篇章剖析


本文采用提出问题——分析问题的模式。文章以实例作为切入点，着重阐述了学龄前儿童所面临的困境。第一段和第二段指出家长对子女教育问题的关注；第三段指出儿童入学难这一现象及其原因；第四段指出一些学校的招生办法以及有些学生无法入学的原因；第五段指出父母应该怎么做。





词汇注释


wake-up call (宾馆提供的）唤醒服务，叫早服务

kindergarten /kɪndəˈgɑːt(ə)n/ n. 幼儿园 adj. 幼儿园的，初级的，启蒙阶段的

figure out 计算出；〈美口〉想出

conceive /kənˈsiːv/ v. 怀孕；考虑，设想

obsession /əbˈseʃ(ə)n/ n. 迷住，困扰

glut /glʌt/ n. 供应过剩；充斥

give an edge (to）加剧，使尖锐化；鼓舞，使兴奋；给（刀等）开刃，使锋利

foolproof /ˈfuːlpruːf/ adj. 十分简单的，十分安全的，极坚固的

sibling /ˈsɪblɪŋ/ n. 兄弟（或姐妹），同胞

alumni /əˈlʌmnaɪ/ n. 毕业生，校友（alumnus的复数）

lottery /ˈlɒtəri/ n. 抽签法

cognitive /ˈkɒgnɪtɪv/ adj. 认知的，认识的，有感知的

diverse /daɪˈvɜːs/ adj. 不同的，变化多的

alternative /ɔːlˈtɜːnətɪv/ n. 二中择一，可供选择的办法adj. 选择性的，二中择一的

magnet school有吸引力的学校（一种招收在形象和表演艺术上学术成绩突出或者有天赋的学生的公立学校，这种学校从全城各个地区招收生源，提供较好的教育，并以此作为消除种族隔离的一种方法）

boom /buːm/ n. 繁荣；隆隆声

let up 停止；放松





难句突破


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.

主体句式：Most rely on a mix of subjective and objective measures.

结构分析：本句是一个简单句。冒号之后的成分作measures的同位语；tests，interviews和observation属于并列结构。

句子译文：但大多数学校还是依赖主客观相结合的方法：采用能最好测试孩子的发育成熟程度和认知潜能的考试，同学生家长面谈，或在教室观察孩子的反应能力。





题目分析


1. C 细节题。文中前两段举例说明子女教育问题成了美国家庭的头等大事，由此引发学龄前儿童入学难这一社会问题。

2. A 推理题。第四段阐述了学校挑选学生的一些倾向和做法。对于一个几岁的孩子及其家长又是主观考察，又是客观考察，又是抽签，还要考虑班里学生的多样性等等。这说明了学校挑选学生时的严苛。

3. B 情感态度题。全文表达了对学龄前儿童的关注，以及对他们所处环境的忧虑和担心。

4. D 细节题。原文对应信息：“Instead, the experts say, parents should take a breath and look for alternatives. ”

5. C 主旨题。全文都围绕着学龄前儿童所处的困境这一点。





参考译文


进入全国最好的私立学校的竞争往往是非常激烈的，不过伊丽莎白·克伦茨却意识到今年的竞争已经达到了一个新的水平。克伦茨是曼哈顿多尔顿学校的招生办主任。她的叫醒电话刚响，就接到一位男士打给学校的电话，询问有关孩子参加幼儿园课程的年龄限制。在答复了他的询问后（他们没有年龄限制），她问他的孩子有多大。这名男子局促不安地迟疑了好大一会儿才回答说，“噢，我们还没有孩子，”他对克伦茨说，“我们正在考虑选个合适的时间要孩子，这样孩子的出生日期在入学时不会成为一个问题。”

入学引起的困扰不只存在于曼哈顿，在全国各地都很普遍。我们无法得到有关私立学校的确切的最新数据，但是对私立学校和教会学校代表的采访结果表明，这些学校的情况都是一样的：入学申请者供过于求，落选率高居不下。“有人打电话来询问这两年的入学状况，”辛辛那提市塞文西尔斯学校的玛里琳·柯林斯说，“我们还接到祖父母帮他们怀孕的女儿询问入学的电话。民意测验反复表明，教育是美国人关心的头等大事。由于经济长期繁荣，父母可支配的收入增多，即使私立学校的收费每年超过一万美元，很多父母还是选择私立学校。芝加哥拉丁语学校的贝特西·霍说：“申请者的生源地较之过去更为宽泛。”这所拉丁语学校今年申请入学的人比过去增长了20%。

申请者所面临的问题是需求增加了，但供应却没有。另外在纽约一所私立学校担任录取小组组长的克伦茨说：“每年都有少数孩子找不到就读的学校，但今年，是我第一次听说，有相当一大批孩子无处就读。”

那么要使他们四岁的孩子出类拔萃，家长怎样做才行呢？学校知道，为那么小的孩子们选择合适的班级实在没有绝对稳妥可靠的办法。许多学校往往优先招收兄弟姐妹或校友的孩子，还有一些学校使用抽奖的办法招生，但大多数学校还是依赖主客观相结合的方法：采用能最好测试孩子的发育成熟程度和认知潜能的考试，同学生家长面谈，或在教室观察孩子的反应能力。他们还要考虑其他多种混合因素。可能只是由于孩子的出生月份与入学的要求不符，或是申请者中男孩的比例太高等原因，有些孩子最终被列在继续等候的名单上。

父母做的最不明智的事情就是强迫学龄前孩子去做一些事情——比如，当孩子还很小的时候就逼迫他们去阅读或者做数学题。专家的意见是，做父母的应该歇口气，放松放松，寻找其他的解决办法。在幼儿园再待上一年可能是最好的办法。同时，父母的眼界还要放宽一些，可以关注一下那些不太出名的私立学校——或者公立学校中那些有吸引力的学校。目前没有迹象表明私立学校热会迅速降温。多尔顿学校已经停止其春季巡回招生工作，因为2001~2002学年的入学名额早已报满了。等候名单？算了吧，那也满了。





Unit 81


When I applied under Early Decision to the University of Pennsylvania four years ago, I was motivated by two powerful emotions: ambition and fear. The ambition was to fulfill my lifelong expectation of attending an Ivy League school; the fear was that without the advantage offered by Early Decision, I wouldn't make the cut. A Penn admissions officer told me that the previous year they had accepted 45 percent of Early Decision applicants and just 29 percent of total applicants. The implication was clear: applying under Early Decision dramatically improves your chances of acceptance. At Brown University, my other favorite, applying early did not confer any advantage. While Brown was my No. 1 choice, Penn was a close second, and I desperately wanted to make sure I got into one of the two.

I applied just before the Nov. 1 deadline, and six weeks later I got my acceptance package. I was thrilled and relieved. While my friends spent winter vacation finishing as many as 18 applications each, I relaxed. On a school trip to France over spring break, I drank wine while everyone else struggled with international calling cards to phone home and find out where they'd been accepted. People cried about getting rejected, or began the difficult and agonizing process of choosing between two or more schools. Strangely, none of this made me feel better about having applied early. It made me feel worse. When a lot of people from my class got into Brown, I wondered if I, too, could have.

Penn sent a discombobulating array of material to incoming freshmen over the summer. As the pile of mail mounted, so did my concerns that I had made the wrong choice. I had been to Penn only one day, in October of my senior year. I realize now I did not know nearly enough about myself or the school. Picking classes was far more arcane than I had expected (or than it would have been at a smaller school）. And when I got to the campus, I found that fraternities and sororities were a more noticeable and obnoxious presence than the 30 percent student membership had suggested to me.

It wasn't long before I knew Penn was not right for me and I looked into transferring. For me, it was about more than just changing schools. I wanted to have the traditional application experience I'd missed out on during my first go-round. The only school on my list that allowed transfers during the second semester of freshman year was Wesleyan, so I waited out the whole year, then applied to Yale, Brown and Wesleyan. I got into Wesleyan. The irony that I could have gotten in sooner, without getting rejected by the other schools, was not lost on me. But I know I made the right decision.

To high-school seniors who want to avoid making the same mistake I did, my advice is simple: don't apply under Early Decision unless you are absolutely sure that the school is your first choice. And, just as important, don't let your parents or college-guidance counselor persuade you to apply under Early Decision. They may have their own agenda, or at least their own perception of who you are and what you want. As I discovered, no one can really know what you want better than yourself, and even you may need time to figure out what that is.

注（1）：本文选自Newsweek；

注（2）：本文习题命题模仿对象为2002年真题Text 3。

1. The main reasons for the author to apply under Early Decision are______.

A) pride and ambition

B) dream and fear

C) easiness and effort-saving

D) trouble-saving and release

2. It can be inferred from the text that the main advantage of Early Decision is that______.

A) you can graduate from the high school earlier

B) you don't need to worry about the results

C) you needn't take the entrance examination

D) you're more likely to be accepted

3. The description of the author's feelings in Paragraph 2 shows that______.

A) he is satisfied with his choice

B) there are many advantages of being accepted earlier

C) less effort is needed under Early Decision

D) he is happy with but doubts about his decision

4. We can draw a conclusion from the text that______.

A) a full consideration is needed before applying

B) students should avoid the shortcut

C) a quick decision will do you no good

D) the author shouldn't apply under Early Decision

5. From the text we can see that the writer seems______.

A) regretful

B) optimistic

C) gloomy

D) sensitive





篇章剖析


本文是一篇记叙文，以作者的亲身经历讲述了“优先申请”政策带给自己的苦与乐。第一段讲述了我为什么要考虑使用“优先申请”政策；第二段指出这一政策在开始时带给我的甜头；第三段指出自己进大学后的烦恼；第四段指出我的补救措施；第五段提出自己对其他人的忠告和建议。





词汇注释


confer /kənˈfɜː(r)/ vt. 赐给（称号、学位等）；带来

agonizing /ˈægənaɪzɪŋ/ adj. 苦恼的，痛苦难忍的

discombobulate /ˌdɪskəmˈbɒbjʊleɪt/ vt. 使混乱，使泄气，使困惑

array /əˈreɪ/ n. 排列，编队；军队；衣服；大批

mount /maʊnt/ vi. 增长

arcane /ɑːˈkeɪn/ adj. 神秘的，不可思议的

fraternity /frəˈtɜːnɪti/ n. 兄弟关系，友爱，互助会，兄弟会