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

sorority /səˈrɒrɪti/ n. 妇女联谊会，女学生联谊会

obnoxious /əbˈnɒkʃəs/ adj. 不愉快的，讨厌的

lost /lɒst/ adj. 不产生效果的

agenda /əˈdʒendə/ n. （pl.）议程





难句突破


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.

主体句式：I found that...

结构分析：本句句型结构并不复杂，重点在于对that引导的宾语从句中more...than的理解。

句子译文：进校后，我发现大学生联谊会比比皆是，其讨嫌程度远胜过吸引我入会的所谓30%的各类学生会员。





题目分析


1．B 细节题。原文对应信息是“I was motivated by two powerful emotions: ambition and fear．”

2．D 推理题。原文对应信息是“The implication was clear: applying under Early Decision dramatically improves your chances of acceptance．”作者希望提高录取的几率，所以才放弃了申请自己的第一选择——布朗大学，而选择了宾夕法尼亚州大学。

3．D 推理题。第二段前半部分描述了作者释然、悠闲的状态，这和他的同学形成了鲜明的对比。而最后一句“When a lot of people from my class got into Brown，I wondered if I，too，could have．”却又道出了他的不甘和遗憾。

4．A 推理题。文章前几段描述了作者依据“提前决定”政策选择宾夕法尼亚州大学的前因后果，最后一段总结了他的经验教训。并不是他的做法不对，而是有些欠考虑。

5．A 情感态度题。通读全文，作者表现更多的情感是后悔。





参考译文



四年前，当我根据“提前决定”的原则申请宾夕法尼亚州立大学的时候，有两种强烈的情感促使我这么做：雄心和恐惧。我的雄心是我要实现上名牌大学的夙愿，恐惧的是如果没有“提前决定”政策带来的有利条件，我就无法走此捷径。宾夕法尼亚州立大学负责招生工作的人告诉我，去年他们录取了45%的“提前决定”的考生，而从其他申请者中只录取了总数的29%。这就清楚地表明：“提前决定”政策能大大提高被录取的几率。布朗大学是我青睐的另一所学校，但提前申请没有任何好处。布朗大学是我的第一个选择，而宾夕法尼亚州立大学是我的第二选择，我非常希望我能保证进入其中的一所。

在11月1日这个最后期限之前，我提交了申请。六周之后，我收到了录取书。我激动万分，如释重负。当我的朋友们在寒假期间忙着提交多达18份申请书的时候，我悠然自得。在学校组织的春假法国之旅中，当我悠然喝酒的时候，其他同学却忧心忡忡，用国际电话卡打电话回家看自己是否被录取。有人因为没被录取而伤心落泪，有人开始艰难而又痛苦地从两所或更多的学校中进行选择。奇怪的是，我没有因为已经提前申请好了而感到高兴，相反，我感觉很糟糕。当我班有很多同学考上了布朗大学时，我特别想知道如果我也报考的话，是否也能考上。

宾夕法尼亚州立大学给暑期过后即将入学的新生寄来了一大堆令人困惑的材料。随着邮件的增多，我的担心也随着增长。我担心我做出了错误的选择。我只在宾夕法尼亚州立大学待过一天，那是在我毕业那年的十月份。我现在意识到我不仅对自己也对这所学校缺乏足够的了解。选课让我着实摸不着头脑，这远远超过了我预想的情况（或起码比稍小点的学校情况复杂）。进校后，我发现，大学生联谊会比比皆是，其讨嫌程度远胜过吸引我入会的所谓30%的各类学生会员。

没过多久我就发现宾夕法尼亚州立大学不适合我，于是我就着手转学。对我来说，这不仅仅是换学校的问题。我想弥补我在第一轮申请中错过的传统申请经历。允许我选择在第一年第二学期转学的唯一一所学校是卫斯理教派大学。我等了整整一年，接着又申请了耶鲁大学、布朗大学和卫斯理教派大学。我能很快被卫斯理教派大学录取。我本来可以在未遭到其他学校拒绝的情况下被该校录取，但这种极具讽刺意味的事这回又在我身上应验了。不过，我知道这次的决定是正确的。

对于那些想避免犯跟我一样错误的高中毕业班的学生来说，我的建议很简单：除非你百分之百确定那所学校就是你的第一选择，否则不要按“提前决定”的政策进行申请。还有一点也很重要，不要让你的父母或者大学指导顾问说服你去按“提前决定”的政策进行申请。他们可能有他们自己的计划，或者他们至少对你的为人和你的期望有自己的看法。我认为，没人能比你自己更能真正了解你想要什么，甚至有时我们也需要时间来思考一下自己想要什么。





Unit 82


When it comes to schooling，the Herrera boys are no match for the Herrera girls．Last week，four years after she arrived from Honduras，Martha，20，graduated from Fairfax High School in Los Angeles．She managed decent grades while working 36 hours a week at a Kentucky Fried Chicken．Her sister，Marlin，22，attends a local community college and will soon be a certified nurse assistant．The brothers are a different story．Oscar，17，was expelled two years ago from Fairfax for carrying a knife and later dropped out of a different school．The youngest，Jonathan，15，is now in a juvenile boot camp after running into trouble with the law．“The boys get sidetracked more,” says the kids’ mother，Suyapa Landaverde．“The girls are more confident.”

This is no aberration．Immigrant girls consistently outperform boys，according to the preliminary findings of a just-completed，five-year study of immigrant children—the largest of its kind，including Latino，Chinese and Haitian kids—by Marcelo and Carola Suarez-Orozco of the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Though that trend holds for U．S．-born kids as well，the reasons for the discrepancy among immigrants are different．The study found that immigrant girls are more adept at straddling cultures than boys．“The girls are able to retain some of the protective features of （their native）culture” because they’re kept closer to the hearth，says Marcelo Suarez-Orozco，“while they maximize their acquisition of skills in the new culture” by helping their parents navigate it.

Consider the kids’ experiences in school．The study found that boys face more peer pressure to adopt American youth culture—the dress，the slang，the disdain for education．They’re disciplined more often and，as a result，develop more adversarial relationships with teachers—and the wider society．They may also face more debilitating prejudices．One teacher interviewed for the study said that the“cultural awareness training” she received as part of her continuing education included depictions of Latino boys as“aggressive” and“really macho” and of the girls as“pure sweetness.”

Gender shapes immigrant kids’ experiences outside school as well．Often hailing from traditional cultures，the girls face greater domestic obligations．They also frequently act as“cultural ambassadors,” translating for parents and mediating between them and the outside world，says Carola Suarez-Orozco．An unintended consequence:“The girls get foisted into a responsible role more than the boys do.” Take Christina Im，18，a junior at Fairfax who arrived from South Korea four years ago．She ranks ninth in a class of 400 students and still finds time to fix dinner for the family and work on Saturdays at her mother's clothing shop．Her brother?“He plays computer games,” says Im.

The Harvard study bears a cautionary note: If large numbers of immigrant boys continue to be alienated academically—and to be clear，plenty perform phenomenally—they risk sinking irretrievably into an economic underclass．Oscar Herrera，Martha's dropout brother，may be realizing that．“I’m thinking of returning to school,” he recently told his mother．He ought to look to his sisters for guidance.


注（1）：本文选自Newsweek；

注（2）：本文习题命题模仿对象为2005年真题Text 1。



1．In the opening paragraph，the author introduces his topic by ______.

A) posing a contrast

B) justifying an assumption

C) making a comparison

D) explaining a phenomenon

2．The statement“they also frequently act as ‘cultural ambassadors’”（Line 2，Paragraph 4）implies that ______.

A) they work as a translator for their parents

B) they help their parents have a better understanding of the foreign culture