Section II Reading Comprehension
Part A
Directions:
Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing [A],[B], [C] or [D]. Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET. (40 points)
Text 1
It is curious that Stephen Koziatek feels almost as though he has to justify his efforts to give his students a better future.
Mr. Koziatek is part of something pioneering. He is a teacher at a New Hampshire high school where learning is not something of books and tests and mechanical memorization, but practical. When did it become accepted wisdom that students should be able to name the 13th president of the United States but be utterly overwhelmed by a broken bike Chain?
As Koziatek know, there is learning in just about everything. Nothing is necessarily gained by forcing students to learn geometry at a graffitied desk stuck with generations of discarded chewing gum. They can also learn geometry by assembling a bicycle.
But he’s also found a kind of insidious prejudice. Working with your hands is seen as almost a mark of inferiority. School in the family of vocational education “have that stereotype...that it’s for kids who can’t make it academically,” he says.
On one hand, that viewpoint is a logical product of America’s evolution. Manufacturing is not the economic engine that it once was. The job security that the US economy once offered to high school graduates has largely evaporateD. More education is the new principle. We want more for our kids, and rightfully so.
But the headlong push into bachelor’s degrees for all—and the subtle devaluing of anything less—misses an important point: That’s not the only thing the American economy needs. Yes,a bachelor’s degree opens moredoors. Buteven now,54 percent of the jobs in the country are middle-skill jobs, such as construction and high-skill manufacturing. But only 44 percent of workers are adequately traineD.
In other words, at a time when the working class has turned the country on its political head, frustrated that the opportunity that once defined America is vanishing, one obvious solution is staring us in the face. There is a gap in working-class jobs, but the workers who need those jobs most aren’t equipped to do them. Koziatek’s Manchester School of Technology High School is trying to fill that gap.
Koziatek’s school is a wake-up call. When education becomes one-size-fits-all,it risks overlooking a nation’s diversity of gifts.
21.A broken bike chain is mentioned to show students’ lack of.
A. academic training
B. practical ability
C. pioneering spirit
D. mechanical memorization
22.There exists the prejudice that vocational education is for kids who.
A. have a stereotyped mind
B. have no career motivation
C. are financially disadvantaged
D. are not academically successful
23.we can infer from Paragraph 5 that high school graduates.
A. used to have more job opportunities
B. used to have big financial concerns
C. are entitled to more educational privileges
D. are reluctant to work in manufacturing
24.The headlong push into bachelors degrees for all.
A. helps create a lot of middle-skill jobs
B. may narrow the gap in working-class jobs
C. indicates the overvaluing of higher education
D. is expected to yield a better-trained workforce
25.The author’s attitude toward Koziatek’s school can be described as.
A. tolerant
B. cautious
C. supportive
D. disappointed
21. 【答案】B practical ability
【解析】这是一道细节题，根据题干关键词可定位至第二段最后一句话,意思是”什么时候这种观点变得可接受了呢?学生应该能够说出美国第十三任总统的名字，但是却完全对坏了的自行车链束手无策”。从作者使用问句的形式就可判断出作者并不接受这种观点，即学生只学会书本上的知识而不具备实际能力。再结合上一句话即本段第二句话，Mr Koziatek是New Hampshire高中的一名老师，在这所学校，学习不只是书本上的知识，或者是为了考试，也不是为了机械化的记忆，而是为了实际的技能。能看出，作者认为学生们缺少的是实际技能，所以答案是C practical ability.
22. 【答案】 D are not academically successful
【解析】这是一道具体细节题，根据题干关键词职业教育对孩子存在的偏见可定位至第四段最后一句，意思是“在很多职业化教育的学校中，有这样一种老套的思想，那就是，职业教育是针对那些在学术上不能成功的那些孩子的。”根据这句话可确定答案就是B are not academically successful 。其他选项均不符合文意。
23.【答案】A used to have more job opportunities
【解析】这是一道细节推断题，根据题干第五段和high school graduates 回到原文定位致第五段第三句，说到美国经济曾经提供给高中毕业生的那种the job security已经在很大程度上evaporated也就是消失了，那说明过去的时候高中毕业生是有职业安全感的，故选C，其他选项都不在定位处，可以排除。
24.【答案】C indicate the overvaluing of higher education
【解析】这是一道事实细节题，根据题干内容“the headlong push”找到出处是第六段开头But后，发现后面还有一个and...和其并列，所以主要关注对这两部分的评价，后面有明显的标点：冒号出现，冒号后说that is not the only thing the American economy needs. 可以看出这句话对前面的否定，选项中只有D选项动词overvalue是负面词，而且提到主题词education。故选D。这道题最适合用感情色彩来排除与D相反的其他三个选项。
25.【答案】C supportive
【解析】这是一道态度题，放在最末的态度题更倾向于到最后一段找答案。通过定位词Koziatek’s school 看到最后一段也确实提到了，说它是一个wake-up call。也就是在唤醒人们教育不应该是统一的形式，这样会overlooking a nation’s diversity of gifts，也就是忽视人才的差异性。所以可以看出作者是支持的态度。
