专题 32 英美文化阅读理解专项：学年变革 美国高考 美国学位种类-2024年高考英语常考英美文化阅读专练 素材积累.docx

1、76. Changes in School Year学年的变革A few American schools have made changes in the traditional school year. Some have extended the school year, or reorganized it to avoid a long summer break. Another choice is to extend the school day. A new report from the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy at

2、Indiana University examines research into how effective this is.The traditional school day has not changed much in more than a century. Activities or special programs might mean a longer day. But younger children usually go to school from about nine oclock in the morning until about three in the aft

3、ernoon. Older ones are traditionally in school from about seven a.m. until around two p.m.Some high schools have changed to later start times because of findings that teenagers learn better that way. But the new report says results have been mixed. Teachers say students are more awake. But students

4、say the changes interfere (妨碍) with after-school activities or jobs.By two thousand one, almost one-third of all secondary schools had some form of block scheduling. The idea is to provide longer periods in the school day to teach basic subjects.More class time should mean better results. This is th

5、e thinking, at least. Yet a two thousand one study found that secondary schools with traditional schedules had higher test scores by comparison. Schools with block scheduling did have higher scores in science, though.In any case, the study agreed with earlier findings that students feel better about

6、 their schools in systems with nontraditional scheduling.So how useful is a longer school day? Not surprisingly, the policy experts at Indiana say it is what educators do with the extra time that has the largest effect on student learning. They note a criticism that education leaders often make sche

7、duling changes without changing the learning environment of a school.The experts say teachers must be trained to use the added time effectively. Professional development is needed. The report notes that simply adding time to a program that is not very good or very interesting will not increase stude

8、nt learning. （343）Helper:extend延伸，扩大 reorganize改造，再编制 avoid避免effective有效的 interfere intfi妨碍 after-school activities课外活动scheduling edju:li行程安排, 时序安排Brief Introduction:一些美国学校的学年已经有了改变，有的把学年延长或者是重新编排以避免暑期长时间的中断。在一个世纪多以来传统的学年没有多少变革。活动或者特殊的项目可能意味着一天时间的延长，但是小一点的学生通常上午9点上学，一直到下午的3点，大一点的学生是上午7点到下午2点。有的学校把开始

9、的时间推迟，因为发现那样青少年的学习效果要好些，但是新的研究报告的结果却很复杂。老师说那时学生更加清醒，而学生说那样的变化妨碍了他们的课外活动和工作。但是到2001年，几乎三分之一的中学都有了某种形式上的日程表，想法是在学校待的时间长一些，可以教基础科目。更多的课应该意味着好的学业成绩，至少想法是这样的。但是2001年的研究发现传统的课程安排的学生得分高，改革后的课程的学生的理科确实要好一些。不管如何，学生对于非传统的时间安排感觉还是比较不错的。上课时间延长到底有多大的益处？这并不奇怪，印第安纳的政策专家说是教育者如何处理额外的时间对学生的学习影响最大。他们记录一个批评意见：教育的领导者常常改

10、变教学课程安排表，却没有改变学校的学习环境。专家们认为一定要培训老师如何有效的利用时间，教师的专业发展是必须的。报告中特别提到，简单给那些本身不好或者没有趣的项目增加时间是不会提高学生的学习。 Exercises:从所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳答案。1. The purpose of some American schools making changes in the traditional school year is to _. A. earn more school fee B. change the learning environment of a schoolC. im

11、prove student learning D. avoid a long summer break2. According to the text which of the following is the disadvantage of making changes in the traditional school year? A. Students have enough time to learn basic subjects B. After-school activities are been prevented a bit C. Students can get higher

12、 scores in science D. Students can learn better3. What the policy experts at Indiana say shows that _. A. more and more students can benefit from traditional school year B. a longer school day means wasting students spare time C. traditional school year is the most effective way for the students to

13、learn well. D. student learning depends on how the teachers deal with the extra time.4. The attitude of the author towards of making changes in the traditional school year is _.B. Supportive B. Humorous C. Objective D. Admiring5. It can be inferred from the passage that _. A. Schools may need a lot

14、of extra money to pay for an extended day. B. Uninteresting programs will not increase student learning C. To make use of added time effectively, teachers must be trained. D. Its easy to say how useful a longer school day isKeys and Explanations:1-5 CBDCA1. 选C。推理判断题。根据文章的内容知道一些学校对传统的学年改革的目的是提高学生的学习，

15、属于学校改革的内容。第三、五段的首句都可以看出初衷是提高学生的学习成绩。2. 选B。细节理解题。根据第三段最后一句But students say the changes interfere with after-school activities or jobs.知道学生认为妨碍了课外活动和工作，因为有的学生做兼职，时间的延长妨碍学生的放学后的活动和兼职工作，这是改变传统学年的不利方面。3. 选D。细节理解题。根据第六段的it is what educators do with the extra time that has the largest effect on student lea

16、rning.4. 选C。作者态度题。本文的作者对于学年的改变主要是引用一些调查和专家的观点，既有正方的观点，也有反方的观点，但是作者并没有根据自己的喜好表达自己的看法，所以应该是“客观的”。A支持的；B幽默的；D赞赏的，都不符合题意。5. 选A。推理判断题。B、C符合文章的意思，但是不是推理的，而是在文章中可以直接找到。根据最后一段的首句排除C，最后一句排除B。D错误，根据全文应该是hard to say。既然学年时间延长，那么就很有可能涉及到需要更多的教育经费的问题。77. American College Entrance Examination美国的大学入学考试American coll

17、eges and universities consider a number of things about a student who wants to be admitted. Experts on the subject say the most important thing is the students high school record. Admissions officers look not only at the grades that the student has earned. They also look at the level of difficulty o

18、f the classes.A students interests and activities may also play a part in getting accepted. But in most cases another consideration is how well the student did on college entrance exams. This week in our Foreign Student Series, we discuss two of these tests: the SAT and the ACT. Most American school

19、s accept either one.The SAT measures students understanding skills in mathematics and language. Students have almost four hours to complete the SAT. The newest part is an essay. Students have twenty-five minutes to write an answer to a question.The SAT costs forty-one dollars and fifty cents. The in

20、ternational processing charge is twenty-two dollars more. And test-takers in India and Pakistan must also pay a twenty-one dollar and fifty cent security charge.The ACT is an achievement test. It is designed to measure what a student has learned in school. Students are tested in mathematics, English

21、, reading and science. A writing test is offered but not required. Without it, the ACT takes about three hours to complete. The essay part adds thirty minutes.The ACT costs forty-nine dollars to take outside the United States. The writing test costs an additional fourteen dollars. Recent Chinese new

22、s reports suggested that ACT testing would be expanded in China next year. But an ACT spokesman denies those reports. The only place in China where the ACT is offered for Chinese students is in Hong Kong. International students living in China have more choices. (295 words) Helper:admit允许进入, 承认 secu

23、rity sikjuriti保证金 expand增加，扩展 deny否认 SAT：Scholastic AssessmentTest是美国高中生进入美国大学的标准入学考试，SAT考试成绩被美国3600余所大学接受认可,同时也被加拿大所有大学接受认可。ACT：American College Test考试与SAT考试均被称为“美国高考”，它们既是美国大学的入学条件之一，又是大学发放奖学金的主要依据之一及对学生综合能力的测试标准。这个考试也被很多美国大学承认，但其中中部和西部的院校居多Brief Introduction:美国大学入学考试制度是具有相对统一考试特征的大学独立选拔制。由于全国没有统一

24、规定的中学教学大纲和中学毕业考试要求，因此也不存在全国统一的大学入学考试制度。考生申请入学时，须参加大学指定的社会考试服务机构举办的测验。这些社会考试服务机构是非官方的和非营利的民间组织，不隶属于任何一级政府，他们就像一个个公司，经营和管理着各种不同类型的测验。目前，在美国最具名望和影响的大学入学考试是SAT和ACT。一般来说，大学会在招生指南中说明要求考生参加哪个考试，传统上，中西部地区和东南部地区选择ACT的大学多一些，SAT则在东西海岸地区更流行一些。不过最近十年来这种地域的划分已经很模糊了，很多大学要求考生提供两个考试成绩之一就行了。SAT着重考查学生在数学和语言方面的理解能力，近年来

25、增加了写作能力的测试。总的来说，SAT测量是学生的“学能”。ACT测量的是所谓的“成就”，即考查学生在校学到了什么。测试科目包含数学、英语、阅读、科学等。写作考试也包含其中，但并非必考项。当前，不仅在美国本土，在包括中国在内的世界上的许多国家，想要进入美国名校学习的学生都可以在本国申请参加SAT或ACT考试。 Exercises:从所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳答案。1. The passage is mainly about_.A. how a student is admitted by a university B. the SAT test C. the ACT test D.

26、 the tests that the students may take to be admitted2. Which of the following about the SAT test is TRUE?A. The SAT tests students science and language.B. In America, the SAT test costs 22 dollars.C. The time for SAT test is four hours. D. It is unnecessary for students to write an essay in the SAT

27、test.3. The time for the ACT test is_.A. four hours B. three hoursC. three hours or three hours and a half D. two hours and a half4. From the passage we can see that _.A. one can be admitted by a university only by passing the college entrance examsB. the ACT test costs an American student 49 dollar

28、sC. ACT testing would appear in China next yearD. Chinese students in Hong Kong may take the ACT test.Keys and Explanations: 1-4 DCCD1. 选D。主旨大意题。全文主要介绍美国的大学入学考试。2. 选C。细节理解题。由第三段第二句“Students have almost four hours to complete the SAT”可知此题答案。3. 选C。细节理解题。第五段后三句话介绍了一场ACT考试所需时间：含有写作测试的需要三个半小时；考生可以不做写作部分，

29、那样的话则需三个小时。4. 选D。事实信息题。最后一段有一句话“The only place in China where the ACT is offered for Chinese students is in Hong Kong”，因此答案是D。78. Various American Degrees 美国学位种类American higher education offers degrees in many areas of study. A community college student earns an associate degree after two years of g

30、eneral study. The student may then continue at a college or university for another two years to earn a bachelors degree. An undergraduate student at a four-year school earns a bachelors degree. Students majoring in an area of science receive the Bachelor of Science, also known by the letters B.S. Ar

31、ts or humanities students get the bachelor of arts degree, or B.A.Students who continue in school may earn a masters degree after two or three more years of study. Many Americans earn masters degrees at night or on the weekends while they are working. One example of this is the M.B.A., a masters deg

32、ree in business administration. Students learn to deal with all kinds of business situations. They develop skills needed by many companies.M.B.A. programs teach about economics, finance and marketing. They also teach about the structure of organizations and other subjects. Business is a popular subj

33、ect for students who come to the United States. To be admitted to an M.B.A. program, a foreign student must have a bachelors degree and a good score on the TOEFL. Most students also take the Graduate Management Admission Test. Most of the one thousand eight hundred M.B.A. programs around the world u

34、se these test scores. The Graduate Management Admission Council says that foreign students should find out what different schools could do to help them find a job after they receive their degree. Representatives from many companies visit colleges to hire students. You should ask how many companies a

35、re willing to hire international students. The council says even the best schools may have fewer job placements(工作安排) for international graduates than for others. (293 words)Helper:associate degree专科 bachelors degree.学士学位 undergraduate student本科生masters degree硕士学位 administrationdministrein管理financef

36、ainns, finns金融councilkaunsil理事会，委员会 placements工作安排 representative代表M.B.A：Master of Business Administration工商管理硕士 TOEFL：=Test of English as a Foreign Language英语作为外国语的考试(也称托福考试)(美国大学对外国学生入学前的英语测试)Graduate Management Admission Test:简称为GMA, 研究生管理科学入学考试Brief Introduction:美国高校在各个学习领域给学习者提供学位教育，在社区大学经过两年的学

37、习可以取得专科学历，要是在学院或者大学再学两年就可以取得学士学位。本科生经过四年学习可以获得学士学位，主修理的同学可以获得理学士学位，主修人文和艺术的学生可以获得文学士学位。再经过2-3年的学习可以获得硕士学位。许多上班工作的美国人通过上夜校或在周末学习的方式获得硕士学位。工商管理硕士是商业管理方面的硕士学位，学生要学会处理各种商业方面的问题，发展许多公司所需要的技能，所教授的内容涉及到经济、金融、和市场、组织结构和其它科目。商务是到美国的留学生喜欢的科目。要是想学习工商管理硕士的课程，要有学士学位，而且通过托福考试才可以，许多同学参加网上考试中心(TOEFL,GRE,GMAT等)的考试也可以

38、。网上考试中心委员会说留学生应该清楚哪些学校对获得学位以后找工作有帮助。许多公司的代表来学校招聘学生，要问问有多少公司愿意招聘留学生，还说哪怕是最好的学校也不会为留学生有更多的工作安排。 Exercises:从所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳答案。1. Which column is this article probably taken from? A. Science and Technology B. Education Report C. Brief News D. Entertainment 2. The writer of the article wants to tell

39、us _?A. its not easy choose degree at an American college or universityB. a good score on the TOEFL is a must for a foreign student C. international graduates can find jobs easilyD. which kinds of degrees students can earn at an American college or university.3. Which of the following give correct o

40、rder about degrees in America? A. a doctors degree a bachelors degreea masters degreean associate degree B. an associate degreea doctors degree a bachelors degreea masters degree C. an associate degreea bachelors degreea masters degreea doctors degree D. a doctors degree a masters degreean associate

41、 degreea bachelors degree4. The underlined word “these” in the fourth paragraph refers to _. A. TOEFL and GMT B. M.B.A. programs C. international students D. bachelors degree and TOEFL5. According to the article which of the following degree is more welcome by foreign students than others? A. B.S B.

42、 B.A C. GMAC D. MBAKeys and Explanations:1-5 BDCAD1. 选B。主旨要意题。本文是介绍在美国拿学位的情况，所以应该属于教育。2. 选D。写作意图题。根据全文的内容看出是向读者介绍在美国取得学位的情况，主要介绍了在美国的学位种类。3. 选C。细节理解题。根据第一、二段的叙述知道an associate degree指大专毕业证书两年内圆满完所有规定课程后被授予的学位；bachelor已经完成了学院或大学的全部大学课程，大专再读两年或是本科四年；master指取得学士学位后再读2-3年可以取得硕士学位，由常识知道最高学位是博士，所以选C。4. 选A。词义理解题。根据TOEFL=Test of English as a Foreign Language前的score“分数”和Graduate Management Admission Test=GMT知道是考试。5. 选D。推理判断题。根据第四段的第二行“Business is a popular subject for students who come to the United States.”，MBA指的是工商管理硕士。