Part III 阅读理解

Passage One

Of all the lessons taught by the financial crisis, the most personal has been that Americans aren't so good at money-management. We take out home loans we can' afford. We run up sky-high credit-card debt. We don' t save nearly enough for retirement. In response, supporters of financial-literacy education are moving with renewed enthusiasm.

School districts in states such as New Jersey and Illinois are adding moneymanagement courses to their curriculums. The Treasury and Education departments are sending lesson plans to high schools and encouraging students to compete in the National Financial Capability Challenge that begins in March.

Students with top scores on that exam will receive certificates—but chances for long-term benefits are slim. As it turns out, there is little evidence that traditional efforts to boost financial know-how help students make better decisions outside the classroom. Even as the financial-literacy movement has gained steam over the past decade, scores have been falling on tests that measure how well students learn about things such as budgeting, credit cards, insurance and investments.

A recent survey of college students conducted for the JumpStart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy found that students who'd hadapersonal-finance or money-management course in high school scored no better than those who hadn't. "We need to figure out how to do this the right way." says Lewis Mandell, a professor at the University of Washington who after 15 years of studying financial-literacy programs has come to the conclusion that current methods don' t work.

A growing number of researchers and educators agree thatamore radical approach is needed. They advocate starting financial educationalot earlier than high school, putting real money and spending decisions into kids' hands and talking openly about the emotions and social influences tied to how we spend.

Other initiatives are tackling such real-world issues as the commercial and social pressures that affect purchasing decisions. Why exactly do you want those expensive brand -name shoes so badly? "It takes confidence to takeastand and to think differently." says Jeroo Billimoria, founder of Aflatoun, a nonprofit whose curriculum, used in more than 30 countries, aims to help kids getaleg up in their financial lives.

"This goes beyond money and savings."

21. The financial-literacy education is intended to________.

    1. help Americans to overcome the financial crisis
    2. enable Americans to manage money wisely
    3. increase Americans' awareness of the financial crisis
    4. renew Americans' enthusiasm about money-management

    答案 B

    细节题。文章一开始定位句就指出美国人的金融危机让美国人意 识到他们不善于财务管理，第二段开头"In response…."为了回应这一问题， 美国对展开金融素养教育的热情高涨。

22. According to the author, the National Financial Capability Challenge will be_______.

    1. well-received
    2. costly
    3. rewarding
    4. ineffective

    答案 D

    推理题。由定位句可知，大赛中得分最高的学生能够获得资格证， 但是几乎得不到长效性的好处。所以这项大赛是没有太大作用的，无效的。故 选D。

23. By saying that "the financial-literacy movement has gained steam" (Para.3), the author means that the movement ______.

    1. has gone through financial difficulties
    2. has received much criticism
    3. has been regarded as imaginative
    4. has been more and more popular

    答案 D

    推理题。由定位句可知，支持者对于这一行动有着极大的热情， 所以这行动应该很受人们欢迎。gained steam势头强劲，即越来越流行。

24. Lewis Mandell suggests that we should figure out how to ________.

    1. help students score better in money-management courses
    2. improve the social awareness of financial education
    3. carry out financial-literacy education properly
    4. manage money inamore efficient way

    答案 C

    细节题。由定位句可知，刘易斯·曼德尔教授认为现有的金融素 养的教育方法是无用的，所以应该是找出有用的教育方法。

25. Jeroo Billimoria is most likely to agree that commercial and social pressures make one's purchasing decisions ________.

    1. difficult
    2. feasible
    3. unwise
    4. acceptable

    答案 C

    推断题。由定位句可知，商业和社会压力逼迫人们做出决定，即 人们不是根据自己的需求做出理性决定的，这是不明智的。

Passage Two

Cheating is nothing new. But today, educators and administrators are finding that instances of academic dishonesty on the part of students have become more frequent—and are less likely to be punished—than in the past. Cheating appears to have gained acceptance among good and poor students alike.

Why is student cheating on the rise? No one really knows. Some blame the trend on a general loosening of moral values among today's youth. Others have attributed increased cheating to the fact that today's youth are far more pragmatic(实用主义的) than their more idealistic predecessors.

Whereas in the late sixties and early seventies, students were filled with visions about changing the world, today' s students feel great pressure to conform and succeed. In interviews with students at high schools and colleges around the country, both young men and women said that cheating had become easy.

Some suggested they did it out of spite for teachers they did not respect. Others looked at it asagame. Only if they were caught, some said, would they feel guilty. "People are competitive." saidasecond-year college student named Anna, from Chicago. There' s an underlying fear. If you don't do well, your life is going to be ruined.

The pressure is not only from parents and friends but from oneself. To achieve. To succeed. It ' s almost as though we have to outdo other people to achieve our own goals. Edward Wynne, a magazine editor, blames the rise in academic dishonesty on the schools. He claims that administrators and teachers have been too hesitant to take action.

Dwight Huber, chairman of the English department at Amarillo, sees the matter differently, blaming the rise in cheating on the way students are evaluated. "I would cheat if Ifelt Iwas being cheated." Mr. Huber said. He feels that as long as teachers gives short-answer tests rather than essay questions and rate students by the number of facts they can memorize rather than by how well they can put information together, students will try to beat the system.

"The concept of cheating is based on the false assumption that the system is legitimate and there is something wrong with the individuals who are doing it," he said. "That's too easy an answer. We've got to start looking at the system."

26. Educators are finding that students who cheat_______.

    1. are not only those academically weak
    2. tend to be dishonest in later years
    3. are more likely to be punished than before
    4. have poor academic records

    答案 A

    细节题。文章提到，学生不论成绩优劣，似乎都认可作弊行为，不仅仅 是学业成绩差的学生作弊。

27. According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?

    1. Reform in the testing system will eliminate cheating.
    2. Punishment is an effective method to stop cheating.
    3. Students' cheating has deep social roots.
    4. Students do not cheat on essay tests.

    答案 C

    细节题。第二段第四句是题干的出处，第五句话是对前一句的说明，就 社会思想来说，早先的学生立志于为世界服务，而现如今的学生希望的是自己获得 成功。所以学生的作弊是有着深刻的社会根源的。A选项中"改革完全消除作弊"太 绝对；B选项"惩罚是能消除作弊的有效手段"未提到；D选项"学生在问答测试中 不作弊"文中也未提到。

28. Which of the following points of view would Mr. Huber agree with?

    1. Cheating would be reduced through an educational reform.
    2. Students who cheat should be expelled from school.
    3. Punishment for cheaters should be severe in this country.
    4. Parents must take responsibility for the rise in cheating.

    答案 A

    推理题。由定位句可知，他认为作弊与学校的考试和评分制度有关， 所以如果制度改革，情况会变好。

29. The expression "the individuals" (the last paragraph) refers to ________.

    1. school administrators
    2. students who cheat
    3. parents
    4. teachers

    答案 B

    语义理解题。"the individuals"后面的it指代cheating,原文说有一个 错误的观点是：这个教学评估系统是公平的，有错的是作弊的人，即指代学生。

30. The passage mainly discusses _______.

    1. ways to eliminate academic dishonesty
    2. factors leading to academic dishonesty
    3. the decline of moral standards of today's youth
    4. people's tolerance of students' cheating

    答案 B

    主旨题。本文先描述了作弊现象严重的事实，然后进行了分析，学生 们为什么会去作弊，最后说了唯一的方法是改良教学评估方式。解决作弊的方法 虽然提到了，但不是主旨，贯穿全文的是在说作弊的原因。

Passage Three

Last week, I readastory abouta34-year-old British woman who is extremely afraid of metal forks. She's been using plastic ones for 17 years because the sound ofafork rubbing againstaplate gives herapanic attack. Strange, right? But she's not alone. While popular phobias( 恐惧症) about snakes and spiders might get all of the attention, there areawide variety of not-so-obvious horrors that make people nervous.

While some phobias might seemabit silly, they can cause serious emotional distress. My co-worker Magda is terrified of pigeons, a phobia that is taking over her life. She won' t walk in certain parts of the city and runs screaming from the subway when one of these "rats with wings" finds its way onto the platform.

Another friend is disgusted with cheese. Once Isaw her run away fromaslice of it. So where does an irrational fear of cheese come from? Are phobias something we inherit from our genes or do we acquire these unusual anxieties over time? Ever since Ican remember Ihave been unreasonably frightened of elevators.

There was no terrible childhood experience and Iam fine with confined spaces, but something about elevators makes me nervous. And so, when my boyfriend and Ifound ourselves trapped in an elevator last year—because these sorts of things always happen eventually—I was anticipating the worst.

While he gave measuggestive eyebrow raise and proposed we "take advantage of the situation," I began screaming uncontrollably. I was far from turned on by the whole facing my worst nightmare thing. However, after the fear subsided(消退) I realized that, yes, this was my greatest fear come true, and yet—it wasn't all that bad.

Nervous and inconvenient maybe, but terrifying? Not so much. Liberating yourself fromadeep-seated phobia can bealong and difficult process, but sometimes it can be as simple as confronting it head on.

31. The 34-year-old British woman is extremely afraid of metal forks because ______.

    1. she has never used them before
    2. she has been injured by them before
    3. she couldn't bear their sound on plate
    4. she is afraid that they may hurt her

    答案 C

    细节题。由定位句可知，因为她害怕金属从盘子上划过时发出的 刺耳的声音。

32. The phrase "rats with wings" (Para. 3) refers to ______.

    1. strange birds
    2. pigeons
    3. devils
    4. exotic rats

    答案 B

    推理题。根据定位句可知，Magda害怕鸽子。题干所在句为此人 害怕鸽子的具体实例。

33. The author' s fear of elevators is the result of _______.

    1. her phobia for no reason
    2. her nervousness of being alone
    3. her dislike of being in closed spaces
    4. her terrible experience

    答案 A

    推理题。由定位句可知，作者也不知道具体的理由。

34. After the fear subsided, the author realized that ______.

    1. her boyfriend' s help was important
    2. she could have hadagood time with her boyfriend
    3. an elevator ride could be exciting
    4. it was not as horrible as she had thought

    答案 D

    细节题。由定位句可知，作者冷静下来觉得，除了有些紧张，其 实她并不是真正的害怕。

35. The purpose for the author to share her experience is to _______.

    1. illustrate conqueringafear can be difficult
    2. encourage people to overcome their fears
    3. introduce what strange fears people have
    4. explain why people have strange fears

    答案 B

    主旨题。本文作者通过举例子，并且描述自己的经历，想要表达 出恐惧症并不是真正的恐惧，有时候克服它比想象的容易得多。

Passage Four

The American public's obsession with dieting has led to one of the most dangerous health misconceptions of all times. Many television ads, movies, magazine articles, and diet-food product labels would have consumers believe that carbohydrates (碳水化合物) are bad for the human body and that those who eat them will quickly become overweight.

We are advised to avoid foods such as potatoes, rice and white bread and opt for meats and vegetables instead. Some companies promote this idea to encourage consumers to buy their "carb-free" food products. But the truth is, the human body needs carbohydrates to function properly, and a body that relies on carbohydrates but is exhausted of this dietary element is not in good shape after all.

Most foods that we consume onadaily basis like potatoes and rice are loaded with carbohydrates. Contrary to popular belief, carbohydrates have many health benefits: some fight diseases such as high blood pressure and heart disease, and others help to prevent cancer and stroke. Cutting these foods out of your diet may deprive your body of the many health benefits of carbohydrates.

One of the best benefits of carbohydrates is their ability to help to maintain the health of our organs, tissues, and cells. Scientific studies have shown that one type of carbohydrate called fiber reduces the risk of heart disease. Carbohydrates also contain antioxidants (抗氧化 剂), which protect the body's cells from harmful particles with the potential to cause cancer.

This does not mean that the human body can survive onadiet composed entirely of carbohydrates. We also need certain percentages of proteins and fats to maintain healthy bodies. But carbohydrates certainly should not be avoided altogether. In fact, the food pyramid, the recommended basis ofahealthy diet, shows thataperson should consume six to eleven servings of breads and grains, as well as three to four servings each of fruits and vegetables—all carbohydrate-containing foods.

It is easy to see why cutting carbohydrates out ofaperson's diet is notagood idea. The only way to know what is truly healthy for your own body is to talk toanutritionist or dietician, who can help you choose foods that are right for you as well as guide you toward a proper exercise program for weight loss, or muscle gain.

These professionals will never tell you to cut out carbohydrates entirely! The bottom line: listen to the experts, not the advertisers!

36. As is used in Paragraph I, the word "exhausted" most possibly means

    1. derived
    2. deprived
    3. startled
    4. starving

    答案 B

    词汇题。定位句的前半句说：事实是，人体需要摄入碳水化合物 以维持正常的运转。后半句应该是讲身体如果没有碳水化合物就会不利于保持 身材。此处exhausted的意思应该是"缺乏，没有"的意思。deprive"剥夺，除 掉"。

37. According to the author, advertisers who sell "carb-free" products

    1. offer healthy options
    2. are responsible for obesity
    3. are not telling the truth
    4. value consumers' well-being

    答案 C

    推断题。根据定位句可知，作者认为要听取专家的，而不是广告 商的，所以可推理广告商们是不可信的。

38. Which of the following is NOT one of the health benefits of carbohydrates?

    1. Prevention of fiber reduction.
    2. Prevention of heart disease.
    3. Prevention of stroke.
    4. Prevention of cancer.

    答案 A

    细节题。由定位句可知，碳水化合物可防止高血压、心脏病、癌 症和中风，而没有提到能防止纤维减少。

39. It can be inferred from the passage thatahealthy diet .

    1. needs enough proteins but no fat for us to maintain energy
    2. is balanced between carbohydrates, and proteins and fats
    3. is low in carbohydrates and high in proteins and fats
    4. contains equal amounts of carbohydrates and proteins

    答案 B

    推理题。由定位句可知，作者详述了饮食金字塔的组成结构由多 种谷物、水果、蔬菜、碳水化合物等组成，所以可推理出健康的饮食要均衡营养， 所有食物都应该适量摄取。

40. The main purpose of the passage is to .

    1. promote more physical exercise
    2. advocateahealthy diet
    3. describe the variety of carbohydrates
    4. explain how to liveahealthy life

    答案 B

    主旨题。本文主要讨论了关于摄入碳水化合物的问题，并指出不 吃碳水化合物是错误的，要想获得健康的生活，要均衡饮食并加强锻炼。 【高频词汇】 obsession n.痴迷，困扰 function v.运行，活动 misconception n.迷思概念，错误的想法 properly adv.适当地，正确地 compose v.组成 deprive v.丧失，剥夺 consume v.消耗，消费 fiber n.纤维 【难句解析】 The only way to know what is truly healthy for your own body is to talk to a nutritionist or dietician, who can help you choose foods that are right for you as well as guide you toward

Blog and Comments

The blog and comments are followed by questions or unfinished statements, each with four suggested answers A, B, C and D. Choose the best answer and mark your answer on the Answer Sheet. One of the central principles of raising kids in America is that parents should be actively involved in their children's education: meeting with teachers, volunteering at school, helping with homework, and doingahundred other things that few working parents have time for.

These obligations are so baked into American values that few parents stop to ask whether they' re worth the effort. Until this January, few researchers did, either. In the largest-ever study of how parental involvement affects academic achievement, Keith Robinson and Angel L. Harris, two sociology professors at Duke, found that mostly it doesn't.

The researchers combed through nearly three decades' worth of surveys of American parents and tracked 63 different measures of parental participation in kids' academic lives, from helping them with homework, to talking with them about college plans. In an attempt to show whether the kids of more-involved parents improved over time, the researchers indexed these measures to children's academic performance, including test scores in reading and math.

What they found surprised them. Most measurable forms of parental involvement seem to yield few academic dividends for kids, or even to backfire(适得其反) —regardless of a parent' s race, class, or level of education. Do you review your daughter's homework every night? Robinson and Harris's data show that this won't help her score higher on standardized tests.

Once kids enter middle school, parental help with homework can actually bring test scores down, an effect Robinson says could be caused by the fact that many parents may have forgotten, or never truly understood, the material their children learn in school. While Robinson and Harris largely disproved that assumption, they did findahandful of habits that makeadifference, such as reading aloud to young kids (fewer than half of whom are read to daily) and talking with teenagers about college plans.

But these interventions don't take place at school or in the presence of teachers, where policymakers have the most influence—they take place at home.

41. The word "they" (Para. 1) refers to .

    1. studies
    2. principles
    3. values
    4. obligations

    答案 D

    猜测题。由定位句可知，这些责任感深深地印在了美国人的价值 观里，以至于几乎没有家长会停下来问一问是否值得这么做，此处they指代前 面的obligations

42. What is the main conclusion of the Robinson and Harris's study?

    1. The kids of more-involved parents improve over time.
    2. Parental involvement may not necessarily benefit children.
    3. Parental involvement works better with low-achievers.
    4. Schools should communicate with parents regularly.

    答案 B

    细节题。根据定位句可知，家长的参与似乎都没能给孩子们带来 好处，有的甚至适得其反。因而家长的参与并不一定就对孩子有益。

43. Comment1suggests that ______.

    1. parents should leave their children alone
    2. kids should be kids after all
    3. parents may influence children's thinking
    4. persistent parental involvement isamust

    答案 C

    推理题。由定位句可知，家长过多的参与会将家长的思维和想法 强加在孩子身上，而不能使孩子独立判断思考。

44. The writer of Comment2would probably agree that ______.

    1. high intelligence does not guarantee success
    2. getting ready for college is an emotional process
    3. social maturity is sufficient to achieve success in life
    4. high school is often boring in the U.S.

    答案 A

    推理题。由定位句可知，孩子的聪明程度或学业成绩，并不意味 着他们能很好地适应大学或者社会。

45. Which of the following parental helps will the writer of Comment3consider proper?

    1. Reviewing kids' homework for accuracy.
    2. Monitoring kids' class performance.
    3. Assisting kids in their exercises.
    4. Making sure kids have finished their work.

    答案 D

    推理题。由定位句，评论者认为后者比前者更有用，后者指前一 句中的simply making sure they've completed their work。