專家解析大學英語四級考試歷年閱讀真題(九)

　　題目問根據(jù)作者的最后一條建議，求職者應該意識到……

　　A， 美國和英國的不同教育系統(tǒng)。

　　B， 不同英語之間的區(qū)別。

　　C， 簡歷接收者對格式的喜好。

　　D， 美國與英國文化各自的特點。

　　最后一條建議是這樣的：If you are submitting your resume in English, find out if the recipient (收件人) uses British English or American English because there are variations between the two versions. For example, university education is often referred to as ‘tertiary education’ in the United Kingdom, but this term is almost never used in the United States. A reader who is unfamiliar with these variations may assume that your resume contains errors.

　　直譯為：如果你要提交的簡歷是英文的，應該弄清收件人說的是英式英語還是美式英語，因為這二者之間存在不同的地方。比如大學教育在英國被成為tertiary education，而在美國從來沒有用過這個詞組。讀簡歷者如果不熟悉此類區(qū)別，將會認為你的簡歷存在錯誤。

　　這段話比較簡易，不難理解，講的是兩種英語的區(qū)別可能會讓讀簡歷者產(chǎn)生誤解。A的說法是生造出來的，在文中沒有論及教育系統(tǒng)的區(qū)別。B的說法與文章的意思一致。C說的格式問題是第二條建議的內(nèi)容，不能張冠李戴給第三條建議。D所說的文化特點過于寬泛，雖然語言也屬于文化，但不能以語言來概括文化。另外，值得一提的是，英式英語不見得就代表了英國英語，在澳大利亞、加拿大以及其他很多國家，人們講的同樣是英式英語。把英式英語等同于英國英語是不對的。

　　Passage Two

　　Educating girls quite possibly yields a higher rate of return than any other investment available in the developing world. Women’s education may be unusual territory for economists, but enhancing women’s contribution to development is actually as much an economic as a social issue. And economics, with its emphasis on incentives (激勵), provides guideposts that point to an explanation for why so many girls are deprived of an education.

　　Parents in low-income countries fail to invest in their daughters because they do not expect them to make an economic contribution to the family: girls grow up only to marry into somebody else’s family and bear children. Girls are thus seen as less valuable than boys and art kept at home to do housework while their brothers are sent to school-the prophecy (預言) becomes self-fulfilling, trapping women in a vicious circle (惡性循環(huán)) of neglect.

　　An educated mother, on the other hand, has greater earning abilities outside the home and faces an entirely different set of choices. She is likely to have fewer but healthier children and can insist on the development of all her children, ensuring that her daughters are given a fair chance. The education of her daughters then makes it much more likely that the next generation of girls, as well as of boys, will be educated and healthy. The vicious circle is thus transformed into a virtuous circle.

　　Few will dispute that educating women has great social benefits. But it has enormous economic advantages as well. Most obviously, there is the direct effect of education on the wages of female workers. Wages rise by 10 to 20 per cent for each additional year of schooling. Such big returns are impressive by the standard of other available investments, but they are just the beginning. Educating women also has a significant impact on health practices, including family planning.

　　26. The author argues that educating girls in developing countries is ________.

　　A) troublesome

　　B) labor-saving

　　C) rewarding

　　D) expensive(C)

　　27. By saying “... the prophecy becomes self-fulfilling...” (Lines 45, Para. 2). the author means that ________.

　　A) girls will turn out to be less valuable than boys

　　B) girls will be capable of realizing their own dreams

　　C) girls will eventually find their goals in life beyond reach

　　D) girls will be increasingly discontented with their life at home(A)

　　28. The author believes that a vicious circle can turn into a virtuous circle when ________.

　　A) women care more about education

　　B) girls can gain equal access to education

　　C) a family has fewer but healthier children

　　D) parents can afford their daughters’ education(B)