考研英語(yǔ)閱讀理解精讀100篇【教育類】

考研英語(yǔ)閱讀理解精讀100篇unit83
Unit 83
As long as her parents can remember, 13-year-old Katie Hart has been talking about going to college. Her mother, Tally, a financial-aid officer at an Ohio university, knows all too well the daunting calculus of paying for a college education. Last year the average yearly tuition at a private, four-year school climbed 5.5 percent to more than $17,000. The Harts have started saving, and figure they can afford a public university without a problem. But what if Katie applies to Princeton (she's threatening), where one year's tuition, room and board--almost $34,000 in 2002--will cost more than some luxury cars? Even a number cruncher like Tally admits it's a little scary, especially since she'll retire and Katie will go to college at around the same time.

Paying for college has always been a humbling endeavor. The good news: last year students collected $74 billion in financial aid, the most ever. Most families pay less than full freight. Sixty percent of public-university students and three quarters of those at private colleges receive some form of financial aid--mostly, these days, in the form of loans. But those numbers are not as encouraging as they appear for lower-income families, because schools are changing their formulas for distributing aid. Eager to boost their magazine rankings, which are based in part on the test scores of entering freshmen, they're throwing more aid at smarter kids--whether they need it or not.

The best way to prepare is to start saving early. A new law passed last year makes that easier for some families. So-called 529 plans allow parents to sock away funds in federal-tax-free-investment accounts, as long as the money is used for "qualified education expenses" like tuition, room and board. The plans aren't for everyone. For tax reasons, some lower- and middle-income families may be better off choosing other investments. But saving is vital. When's the best time to start? "Sometime," says Jack Joyce of the College Board, "between the maternity ward and middle school."

Aid packages usually come in some combination of grants, loans and jobs. These days 60 percent of all aid comes in the form of low-interest loans. All students are eligible for "unsubsidized" federal Stafford loans, which let them defer interest payments until after graduation. Students who can demonstrate need can also qualify for federal Perkins loans or "subsidized" Staffords, where the government pays the interest during school. Fortunately, this is a borrower's market. "Interest rates are at their lowest level in the history of student loans," says Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of Finaid. Kantrowitz expects rates to fall even further when they're reviewed this summer.

Traditional scholarships, academic or athletic, are still a part of many families' planning. Mack Reiter, a 17-year-old national wrestling champion, gets so many recruiting letters he throws most away. He'll almost certainly get a free ride. Without it, "we would really be in a bind," says his mother, Janet. For everyone else, it's worth the effort to pick through local and national scholarship offerings, which can be found on Web sites like collegeboard.com.

注（1）：本文選自Newsweek,4/8/2002,p50;
注（2）：本文習(xí)題命題模仿對(duì)象2004年真題Text 2.

1.       What does the author intend to illustrate with the example of the Harts?

[A]the difficulty of paying the tuition
[B]the far-sight of the parents
[C]the promising future of Katie
[D]the increasing tuition in the university

2.       What can we infer from the second paragraph?

[A]Some families are too poor to pay the full amount of the tuition.
[B]The parents do not favor the form of loans.
[C]Paying the tuition makes the parents feel humble.
[D]Those who are in great need may not get what they need.

3.       The last paragraph suggests that ___________.

[A]many recruiting letters failed to provide Mack Reiter with scholarships
[B]Mack Reiter wanted to help his family go out of the trouble
[C]traditional scholarships are a good solution to the tuition problems in some families
[D]Mack Reiter was very proud of his national wrestling championship

4.       What does the author mean by “better off”(Line 5, Paragraph 3)?

[A]richer
[B]wiser
[C]happier
[D]luckier

5.       Which of the following is true according to the text?

[A]The Harts prefer a public university to a private one.
[B]It is much easier to pay the tuition at present.
[C]All students can get the aid package.
[D]Traditional scholarships are still attractive to some families.

答案：ADCBD

篇章剖析
本文采用提出問(wèn)題——分析問(wèn)題的模式，指出支付高昂的大學(xué)學(xué)費(fèi)對(duì)很多家庭來(lái)說(shuō)都有些力不從心，以及一些助學(xué)貸款及其它資助項(xiàng)目所起的作用。第一段提出問(wèn)題，以哈特家為例，說(shuō)明支付大學(xué)學(xué)費(fèi)對(duì)家庭造成的壓力；第二段指出大多數(shù)家庭支付大學(xué)學(xué)費(fèi)的方式以及存在的一些問(wèn)題；第三段指出家庭存錢(qián)的作用；第四段指出資助項(xiàng)目的形式；第五段指出傳統(tǒng)獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金的吸引力。

詞匯注釋
daunting []adj.使人畏縮的
calculus []n.微積分學(xué), 結(jié)石
tuition []n.學(xué)費(fèi)
number cruncher n.搗弄數(shù)字者；能夠進(jìn)行復(fù)雜、大量運(yùn)算的人
boost[]v.推進(jìn)
sock away把錢(qián)存放起來(lái)
better off (doing something) adj.(對(duì)于做某事來(lái)說(shuō))是較為明智的
maternity ward n.產(chǎn)科病房
the College Board大學(xué)委員會(huì)
eligible[]adj.符合條件的,合格的
defer[]vt.使推遲, 使延期
wrestling []n.[體]摔跤
in a bind  adv.處于困境

難句突破
1．So-called 529 plans allow parents to sock away funds in federal-tax-free-investment accounts, as long as the money is used for "qualified education expenses" like tuition, room and board.
主體句式：plans allow parents to sock away …
結(jié)構(gòu)分析：本句是個(gè)條件復(fù)合句。主句是529 plans allow parents to sock away funds，federal-tax-free-investment是一個(gè)復(fù)合名詞; as long as引導(dǎo)條件從句，be used for 意為“用做某一目的”，like是介詞，后跟名詞，共同來(lái)修飾qualified education expenses.
句子譯文：這就是所謂的529方案。該方案準(zhǔn)許父母把錢(qián)存在聯(lián)邦免稅投資賬戶上，但他們所存的錢(qián)只能用于支付類似學(xué)費(fèi)、食宿費(fèi)等“符合資格教育費(fèi)用”。
2．Without it, "we would really be in a bind,"
主體句式：Without it, "we would really be in a bind,"
結(jié)構(gòu)分析：從without我們可看出此句是虛擬語(yǔ)氣，in a bind是固定搭配，意思是“處于困境”。
句子譯文：要不是這樣的話，那么“我們真的就陷入困境了。”

題目分析
1． 答案為A,屬推理判斷題。原文對(duì)應(yīng)信息是：“Even a number cruncher like Tally admits it's
a little scary, especially since she'll retire and Katie will go to college at around the same time.”
2．答案為D，屬推理判斷題。原文對(duì)應(yīng)信息是：“Eager to boost their magazine rankings, which are based in part on the test scores of entering freshmen, they're throwing more aid at smarter kids--whether they need it or not.”
3． 答案為C，屬推理判斷題。原文對(duì)應(yīng)信息是：“Traditional scholarships, academic or athletic,
are still a part of many families' planning.”
4． 答案為B，屬猜詞題。文中提到的方案有助于存錢(qián)，但這樣的方案并不適于每一個(gè)人，
然后給出了其中的一個(gè)原因，來(lái)說(shuō)明對(duì)于低收入和中等收入的家庭來(lái)講，選擇其它投資方式會(huì)比這種方式好。由此可猜出詞義。
5． 答案為D, 屬推理判斷題。選項(xiàng)A意思不準(zhǔn)確，文中提到公立大學(xué)和私立大學(xué)的學(xué)費(fèi)問(wèn)
題，但并沒(méi)有表明家長(zhǎng)的態(tài)度和傾向；選項(xiàng)B意思不對(duì)，文中對(duì)應(yīng)信息是第二段；申請(qǐng)貸款并不是無(wú)條件的，這是選項(xiàng)C的錯(cuò)誤所在。

參考譯文
卡蒂的父母記得，13歲的卡蒂•哈特一直在談?wù)撋洗髮W(xué)的事。她的母親塔利是俄亥俄大學(xué)的一名負(fù)責(zé)給學(xué)生貸款的工作人員，她對(duì)大學(xué)教育費(fèi)用是一個(gè)多么令人心跳畏縮的數(shù)字再熟悉不過(guò)了。去年，私立四年制大學(xué)的年平均學(xué)費(fèi)增長(zhǎng)了5.5%，超過(guò)17,000美元。哈特家已經(jīng)開(kāi)始存錢(qián)了，估計(jì)支付公立大學(xué)的費(fèi)用不成問(wèn)題。但是，如果卡蒂要申請(qǐng)普林斯頓大學(xué)的話(她是這樣威脅的)，那該怎么辦呢？上這樣的大學(xué)一年的學(xué)費(fèi)和食宿費(fèi)在2002年大約是34,000美元，這比買幾輛豪華轎車還貴。就連塔利這樣搞數(shù)字工作的人也承認(rèn)這真有點(diǎn)讓人恐慌，尤其是她即將面臨退休、卡蒂要上大學(xué)這兩件事幾乎在同時(shí)發(fā)生。

支付大學(xué)費(fèi)用一直都是讓人難以啟齒的尷尬事。有條好消息：去年學(xué)生獲得的財(cái)政資助達(dá)740億美元，這比以往獲得的都多。大多數(shù)家庭都不是一次全部付清學(xué)費(fèi)。60%的公立大學(xué)學(xué)生和四分之三的私立大學(xué)的學(xué)生要接受某種形式的財(cái)政資助——現(xiàn)在大多是以貸款的形式發(fā)放。但是這些數(shù)字對(duì)于那些低收入家庭來(lái)說(shuō)，并不象它表面上看起來(lái)那樣令人鼓舞，因?yàn)閷W(xué)校正在改變它們的資助發(fā)放方案。那些想急于提高其雜志排名的學(xué)�！�—學(xué)校排名在一定程度上取決于入學(xué)新生的成績(jī)——把更多的資助給了成績(jī)較好的學(xué)生——不管他們是否需要這種資助。

最好的準(zhǔn)備辦法就是早點(diǎn)開(kāi)始存錢(qián)。去年通過(guò)的一項(xiàng)新的法律使一些家庭存錢(qián)的方法變得容易了一些。這就是所謂的529方案。該方案準(zhǔn)許父母把錢(qián)存在聯(lián)邦免稅投資賬戶上，但他們所存的錢(qián)只能用于支付類似學(xué)費(fèi)、食宿費(fèi)等“符合資格教育費(fèi)用”。這一方案并不是對(duì)每一個(gè)人都適合。由于稅收原因，對(duì)于那些低收入和中等收入家庭來(lái)說(shuō)，如果選擇其它的投資方向，他們會(huì)生活得更富裕些。但是存錢(qián)是頭等大事。那么什么時(shí)候開(kāi)始存錢(qián)最合適呢？大學(xué)委員會(huì)的杰克•喬伊斯說(shuō)，“從產(chǎn)科病房開(kāi)始到上中學(xué)這個(gè)階段的任何時(shí)候都行。”

一攬子資助計(jì)劃通常以助學(xué)金、貸款和兼職相結(jié)合的形式提供。現(xiàn)在有60%的資助項(xiàng)目是以低息貸款形式提供的。所有學(xué)生都有資格獲得聯(lián)邦“非補(bǔ)貼性”斯戴福德貸款。這種貸款可以使學(xué)生把利息支付推遲到畢業(yè)以后。確實(shí)能證明經(jīng)濟(jì)上有困難的學(xué)生還有資格申請(qǐng)聯(lián)邦帕金斯貸款或聯(lián)邦“補(bǔ)貼性”斯戴福德貸款，這種貸款的利息在學(xué)生就讀期間由政府償付。所幸的是，現(xiàn)在是借方的市場(chǎng)�！顿Y助》雜志出版商馬克•坎特羅威茨說(shuō)：“現(xiàn)在的利率是學(xué)生貸款史上最低的�！笨蔡亓_威茨認(rèn)為，今年夏天進(jìn)行回顧評(píng)論時(shí)，利率可能還要降低。

爭(zhēng)取獲得學(xué)術(shù)或體育等傳統(tǒng)獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金仍然是很多家庭計(jì)劃的一部分。17歲的邁克•賴特是全國(guó)摔跤冠軍，他收到了很多招收信，但大部分信都被他扔到了一邊。他幾乎肯定會(huì)獲得全額免費(fèi)。他的母親珍妮特說(shuō)，要不是這樣的話，“我們真的就陷入困境了�！睂�(duì)于其他人來(lái)說(shuō)，值得費(fèi)些工夫去搜尋地方和國(guó)家提供的獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金。這類獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金可以在collegeboard.com這樣的網(wǎng)站上找到。

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