考研英語閱讀理解精讀100篇【社會(huì)文化類】

考研英語閱讀理解精讀100篇unit22
Unit 22
Plowing through the New York Times on a recent Sunday, I read in the Metro Section that infertile couples in the market for smart-kid genes regularly place advertisements in the newspapers of their own Ivy League alma maters offering female undergraduates $7,500 for a donated egg. Before I could get that news comfortably digested, I came across an article in the Magazine section describing SAT prep courses for which parents spend thousands in the hope of raising their child's test scores enough to make admission to an Ivy League college possible. So how can people who have found a potential egg donor at an Ivy League college tell whether the donor carries genuine smart-kid genes or just pushy-parents genes?

The donor herself may not even be aware that such a distinction exists. After years of expensive private schooling and math tutors and tennis camps and SAT prep courses and letters of recommendation from important family friends, she's been told that, unlike beneficiaries of affirmative action, she got into an Ivy League college on pure merit.

Since it is probably safe to assume that people intent on securing high-priced Ivy League eggs are carrying some pushy-parents genes themselves, their joining forces with a donor who got into an Ivy League college by dint of her family's willingness to fork over 10 grand to an SAT prep course could result in a child with somewhere between a dose and a half and 2 1/2 doses of pushy-parents genes. Apparently the egg seekers aren't troubled by the prospect of having their grandchildren raised by this sort of person.

If you have any doubts about whether the dosages I cite are based on a thorough grounding in genetics and statistics and advanced microbiology, rest assured that I attended an Ivy League college myself. That was in the days, I'll admit, when any number of people were admitted to such institutions without having shown any evidence of carrying smart-kid genes even in trace elements. Somehow, most of these dimmer bulbs managed to graduate--every class needs a lower third in order to have an upper two-thirds--and somehow most of them are now millionaires on Wall Street.

One element many of them had going for them in the admissions process was that they were identified as "legacies"--the offspring of alumni. In Ivy League colleges, alumni children are even now admitted at twice the rate of other applicants. For that reason, egg seekers may not actually need genuine smart-kid genes for their children: after all, an applicant whose mother and father and egg donor were all alumni could be considered a triple legacy.

But how about the college-admission prospects of the grandchildren? As methods are perfected of enhancing a college application through increasingly expensive services--one young man mentioned in the magazine article had $25,000 worth of SAT preparation--it might become more important to have a parent who's a Wall Street millionaire than to have smart-kid genes. Maybe it would be prudent to add a sentence to those ads in college papers: "Preference given to respondents in the lower third of the class."

注（1）：本文選自Time；01/25/99, p20；
注（2）：本文習(xí)題命題模仿對象為：1、2、3題模仿2000年真題text4 1-3題；4、5題分別模仿1999年真題text1第4題和text4第4題；

1.       In the author’s eyes, a female student from an Ivy League college is__________.

[A] an ideal egg donor
[B] not necessarily an intelligent person
[C] more influenced by her parents than by anything else
[D] more likely to carry smart-kid genes

2.       According to the author, what may chiefly be the reason for the donor’s admission in an
Ivy League college?

[A] her own merits
[B] the affirmative action
[C] her smart-kid genes
[D] her parents’ efforts

3.       Which of the following is true according to the author?

[A] American parents would send their children into an Ivy League college at any cost
[B] Ivy League colleges used to admit students who showed no sign of intelligence
[C] alumni children stand a better chance to be admitted than other applicants
[D]egg-seekers care nothing about the pushy-parents genes

4.       The author’s attitude towards the issue seems to be ____________.

[A] approving
[B] objective
[C] indifferent
[D] ironic

5.       It could be inferred from the text that____________.

[A] wealth is more important than intelligence in application for Ivy League colleges
[B] Ivy League colleges are increasingly expensive
[C] egg-seekers can get better genes from millionaires
[D] the prospects of college-admission are gloomy

答案：B D C D A

篇章剖析：
本文為議論文，指出不孕夫婦高價(jià)求購名校大學(xué)生卵子之事的荒謬之處以及名校門檻難進(jìn)的嚴(yán)峻現(xiàn)實(shí)。本文采用的是提出問題―分析問題―解決問題的模式。在第一段，作者指出為了生下聰明寶寶而高價(jià)求購名校大學(xué)生卵子的人無法真正知道捐卵人的基因是聰明孩子的基因還是要強(qiáng)家長的基因。第二段著重說明這些捐卵者都是在家庭的幫助下進(jìn)入名校學(xué)習(xí)的。第三段分析了了求卵者與捐卵者聯(lián)合的可能結(jié)果。第四段指出智商和成功之間聯(lián)系并不明顯――因?yàn)楹芏嗖钌�也能成為百萬富翁。第五段進(jìn)一步分析名校學(xué)生被錄取的一個(gè)原因，那就是他們的“校友子女”身份。最后一段提出一個(gè)諷刺性的解決辦法：優(yōu)先考慮可能成為百萬富翁的差生。

詞匯注釋：
SAT: （美國）學(xué)術(shù)能力測驗(yàn)（Scholastic Aptitude Test）
admission: [] n. 許可入場；入學(xué)、入會(huì)
pushy: [] adj. 有進(jìn)取心的
affirmative action: 平權(quán)措施，指美國大學(xué)在錄取新生和分配獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金時(shí)，在成績相同或相近的條件下優(yōu)先考慮少數(shù)族裔的學(xué)生，如非洲裔、西班牙裔和印第安裔考生。
dint: [] n. 力量，努力；權(quán)力 by dint of 由于；憑藉
fork over: 花費(fèi)，為…投入金錢
trace element: 微量元素
alumni: [] n. 校友
prudent: [] adj. 謹(jǐn)慎的；明智的

難句突破：
1.Since it is probably safe to assume that people intent on securing high-priced Ivy League eggs are carrying some pushy-parents genes themselves, their joining forces with a donor who got into an Ivy League college by dint of her family’s willingness to fork over 10 grand to an SAT prep course could result in a child with somewhere between a dose and a half and 2 1/2 doses of push-parents genes.
主體句式：their joining forces…could result in a child…
結(jié)構(gòu)分析：本句是個(gè)復(fù)雜長句，首先由since引導(dǎo)一個(gè)原因狀語從句，在這個(gè)從句里又包含了一個(gè)賓語從句（assume后面that引導(dǎo)的部分），一個(gè)較長的定語（intent on securing high-priced Ivy League eggs），主句的主語是一個(gè)較長的動(dòng)名詞短語，其中包含了一個(gè)定語從句（who引導(dǎo)的部分），而這個(gè)定語從句中還含有一個(gè)較長的狀語（由介詞詞組by dint of引導(dǎo)），主句的賓語里也包含有一個(gè)由介詞with引導(dǎo)的長定語。在閱讀的時(shí)候，一定要先理清主次，然后把各部發(fā)之間的修飾，限定等關(guān)系看清楚，才不至于出錯(cuò)。
句子譯文：也許可以安全地假定那些想要獲得高價(jià)常青藤聯(lián)盟卵子的人自己身上就帶有要強(qiáng)的家長的基因，他們和那些靠家庭心甘情愿花1萬美元參加SAT考前輔導(dǎo)班而進(jìn)入常青藤聯(lián)盟學(xué)校的捐卵者聯(lián)合，其結(jié)果也許就是生出的孩子身上的要強(qiáng)父母基因劑量介于1.5至2.5之間 。
2.As methods are perfected of enhancing a college application through increasingly expensive services---one young man mentioned in the magazine article had $25,000 worth of SAT preparation---it might become more important to have a parent who’s a Wall Street millionaire than to have smart-kid genes.
主體句式：it might become more important to have a parent…
結(jié)構(gòu)分析：本句也是一個(gè)復(fù)雜長句。as引導(dǎo)一個(gè)較長的原因狀語從句，其中還含有一個(gè)插入語，對increasingly expensive進(jìn)行實(shí)例說明，從句中的時(shí)態(tài)為被動(dòng)，主語method的定語修飾成分（of引導(dǎo)的部分）因?yàn)檫^長而被后置到謂語之后；主句是以it做形式主語，兩個(gè)被比較的不定式做為真正主語的結(jié)構(gòu)。
句子譯文：由于通過日益昂貴的服務(wù)來提高大學(xué)申請成功的可能性的方法日臻完美---雜志文章里面提到的一個(gè)年輕人花了25000美元準(zhǔn)備SAT考試---那么有個(gè)華爾街百萬富翁家長也許比有聰明孩子基因更重要。

題目分析：
1. 答案為B，屬于推理判斷題。作者在第一段提出疑問：how can people…tell whether the donor carries genuine smart-kid genes or just pushy-parents genes? 接著又在下文中分析這些學(xué)生是如何入學(xué)的：父母不惜重金的栽培以及父母為校友的優(yōu)勢。文中第二段末作者以諷刺的口吻說道：they were told…they got into an Ivy League college on pure merit。文中第四段作者以那些后來成為百萬富翁的差生來說明名校的學(xué)生未必聰明�？梢娮髡卟⒉徽J(rèn)為那些名校女生真的是因?yàn)槁斆髦腔鄱�被錄取的�?BR>2. 答案為D，屬于事實(shí)細(xì)節(jié)題。文章舉了很多例子說明捐卵者的家庭為她們進(jìn)入常青藤聯(lián)盟學(xué)校所作的一切：多年的昂貴私立學(xué)校教育，數(shù)學(xué)輔導(dǎo)，網(wǎng)球訓(xùn)練營，不惜重金的SAT考前輔導(dǎo)班，有身分地位的家庭友人的推薦信以及父母的校友身份等。可見D為最佳答案。
3. 答案為C，屬于事實(shí)細(xì)節(jié)題。文章第5段提到了校友子女的錄取比例是其他申請人的兩倍，可見他們的被錄取機(jī)會(huì)較大。
4. 答案為D，屬于推理判斷題。作者通過分析舉例來說明高價(jià)求購名校女生卵子做法的荒謬之處，并在文章最后寫道：應(yīng)該在這類求卵廣告上加一句“差生應(yīng)征，優(yōu)先考慮”，語氣中充滿諷刺意味，應(yīng)該選D。
5. 答案為A，屬于推理判斷題。作者在文章最后一段指出：“methods are perfected of enhancing a college application through increasingly expensive service”在下文中又說：“it might become more important to have a parent who’s a Wall Street millionaire than to have smart-kid genes”，可見跨入名校門檻需要付出高昂代價(jià)，因此申請這些學(xué)校的時(shí)候，財(cái)富比智慧更重要。

參考譯文：
最近的某個(gè)星期天，我在翻閱《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》的時(shí)候，在都市版讀到一則消息，說一些不孕不育夫婦到市場上求購能生下聰明寶寶的基因，這些夫婦定期在他們自己的常青藤聯(lián)盟母校的報(bào)紙上刊登廣告，出資7500美元欲求大學(xué)本科女生捐贈(zèng)一枚卵子。我還沒有從那條消息中回過味來，就又在雜志版讀到一篇文章，講述家長們花費(fèi)數(shù)千元讓孩子參加SAT（大學(xué)入學(xué)考試）考前輔導(dǎo)班，希望孩子的考試成績能提高到有可能考取常青藤聯(lián)盟學(xué)校。那么那些在常青藤聯(lián)盟學(xué)校找到捐卵者的人怎么能夠辨別捐卵人的基因是真正的聰明孩子的基因還是那些要強(qiáng)的家長的基因呢？

捐卵者本人也許甚至都沒有意識(shí)到存在這樣一種區(qū)別。多年的昂貴私立學(xué)校教育，數(shù)學(xué)輔導(dǎo)，網(wǎng)球訓(xùn)練營，SAT考前輔導(dǎo)班以及有身分地位的家庭友人的推薦信，這些都在告訴她，不像那些平權(quán)措施的受益者，她是因?yàn)楸憩F(xiàn)出色而被常青藤聯(lián)盟學(xué)校錄取的。

也許可以安全地假定那些想要獲得高價(jià)常青藤聯(lián)盟卵子的人自己身上就帶有要強(qiáng)的家長的基因，他們和那些靠家庭心甘情愿花1萬美元參加SAT考前輔導(dǎo)班而進(jìn)入常青藤聯(lián)盟學(xué)校的捐卵者聯(lián)合，其結(jié)果也許就是生出的孩子身上的要強(qiáng)父母基因劑量介于1.5至2.5之間 。顯然，那些渴望得到卵子的人不會(huì)因?yàn)樗麄兊膶O子可能會(huì)由這種人撫養(yǎng)長大而煩惱。

如果你懷疑我引用的劑量是否完全基于遺傳學(xué)和統(tǒng)計(jì)學(xué)以及先進(jìn)的微生物學(xué)，那么大可以放心，因?yàn)槲冶救司驮�在常青藤�?lián)盟學(xué)校就讀。我要承認(rèn)，那時(shí)候上這些學(xué)校的人很多，而且不必出示任何證據(jù)來證明連他們的微量元素里面都有聰明孩子基因。不知何故，這些成績不太出色的學(xué)生大都順利畢業(yè)---每個(gè)班都需要有三分之一的差生，這樣才會(huì)有另外三分之二的好學(xué)生---而且他們中的大部分人現(xiàn)在都成了華爾街的百萬富翁。

他們很多人有一樣幫助他們順利入學(xué)的共同之處，那就是他們的“傳承者”身份---他們是校友們的子女。在常青藤聯(lián)盟學(xué)校里，校友子女的入學(xué)率是其他申請人的兩倍之多。鑒于此，渴望得到卵子的人也許實(shí)際上并不需要給他們的子女一些真正的聰明孩子基因：畢竟，申請人的父母和捐卵者都是校友的話，那么他就算得上是一個(gè)三倍“傳承者”了。

那么他們的孫子輩的大學(xué)入學(xué)前景如何呢？由于通過日益昂貴的服務(wù)來提高大學(xué)申請成功的可能性的方法日臻完美---雜志文章里面提到的一個(gè)年輕人花了25000美元準(zhǔn)備SAT考試---那么有個(gè)華爾街百萬富翁家長也許比有聰明孩子基因更重要。不妨在這些大學(xué)報(bào)紙廣告上加上一句：“優(yōu)先考慮成績在班級(jí)后三分之一的應(yīng)征者�！�

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