阅读练习

The case for college has been accepted without question for more than a generation. All high school graduates ought to go, says conventional wisdom and statistical evidence, because college will help them earn more money, become “better” people, and learn to be more responsible citizens than those who don’t go.

But college has never been able to work its magic for everyone. And now that close to half our high school graduates are attending, those who don’t fit the pattern are becoming more numerous, and more obvious. College graduates are selling shoes and driving taxis; college students interfere with each other’s experiments and write false letters of recommendation in the intense competition for admission to graduate school. Other find no stimulation in their studies, and drop out—often encouraged by college administrators.

Some observers say the fault is with the young people themselves—they are spoiled and they are expecting too much. But that is a condemnation of the students as a whole, and doesn’t explain all campus unhappiness. Others blame the state of the world, and they are partly right. We have been told that young people have to go to college because our economy can’t absorb an army of untrained eighteen-year-olds. But disappointed graduates are learning that it can no longer absorb an army of trained twenty-two-year-olds, either.

Some adventuresome educators and watchers have openly begun to suggest that college may not be the best, the proper, the only place for every young person after the completion of high school. We may have been looking at all those surveys and statistics upside down, it seems, and through the rosy glow of our own remembered college experiences. Perhaps college doesn’t make people intelligent, ambitious, happy, liberal, or quick to learn things—may it is just the other way around, and intelligent, ambitious, happy, liberal, quick-learning people are merely the ones who have been attracted to college in the first place. And perhaps all those successful college graduates would have been successful whether they had gone to college or not. This is heresy to those of us who have been brought up to believe that if a little schooling is good, more has to be much better. But contrary evidence is beginning to mount up.

1.According to the author, ___.
A.people used to question the value of college education.
B.people used to have full confidence in higher education.
C.all high school graduates went to college.
D.very few high school graduates chose to go to college.

2.In the 2nd paragraph, “those who don’t fit the pattern” refer to___.
A.high school graduates who aren’t suitable for college education.
B.college graduates who are selling shoes and driving taxis.
C.college students who aren’t any better for their higher education.
D.high school graduates who failed to be admitted to college.

3.The dropout rate of college students seems to go up because___.
A.young people are disappointed with the conventional way of teaching at college.
B.many people are required to join the army.
C.young people have little motivation in pursuing a higher education.
D.young people don’t like the intense competition for admission to graduate school.

4.According to the passage, the problems of college education partly originate in the fact that___.
A.society cannot provide enough jobs for properly trained graduates.
B.High school graduates do not fit the pattern of college education.
C.Too many students have to earn their own living.
D.College administrators encourage students to drop out.

5.In this passage the author argues that___.
A.more and more evidence shows college education may not be the best thing for high school graduates.
B.College education is not enough if one wants to be successful.
C.College education benefits only the intelligent, ambitious, and quick-learning people.
D.Intelligent people may learn quicker if they don’t go to college.

答案和词汇讲解

答案：BCCAA

词汇讲解

1. conventional 普通的,常见的,习惯的,常规的

Her book is a hilarious send-up of a conventional spy story.
她写的书用的是取笑传统侦探小说的笔法，令人捧腹。

According to conventional wisdom, voters usually make their choice on the basis of domestic issues.
按一般人在这些问题上的看法，选民常常着眼于国内问题来选择候选人。

2. numerous 为数众多的,许多

He appeared, surrounded by his numerous progeny.
他出现时，子女前呼后拥不计其数。

The Earth is only one of the numerous planets in the universe.
地球只是宇宙中众多星球中的一个。

3. condemnation 非难,罪的宣告,非难的理由

She cares nothing about the condemnations of her action.
她对别人对她行为的多方谴责一点也不在乎。

He was found guilty and sentenced to condemnation.
他被发现有罪，并且被定了罪。