2016年

Text 1

It’s true that high-school coding classes aren’t essential for learning computer science in college。 Students without experience can catch up after a few introductory courses， said Tom Cortina， the assistant dean at Carnegie Mellon’s School of Computer Science。

However， Cortina said， early exposure is beneficial。 When younger kids learn computer science， they learn that it’s not just a confusing， endless string of letters and numbers – but a tool to build apps， or create artwork， or test hypotheses。 It’s not as hard for them to transform their thought processes as it is for older students。 Breaking down problems into bite-sized chunks and using code to solve them becomes normal。 Giving more children this training could increase the number of people interested in the field and help fill the jobs gap， Cortina said。

Students also benefit from learning something about coding before they get to college， where introductory computer-science classes are packed to the brim， which can drive the less-experienced or-determined students away。

The Flatiron School， where people pay to learn programming， started as one of the many coding bootcamps that’s become popular for adults looking for a career change。 The high-schoolers get the same curriculum， but “we try to gear lessons toward things they’re interested in，” said Victoria Friedman， an instructor。 For instance， one of the apps the students are developing suggests movies based on your mood。

The students in the Flatiron class probably won’t drop out of high school and build the next Facebook。 Programming languages have a quick turnover， so the “Ruby on Rails” language they learned may not even be relevant by the time they enter the job market。 But the skills they learn – how to think logically through a problem and organize the results – apply to any coding language， said Deborah Seehorn， an education consultant for the state of North Carolina。

Indeed， the Flatiron students might not go into IT at all。 But creating a future army of coders is not the sole purpose of the classes。 These kids are going to be surrounded by computers-in their pockets ，in their offices， in their homes –for the rest of their lives， The younger they learn how computers think， how to coax the machine into producing what they want –the earlier they learn that they have the power to do that –the better。

21.Cortina holds that early exposure to computer science makes it easier to _______

A。 complete future job training

B。 remodel the way of thinking

C。 formulate logical hypotheses

D。 perfect artwork production

22.In delivering lessons for high - schoolers ， Flatiron has considered their________

A。 experience

B。 interest

C。 career prospects

D。 academic backgrounds

23.Deborah Seehorn believes that the skills learned at Flatiron will ________

A 。 help students learn other computer languages

B 。have to be upgraded when new technologies come

C 。need improving when students look for jobs

D。 enable students to make big quick money

24.According to the last paragraph， Flatiron students are expected to ______

A。 bring forth innovative computer technologies

B。 stay longer in the information technology industry

C。 become better prepared for the digitalized world

D。 compete with a future army of programmers

25.The word “coax”（Line4，Para.6） is closest in meaning to ________

A。 persuade

B。 frighten

C。 misguide

D。 challenge

Text 2

Biologists estimate that as many as 2 million lesser prairie chickens—a kind of bird living on stretching grasslands—once lent red to the often grey landscape of the midwestern and southwestern United States。 But just some 22，000 birds remain today， occupying about 16% of the species ‘historic range。

The crash was a major reason the U.S。 Fish and Wildlife Service （USFWS）decided to formally list the bird as threatened 。“The lesser prairie chicken is in a desperate situation ，”said USFWS Director Daniel Ashe。 Some environmentalists， however， were disappointed。 They had pushed the agency to designate the bird as “endangered，” a status that gives federal officials greater regulatory power to crack down on threats 。But Ashe and others argued that the” threatened” tag gave the federal government flexibility to try out new， potentially less confrontational conservations approaches。 In particular， they called for forging closer collaborations with western state governments， which are often uneasy with federal action。 and with the private landowners who control an estimated 95% of the prairie chicken‘s habitat。

Under the plan， for example， the agency said it would not prosecute landowner or businesses that unintentionally kill， harm， or disturb the bird， as long as they had signed a range—wide management plan to restore prairie chicken habitat。 Negotiated by USFWS and the states， the plan requires individuals and businesses that damage habitat as part of their operations to pay into a fund to replace every acre destroyed with 2 new acres of suitable habitat 。The fund will also be used to compensate landowners who set aside habitat ， USFWS also set an interim goal of restoring prairie chicken populations to an annual average of 67，000 birds over the next 10 years 。And it gives the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies （WAFWA）， a coalition of state agencies， the job of monitoring progress。 Overall， the idea is to let “states” remain in the driver ‘s seat for managing the species，” Ashe said。

Not everyone buys the win-win rhetoric。 Some Congress members are trying to block the plan， and at least a dozen industry groups， four states， and three environmental groups are challenging it in federal court。 Not surprisingly， doesn’t go far enough。 “The federal government is giving responsibility for managing the bird to the same industries that are pushing it to extinction， ” says biologist Jay Lininger。

26.The major reason for listing the lesser prairie as threatened is____。

[A]its drastically decreased population

[B]the underestimate of the grassland acreage

[C]a desperate appeal from some biologists

[D]the insistence of private landowners

27.The “threatened” tag disappointed some environmentalists in that it_____。

[A]was a give-in to governmental pressure

[B]would involve fewer agencies in action

[C]granted less federal regulatory power

[D]went against conservation policies

28.It can be learned from Paragraph3 that unintentional harm-doers will not be prosecuted if they_____。

[A]agree to pay a sum for compensation

[B]volunteer to set up an equally big habitat

[C]offer to support the WAFWA monitoring job

[D]promise to raise funds for USFWS operations

29.According to Ashe， the leading role in managing the species in______。

[A]the federal government

[B]the wildlife agencies

[C]the landowners

[D]the states

30.Jay Lininger would most likely support_______。

[A]industry groups

[B]the win-win rhetoric

[C]environmental groups

[D]the plan under challenge

Text 3

That everyone‘s too busy these days is a cliché。 But one specific complaint is made especially mournfully： There’s never any time to read。

What makes the problem thornier is that the usual time-management techniques don‘t seem sufficient。 The web’s full of articles offering tips on making time to read： “Give up TV” or “Carry a book with you at all times。” But in my experience， using such methods to free up the odd 30 minutes doesn‘t work。 Sit down to read and the flywheel of work-related thoughts keeps spinning-or else you’re so exhausted that a challenging book‘s the last thing you need。 The modern mind， Tim Parks， a novelist and critic， writes， “is overwhelmingly inclined toward communication…It is not simply that one is interrupted； it is that one is actually inclined to interruption。” Deep reading requires not just time， but a special kind of time which can’t be obtained merely by becoming more efficient。

In fact， “becoming more efficient” is part of the problem。 Thinking of time as a resource to be maximised means you approach it instrumentally， judging any given moment as well spent only in so far as it advances progress toward some goal。 Immersive reading， by contrast， depends on being willing to risk inefficiency， goallessness， even time-wasting。 Try to slot it as a to-do list item and you‘ll manage only goal-focused reading-useful， sometimes， but not the most fulfilling kind。 “The future comes at us like empty bottles along an unstoppable and nearly infinite conveyor belt，” writes Gary Eberle in his book Sacred Time， and “we feel a pressure to fill these different-sized bottles （days， hours， minutes） as they pass， for if they get by without being filled， we will have wasted them。” No mind-set could be worse for losing yourself in a book。

So what does work？ Perhaps surprisingly， scheduling regular times for reading。 You‘d think this might fuel the efficiency mind-set， but in fact， Eberle notes， such ritualistic behaviour helps us “step outside time’s flow” into “soul time。” You could limit distractions by reading only physical books， or on single-purpose e-readers。 “Carry a book with you at all times” can actually work， too-providing you dip in often enough， so that reading becomes the default state from which you temporarily surface to take care of business， before dropping back down。 On a really good day， it no longer feels as if you‘re “making time to read，” but just reading， and making time for everything else。

31。 The usual time-management techniques don’t work because 。

[A] what they can offer does not ease the modern mind

[B] what challenging books demand is repetitive reading

[C] what people often forget is carrying a book with them

[D] what deep reading requires cannot be guaranteed

32。 The “empty bottles” metaphor illustrates that people feel a pressure to 。

[A] update their to-do lists

[B] make passing time fulfilling

[C] carry their plans through

[D] pursue carefree reading

33。 Eberle would agree that scheduling regular times for reading helps 。

[A] encourage the efficiency mind-set

[B] develop online reading habits

[C] promote ritualistic reading

[D] achieve immersive reading

34。 “Carry a book with you at all times”can work if 。

[A] reading becomes your primary business of the day

[B] all the daily business has been promptly dealt with

[C] you are able to drop back to business after reading

[D] time can be evenly split for reading and business

35。 The best title for this text could be 。

[A] How to Enjoy Easy Reading

[B] How to Find Time to Read

[C] How to Set Reading Goals

[D] How to Read Extensively

Text 4

Against a backdrop of drastic changes in economy and population structure， younger Americans are drawing a new 21st-century road map to success， a latest poll has found。

Across generational lines， Americans continue to prize many of the same traditional milestones of a successful life， including getting married， having children， owning a home， and retiring in their sixties。 But while young and old mostly agree on what constitutes the finish line of a fulfilling life， they offer strikingly different paths for reaching it。

Young people who are still getting started in life were more likely than older adults to prioritize personal fulfillment in their work， to believe they will advance their careers most by regularly changing jobs， to favor communities with more public services and a faster pace of life， to agree that couples should be financially secure before getting married or having children， and to maintain that children are best served by two parents working outside the home， the survey found。

From career to community and family， these contrasts suggest that in the aftermath of the searing Great Recession， those just starting out in life are defining priorities and expectations that will increasingly spread through virtually all aspects of American life， from consumer preferences to housing patterns to politics。

Young and old converge on one key point： Overwhelming majorities of both groups said they believe it is harder for young people today to get started in life than it was for earlier generations。 Whlie younger people are somewhat more optimistic than their elders about the prospects for those starting out today， big majorities in both groups believe those “just getting started in life” face a tougher a good-paying job， starting a family， managing debt， and finding affordable housing。

Pete Schneider considers the climb tougher today。 Schneider， a 27-yaear-old auto technician from the Chicago suburbs says he struggled to find a job after graduating from college。 Even now that he is working steadily， he said。” I can’t afford to pay ma monthly mortgage payments on my own， so I have to rent rooms out to people to mark that happen。” Looking back， he is struck that his parents could provide a comfortable life for their children even though neither had completed college when he was young。“I still grew up in an upper middle-class home with parents who didn’t have college degrees，”Schneider said。“I don’t think people are capable of that anymore。 ”

36。 One cross-generation mark of a successful life is 。

[A] trying out different lifestyles

[B] having a family with children

[C] working beyond retirement age

[D] setting up a profitable business

37。 It can be learned from Paragraph 3 that young people tend to 。

[A] favor a slower life pace

[B] hold an occupation longer

[C] attach importance to pre-marital finance

[D] give priority to childcare outside the home

38。 The priorities and expectations defined by the young will 。

[A] become increasingly clear

[B] focus on materialistic issues

[C] depend largely on political preferences

[D] reach almost all aspects of American life

39。 Both young and old agree that 。

[A] good-paying jobs are less available

[B] the old made more life achievements

[C] housing loans today are easy to obtain

[D] getting established is harder for the young

40。 Which of the following is true about Schneider？

[A] He found a dream job after graduating from college

[B] His parents believe working steadily is a must for success

[C] His parents’ good life has little to do with a college degree

[D] He thinks his job as a technician quite challenging

Text 1

21、[答案][B]remodel the way of thinking

[解析]观点题。根据题干Cortina holds回文定位在第二段。第二段指出Cortina认为过早的接触电脑是有益的，紧接着指出当小孩子学习电脑科学，他们就学习了如何去开发手机应用程序，或者创作艺术，或者验证假设。对于他们来说与大孩子相比，改变思维并不难。综上所述，[B]remodel the way of thinking是对原文“transform their thought”的同义置换。

22、[答案][B] interest

[解析]事实细节题。根据题干关键信息“in delivering lessons for high-schoolers”、“Flatiron has considered”，定位到第三段。整个第三段在叙述Flatiron School。其中，第三行The high-schoolers get the same curriculum， but “we try to gear lessons toward things they’re interested in”（高中生们上同样的课程，但是“我们力图以他们的兴趣来调整课程”），表明了该校开设课程的依据是“学生的兴趣”，故选[B] interest。

23、[答案][A] help students learn other computer languages

[解析]细节题。根据Deborah Seehorn 定位到文章第五段最后一句。Deborah说他们学习的技能（如何思考问题具有逻辑性并组织结果）可以应用到编码语言中去。选项[A]帮助学生学习另外的电脑语言是对这句话的概括。

24、[答案][C] become better prepared for the digitalized world

[解析]推理题。根据题干关键词“the last paragraph”和“Flatiron students”回文定位在最后一段。最后一段第一句指出Flatiron的学生不会全都进入IT界。紧接着第二句说明培养编码人员不是唯一目的，第三句进一步指出这些学生将会一生“被电脑包围”（生活在电脑时代），对比四个所给选项，[C] become better prepared for the digitalized world与原文意思一致，故正确。

25、[答案][A] persuade

[解析]词义题。根据题干关键信息“coax”（Line 4， Para.6），定位到最后一段第四行how to coax the machine into producing what they want（如何…电脑生产他们想要的），且该部分是与how computers think（电脑是如何思维的）并列的，都是学生学习的具体内容。正是因为两者并列，因此根据单词think可知coax同样含有一定比喻色彩，且coax指的是“让电脑生产他们想要的”一种手段或方式。将四个选项分别带入原文：[A] persuade“劝说，劝诱”，即“劝诱电脑生产他们想要的”，语意恰当，是正确选项；[B] frighten“吓唬，使惊吓”，即“吓唬电脑去生产他们想要的”，该方式带有贬义色彩，故排除；[C] misguide“误导”，与[B]同理，故排除；[D] challenge“挑战”，即“挑战电脑去生产他们想要的”，语义不通顺，故排除。因此，本题正确答案为[A] persuade。

Text 2

26、[答案][A] its drastically decreased population

[解析]本题属于细节题，考查了考生对文章首段中关于草原鸡数量的变化的理解。根据对首段首句当中生物学家预测的数量是2百万，而在首段末句出现but转折以及末句当中关于草原鸡现在真实的剩余数量只有2万2千只，都可以说明草原鸡的数量急剧的下降；另外，这道题还有一种做法是通过第二段首句的主语的作用，某些情况下，文章中间段落的首句主语起到承上启下的作用，那么中间段落首句主语就会有概括上一段的作用，本文第二段的首句：The crash was a main reason USFWS decided to formally list the bird as threatened。 就是对第26题题干和正确选项的同义替换，根据第二段第一句的主语：the crash （这种暴跌），对应正确选项A。

27、[答案][D] went against conservation policies

[解析]本题属于推理题，根据题干信息：the “Threatened” tag 令许多环境学家感到失望，定位到第二段的第三句，因此，原因应该出自第三句之后，而第四句和第五句中间有很明显的转折词but，因此答案定位在第五句，很多同学可能会问，这里并没有表示原因的词去与题干当中的in that进行对应，但是在我们的钻石卡的课程中提到，原文当中给出原因的并不一定是直接给出表示原因的连词或者介词，在本文第三句的but Ashe and others argued that the “threatened” tag gave the federal government flexibility to try out new， potentially less confrontational conservation approaches。 当中的gave这个词是“使得”的意思，A使得B如何如何，也就是A是B的原因，因此这道题的答案是D （违反了保护措施）。

28、[答案][B] volunteer to set up an equally big habitat

[解析]本题属于推理题，根据题干当中给出的位置信息（第三段）以及表示条件与结果的逻辑关系的if这个信息，可以迅速定位到第三段的第一句，其中题干当中的if与文章当中的as long as 进行对应，而题干当中的表示结果的部分与as long as 之前进行对应，因此，正确选项应该出自as long as 之后，也就是原文当中的：they had signed a range-wide management plan to restore prairie chicken habitat。 “签订一系列管理计划去恢复草原鸡的栖息地”，对应到的正确选项是B （volunteer to set up an equally big habitat 帮助搭建同样大小的栖息地）

29、[答案][D] the states

[解析]本题属于细节题。答案定位在文章第三段最后一句，从Ashe所说的话中“states remain in the driver’s seat for managing the species”可以得出，选项D the states在管理物种方面起着领导作用。

30、[答案][B] the win-win rhetoric

[解析]本题属于推断题。答案定位在文章最后一段，从Jay Lininger所说的话中，可以得知他认为政府应该为导致鸟类濒临灭绝的产业负责任，因此可以得出，他最可能支持本段开头所提出的双赢的说法。

Text 3

31、[答案][D] what deep reading requires cannot be guaranteed

[解析]细节题。根据题干回文定位到第二段第一句“what makes…management techniques don‘t seem sufficient”，，但是这句并没有提及原因。真正的原因是第二段最后一句“Deep reading requires not just time， but a special kind of time which can’t be obtained merely by becoming more efficient”。（深度阅读需要的不仅仅是时间，而且仅仅通过高效率所获得的那种时间也不够），因此选项D what deep reading requires cannot be guaranteed为正确答案。

32、[答案][B] make passing time fulfilling

[解析]细节题。根据题干回文定位到第三段第五句：we feel a pressure to fill these different-sized bottles（days， hours， minutes） as they pass。故正确答案应该与to fill…相一致。这句话中将时间单位天，小时和分钟比喻成了不同大小的瓶子。而压力来自于我们填充这些大小不一的瓶子时，即把自己的时间充实起来时。故正确答案为选项B，其中passing time是原文as they pass的同义替换，making … fulfilling是to fill的同义替换。

33、[答案][D] achieve immersive reading

[解析]细节题。根据题干定位到第四段第二句：…such ritualistic behavior helps us “step outside time’s flow” into “soul time。 （这种仪式化行为指代有助于我们从拜托时间流进入灵魂阅读），soul time 即选项D 中immersive reading （沉浸式阅读），故正确答案为选项D。题干“scheduling regular times for reading helps”是题干中的“such ritualistic behavior helps”的同义改写，“soul time”是“immersive reading”的同义替换。

34、[答案][A] reading becomes your primary business of the day

[解析]细节题。根据题干中的carry a book with you at all times can work if， 可以定位到第四段倒数第二句 “providing you dip in often enough， so that reading becomes the default state”（假定你经常沉浸在阅读中，以至于阅读成为一种默认设置），因此可以确定选项A reading becomes your primary business of the day（阅读成为你一天中的主要事情）为正确答案。

35、[答案][B] How to Find Time to Read

[解析]主旨题。根据文章首段转折之后出主旨。But one specific complaint is made especially mournfully： There’s never any time to read。（但是其中一个特别悲哀的抱怨是：没有时间阅读）。第二、三、四段都在论证深度阅读才是解决之道。因此选项Dhow to find time to read为正确答案。

Text 4

36、[答案][B] having a family with children

[解析]根据题干给出的mark， successful life等词可以定位到第二段的第一句话，successful life可以找到原词，而mark对应milestone，including后面的内容就是这种生活的特征，包含“结婚，有孩子，有家，60岁退休”，和选项对比，只有B项符合原文给出的特征，属于同意替换。A项这里未提，略有干扰的是后面but句中的different paths，但这和题干不符，C项的退休后工作和原文刚好相反，D项未提到。

37、[答案][C] attach importance to pre-martial finance

[解析]根据题干给出的段落序号可以定位到第三段，另又提到young people，故可以定位到第三段开头第一句话。题干问的是年轻人倾向于……，题干中的tend在这句话中可以找到同意置换词more likely，句子中后面有5个to do表示年轻人倾向于做什么，所以答案就在这些动词不定式中。和选项对比，只有C项符合原文的含义“婚前或者有孩子之前要有经济保障”，属于同意替换。A项这里未提，也不符合当下年轻人的生活习惯，B项和原文刚好相反，原文说的是经常换工作来提升职业，而选项说的是长时间做一份工作，D项只是有childcare outside the home和原文一样，但是原文说的是父母都工作对孩子好，选项则是说年轻人更注重照顾孩子，两者含义并不相符。

38、[答案][D] reach almost all aspects of American life

[解析]根据题干给出的the priorities and expectations等词可以定位到第四段的第一句话的中间，that后面的内容是对这两个名词的修饰，故答案应该在这个从句中。和选项对比，只有D项符合原文，ripple through和选项中的reach属于同意替换。A项和B项这里均未提，C项只是politics和preferences这两个词有在文中出现，但是语义并不相符。

39、[答案][D] getting established is harder for the young

[解析]根据题干给出的young and old等词可以定位到第五段开头，这句话有冒号，解释key point，所以答案应该在冒号之后，题目问的是他们同意什么，也就是观点，所以可以再缩小范围为believe后面的内容为正确选项的含义。和选项对比，只有D项符合原文，属于同意替换。A项和C项这里均未具体提及，B项相对干扰性强，但是文中只是提到说在实现这些重要成就时，晚辈会比长辈遇到更艰难的挑战，并不是说老辈比晚辈创造了更多的成就，故排除。

40、[答案][C] His parents’ good life has little to do with a college degree

[解析]根据题干给出的Schenider可以定位到最后一段开头。这段话开头就说这个人认为今天的生活更艰难，后面的内容都在介绍他的生活。因为题干除了这个人名之外并没有给出其他更细定位的信息，可以选择从选项定位入手反推正确答案。A项“他毕业后找到一个理想工作”，文章只在最后一段第二句后面说到这个问题，但并没有说这个工作是dream work，故排除。B项的work steady在第三局也有提到，但并没有说是父母认为的，故排除。C项说到父母的好生活在第四、五句有提到，尤其引号中的内容和选项相符，故为正确答案。D项认为工作很有挑战性，这并没有提到，属于无中生有。