题目

2 There are three passages followed by several multiple choice questions. Read the passages and choose the best answer to each question. Passage L It seems an appropriate moment to ask what lies ahead of students in Britain's rapidly changing universities. Will the experiences, the quality of education, and the job prospects of today's undergraduates be as good as those of their parents' generation? Thirty years ago, just about 25 percent of young people received higher education. Today more than 50 percent do so. This does not mean that the quality of a degree is necessarily lower, but it does mean a university degree is no longer a qualification as distinctive as it once was. On the other hand, the economy has moved on, and the demand for graduates has grown at the same time as the supply has increased. In the 1960s, just around 200,000 to 400,000 students studied at British universities. Today the figure is over 2.5 million. The British have seen a shift from a university system serving a small number of outstanding people to one that is now closer to the mass university systems of the USA and many European countries. At the same time, the university experience has gone from a five-star, luxury model to a mass-transit economy model. Nothing reveals this more obviously than the decreasing amount of public money spent on each student. The result is that most of today's students receive no grants to cover living costs, about half of them must pay for their tuition costs, and all face more crowded lecture theaters and less individual time with their teachers. Nevertheless, one effect of the growing cost of getting a degree has been boosting the popularity of vocational degree courses. According to a survey, the five most popular courses are business and management studies, computer science, law, psychology, and primary education. You have to go to sixth place to find the first purely academic subject, namely English. 1 What do we learn about today's British universities? A They are getting better than before. B They are experiencing rapid changes. C They are adopting lower academic standards. D They are enrolling fewer students than before.

2 There are three passages followed by several multiple choice questions. Read the passages and choose the best answer to each question. Passage L It seems an appropriate moment to ask what lies ahead of students in Britain's rapidly changing universities. Will the experiences, the quality of education, and the job prospects of today's undergraduates be as good as those of their parents' generation? Thirty years ago, just about 25 percent of young people received higher education. Today more than 50 percent do so. This does not mean that the quality of a degree is necessarily lower, but it does mean a university degree is no longer a qualification as distinctive as it once was. On the other hand, the economy has moved on, and the demand for graduates has grown at the same time as the supply has increased. In the 1960s, just around 200,000 to 400,000 students studied at British universities. Today the figure is over 2.5 million. The British have seen a shift from a university system serving a small number of outstanding people to one that is now closer to the mass university systems of the USA and many European countries. At the same time, the university experience has gone from a five-star, luxury model to a mass-transit economy model. Nothing reveals this more obviously than the decreasing amount of public money spent on each student. The result is that most of today's students receive no grants to cover living costs, about half of them must pay for their tuition costs, and all face more crowded lecture theaters and less individual time with their teachers. Nevertheless, one effect of the growing cost of getting a degree has been boosting the popularity of vocational degree courses. According to a survey, the five most popular courses are business and management studies, computer science, law, psychology, and primary education. You have to go to sixth place to find the first purely academic subject, namely English. 1 What do we learn about today's British universities? A They are getting better than before. B They are experiencing rapid changes. C They are adopting lower academic standards. D They are enrolling fewer students than before.

题目解答

答案

根据文章内容，我们可以得出以下解析：

文章开头提到，英国的大学正在经历快速的变化，因此需要探讨当前学生在这些变化中的未来。文章指出，30年前，只有大约25%的年轻人接受高等教育，而今天这一比例超过了50%。这并不意味着学位的质量一定下降了，但确实意味着大学学位不再像以前那样具有独特性。同时，经济也在发展，对毕业生的需求随着供应的增加而增长。1960年代，英国大学的学生人数在20万到40万之间，而现在这一数字超过了250万。英国的大学系统已经从为少数优秀人才服务转变为更接近美国和许多欧洲国家的大众化大学系统。

文章还提到，随着大学系统的转变，大学体验也从五星级豪华模式转变为大众化经济模式。公共资金对每个学生的投入减少，导致大多数学生无法获得生活费用的补助，约一半的学生必须支付学费，所有学生都面临更加拥挤的教室和与教师的个别交流时间减少的问题。尽管如此，学位成本的增加也推动了职业学位课程的受欢迎程度。根据一项调查，最受欢迎的五个课程是商业和管理研究、计算机科学、法律、心理学和初等教育。直到第六位才出现第一个纯学术科目，即英语。

根据以上分析，选项B“它们正在经历快速变化”最符合文章内容。文章明确提到了英国大学正在经历快速变化，包括学生人数的增加、资金投入的减少以及教学资源的紧张等。其他选项均不符合文章内容：

  • 选项A“它们比以前更好”没有得到文章的支持，文章提到了一些负面的变化。
  • 选项C“它们采用了更低的学术标准”没有明确的证据支持。
  • 选项D“它们招收的学生比以前少”与文章内容相反，文章明确指出学生人数大幅增加。

因此，正确答案是 B. 它们正在经历快速变化。

解析

考查要点：本题考查学生对文章主旨的把握能力，需要结合文章中提到的英国大学变化趋势进行判断。
解题核心：文章开篇即点明“rapidly changing universities”，后续通过数据对比（如学生人数、资金投入、课程结构调整等）详细说明变化的具体表现。需重点关注文章首段的总起句和关键数据，排除干扰选项。
破题关键：明确选项需与文章整体趋势一致，注意“快速变化”是文章的核心描述，而非单纯质量好坏或招生人数问题。

选项分析：

  1. 选项A（They are getting better than before）：文章未直接说明大学整体变好，反而提到教学质量可能被稀释（“degree is no longer as distinctive”）、资源紧张等问题，因此无法支持“更好”。
  2. 选项B（They are experiencing rapid changes）：文章首段明确提到“rapidly changing universities”，后续通过数据（学生人数翻倍、资金减少、课程转向职业化）印证这一趋势，是正确答案。
  3. 选项C（They are adopting lower academic standards）：文中未提及学术标准降低，仅提到学位独特性下降，二者概念不同。
  4. 选项D（They are enrolling fewer students than before）：与文章数据矛盾（“from 200,000 to 400,000 to over 2.5 million”）。

结论：文章通过多角度描述大学的“快速变化”，选项B最符合主旨。