Question

The Cost of Higher Education

Individuals (个人) should pay for their higher education.

A university education is of huge and direct benefit to the individual. Graduates earn more than non-graduates. Meanwhile, social mobility is ever more dependent on having a degree. However, only some people have it. So the individual, not the taxpayers, should pay for it. There are pressing calls on the resources (资源) of the government. Using taxpayers' money to help a small number of people to earn high incomes in the future is not one of them.

Full government funding (资助) is not very good for universities. Adam Smith worked in a Scottish university whose teachers lived off student fees. He knew and looked down upon 18th-century Oxford, where the academics lived comfortably off the income received from the government. Guaranteed salaries, Smith argued, were the enemy of hard work; and when the academics were lazy and incompetent, the students were similarly lazy.

If students have to pay for their education, they not only work harder, but also demand more from their teachers. And their teachers have to keep them satisfied. If that means taking teaching seriously, and giving less time to their own research interests, that is surely something to celebrate.

Many people believe that higher education should be free because it is good for the economy (经济). Many graduates clearly do contribute to national wealth, but so do all the businesses that invest (投资) and create jobs. If you believe that the government should pay for higher education because graduates are economically productive, you should also believe that the government should pay part of business costs. Anyone promising to create jobs should receive a gift of capital from the government to invest. Therefore, it is the individual, not the government, who should pay for their university education.

1.The underlined word "them" in Paragraph 2 refers to

A.taxpayers B.pressing calls C.college graduates D.government resources

2.The author thinks that with full government funding

A.teachers are less satisfied

B.students are more demanding

C.students will become more competent

D.teachers will spend less time on teaching

3.The author mentions businesses in Paragraph 5 in order to

A. argue against free university education

B. call on them to finance students' studies

C. encourage graduates to go into business

D. show their contribution to higher education

 

Answer 1

1.B

2.D

3.A

【解析】

阅读技巧：此篇议论文难度较低。把握议论文的阅读两步：1. 作者想说服你什么？2. 分了几个并列的点来说服你？

答题技巧：此篇包括2个推断题和1个细节题。其中1题要求学生找出them的所指，对学生分析代词的所指提出了更高的要求，此项技能在完型和阅读中都有体现；3题属于基于议论文结构的设问，问最后一段的例子在文章中的作用，对议论文的结构和写作模式有了解的同学都可以轻松应答。

1.推断代词所指。There are pressing calls on the resources (资源) of the government. Using taxpayers' money to help a small number of people to earn high incomes in the future is not one of them. ww往前看，发现前句就一个复数名词，就它了。

2.细节题。根据题干关键词"full government funding"定位原文，根据"文题顺序一致"原则从上一题them后面去找，会找到Full government funding (资助) is not very good for universities…. and when the academics were lazy and incompetent, the students were similarly lazy. "lazy"转换成"spendless time"不难得出正确选项。

3.结构推断题。题目问提到business有什么目的，就等于问议论文中的论据有什么用，地球人都知道：支持论点。马上从本段段首找论点：Many people believe that higher education should be free…从全文的哪都可以看出作者就是要反对free higher education.