单选题 Any day now, the federal Department of Education will formally propose new regulations that would cut off federal aid to for-profit colleges whose graduates cannot earn enough to repay their student loans.
The regulations, known as the "gainful employment" rules, are an effort to rein in the high debt loads students take on when they enroll in for-profit colleges that offer certificates or degrees in fields like nursing or culinary arts. Students at for-profit colleges are much more likely than others to default on their loans. Under the regulations, a draft of which came out in February, for-profit colleges would not be eligible to receive federal student aid if their graduates' debt load was too high to be repaid, over 10 years, with 8 percent of their starting salary.
The Career College Association, which represents 1,450 for-profit colleges, is lobbying fiercely against the regulations, which it argues are wrong-headed, unnecessary and likely to restrict needy students' access to vocational training and higher education. With so many community colleges overcrowded, the for-profit colleges say, their programs represent the nation's best hope for training much-needed health care workers and technicians.
Arne Duncan, the Secretary of Education, has avoided demonizing the for-profit schools. In a May speech, he said that despite a "few bad apples," for-profit colleges play a vital role in helping the nation reach the Obama administration's goal of having the world's best-educated work force by 2020.
Advocacy groups representing students and consumers are less diplomatic. "These programs over-promise, underdeliver and load vulnerable students up with way too much debt," said Chris Lindstrom, higher education program director at the U. S. Public Interest Research Group, part of a coalition of education, consumer, student and public interest groups supporting the regulations. In 2007, coalition members said, students at for-profit colleges made up only 7 percent of those in higher education hut 44 percent of those defaulting on federal student loans.
Adding new fuel to the fire was a recent presentation at a New York conference for investors by Steven Eisman, a hedge-fund manager known for having anticipated the housing market crash. Mr. Eisman, whose early awareness of structural problems in the housing market is described in Michael Lewis's bestseller The Big Short, said the for-profit education industry, like the subprime mortgage industry, has rested on the proliferation of loans to low-income people who would not be able to repay them.
Federal law has long said that federal student aid can go only to for-profit colleges that "prepare student for gainful employment in a recognized occupation. " But this is the government's first effort to define "gainful employment" in relation to graduates' debt-to-income loads. "With a record number of students attending programs that are subject to this requirement, and a record amount of taxpayer money being used to enable them to attend, it's more important than ever to make sure they're getting their money's worth," said Pauline Abernathy, vice president of the Institute for College Access and Success.

单选题 The objective of the new regulations is to
[A] punish those students who refuse to repay their loans.
[B] reduce the loans to those students unable to pay back.
[C] sort out and punish the students who default on their loans.
[D] reassess the eligibility for receiving federal student aid.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】第一段提到，新法规是为了削减对那些营利学校的资助，这些学校的学生不能挣足够的钱偿还贷款。第二段第一句表述了基本相同的内容：新法规旨在控制学生的高债务负担，其中，rein in意为“控制”。
单选题 Faced with cuts in federal aid,
[A] for-profit colleges are in a fight.
[B] students cannot afford their tuition.
[C] students turn to other financial aids.
[D] for-profit colleges have changed their enrolment policy.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】第三段提到，营利大学的一个协会正在游说，反对这一新的法规(注意：根据第一、二段提到的内容，目前的法规只是草稿，还没有正式颁布实施)。他们称这项法规是wrong-headed(这个词的意思是“出现了判断错误的”)，是不必要的，会影响那些家境不好的学生上学，影响为国家培养护理等方面的人才。
单选题 It is implied that what Duncan has said
[A] has seriously annoyed for-pr0fit colleges.
[B] is very abusive to students.
[C] supports for-profit colleges.
[D] is very cautious and tactful.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】在第四段，教育部部长称营利学校虽然有些坏孩子，但这类学校还是承担着很重要的国家责任。第五段第一句提到，那些支持新法律的组织没有那么diplomatic(善于外交辞令的，圆滑的)。这里less diplomatic承接上文省略了than Arne Duncan，说明Duncan说的话更diplomatic。
单选题 Supporters of the new regulation accuse for-profit colleges of
[A] not helping their students pay back loans.
[B] ignoring the moral education of their students.
[C] not giving their students "gainful employment. "
[D] actually encouraging their students to default on loans.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】第五段提到，支持新法律的那些组织指责营利大学overpromise和underdeliver，根据下文，这里所谓overpromise指对学生做出过多就业方面的承诺，而underdeliver指远远没有兑现自己承诺的东西。因此第五段最后一句提到，有44%营利大学毕业的学生不能偿还贷款。根据最后一段，他们之所以不能偿还贷款是因为他们没有能够实现gainful employment的目标，不能挣足够的钱偿还贷款。
单选题 What Pauline Abernathy said in the last paragraph
[A] contradicts Eisman's conclusion about the students.
[B] lends active support to the new regulations.
[C] disclaims the liability of for-profit colleges.
[D] redefines the concept of "gainful employment. /
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】Pauline Abernathy的基本意思是：制定新的法规非常重要，具体来讲，如果不能证明花钱支持学生上学物有所值，那么就是在浪费纳税人的钱，因此投资这样的教育就是一种没有回报的投资。根据本段第一、二句的意思，第三句中所谓getting their money's worth应该指让学生实现gainful employment的目标，从而能够偿还政府贷款。