阅读理解 With its sandy beaches, picturesque ruins and blue waters, the Isle of Wight is an idyllic spot off England's southern coast. Wealthy Londoners sail their boats there. It seems odd that such a place should contain some of the worst-performing schools in England. But it does; and in this, the Isle of Wight is not quite as strange as it seems.
Provisional figures show that in 2013 just 49% of 16-year-olds on the island got at least five C grades, including in English and maths, in GCSE exams. That is fewer than in any of London's 32 boroughs, or indeed anywhere in the southern half of England apart from nearby Portsmouth. In the previous year the Isle of Wight was second to bottom in the whole country. Just 23% of pupils entitled to free school meals got five decent grades, compared with a national average of 36%. In September the island's schools were deemed so bad that Hampshire County Council took them over.
Part of the explanation is distinctively local. Luring good teachers to an out-of-the-way spot is hard. In 2011 the island endured a muddled transition from the sort of three-tier school system common in America, with primary, middle and secondary schools, to the two-tier one that is standard in England. But its results were bad even before that change.
The Isle of Wight's real problems are structural. It suffers from three things that might appear to be advantages but are actually the opposite. The island lacks a large city; it has some, but not many, poor children; and it is almost entirely white.
But these days pupils, including poor ones, often fare better in inner cities than elsewhere. In Tower Hamlets, an east London borough that is the third most deprived place in England, children entitled to free school meals do better in GCSE exams than do all children in the country as a whole. Bangladeshis, who are concentrated in that borough, used to perform considerably worse than whites nationally; now they do better.

单选题 16.The beaches, ruins and waters are mentioned to______.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】根据题干中的beaches，ruins and waters定位到第一段。文章刚开始描绘了theIsle of Wight的美好风景，然后提到这么一句：It seems odd that such a place should contain someof the worst—performing schools in England．而文章从第二段开始讨论的话题便是围绕着英国的学校在进行，可见文章描述这些风景的目的是为了引出主题，即选项[C]为答案。

单选题 17.According to Paragraph 2, which one is true about the Isle of Wight?

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】选项[A]指出：Less than a quarter of its students enjoy free school meals．(少于四分之一的学生可以享受到学校的免费用餐。)该项对应第二段第四行：Just 23％of pupils entitledto free school meals got five decent grades．大意为：在学校免费就餐的学生中，只有23％五门成绩都优秀。可见选项[A]与原文表述不一致，故错误。选项[B]对应该段第三行：In the previous year the Isle of Wight was second to bottom in the whole country．其中second to bottom和该项的at the bottom表达的都是“垫底”的意思，故该项正确。选项[C]对应该段首句：Provisionalfigures show that in 2013 just 49％of 16一year—olds on the island got at least five C grades，includingin English and maths，in GCSE exams．可见一半的人获得至少5个C的成绩，这与该项的“dowell表现良好”表述不一致，因此该项错误。选项[D]对应第二句：That is fewer than in any ofLondon’s 32 boroughs．(这比伦敦32个区的任何一个都少。)该项却说：There are fewer studentsgetting at least five C grades in other areas．(其他地区获得5个C以上成绩的学生更少。)很明显，两者表述不一致，故该项错误。综上所述，答案为选项[B]。

单选题 18.We know from the third paragraph that______.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】选项[A]对应第三段第一句：Luring good teachers to an out—of-the—way spot is hard．(把优秀教师吸引到偏远地区是很难的。)其中out—of-the—way spot指的是“偏远的地区”，对应remote areas；is hard对应unwilling。故该项正确。选项[B]“reform of school system学校体制改革”对应原文“transition from…to…从……到……的过渡”。最后一句指出：But its results were badeven before that change．该句的change对应选项中的reform，而bad与选项[B]中的effective完全不符，故该项错误。选项[C]属于无中生有，文章并没有说美国和英国的教育体制哪个更好，故错误。选项[D]指出英国和美国的教育体制“…barely difference几乎没区别”，原文提到美国是三级教育体制，而英国是两级教育体制，两者有本质区别，故该项表述也是错误的。

单选题 19.The real problems of the Isle of Wight include all EXCEPT______.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】根据题干中的real problems，Isle of Wight等词定位到第四段。该段提到了Isle ofWight面临的三个问题，第一个是The island lacks a large city(岛上没有大城市)，而这与选项[A]“shortage of metropolis缺乏大城市”对应，故[A]项不选。第二个问题是：it has some，butnot many，poor children．“存在一些(尽管不是很多)贫困生”，该句话对应选项[B]existence ofneedy pupils(贫困学生的存在)。其中，needy一词表示“需要帮助的，贫困的”，是poor一词的同义替换，故该项也不选。第三个问题是：it is almost entirely white．(岛上几乎都是白种人。)这与选项[C]对应，该项的“uniformity of skin colour肤色统一”是这个句子的同义表达。综上所述，答案为[D]。

单选题 20.What can be learned from the last paragraph?

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】选项[A]中的Bangladeshis帮我们定位到最后一段最后一句：Bangladeshis，whoare concentrated in that borough，used to perform considerably worse than whites nationally；nowthey do better．其中，now they do better与该项make no progress at all不符，故选项[A]是错误的。选项[B]对应该段第一句：But these days pupils，including poor ones，often fare better in in—ner cities than elsewhere．其中，students in inner cities=pupils in inner cities；do better=fare better；than other places=than elsewhere；presently=these days。故该项是最后一段首句的同义替换，该项正确。选项[C]文章并没有提到，只是在第一句提到：城市中心的学生(包括贫困生)比其他地方的学生表现更好，并没有说“贫困学生通常学习成绩更好”，故该项错误。根据选项[D]中的Tower Hamlets定位到该段第二句：In Tower Hamlets，an east London borough that isthe third most deprived place in England…其中，deprived一词表示“被剥夺的，缺乏食物的，缺乏教育的”，这与该项的“full of educational resources教育资源丰富”相悖，故错误。