On his deathbed in 1638, John Harvard bequeathed half of his estate, about &800 and his library of some 400 books to a new college in present-day Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard's founders decided to name their new university for its first big benefactor. The university continues to be the beneficiary of generous donors. Some of its alumni think this ought to be sufficient to scrap tuition fees. Among them are Ralph Nader, a veteran political activist, and Ron Unz, author of a number of critical articles on American meritocracy. Both are hoping to win election to the university's board of overseers, from which perch they will push to make Harvard free for all students to attend, and also pressure its admissions office to disclose data on how it chooses which students to admit. Colleges have their defenders. "Most of these places are already providing a fair amount of financial aid for students well beyond the poverty line," says Kim Rueben of the Tax Policy Centre. Kevin Weinman, Amherst's chief financial officer, says his university's endowment provides $ 90m to the college's budget, $ 30m more than tuition, room board and various fees combined. After Congress last examined the topic in 2007, more colleges began to award grants instead of loans. In addition to pointing out their generosity, colleges also argue that forcing them to spend endowment money on free tuition might even be illegal. Donors can restrict their tax-exempt gift to a legally-binding particular purpose, such as creating a chair, establishing a scholarship or building a new lab. Around 70% of endowments are restricted funds. Not abiding by a donor's wishes can result in a lawsuit. Princeton was sued by the heirs of the A&P grocery fortune who claimed a gift of $ 35m made in 1961 was misused and not spent as directed. If the wealthiest colleges already spend so much on financial aid, where is the problem? Mr Unz argues that relentless endowment-fuelled spending on new buildings, sports facilities and the hiring of administrators has created an arms-race in higher education, pushing up prices at those universities that are not fortunate enough to have lots of generous benefactors. Harvard could scrap tuition payments without damaging its finances or touching the restricted portion of its endowment, he reckons. Furthermore, the abolition of both complicated financial-aid forms and terrifying stickerprices for tuition (ie, before financial aid is calculated) could, he argues, do much to encourage applicants from beyond the plutocracy.

单选题 John Harvard' s donation is mentioned to

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】解析：(1)根据题干关键词John Harvard定位至第1段。(2)根据文章，“Harvard在1638年去世时，把一半的财产捐赠给了大学”(第1段：half of his estate)，“是首位巨额捐赠者”(第1段：first big benefactor)。(3)从全文发展来看，本文谈论的中心是：收到巨额捐赠的大学，面对废除学费的呼吁。那么，John Harvard起到了引子的作用，提出大学接收赠款的话题。据此，选项[D]为最佳答案。

单选题 Which of the following can be inferred about Ralph Nader and Ron Unz?

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】解析：(1)根据题干关键词Ralph Nader和Ron Unz，可定位至第2段。(2)根据文章，(这两人)“呼吁大学废除学费”(第1段：scrap tuition fees)，“抨击了美国教育的英才教育(制度)”(第2段：meritocracy)。重要的是，(他们)“希望赢得学校监督委员会的选举”(第2段：win election)，“从这个动机出发，他们呼吁哈佛大学对所有学生免费”(第2段：push)。那么，言外之意便是他们这么做可能有所图谋。选项[B]表达出了言外之意。

单选题 It is suggested in Paragraph 3 that colleges

单选题 The A&P grocery fortune is cited as an example of

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】解析：(1)根据题干关键词定位至第4段。而且A&P食品公司在文中为论据(论证)，需要找出论点所在。(2)根据文章，论点是：“强制大学将捐资用于减免学费可能是非法的”(第4段：illegal)。其理由是，“捐赠者对捐款使用目的法律方面的限制”(第4段：restrict，a legally-binding particular purpose)，“70％的捐资是有限制的”(第4段：restricted funds)。(3)为了说明这些看法，文章以A&P食品公司为例，说明“捐资用途受到法律限制”。据此，选项[A]为最佳答案。

单选题 Mr Unz asserts that the current way the wealthiest colleges spend money may lead to

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】解析：(1)根据题干关键词Mr Unz可定位至最后一段。(2)根据文章，Mr Unz认为，“捐赠推动了持续的花销，已经产生高等教育的‘军备竞赛’”(第5段：an arms—race)，“那些接收捐赠较少的学校的价格也被推高了”(第5段：pushing up prices)。这说明学校之间存在不良竞争。(3)另一方面，“放弃现有的复杂的经济捐赠种类和学费的明码标价，才能鼓励那些来自非富豪家庭的孩子”(第5段：abolition，encourage)。这说明现在的体系对于那些来自非富有阶层的学生不公平。概括这些信息，确定选项[D]为最佳答案。