单选题 Normally a student must attend a certain number of courses in order to graduate, and each course that he attends gives him a credit, which he may count towards a degree. In many American universities the total work for a degree consists of thirty-six courses each lasting for one semester. A typical course consists of three classes per week for fifteen weeks; while attending a university a student will probably attend four or five courses during each semester. Normally a university student would expect to take four years attending two semesters each year. It is possible for a student to move between one university and another during his degree course, though this is not in fact done as a regular practice.
For every course that he follows a student is given a grade, which is recorded, and the record is available for the student to show to prospective employers. All this imposes a constant pressure and strain of work, but in spite of this some students still find time for participation in student affairs. Elections to positions in student organizations arouse much enthusiasm. Students who advise the academic authorities usually perform the effective work of maintaining discipline. Any student who is thought to have broken the rules, for example, by cheating has to appear before a student court. With the enormous numbers of students, the operation of the system does involve a certain amount of activity. A student who has held one of these positions of authority is much respected and it will be of benefit to him later in this career.

单选题 Normally a student would at least attend ______ classes each week.
A. 36 B. 12
C. 20 D. 15

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】数字计算题。文章第一段提到通常一门课每周上三节课，共十五周，学生每学期要修四到五门课，因此题目中问及每周一个学生至少要上多少节课，即3乘以4为12。要注意答案A的36是学生需获得的总学分数。做题时为提高速度，要尽快排除文中多余的数字信息，确定此题需要的数字进行计算。

单选题 According to the first paragraph, an American student is allowed ______.
A. to live in a different university
B. to take a particular course in a different university
C. to live at home and drive to classes
D. to get two degrees from two different universities

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】细节分析题。细节分析题要求考生理解文中的具体信息或理解文中重要的概念性含义。具体做法：1)返回原文，找到该句子；2)对原句进行词义理解和句法分析，抓住原句的字面含义；3)一般说来，选项中的正确答案意思与原句完全相同，只是表达方式不同而已。正确选项与原句之间通常没有任何推理关系。本题的原文在第一段末尾一句，学生可以在不同的学校选课，尽管这并不是普遍的作法，not…a regular practice。此句中的move一词指上课地点的移动，和居住或开车是没有关系的。答案D中的获得双学位在文中并未提及。

单选题 American university students are usually under pressure of work because ______.
A. their academic performance will affect their future careers
B. they are heavily involved in student affairs
C. they have to observe university discipline
D. they want to nm for positions of authority

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】细节分析题。本题的原文在第二段段首两句，讲学生的成绩都记录在案并作为今后找工作的依据，这样就会“imposes a constant pressure and strain of work”，给学生带来持续的压力和繁重的学业，但尽管这样，有些学生仍利用一些时间参加学生活动。答案A是段首句的另一种表达方式，是压力产生的真正原因，为正确答案。答案B说学生们大量参加学生活动，答案C说他们必须遵守学校的纪律，答案D说他们想竞选管理职位，虽然都有可能给学生带来压力并在原文中都曾提及，但和本题题干的要求并不符合。

单选题 Some students are enthusiastic for positions in student organizations probably because ______.
A. they hate the constant pressure and strain of their study
B. they will then be able to study longer in the university
C. such positions help them get better jobs
D. such positions are usually well paid

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】细节分析题。此题原文在第二段后半部分，答案点在最后一句，学生们热衷于学生活动，热衷于竞选各种职务，归根到底是为了有益于将来的职业生涯，也就是说希望能有更理想的工作。此题的其他答案在文中都未曾提及，可以用排除法快速筛掉不合理答案。

单选题 The student organizations seem to be effective in ______.
A. dealing with the academic affairs of the university
B. keeping up the students' enthusiasm for social activities
C. evaluating students' performance by bringing them before a court
D. ensuring that the students observe university regulations

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】细节分析题。此题关键是理解“Students who advise the academic authorities usually perform the effective work of maintaining discipline”，此句中the academic authorities为学术权威，在大学里和学生们在一起的当然就是指大学的教授们了，这里给教授们提建议的学生应该指的是那些承担一定职务的；discipline可以指纪律，也可以指学科，但随后的句子中有the rules出现，很明显是指这些学生能有效地维持学校的纪律，答案D中的observe是遵守的意思。随后的文中说他们甚至还建立了学生法庭凑court来审判那些违纪比如作弊的学生，但答案C说他们在法庭内评判学生的表现显然是不对的。答案A和B则都是张冠李戴。