Passage One
When Tony Wagner, the Harvard education specialist, describes his job today, he says he’s “a translator between two hostile tribes” — the education world and the business world, the people who teach our kids and the people who give them jobs. Wagner’s argument in his book Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World is that our K-12 and college tracks are not consistently “adding the value and teaching the skills that matter most in the marketplace”.
This is dangerous at a time when there is increasingly no such things as a high-wage, middle-skilled job — the thing that sustained the middle class in the last generation. Now, there is only a high-wage, high-skilled job. Every middle-class job today is being pulled up, out or down faster than ever. That is, it either requires more skill or can be done by more people around the world or is being buried — made obsolete — faster than ever. Which is why the goal of education today, argues Wagner, should not be to make every child “college ready” but “innovation ready” — ready to add value to whatever they do.
That is a tall task. I tracked Wagner down and asked him to elaborate. “Today,” he said via e-mail, “because knowledge is available on every Internet-connected device, what you know matters far less than what you can do with what you know. The capacity to innovate — the ability to solve problems creatively or bring new possibilities to life — and skills like critical thinking, communication and collaboration are far more important than academic knowledge. As one executive told me, “We can teach new hires the content. And we will have to because it continues to change, but we can’t teach them how to think — to ask the right questions — and to take initiative.”
My generation had it easy. We got to “find” a job. But, more than ever, our kids will have to “invent” a job. Sure, the lucky ones will find their first job, but, given the pace of change today, even they will have to reinvent, re-engineer and reimagine that job much often than their parents if they want to advance in it.
“Finland is one of the most innovative economies in the world,” Wagner said, “and it is the only country where students leave high school “innovation-ready”. They learn concepts and creativity more than facts, and have a choice of many electives — all with a shorter school day, little homework, and almost no testing. There are a growing number of “reinvented” colleges like the Olin College of Engineering, the M.I.T. Media Lab and the ‘D-school’ Stanford where students learn to innovate.”
In his book, Wagner argues that ________.
推理判断题。由第一段中“Wagner’s argument in his book Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World is that our K-12 and college tracks are not consistently “adding the value and teaching the skills that matter most in the marketplace”. 托尼•瓦格纳在自己的著作《创造革新者：塑造会改变世界的年 轻人》中的论点是我们的 K-12（从幼儿园到 12 年级的儿童教育）和大学教育轨 道并非始终如一地‘增加价值并教授就业市场上最重要的技能’。”的对应可推知 D 项“教育界应该教授（劳动力）市场需求的内容”正确。A 项“教育界对我们 孩子怀有敌意”；B 项“教育界对那些找工作的人怀有敌意”；C 项“商界对教育 界要求高”。
What does the “tall task” refer to in the third paragraph?
推理判断题。由第二段中“Which is why the goal of education today, argues Wagner, should not be to make every child “college ready” but “innovation ready” — ready to add value to whatever they do. 瓦格纳认为，这是今天教育目标的原因，即不应该 让所有小孩为‘上大学做好准备’，而应该为‘进行创新做好准备’，也就是‘准备去为他们所做的任何事增加价值’。”的对应可推知 C 项“从‘为上大学做好准 备’转移到‘为进行创新做好准备’”正确。A 项“保持中产阶级”；B 项“挽救 高收入的中等技能工作”；D 项“阻止中产阶级工作迅速地变得过时”。
What is mainly expressed in Wagner’s e-mail?
推理判断题。由第三段中“The capacity to innovate — the ability to solve problems creatively or bring new possibilities to life — and skills like critical thinking, communication and collaboration are far more important than academic knowledge.创 新能力，即创新地解决问题或为生活带来新的可能性的能力以及像批判性思考、 交流和合作一样的技能比学业知识更重要。”的对应可推知 D 项“创造力和技能 比知识更重要”正确。A 项“新雇佣者应该被教授内容而不是思考的方式”；B 项“知识在与网络连接的设备上更容易获取”；C 项“学业知识仍然是最重要的 教授内容”。
What is implied in the fourth paragraph?
推理判断题。由第四段中“My generation had it easy. We got to “find” a job. But, more than ever, our kids will have to “invent” a job.我们这代人生活很舒适。我们必 须‘找到’一份工作。但是超出任何时候的是我们的孩子将不得不‘创造’一份 工作。”的对应可推知 C 项“作者这代人相比自己的孩子过着更舒适的生活”正 确。A 项“工作青睐每代人中的幸运儿”；B 项“在作者的这一代工作缓慢地改 变着”；D 项“作者这一代人找到自己的首份工作是容易的”。
What is the purpose of the last paragraph?
推理判断题。由最后一段主要针对教育目标有必要的改变进行举例（如““Finland is one of the most innovative economies in the world,” Wagner said, “and it is the only country where students leave high school “innovation-ready”. 瓦格纳声称‘芬兰是全 球最具创新的经济之一，该国也是唯一个让学生高中毕业时就为‘创新做好准备’ 的国家’。”）可推知 B 项“例证教育方面有必要的改变”正确。A 项“为未来的 教育确定方向”；C 项“得出有关教育改变的结论”；D 项“批评一些学院在教育 方面的做法”。
【长难句剖析】
1. Wagner’s argument in his book Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World is that our K-12 and college tracks are not consistently “adding the value and teaching the skills that matter most in the marketplace”.
【参考译文】托尼•瓦格纳在自己的著作《创造革新者：塑造会改变世界的年轻人》 中的论点是我们的 K-12（从幼儿园到 12 年级的儿童教育）和大学教育轨道并非始终如 一地“增加价值并教授就业市场上最重要的技能”。
【结构分析】句子主干为“Wagner’s argument is that our K-12 and college tracks are not consistently “adding the value and teaching the skills”，这里 that 引导表语从句；“in his book Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World”为地点 状语；“that matter most in the marketplace”为 that 引导的从句充当“the skills”的后置定 语。
2. This is dangerous at a time when there is increasingly no such things as a high-wage,middle-skilled job — the thing that sustained the middle class in the last generation.
【参考译文】当诸如高收入的中等技能工作等（即维持上一代中产阶级的东西）日 益减少时，这种教育是非常危险的。
【结构分析】句子主干为“This is dangerous”；“at a time when there is increasingly no such things as a high-wage, middle-skilled job”为时间状语；“the thing”指代前面的“a high-wage, middle-skilled job”；“that sustained the middle class in the last generation”为 that 引导的从句充当“the thing”的后置定语。
3. The capacity to innovate — the ability to solve problems creatively or bring new possibilities to life — and skills like critical thinking, communication and collaboration are far more important than academic knowledge.
【参考译文】创新能力，即创新地解决问题或为生活带来新的可能性的能力以及像 批判性思考、交流和合作一样的技能比学业知识更重要。
【结构分析】句子主干为“The capacity to innovate and skills are far more important than academic knowledge”；“the ability to solve problems creatively or bring new possibilities to life”为插入语来对“The capacity to innovate”进行补充说明；“like critical thinking, communication and collaboration”相当于“skills”的后置定语。