单选题 Most graduate programs in American universities produce a product for which there is no market(candidates for teaching positions that do not exist)and develop skills for which there is diminishing demand(research in subfields within subfields and publication in journals read by no one other than a few like-minded colleagues), all at a rapidly rising cost. Widespread hiring freezes and layoffs have brought these problems into sharp relief now. But our graduate system has been in crisis for decades, and the seeds of this crisis go as far back as the formation of modern universities. Kant, in his 1798 work "The Conflict of the Faculties," wrote that universities should "handle the entire content of learning by mass production, so to speak, by a division of labor, so that for every branch of the sciences there would be a public teacher or professor appointed as its trustee. " Unfortunately this mass-production university model has led to separation where there ought to be collaboration and to ever-increasing specialization. In my own department, for example, we have 10 faculty members, working in eight subfields, with little overlap. And as departments fragment, research and publication become more and more about less and less . The emphasis on narrow scholarship also encourages an educational system that has become a process of cloning. Faculty members cultivate those students whose futures they envision as identical to their own pasts, even though their tenures will stand in the way of these students having futures as full professors. The dirty secret of higher education is that without underpaid graduate students to help in laboratories and with teaching, universities couldn't conduct research or even instruct their growing undergraduate populations. That's one of the main reasons we still encourage people to enroll in doctoral programs. It is simply cheaper to provide graduate students with modest stipends and teaching assistants with as little as $ 5, 000 a course—with no benefits—than it is to hire full-time professors. The other obstacle to change is that colleges and universities are self-regulating or, in academic terms, governed by peer review. While trustees and administrations theoretically have some oversight responsibility, in practice, departments operate independently. To complicate matters further, once a faculty member has been granted tenure he is functionally autonomous. Many academics who cry out for the regulation of financial markets vehemently oppose it in their own departments.
单选题 According to Paragraph 1, it seems to be NOT worthwhile to attend an American graduate program at a high cost if one wants to______.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】解析:本题是细节题。根据关键词graduate program可找到第一段的对应句“Mostgraduate programs in American universities produce a product for which there is no market(candidates for teaching positions that do not exist)…”,由此可知A。
单选题 Kant is quoted because______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】解析:本题是推理题。根据关键词Kant可找到第二段的对应原句“Kant,in his 1798work The Conflict of the Faculties,wrote that universities should‘handle the entire content oflearning by mass production,…there would be a public teacher or professor appointed as itstrustee.’”,康德在其作品指出大学的职责,这是针对大学而说的,故B正确。
单选题 The boldfaced phrase "less and less"(in Paragraph 3)refers to______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】解析:本题是语意理解题。根据题干可找到第三段的对应原句“And as departmentsfragment,research and publication become more and more about less and less.”,研究和出版物数量越来越多,但是研究的范围却越来越狭隘。由此可知D正确。
单选题 According to the author, in today's educational system, it's difficult to______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】解析:本题是细节题。从第四段的“The emphasis on narrow scholarship also encouragesan educational system that has become a process of cloning.”可知,强调一些狭隘的学术知识怂恿了教育体系内部的“克隆现象”。由此可知这种教育制度很难扩大学生的视野。
单选题 Enrollments in doctoral programs are promoted by the universities mainly because they need______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】解析:本题是细节题。根据关键词doctoral programs可找到第五段的对应原句“Thedirty secret of higher education is that without underpaid graduate students to help in laboratoriesand with teaching,…That’s one of the main reasons we still encourage people to enroll in doctoralprograms.”,高等教育肮脏的潜规则就是让研究生在实验室和教学前沿成为廉价劳动力,否则大学就没法完成实验和研究,甚至没有师资满足扩张的本科生教学。这也是扩大博士招生的原因。故选C。
单选题 The author thinks it's bad for faculty members to be______.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】解析:本题是推理题。最后一段提到“While trustees and administrations theoreticallyhave some oversight responsibility,in practice,departments operate independently.”,监管和管理在理论上具有一些监管的责任,但是实际上系科都是各自为政,毫无约束。本文的最后一句告诉我们“Many academics who cry out for the regulation of financial markets vehementlyoppose it in their own departments.”,很多学术人士高喊要引入市场竞争机制,但是在自己所属的系科里却猛烈拒绝这种机制的引入。可判断选项A正确。