Unit 11
Work makes the workman. 勤工出巧匠
学习内容 Part A Text 1 Text 2 Text 3 Text 4 Part B Part C 题 材 词 数 文化教育 498 科普知识 469 商业经济 371 社会生活 406 社会生活 606 科普知识 449 建议时间 得分统计 做题备忘 /10 /10 /10 /10 /10 /10 Part A
Directions：Read the following texts. Answer the questions blow each text by choosing [A],[B],[C] or [D].
Text 1
Educators are seriously concerned about the high rate of dropouts between the doctor of philosophy candidates and the consequent loss of talent to a nation in need of PhDs. Some have placed the dropouts loss as high as 50 percent. The extent of the loss was, however, largely a matter of expert guessing. Last week a well-rounded study was published. It was based on 22, 000 questionnaires sent to former graduate students who were enrolled in 24 universities and it seemed to show many past fears to be groundless.
The dropouts rate was found to be 31 percent, and in most cases the dropouts, while not completing the PhD requirement, went on to productive work. They are not only doing well financially, but, according to the report, are not far below the income levels of those who went on to complete their doctorates.
Discussing the study last week, Dr. Tucker said the project was initiated “because of the concern frequently expressed by graduate faculties and administrators that some of the individuals who dropped out of PhD programs were capable of completing the requirement for the degree. Attrition at the PhD level is also thought to be a waste of precious faculty time and a drain on university resources already being used to capacity. Some people expressed the opinion that the shortage of highly trained specialists and college teachers could be reduced by persuading the dropouts to return to graduate schools to complete the PhD.“The results of our research ” Dr. Tucker concluded, “did not support these opinions”.
1. Lack of motivation was the principal reason for dropping out.
2. Most dropouts went as far in their doctoral program as was consistent with their levels of ability or their specialties.
3. Most dropouts are now engaged in work consistent with their education and motivation. Nearly 75 percent of the dropouts said there was no academic reason for their decision, but those who mentioned academic reason cited failure to pass to the qualifying examination, uncompleted thesis and failure to pass language exams. Among the single most important personal reasons identified by dropouts for non-completion of their PhD program, lack of finances was marked by 19 percent.
As an indication of how well the dropouts were doing, a chart showed 2% in humanities were receiving $20,000 and more annually while none of the PhD’s with that background reached this figure and 78% at the level of $7,500 to $15,000 against 50% for the dropouts. This may also be an indication of the fact that top salaries in the academic fields, where PhD’s tend to rise to the highest salaries, are still lagging behind other fields.
As to the possibility of getting dropouts back on campus, the outlook was glum. The main condition which would have to prevail for at least 25% of the dropouts who might consider returning to graduate school would be to guarantee that they would retain their present level of income and in some cases their present job.
1. The author states that many educators feel that
[A] steps should be taken to get the dropouts back to campus.
[B] the dropouts should return to a better school to continue their study. [C] the PhD holder is generally a better adjusted person than the dropout.
[D] the dropout rate is attributable to the lack of stimulation by faculty members. 2. What has the research mentioned in the text shown?
[A] Dropouts are substantially below PhD’s in financial attainment.
[B] The motivating factor is a minor one in regard to pursuing PhD studies. [C] The PhD candidate is likely to change his specialization if he drops out. [D] About one-third of those who start PhD work do not finish the requirement. 3.What does the author mean by “glum” (Line 2, Para.9)? [A] bright [B] gloomy [C] clear [D] uncertain 4.According to the text, which of the following statements is true？
[A] Meeting language requirements for the PhD is a more frequent reason for dropping out. [B] Meeting language requirements for the PhD is more difficult for the humanities candidate. [C] It is essential for the PhD to meet the language requirements of many PhD programs. [D] Foreign language requirements for the PhD vary in difficulty among universities. 5.What can be inferred from the text?
[A] The high rate of dropouts lies in the fact that the salary for PhD is too low.
[B] So many PhD candidates drop out in that academic requirement is too high for them. [C] The high rate of dropouts is because of the reality that the salary for dropouts is higher. [D] 25% of the dropouts considering returning to school will go on with their present job.
Text 2
The promise of finding long-term technological solutions to the problems of world food shortages seems difficult to fulfill. Many innovations that were once heavily supported and publicized, such as fish-protein concentrate and protein from algae grown on petroleum substrates, have since fallen by the wayside. The proposals themselves were technically feasible, but they proved to be economically unavailable and to yield food products culturally unacceptable to their consumers. Recent innovations such as opaque-2 maize, Antarctic krill, and the wheatrye hybrid triticale seem more promising, but it is too early to predict their ultimate fate.
One characteristic common to unsuccessful food innovations has been that, even with extensive government support, they often have not been technologically adapted or culturally acceptable to the people for whom they had been developed. A successful new technology, therefore, must fit
the entire socio-cultural system in which it is to find a place. Security of crop yield, practicality of storage, palatability, and costs are much more significant than had previously been realized by the advocates of new technologies. For example, the better protein quality in tortillas made from opaque-2 maize will be of only limited benefit to a family on the margin of subsistence if the new maize is not culturally acceptable or is more vulnerable to insects.
The adoption of new food technologies depends on more than these technical and cultural considerations; economic factors and governmental policies also strongly influence the ultimate success of any innovation. Economists in the Anglo-American tradition have taken the lead in investigating the economics of technological innovation. Although they exaggerate in claiming that profitability is the key factor guiding technical change — they completely disregard the substantial effects of culture — they are correct in stressing the importance of profits. Most technological innovations in agriculture can be fully used only by large landowners and are only adopted if these profit-oriented business people believe that they increase their incomes. Thus, innovations that carry high rewards for big agribusiness groups will be adopted even if they harm segments of the population and reduce the availability of food in a country. Further, should a new technology promise to alter substantially the profits and losses associated with any production system, those with economic power will strive to maintain and improve their own positions. Since large segments of the populations of many developing countries are close to the subsistence margin and essentially powerless, they tend to be the losers in this system unless they are aided by a government policy that takes into account the needs of all sectors of the economy. Therefore, although technical advances in food production and processing will perhaps be needed to ensure food availability, meeting food needs will depend much more on equalizing economic power among the various segments of the populations within the developing countries themselves. ?
6. According to the author ,what is /are important to the success of a new food ? [A] economic factors and governmental policies. [B] profitability and high rewards. [C] quality of the crop’s protein. [D] cultural acceptability of the crop.
7. The successful application of technological innovations will be largely determined by [A] large segments of the populations of many developing countries. [B] large landowners and profit-oriented business people. [C] the production system of a country.
[D] whether they are culturally acceptable to their consumers. 8.We can infer from the text that
[A] the Opaque-2 maize can be stored as easily as other varieties of maize. [B] the Opaque-2 maize is more popular than the wheat-rye hybrid.
[C] the Opaque-2 maize is a more recent innovation than the use of fish-protein concentrate. [D] the Opaque-2 maize is more susceptible to insects than are other varieties of maize.
9.In developing countries, the introduction of a food innovation needs governmental policies to [A] guarantee the financial success of the innovation. [B] ensure the spread of the benefits of the innovation. [C] convince landowners to try the innovation. [D] reduce the cost of the innovation.
10.The purpose of the text is to
[A] introduce means of assessing the extent of the world food shortage.
[B] show difficulties of applying technological solutions to the food shortage.
[C] discuss the costs of introducing a new food technology to a developing country. [D] analysis the nature of new technological innovations in the area of food production.
Text 3
In the relationship of education to business we observe today a fine state of paradox. On the one hand, the emphasis which most business places upon a college degree is so great that one can almost visualize the time when even the office boy will have his baccalaureate. On the other hand, we seem to preserve the belief that some deep intellectual chasm separates the businessman from other products of the university system. The notion that business people are quite the Philistines sounds absurd. For some reason, we tend to characterize vocations by stereotypes, none too flattering but nonetheless deeply imbedded in the national conscience. In the cast of characters the businessman comes on stage as a crass and uncouth person. It is not a pleasant conception and no more truthful or less unpleasant than our other stereotypes.
Business is made up of people with all kinds of backgrounds, all kinds of motivations, and all kinds of tastes, just as in any other form of human endeavour. Businessmen are not ambulatory balance sheets and profit statements, but perfectly normal human beings, subject to whatever strengths, frailties, and limitations characterize man on the earth. They are people grouped together in organizations designed to complement the weakness of one with strength of another, tempering the exuberance of the young with the caution of the more mature, the poetic soaring of one mind with the counting house realism of another. Any disfigurement which society may suffer will come from man himself, not from the particular vocation to which he devotes his time.
Any group of people necessarily represents an approach to a common denominator, and it is probably true that even individually they tend to conform somewhat to the general pattern. Many have pointed out the danger of engulfing our original thinkers in a tide of mediocrity. Conformity is not any more prevalent of any more exacting in the business field than it is in any other. It is a characteristic of all organizations of whatever nature. The fact is the large business unit provides greater opportunities for individuality and require less in the way of conformity than other institutions of comparable size—the government service, or the academic world, or certainly the military.
11. The paradox in the relationship of education to business is
[A] businessmen are both unmindful of history and sophisticated in it. [B] businessmen show both contempt and respect for noble activities.
[C] intellectuals engage in simple work that the uneducated can complete.
[D] there are both noticeable similarities and differences between businessmen and intellectuals. 12. According to the text, a typical businessman is usually considered to be [A] obstinate and hostile. [B] sociable and sympathetic.
[C] ill-mannered and simple-minded. [D] shameless and ungraceful.
13. There isn’t a stereotyped businessman because
[A] they represent a cross section of society. [B] they are not ordinary people.
[C] they are people with strong personal characters. [D] there is considerable mobility in the vocation.
14. The distortion of the image of the businessmen is the result of [A] prevalent egoism among businessmen. [B] the fierce social competition. [C] racial discrimination.
[D] sheer misunderstanding of other people.
15. According to the text, which of the following is true?
[A] People in all vocations are unwilling to conform to a general pattern. [B] Conformity is a special characteristic of business. [C] Businessmen are all original thinkers.
[D] Businessmen are provided with greater opportunities than people in other profession.
Text 4
There can be fewer bodies as cursed by industry or as despised by an infuriated British public as the Health and Safety Commission. Barely a week passes without fresh examples of intrusive absurdities: vicars forbidden to change church light bulbs in case they fall off ladders, amateur clowning and school trips cancelled, Christmas decorations unaffordable because of a new ban on firemen using ladders for non-emergencies, and even, shockingly, a child left to drown in a lake because the police were forbidden to jump into the water without previous training.
It is not simply the lawsuits involved with these endless new regulations that are so ridiculous; it is the risk-averse culture that has gripped every local council and every licensing authority and is not only destroying initiative and enterprise but turning Britain into a timid, killjoy society. “Health and Safety” seems now to be the universal excuse to ban anything that was once enjoyable.
To most people, the relevant or irrelevant legislation seems to be an industrial version of political correctness gone mad. It has brought into disrepute the entire concept of the 1974 Act, which set up the Health and Safety Commission and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The Act was intended to consolidate safe practices in industrial sectors where the accident record was poor. But as Britain has moved to a service economy, more and more responsibility for enforcing the regulations has fallen to local councils. And it is here that the excesses have multiplied as the relationship to reality has disappeared.
All too often, councils have used the legislation as a way of protecting themselves against potential lawsuits. Britain’s increasingly lawsuit-prone culture, spurred by American example and sharp lawyers, has given insurers the excuse to refuse cover unless an activity can be guaranteed to be devoid of risk. Councils would rather close playground swings and ban hanging baskets than pit plain common sense against highly paid lawyers.
The Health and Safety Executive claims to be frustrated that its name is taken in vain, but it has created an environment that is unhealthy and unsafe for common sense. The real danger is that regulators do not know when to stop. Industry is now so overburdened that businesses apparently spend at least two days a month on compliance, with smaller businesses less able to cope with the expense. Safety is about saving lives, not stopping people going about their daily lives.