2014年北京外国语大学811英语能力测试(写作)考研真题及详解【圣才出品】

2014年北京外国语大学811英语能力测试（写作）考研真题及详解I.Summarize the main points in the following essay(in about150words)and writea commentary(in about500words)on the issue under discussion,relating it to Chinese reality.(70points)Time has not quelled controversy over policies of preferential treatment.First instituted in the1960s and1970s by employers and educational institutions in response to pressures from civil rights groups,preferential treatment programs seek to rectify the effects of past and ongoing discrimination against women and racial minorities.These programs are designed as temporary measures to increase the employment and educational opportunities available to qualified women and minorities by giving them preference in hiring,promotion,and admission.Toward this goal,some firms and institutions aggressively recruit minorities and women, others set numerical targets and timetables to raise the level of minority and female representation,and still others establish quotas to hire or admit a specified number of minority and female candidates.These programs have brought significant gains for women and minorities.In the past25years,black participation in the work force has increased50percent and the percentage of blacks holding managerial positions has jumped fivefold.In1970, women comprised only5percent of lawyers compared to20percent today. Twenty-five years ago,the student population at University of California,Berkeley, was80percent white compared to45percent today.Despite these strides,severe inequities remain.Nearly97percent of corporate senior executives in the United States are white.Only5percent of all professionals are black though blacks comprise12.7percent of the work force.Hispanics hold only4percent of white-collar jobs but make up7.5percent of the work force.As civil rights groups to eliminate such inequities,opposition to these programs mounts.According to one poll,a majority of whites and one-third of blacks oppose preferential treatment for minorities.Opponents have long charged that the programs discriminate against white males.Recent critics,including several noted black scholars,argue that preferential treatment programs victimize and stigmatize minorities,increasing friction among groups.But defenders of the programs hail them as the most expedient and fairest way to overcome racial and sexist barriers in our society.Are preferential treatment programs morally justified?Opponents of preferential treatment programs argue that when distributing social benefits such as jobs or educational opportunities,recipients should be treated as equals unless there are morally relevant reasons for treating them different.In deciding who should be hired for a job or admitted to a college or university,the relevant criteria are an individual’s qualifications and skills,not race or sex.To award or deny benefits on the basis of race or sex is as unjust as traditional discriminatory practices.Moreover,preferential treatment programs unjustly ignore the claim of need,denying benefits to disadvantaged white males while lavishing benefits on minorities who aren’t in need of them.Those who oppose preferential treatment programs also claim that if thepurpose of the programs is to compensate for past discrimination or present disadvantages,then only persons who have been discriminated against should be given preference.Current preferential treatment programs,however,favor members of selected groups regardless of whether an individual member has ever suffered discrimination.In fact,most of the victims of past discrimination are no longer living,so the issue of just compensation is moot.Critics of preferential policies further argue that society’s burdens ought to be distributed fairly among its members.Preferential treatment programs are unfair because they impose the burden of compensation on white males who seek jobs or higher education.These individuals are no more responsible for past injustices or for rectifying present inequalities than any other individuals.It is unfair that they should bear the full burden of compensation.Programs awarding preference according to race or sex are also opposed on the grounds that they cause much more harm than good.First,with these programs in force,those who may be more qualified are overlooked while others only minimally qualified are chosen.The inevitable result is reduced productivity and efficiency in the work place and the lowering of academic standards in colleges and universities.Second,preferential treatment programs harm minorities and women by stigmatizing them and devaluing their achievements.They encourage the belief that all minorities and women gain entry to jobs or universities primarily because they are members of under-represented groups and not because they are qualified.Minority individuals may question whether the rules were bent in their case, leading to feelings of inferiority,self-doubt,and incompetence.Third,as white males are denied positions which go to less-qualified minorities and women,they will become increasingly resentful,heightening animosity and tension among groups.Fourth,preferential treatment programs encourage dependency and reward people for identifying themselves as victims.This will spur claims from all groups who feel they have been victims of injustice.And members of groups excluded by preferential treatment programs today will demand tomorrow to be compensated for opportunities denied them.Already the nation is witnessing a barrage of allegations and lawsuits filed by non-minorities charging employers and universities with reverse discrimination due to quotas and other formulas used for hiring,promotion,and admission.Few people question the need to eliminate racial and sexist barriers that exclude minorities’and women from full participation in society.Preferential treatment programs may be one means toward this goal.But these programs also raise ethical issues that direct us to consider their potential benefits and harms,the justice of compensating groups for past harms and present disadvantages,and the fairest way to distribute the burdens of compensation.【答案与解析】Summary:The justification of preferential treatment has always remained as a universal topic.Preferential treatment programs,aimed at rectifying the effects ofdiscrimination against women and racial minorities,were set in1960s and1970s. Although those programs have brought significant gains for women and minorities, yet there is mounting opposition to these programs.Opponents hold the view that the programs are unfair because awarding or denying benefits should be based on the skills and abilities of candidates not race and sex,those help should be given to the specific discriminated individual,and it is unfair because not all whites should be responsible for the past discrimination.Besides,it may result in the reduction of productivity and efficiency,make people of discriminated group feel inferiority and incompetence,and become a excuse for people identifying themselves as inferior people.All in all,such programs will do more harms than good and the final solution should be eliminating racial and sexist barriers that exclude minorities and women from full participation in society.（题目要求的是概括整篇文章的大意。