大学英语四级段落信息匹配题技巧
大学英语四级考试中信息匹配题的特点和解题技巧

大学英语四级考试中信息匹配题的特点和解题技巧一、大学英语四级考试题型变化由国家教育部高等教育司主办的大学英语四、六级考试是当前比较权威的考试,它能够准确、全面、客观地衡量在校大学生英语综合应用能力。
为了更好地满足新发展形势下国家和社会对人才的需求,大学英语四、六级考试改革也在稳步推进。
2013年12月,全国大学英语四、六级考试委员会对四级的题型、分值等进行了大刀阔斧的改革:考试成绩采用满分710分的计分法;对取得的成绩不设及格线;颁发的合格证也调整成为成绩报告单。
考试内容、形式、分值也有很大变动(见下表1、2),其中快速阅读题型转变为信息匹配题。
信息匹配题的文章和原快速阅读文章相比,长度和难度不变,但是文后的题型由原来的7道单选题和三道填空题转变成10道信息匹配题。
所谓信息匹配题,就是文章后附10个句子题干,每句题干所包含的信息都是出自文章某一段落,要求考生从文中找出与每句题干所含信息相匹配的段落。
虽然文章的长度和难度没有太多变化,但是这种新题型对考生的理解和分析能力还是提出了新的要求。
为了帮助学生更好地应对这种信息匹配题型,笔者分析该题型特点,辅以真题举例,最后给出解题技巧和备考策略。
二、信息匹配题特点分析信息匹配题型分值占卷面总分10%,文章大约长1200字,要求考生15分钟内读完,并能找出与文后10道题干所包含信息相对应的段落。
它具有如下特点:表1 原大学英语四级考试题型1.题目无序信息匹配题打破了题文同序的原则,因此传统的从文章开头到结尾“逐一解题”的阅读技巧和解题思路在信息匹配题型中完全行不通。
考生要花费大量时间和脑力,通篇理解全文的前提下,才能把握文章主旨,从而正确定位。
2.一题可以两选四级考试中题干大于段落数,意味着有很多的干扰项,题目要求中也明确提醒说:“You may choose a paragraph more than once.”即有些段落可能对应两题,而另一些段落也许完全不被涉及。
大学英语四级匹配题技巧

阅读步骤:Step2(12min)
第二步:分析题目+查读(scanning)
1)分析题目
找出题目中的关键词和定位词。
关键词是指题目简化后的中心词,最能表示 出句子的含义。
定位词是题目中的专有信息或特殊信息(数字、 时间、地点、人物、特殊字体读步骤:Step2(12min)
2)视域要宽 每一眼看的词要尽量的多。我们阅读表面是 用眼睛看,实际是用脑子读,眼睛只是起了照相机镜头 的作用。努力使自己的眼睛变成“广角镜”,把尽可能 多的词能一眼“尽收眼底”。 (一眼扫过去,看一行也 就两秒,大概了解讲的是什么就过,不要纠结细节)
如何提高阅读技能
3)意群要长 在每个视幅中不是让你把很多的单词都收进 脑子,而是要善于从中摄取有意义的词组,这个有意义 的词组就是意群。
三遍完成后剩下的题目算是比较难的题目,做起来 得不偿失,可以选择放弃,也可以根据题目句子 含义猜测会处于文章的大致位置。
阅读步骤:Step2(12mins)
查读可运用下列技巧: 1、利用章节标题:Title(标题)、Subtitle( 副标题)和Section heading(段落标题) 2、在浏览每段首句时,如果有的话,可顺手将 本段的关键词用笔圈出。这些起到小标题的作 用。再阅读到该段时可以辅助判断,减少阅读 难度。 3、不断的查读过程中留意掌握文章的大致结构 脉络
2. 数字,包括年代、百分比、特殊事件等 。如四级样卷中的:mid-1970s, 3.9 percent, 20 percent,September 11等。
3. 以连字符连接的特殊词汇。如:universitybased,one-child。这些词是由两个(或三个)单 词连接的新词,一般当成形容词使用。三个单 词的例子如:hard-to-grasp难以理解的。这些 词也属于低频词,一般不会大篇幅出现。需要 注意的是有时候我们需要将这些词拆开来定位 ,如one-child在原文中是没有的,原文是这样 的“They often compromise by having just one child. ”这里的one child就不是整体作为形 容词使用了。
英语四级段落信息匹配题技巧

大学英语四级段落信息匹配题解题技巧一.题型介绍2013年12月大学英语四级改革后,题型有局部变化。
原快速阅读理解调整为长篇阅读理解,篇章长度和难度不变。
篇章后附有10个句子,每句一题。
每句所含的信息出自篇章的某一段落,要求考生找出与每句所含信息相匹配的段落。
有的段落可能对应两题,有的段落可能不对应任何一题。
四级考试需要各位同学做的是,大家需要去看十个左右的段落,然后去匹配十个信息点。
但是到六级当中,我们的难度就要增加了,我们见到的情况是六级当中变成了15个段落,去匹配十个信息点。
阅读题里出现的段落信息匹配题占10%的分值。
整个阅读部分占总分值的35%,考试时间只有forty minutes,建议大家在段落信息匹配题当中花去的时间千万不要超过15分钟,所以整体上看做阅读时需要注意一个很重要的问题:严控时间。
但总体来看,不管题型怎么变,其实学习方法没变,还是仍旧需要大家提高阅读的能力,比如说读文章的时候,是不是直接拿英语读,如果读快速阅读的时候,还是拿中文边翻译边读的话,会发现阅读速度一直会比较慢,所以那么长的文章很难找到细节,所以大家一定要养成拿英语直接阅读的这样一种习惯,这样才能保证我们的阅读真正速度又快又准。
每一年考四六级的考生中,都会有很多考生因为时间不够、题做不完而折戟沉沙,而几乎全国考生都会在一个阅读这个模块超时大量的时间,而且由于我们的精度得分确实太大,因为20%的精读只有10道题,一道题占2%乘以710分,一道精读题目的分数就达到了14.2分将近15分。
分值太大导致各位同同学容易在这个地方花去大量时间,但是你要明白这个部分的时间花的再久也只有20%,你完全没有理由因为20%去损失另外一个10%,而且你还不能确定你这20%是否可以得到一个非常好的成绩,所以提醒大家:掌控时间非常重要,每一个环节限时来做,而现在做题的时候就必须要控制时间。
从样卷看,此次涉及改革题目的特点是:1、做题时间10~15分钟(整体阅读包括选词填空、匹配和精度,共计40分钟);2、四级样卷显示需要将10道题目信息配对到9个段落中;3、六级样卷显示需要将10道题目信息配对到15个段落中;4、考试说明提到,某段可能被用到两次,而某段可能完全不被涉及。
英语四六级段落匹配技巧

英语四六级段落匹配技巧
6. 注意词义转换:在段落匹配中,有时候原文中的词汇会被转换成近义词或同义词在选项 中出现。因此,要注意词义转换,以便准确地匹配段落。
7. 注意段落的逻辑关系:段落之间通常存在逻辑关系,如因果关系、对比关系、配段落。
英语四六级段落匹配技巧
3. 寻找关键信息:在阅读材料时,注意段落中的关键信息,如事实、数据、例子、观点等 。将这些关键信息与选项中的段落概要进行对比,找到相匹配的信息。
4. 注意段落顺序:段落匹配题通常会按照段落的顺序进行排列。因此,注意段落的顺序以 及选项中的段落概要的顺序,这有助于确定正确的匹配选项。
英语四六级段落匹配技巧
在英语四六级考试中,段落匹配是一个常见的题型,需要考生根据阅读材料的段落内容和 选项中的段落概要进行匹配。以下是一些段落匹配的技巧:
1. 全面理解段落:在阅读材料时,要全面理解每个段落的主题和内容。注意段落的开头和 结尾,它们通常包含段落的主旨和总结。
2. 确定选项关键词:仔细阅读选项中的段落概要,找出关键词或短语,这些关键词通常与 原文段落中的关键词相对应。
最重要的是,要多做练习,熟悉段落匹配的题型和技巧。通过反复练习,提高对段落的理 解和匹配能力,从而在考试中取得更好的成绩。
大学英语四级考试段落匹配题型的解题技巧

大学英语四级考试段落匹配题型的解题技巧全国大学英语四级考试是由教育部考试中心主持以及实施的一项大规模水平考试。
四级考试自1987年实施以来,几经改革,已经走过了32个年头。
而阅读理解一直以来都是四六级考试中分值较大的题型,“民间”甚至有句口头禅“得阅读者得‘天下’”,可见,阅读理解对于四级考试的重要性。
大学英语四级考试从2013年12月开始,试题结构和题型都进行了大幅度的调整,调整后的四级考试中,阅读理解分值占比为35%,其中长篇阅读理解占比10%。
长篇阅读理解采用的题型是段落匹配,目的是考核学生运用略读和查读的技能从文章中获取关键信息的能力。
文章后面附有10句话,一句一题,题号为36-45。
每句所包含的信息均出自文章中的某一段,要求考生找出和每句所包含的信息相匹配的段落。
有的段落可能对应两道题目(可能性较小),有的段落可能与任何一题都不对应(全国大学英语四六级考试委员会,2016:6)。
总体来说,学生要在15分钟之内完成段落信息匹配难度相当大,因此掌握相关的解题技巧有助于学生快速高效地完成该题。
文章将以2018年6月大学英语四级考试真题“Some College Students Are Angry That They Have to Pay to Do Their Homework”为例,分析段落匹配题型的难点,再详细阐述该题的解题技巧。
1 段落匹配题型难点分析笔者目前所教班级的学生未讲解该题的解题技巧之前,往往是将文章从头到尾阅读完毕,再阅读题干,由于这一题型的信息排列是“无序”的,这就表明“顺序解题”原则在此题型中并不适合。
而且毫无章法的将段落和题干信息匹配耗时长,正确率还相当低,尤其在第一段就是干扰段时,浪费的时间会更多。
未讲解解题技巧前,笔者班上学生该题的正确率大概在4-5道题左右。
2 段落匹配题型解题技巧2.1 改变做题思路做段落信息匹配题型,先要改变做题思路,我们需要做的是判断这一题干信息可能会出现在哪一段。
大学英语四级快速阅读答题策略

大学英语四级阅读理解精讲对于段落信息匹配题,建议广大考生按照以下方法练习:第一:先题后文先看题再看文章能够将更多简单的题先做出来,当你发现简单题全部处理完毕之后,剩下的难题可以再重新回到文章当中再去找那些已经被挑剩下的段落。
所以不管怎么样一定是先题后文,稍后再文题同步或先文后题。
第二:关键词定位(key words positioning)和同义替换(paraphrasing)。
其实阅读只考两件事,一件事情是简单的:看到什么,定位什么,选择什么;而另外一个则是通过定位确定这个位置,然后再进行一个切换之后发现原来这个东西就是另外一个东西。
今年四六级组季会发布的样题中,关于段落信息匹配题是这样表述的:You have to identify the paragraph from which the information is derived“你需要去确认信息是来自于哪一个段落的”。
换一个表达方式叫做which paragraph contains the following information(哪一段包含了以下的信息)。
接下来我们用样题来分析一下关键词定位(key words positioning)和同义替换(paraphrasing)在段落信息匹配题中如何实践。
1、关键词定位(key words positioning)Since the mid-1970s,the enrollment of overseas students has increased at an annual rate of3.9percent.像这道题就属于比较简单的题目。
这道题是来自于四级样卷的Q47,当这道题出现的时候,同学们应该关注的是划线的两个数据,而20世纪70年代中期这个数据其实它的意义绝对没有3.9%大,因为前方是一个时间段,有可能经常出现,而后方是一个具体数值,具体数值的高频可能性不大,因为对于很多人来说他们都明白越高频的单词或短语的形式越不能成为我们的核心钩划点,3.9%一旦出现就让我们在全文当中展开3.9%的寻找之旅吧!Over the past three decades the number of students leaving home each year to study abroad has grown at an annual rate of3.9percent,from800,000in1975to2.5million in2004.这时我们会发现顺序再读的时候四级样卷的C段出现了一个3.9%,这样一个点一旦出现,这一道四级简单的匹配题就结束了。
大学英语四级段落匹配技巧

20XX年20XX年大学英语四级段落匹配技巧今天小编整合了英语四级阅读段落信息匹配题提速指导和四级题型段落匹配答题技巧给大家学习,希望对大家有帮助。
英语四级阅读段落信息匹配题提速指导一、逻辑关系在快速阅读中的运用快速阅读理解能力的提高是有一定方法可循的,为此我们首先提示考生应该尤其注意文章逻辑关系在快速阅读中的运用。
逻辑关系散布在文章的句子内部、句句之间、以及段落之间。
最基本的逻辑关系有以下几种:1、因果关系:as a result ,therefore,hence,consequently,because, for, due to, hence, consequently等等。
2、并列、递进关系:and, or, then,in addition,besides,in other words,moreover等等。
3、转折关系:however,but, yet, in fact等等。
从阅读的角度来看,这些逻辑关系词在给我们某种提示,告诉我们哪些句子是有效信息,相对重要的信息,哪些信息是相对不重要的信息,因为我们在处理文章的时候,有一条清晰的思路,你不是为了完整翻译文章而进行阅读,而是为了获取主旨来阅读。
二、标点符号在快速阅读中的运用可以运用标点符号(破折号、小括号、冒号)了解不认识的词汇或句子的含义。
因为这些标点符号的出现就是为了更进一步地其前的信息。
但同时,由于快速阅读用词相对比较简单,很容易理解和把握标点前的被解释信息,所以,可以将这些标点符号后面的信息删除,从而更加快速地把握文章的主旨。
三、特殊信息点在快速阅读中的运用所谓“特殊信息点”是指那些很容易在文章中识别的词汇,诸如时间、数字、大写字母等形式的语言点。
这些形式的表达一方面很容易识别出来,另一方面,这些信息点的表现的一般都是文章的琐碎信息,对于主旨的理解和把握而言,不过是更进一步论证而已。
因此,可以忽略这些信息的阅读。
如果后面测试的题点中确实涉及到了,再回来细读也无妨,毕竟它们的表现形式非常利于查找和定位判断。
四级阅读匹配题技巧

四级阅读匹配题技巧英语四级阅读匹配题是考试中的一种常见题型,它要求考生根据所给的文章内容,将问题与答案或相关信息进行匹配。
以下是一些英语四级阅读匹配题的技巧:通读全文:在回答匹配题之前,先通读一遍整篇文章,了解文章的主题、结构和主要观点。
这将有助于你更好地理解文章的内容。
关键词标记:在阅读文章时,标记关键词和关键短语,这些关键词通常与问题中的关键词相匹配。
这样做可以帮助你在后续查找答案时更容易定位相关信息。
1.仔细阅读问题:在阅读问题时要特别仔细,确保理解每个问题的要求。
问题可能会要求你找到与文章中某一特定信息相匹配的选项,也可能要求你找到与问题意思相符的信息。
2.寻找答案:根据问题的要求,仔细查找文章中与之相关的信息。
你可能需要回到文章中的特定段落或句子,找到正确的信息。
记住,答案可能不会以与问题相同的词汇出现,而是以同义词或近义词的形式出现。
3.排除干扰项:有时候,匹配题中可能会包含一些干扰项,它们看似与问题相关,但实际上是错误的答案。
要小心识别并排除这些干扰项。
4.注意选项顺序:在填写答案时,注意匹配题选项的顺序。
有时候选项可能是乱序的,需要确保将正确的答案与正确的问题匹配。
5.时间管理:匹配题通常比较耗时,因此要合理分配时间。
如果某个问题花费太多时间而无法找到答案,可以暂时跳过,然后在答完其他问题后再回来处理。
6.练习题目:多做练习题目有助于提高匹配题的解题能力。
可以使用四级真题和练习题集来练习,熟悉这种题型的常见模式和难点。
最重要的是,在考试中保持冷静,不要因为匹配题的复杂性而感到焦虑。
通过掌握上述技巧,并进行充分的练习,你可以提高在英语四级阅读匹配题中的表现。
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英语四、六级段落信息匹配题一、英语四级段落信息匹配题是什么?长篇阅读理解篇章后附有10个句子,每句一题。
每句所含的信息出自篇章的某一段落,要求考生找出与每句所含信息相匹配的段落。
有的段落可能对应两题,有的段落可能不对应任何一题。
四级考试需要各位同学做的是,大家需要去看十个左右的段落,然后去匹配十个信息点。
但是到六级当中,我们的难度就要增加了,我们见到的情况是六级当中变成了15个段落,去匹配十个信息点。
但总体来看,不管题型怎么变,其实学习方法没变,还是仍旧需要大家提高阅读的能力,比如说读文章的时候,是不是直接拿英语读,如果读快速阅读的时候,还是拿中文边翻译边读的话,会发现阅读速度一直会比较慢,所以那么长的文章很难找到细节,所以大家一定要养成拿英语直接阅读的这样一种习惯,这样才能保证我们的阅读速度又快又准。
二、信息匹配题难点分析1.考生难以按照阅读题一贯遵循的“顺序原则”解题。
由于这一题型要求考生把细节信息与其所在的段落进行匹配,因此细节信息的排列绝对是“乱序的”,这就意味着考生从文章开头到结尾按顺序定位的方法是行不通的。
2. 题干信息复杂,考生难以迅速抓住要领。
题干中的细节信息通常是极复杂和繁琐的名词短语或长难句,考生往往在寻找到合适的定位词之前,就已经被题干信息的复杂表述弄得晕头转向了。
3. 考生难以寻找到合适的定位词。
即使考生能够读懂题干中晦涩难懂的细节信息,但也会在寻找定位词时遇到很大障碍。
因为题干提供的细节信息中往往不会出现非常明显的定位词(如数字、时间、地点、人物、特殊字体和特殊符号等)。
即使考生能够找到一个定位词,这一定位词也通常和文章主题密切相关,会在文章中多次出现,因而也没有太大的意义。
三、匹配题出题特点及应试技巧匹配类题型有很多种,常见的种类有:1)人名-观点匹配;2).地名-描述匹配;3)句子-句子匹配;4)分类题(Classification);5)段落-标题匹配;6段落-细节匹配。
其中前四种做题方法比较类似,而后两种相对较复杂。
这里将阐述前四种题型的做题方法。
1. 扭转做题思维先要扭转做题思维,不是找到句子答案所在,而是判断这句话在哪一段会出现。
所以我们首要明确,考官出这个题是要考察我们什么阅读能力,我认为不是细节阅读能力,而是对文章框架思路的把握能力。
2.预览题干,明确关键词该题型的解题基本思路是:先快速地将题干读一下,划出关键词;然后采用skimming和scanning的方式通读原文,匹配信息。
3.快速掌握文章脉络通过阅读中心句快速掌握文章脉络。
中心句一般出现在首位句,转折词如but 或者因果关系联接词如as a result 引领的第二句,或者问句后面的答句。
一般建议在找到中心句后,读一下末句,可以更精确地掌控段意。
若无特别明显的中心句,首尾句的阅读也有助于理解段意。
阅读过程当中,有的信息点明确可直接先去选出答案。
这里我们也要明确要多看英文,掌握英文的行文思路。
一般而言剑桥里的文章组织有三大类。
一是按时间,如货物运输,这是最简单的。
二是按观点—原因—发展—瓶颈—措施—目标的布局来分析一件事物。
三是偏科普的夹杂很多不同派别的理论,这个相对而言比较难。
4.注意字句的形式变化。
在长篇阅读中寻找相关信息的难度很大程度上取决于考生对字句形式变化的辨识能力。
需要注意三种变化形式:1)题干只对原文中个别单词或词组进行同义改写或转述;2)题干对原文中整句话进行同义改写或转述;3)题干对原文中几句话或整段内容进行综合概括或推断。
这就对考生的单词量、对某一单词多重释义的了解以及对句意的概括或推断能力提出了新要求。
5.注意标记。
在首次阅读的过程中如果不能确定某些单句是否与该段落相匹配,最好做个记号,以便第二次阅读时更有针对性。
第二次阅读的目的:一是检查已初步确定的段落与单句是否确实匹配;二是完成第一遍阅读中尚未解答的题目。
6.注意时间的合理使用,不要为确定某个细节问题而浪费大量的时间。
【关键词的类型】1. 人名、地名和专有名词2. 一些拼写较长的词,比如:internship,competitiveness,globalization,integration,sustainability,innovative,immigration等。
这些词属于低频词,一般不会大篇幅地出现。
利用这些词可以高效地查找匹配段落。
另外,这些词有时会作为生词在文中标注出来,像internship,在原文中用斜体印刷,并以括号备注中文。
我们选它做关键词,瞬间就能找到原文出处了。
2. 数字,包括年代、百分比、特殊事件等。
如四级样卷中的:mid-1970s, 3.9 percent,20 percent,September 11等。
教研君利用这些数字进行定位,测得的准确率是100%哦!3. 以连字符连接的特殊词汇。
如:university-based,one-child。
这些词是由两个(或三个)单词连接的新词,一般当成形容词使用。
三个单词的例子如:hard-to-grasp难以理解的。
这些词也属于低频词,一般不会大篇幅出现。
需要注意的是有时候我们需要将这些词拆开来定位,如one-child在原文中是没有的,原文是这样的“They often compromiseby having just one child. ”这里的one child就不是整体作为形容词使用了。
4. 研究、报告、书籍型词汇,如:report,study,books等。
一般来说研究、报告等内容都是易考点,这些信息经常出现在特定的段落里,所以根据这些词汇作为关键词也很容易定位。
5. 最高级,如best,worst,most 等。
如六级第54题,关键词之一为the best solution。
然而仅凭此关键词我们可能无法迅速地找到答案,因为原文的表述是the most effectivemethod,用的词汇是完全不一样的。
这时,我们还需要增加一个关键词pension,帮助我们定位。
这就提醒我们在平常的阅读中应多关注最高级出现的地方,因为它常常是考点。
6. 具有特殊意义的指示性词汇。
这类词汇虽然不是通常意义上的定位关键词,但其特殊含义可将考生的注意力指向原文的开头、结尾或是某个具有特殊特征的段落。
这些词通常包括如下三类:①能够指示开头段的词汇(如overview、introduction、initiation、main idea、definition等);②能够指示结尾段的词(如overview、future、solution、conclusion、suggestion、summary 等);③能够帮助考生回原文定位的特殊词汇(如rate、ratio、proportion、percentage等词往往对应含“%”的段落;number、figure、statistical demographics等词往往对应数字集中的段落;financial、income、revenue、salary等词往往对应含诸如“$”“¥”等货币符号的段落)。
考生能够通过这些指示性词汇缩小回原文定位的范围,从而快速判定表1—四级样卷长篇阅读表2—六级样卷长篇阅读Passage OneUniversities Branch OutA) As never before in their long history, universities have become instruments of national competition as well as instruments of peace. They are the place of the scientific discoveries that move economies forward, and the primary means of educating the talent required to obtain and maintain competitive advantage. But at the same time, the opening of national borders to the flow of goods, services, information andespecially people has made universities a powerful force for global integration, mutual understanding and geopolitical stability.B) In response to the same forces that have driven the world economy, universities have become more self-consciously global: seeking students from around the world who represent the entire range of cultures and values, sending their own students abroad to prepare them for global careers, offering courses of studythat address the challenges of an interconnected world and collaborative (合作的) research programs to advance science for the benefit of all humanity.C) Of the forces shaping higher education none is more sweeping than the movement across borders. Over the past three decades the number of students leaving home each year to study abroad has grown at an annual rate of 3.9 percent, from 800,000 in 1975 to 2.5 million in 2004. Most travel from one developed nation toanother, but the flow from developing to developed countries is growing rapidly. The reverse flow, from developed to developing countries, is on the rise, too. Today foreign students earn 30 percent of the doctoral degrees awarded in the United States and 38 percent of those in the United Kingdom. And the number crossing borders for undergraduate study is growing as well, to 8 percent of the undergraduates at America’s best institutions and 10 percent of allundergraduates in the U.K. In the United States, 20 percent of the newly hired professors in science and engineering are foreign-born, and in China many newly hired faculty members at the top research universities received their graduate education abroadD) Universities are also encouraging students to spend some of their undergraduate years in another country. In Europe, more than 140,000 students participate in the Erasmus program each year, taking courses for creditin one of 2,200 participating institutions across the continent. And in the United States, institutions are helping place students in summer internships (实习) abroad to prepare them for global careers. Yale and Harvard have led the way, offering every undergraduate at least one international study or internship opportunity—and providing the financial resources to make it possible.E) Globalization is also reshaping the way research is done. One newtrend involves sourcing portions of a research program to another country. Yale professor and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator Tian Xu directs a research center focused on the genetics of human disease at Shanghai’s Fudan University, in collaboration with faculty colleagues from both schools. The Shanghai center has 95 employees and graduate students working in a 4,300-square-meter laboratory facility. Yale faculty, postdoctors and graduate students visitregularly and attend videoconference seminars with scientists from both campuses. The arrangement benefits both countries; Xu’s Yale lab is more productive, thanks to the lower costs of conducting research in China, and Chinese graduate students, postdoctors and faculty get on-the-job training from a world-class scientist and his U.S. team.F) As a result of its strength in science, the United States has consistently led the world in thecommercialization of major new technologies, from the mainframe computer and the integrated circuit of the 1960s to the Internet infrastructure (基础设施) and applications software of the 1990s. The link between university-based science and industrial application is often indirect but sometimes highly visible: Silicon Valley was intentionally created by Stanford University, and Route 128 outside Boston has long housed companies spun off from MIT and Harvard. Around the world, governmentshave encouraged copying of this model, perhaps most successfully in Cambridge, England, where Microsoft and scores of other leading software and biotechnology companies have set up shop around the university.G) For all its success, the United States remains deeply hesitant about sustaining the research-university model. Most politicians recognize the link between investment in science and national economic strength, but support for research funding hasbeen unsteady. The budget of the National Institutes of Health doubled between 1998 and 2003, but has risen more slowly than inflation since then. Support for the physical sciences and engineering barely kept pace with inflation during that same period. The attempt to make up lost ground is welcome, but the nation would be better served by steady, predictable increases in science funding at the rate of long-term GDP growth, which is on the order of inflation plus 3 percent per year.H) American politicians have great difficulty recognizing that admitting more foreign students can greatly promote the national interest by increasing international understanding. Adjusted for inflation, public funding for international exchanges and foreign-language study is well below the levels of 40 years ago. In the wake of September 11, changes in the visa process caused a dramatic decline in the number of foreign students seeking admission to U.S. universities, anda corresponding surge in enrollments in Australia, Singapore and the U.K. Objections from American university and business leaders led to improvements in the process and a reversal of the decline, but the United States is still seen by many as unwelcoming to international students.I) Most Americans recognize that universities contribute to the nation’s well-being through their scientific research, but many fear that foreign students threaten American competitiveness bytaking their knowledge and skills back home. They fail to grasp that welcoming foreign students to the United States has two important positive effects: first, the very best of them stay in the States and—like immigrants throughout history—strengthen the nation; and second, foreign students who study in the United States become ambassadors for many of its most cherished (珍视) values when they return home. Or at least they understand them better. In America as elsewhere, fewinstruments of foreign policy are as effective in promoting peace and stability as welcoming international university students.1. American universities prepare their undergraduates for global careers by giving them chances for international study or internship.2. Since the mid-1970s, the enrollment of overseas students has increased at an annual rate of3.9 percent.3. The enrollment of internationalstudents will have a positive impact on America rather than threaten its competitiveness.4. The way research is carried out in universities has changed as a result of globalization.5. Of the newly hired professors in science and engineering in the United States, twenty percent come from foreign countries.6. The number of foreign students applying to U.S. universities decreased sharply after September 11 due to changes in the visa process.7. The U.S. federal funding for research has been unsteady for years.8. Around the world, governments encourage the model of linking university-based science and industrial application.9. Present-day universities have become a powerful force for global integration.10. When foreign students leave America, they will bring American values back to their home countries.Passage TwoInto the unknownA) Until the early 1900s nobody thought much about the whole populations getting older. UN had the foresight to convene a “world assembly on ageing” back in 1982, but that came and went. By 1994 the World Bank had noticed that something big was happening. In a report entitled “Averting the Old Age Crisis”, it argued that pension arrangements in most countries were unsustainable.B) For the next ten years a succession of books, mainly by Americans, surrounded by the alarm. They had titles like Young vs. Old, Gray Dawn and The Coming Generational Storm, and their message was blunt: health-care systems were heading for the rocks, pensioners were taking young people to the cleaners, and soon there would be intergenerational warfare.C) Since then the debate has become less emotional, not least because a lot more is known aboutthe subject. Books, conferences and research papers have multiplied. International organizations such as the OECD and the EU issue regular reports. Population ageing is on every agenda, from G8 economic conferences to NATO summits. The World Economic Forum plans to consider the future of pensions and health care at its prestigious Davos conference early next year. The media, including the newspaper, are giving the subject extensive coverage.D) Whether all that attention has translated into sufficient action is another question. Governments in rich countries now accept that their pension and health-care promises will soon become unaffordable, and many of them have embarked on reforms, but so far only timidly. That is not surprising: politicians with an eye on the next election will hardly rush to introduce unpopular measures that may not bear fruit for years, perhaps decades.E) The outline of the changesneeded is clear. To avoid fiscal (财政的) meltdown, public pensions and health-care provision will have to be reined back severely and taxes may have to go up. By far the most effective method to restrain pension spending is to give people the opportunity to work longer, because it increases tax revenues and reduces spending on pensions at the same time. It may even keep them alive longer. John Rother, the AARP’s head of policy and strategy, points to studies showing that other things being equal,people who remain at work have lower death rates than their retired peers.F) Younger people today mostly accept that they will have to work for longer and that their pensions will be less generous. Employers still need to be persuaded that older workers are worth holding on to. That may be because they have had plenty of younger ones to choose from, partly thanks to the post-war baby-boom and partly because over the past few decades many more women have enteredthe labor force, increasing employers’choice. But the reservoir of women able and willing to take up paid work is running low, and the baby-boomers are going grey.G) In many countries immigrants have been filling such gaps in the labor force as have already emerged (and remember that the real shortage is still around ten years off). Immigration in the developed world is the highest it has ever been, and it is making a useful difference. In still-fertileAmerica it currently accounts for about 40% of total population growth, and in fast-ageing Western Europe for about 90%.H) On the face of it, it seems the perfect solution. Many developing countries have lots of young people in the need of jobs, many rich countries need helping hands that will boost tax revenues and keep up economic growth. But over the next few decades labor forces in rich countries are set to shrink so much that inflows of immigrants would have to increaseenormously to compensate: to at least twice their current size in western Europe’s most youthful countries, and three times in the older ones. Japan would need a large multiple of the few immigrants it has at present. Public opinion polls show that people in most rich countries already think that immigration is too high. Further big increases would be politically unfeasible.I) To tackle the problem of ageing populations at its root, “old”countries would have to rejuvenate(使年轻) themselves by having more of their own children. A number of them have tried, some more successfully than others. But it is not a simple matter of offering financial incentives or providing more child care. Modern urban life in rich countries is not well adapted to large families. Women find it hard to combine family and career. They often compromise by having just one child.J) And if fertility in ageing countries does not pick up? It will not be the end of the world, atleast not for quite a while yet, but the world will become a different place. Older societies may be less innovative and more strongly disinclined to take risks than younger ones. By 2025 at the latest, about half the voters in America and most of those in western European countries will be over 50—and older people turn out to vote in much greater numbers than younger ones. Academic studies have found no evidence so far that older voters have used their power at the ballot box to push forpolicies that specifically benefit them, though if in future there are many more of them they might start doing so.K) Nor is there any sign of the intergenerational warfare predicted in the 1990s. After all, older people themselves mostly have families. In a recent study of parents and grown-up children in 11 European countries, Karsten Hank of Mannheim University found that 85% of them lived within 25km of each other and the majority of them were in touch atleast once a week.L) Even so, the shift in the centre of gravity to older age groups is bound to have a profound effect on societies, not just economically and politically but in all sorts of other ways too. Richard Jackson and Neil Howe of America’s CSIS, in a thoughtful book called The Graying of the Great Powers, argue that, among other things, the ageing of the developed countries will have a number of serious security implications.M) For example, the shortage ofyoung adults is likely to make countries more reluctant to commit the few they have to military service. In the decades to 2050, America will find itself playing an ever-increasing role in the developed world’s defense effort. Because America’s population will still be growing when that of most other developed countries is shrinking, America will be the only developed country that still matters geopolitically (地缘政治上).N) There is little that can be doneto stop population ageing, so the world will have to live with it. But some of the consequences can be alleviated. Many experts now believe that given the right policies, the effects, though grave, need not be catastrophic. Most countries have recognized the need to do something and beginning to act. O) But even then there is no guarantee that their efforts will work. What is happening now is historically unprecedented. The director of Economics and Demography of Ageing at theUniversity of California, Berkeley, puts it briefly and clearly: “We don’t really know what population ageing will be like, because nobody has done it yet.”1. Employers should realize it is important to keep older workers in the workforce.2. A recent study found that most old people in some European countries had regular weekly contact with their adult children.3. Few governments in rich countries have launched bold。