首页
在线考试
章节闯关
谁正在考试
学习应用
听写训练
背单词
情景会话
口语模仿
擂台赛
每日英语
资料下载
作文批改
注册
您的位置：
在线考试首页
>
章节闯关
>
英语六级
>
阅读理解
>
历年真题
>
第5关
00:00:00
已做
0
项(正确
0
项，错误做
0
项)/共10项，剩余
10
项未作答
结束作答
答案解析
上一题
下一题
返回
阅读理解
收藏
纠错
One hundred years ago, "Colored" was the typical way of referring to Americans of African descent. Twenty years later, it was purposefully dropped to make way for "Negro." By the late 1960s, that term was overtaken by "Black." And then, at a press conference in Chicago in 1988, Jesse Jackson declared that "African American" was the term to embrace. This one was chosen because it echoed the labels of groups, such as "Italian Americans" and "Irish Americans," that had already been freed of widespread discrimination.
A century's worth of calculated name changes point to the fact that naming any group is a politically freighted exercise. A 2001 study cataloged all the ways in which the term "Black" carried connotations that were more negative than those of "African American."
But if it was known that "Black" people were viewed differently from "African Americans," researchers, until now, hadn't identified what that gap in perception was derived from. A recent study, conducted by Emory University's Erika Hall, found that "Black" people are viewed more negatively than "African Americans" because of a perceived difference in socioeconomic status. As a result, "Black" people are thought of as less competent and as having colder personalities.
The study's most striking findings shed light on the racial biases permeating the professional world. Even seemingly harmless details on a résumé, it appears, can tap into recruiters, biases. A job application might mention affiliations with groups such as the "Wisconsin Association of African- American Lawyers" or the "National Black Employees Association," the names of which apparently have consequences, and are also beyond their members' control.
In one of the study's experiments, subjects were given a brief description of a man from Chicago with the last name Williams. To one group, he was identified as "African-American," and another was told he was "Black." With little else to go on, they were asked to estimate Mr. Williams's salary, professional standing, and educational background.
The "African-American" group estimated that he earned about $ 37,000 a year and had a two-year college degree. The "Black" group, on the other hand, put his salary at about $ 29,000, and guessed that he had only "some" college experience. Nearly three-quarters of the first group guessed that Mr. Williams worked at a managerial level, while only 38.5 percent of the second group thought so.
Hall's findings suggest there's an argument to be made for electing to use "African American," though one can't help but get the sense that it's a decision that papers over the urgency of continued progress. Perhaps a new phrase is needed, one that can bring everyone one big step closer to realizing Du Bois's original, idealistic hope: "It's not the name—it's the Thing that counts."
1
Why did Jesse Jackson embrace the term "African American" for people of African descent?
A.
It is free from racial biases.
B.
It represents social progress.
C.
It is in the interest of common Americans.
D.
It follows the standard naming practice.
本题答案：
A
B
C
D
参考答案：
A
系统解析：
事实细节题。定位句指出杰克逊选中“非洲裔美国人”这个称谓,是因为它和“意大利裔美国人”和“爱尔兰裔美国人”这些已经摆脱种族歧视的群体的称谓相仿,寄托着摆脱种族歧视的希望，故答案为 A。
2
What does the author say about the naming of an ethnic group?
A.
It advances with the times.
B.
It is based on racial roots.
C.
It merits intensive study.
D.
It is politically sensitive.
本题答案：
A
B
C
D
参考答案：
D
系统解析：
事实细节题。定位句指出，美国黑人称谓历经一个世纪的变化表明了一个事实，那就是给一个群体命名是承载着政治意义的行为，故答案为 D。
3
What do Erika Hall's findings indicate?
A.
Racial biases are widespread in the professional world.
B.
Many applicants don't attend to details on their resumes.
C.
Job seekers should all be careful about their affiliations.
D.
Most recruiters are unable to control their racial biases.
本题答案：
A
B
C
D
参考答案：
A
系统解析：
推理判断题。定位句指出，艾丽卡·霍尔的研究结果揭示了种族偏见已经渗透到了职业领域，permeating 与 widespread 意义相近，故答案为 A。
4
What does Erika Hall find in her experiment about a man with the last name Williams?
A.
African Americans fare better than many other ethnic groups.
B.
Black peopled socioeconomic status in America remains low.
C.
People's conception of a person has much to do with the way he or she is labeled.
D.
One's professional standing and income are related to their educational background.
本题答案：
A
B
C
D
参考答案：
C
系统解析：
推理判断题。从定位段落可以看出，同一个人被冠以“非洲裔美国人”和“黑人”的不同称谓时，会引发人们对他的经济社会地位和教育背景的不同联想，可见人们对一个人的看法与其称谓大有关联，故答案为 C。
5
What is Dr. Du Bois's ideal?
A.
All Americans enjoy equal rights.
B.
A person is judged by their worth.
C.
A new term is created to address African Americans.
D.
All ethnic groups share the nation's continued progress.
本题答案：
A
B
C
D
参考答案：
A
系统解析：
定位句提到杜博斯的理想：“称谓不重要，事物本身才重要”。这个理想里面，Thing 很关键。文章第二段提到，给任何一个群体命名都是一种承载着政治倉义的活动。从全篇来看，对非洲裔美国人称谓的每次变化，都体现了对 racial bias（种族歧视）的弱化。可是文章最后，作者提到，a new phrase is needed（需要一个新词汇），这说明作者认为“African American”这个提法还不合适，还需要不断的改进。再结合杜博斯的话称谓“不重要，事物本身才重要”。美国政府不断更换称谓就是为了消除种族歧视，而种族歧视的根源就是美国人没有真正地实现全民平等，所以由此得出，杜博斯的理想就是：所有美国人都享有平等的权利，故答案为 A。
Across the board, American colleges and universities are not doing a very good job of preparing their students for the workplace or their post-graduation lives. This was made clear by the work of two sociologists, Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa. In 2011 they released a landmark study titled "Academically Adrift, which documented the lack of intellectual growth experienced by many people enrolled in college. In particular, Arum and Roksa found, college students were not developing the critical thinking, analytic reasoning and other higher-level skills that are necessary to thrive in today's knowledge-based economy and to lead our nation in a time of complex challenges and dynamic change.
Arum and Roksa placed the blame for students' lack of learning on a watered-down college curriculum and lowered undergraduate work standards. Although going to college is supposed to be a full-time job, students spent, on average, only 12 to 14 hours a week studying and many were skating through their semesters without doing a significant amount of reading and writing. Students who take more challenging classes and spend more time studying do learn more. But the priorities of many undergraduates are with extracurricular activities, playing sports, and partying and socializing.
Laura Hamilton, the author of a study on parents who pay for college, will argue in a forthcoming book that college administrations are overly concerned with the social and athletic activities of their students. In Paying for the Party, Hamilton describes what she calls the party pathway," which eases many students through college, helped along by various clubs that send students into the party scene and a host of easier majors. By sanctioning this watered-down version of college, universities are "catering to the social and educational needs of wealthy students at the expense of others" who won't enjoy the financial backing or social connections of richer students once they graduate.
These students need to build skills and knowledge during college if they are to use their degrees as a stepping-stone to middle-class mobility. But more privileged students must not waste this opportunity either. As recent graduates can testify, the job market isn't kind to candidates who can't demonstrate genuine competence, along with a well-cultivated willingness to work hard. Nor is the global economy forgiving of an American workforce with increasingly weak literacy, math and science abilities. College graduates will still fare better than those with only a high school education, of course. But a university degree unaccompanied by a gain in knowledge or skills is an empty achievement indeed. For students who have been coasting through college, and for American universities that have been demanding less work, offering more attractions and charging higher tuition, the party may soon be over.
6
What is Arum and Roksa's finding about higher education in America?
A.
It aims at stimulating the intellectual curiosity of college students.
B.
It fails to prepare students to face the challenges of modem times.
C.
It has experienced dramatic changes in recent years.
D.
It has tried hard to satisfy students' various needs.
本题答案：
A
B
C
D
参考答案：
B
系统解析：
推理判断题。定位 句指出，阿鲁姆和罗克萨发现，大学生没有培养批判性思维、分析推理以及其它更高级的技能,而这些技能是在当今知识经济中取得成功，以及在这个充满复杂挑战和瞬息万变的时代领导我们国家发展所必备的，由此可见，美国高等教育没有让学生做好面对现代化挑战的准备，故答案为 B。
7
What is responsible for the students' lack of higher-level skills?
A.
The diluted college curriculum.
B.
The boring classroom activities.
C.
The absence of rigorous discipline.
D.
The outdated educational approach.
本题答案：
A
B
C
D
参考答案：
A
系统解析：
事实细节题。定位句指出，“阿鲁姆和罗克萨把学生的学术不足归咎于掺水的大学课程和较低的大学生学习标准”，由此可见，学生缺乏更高级的技能是因为掺水的大学课程，故答案为 A。
8
What does Laura Hamilton say about college administrations?
A.
They fail to give adequate help to the needy students.
B.
They tend to offer too many less challenging courses.
C.
They seem to be out of touch with society.
D.
They prioritize non-academic activities.
本题答案：
A
B
C
D
参考答案：
D
系统解析：
推理判断题。定位句指出，劳拉·汉密尔顿认为大学的管理部门过于关注其学生的社会和体育活动，由此可知，大学的管理部门优先安排非学术活动，故答案为 D。
9
What can be learned about the socially and financially privileged students?
A.
They tend to have a sense of superiority over their peers.
B.
They can afford to choose easier majors in order to enjoy themselves.
C.
They spend a lot of time building strong connections with businesses.
D.
They can climb the social ladder even without a degree.
本题答案：
A
B
C
D
参考答案：
B
系统解析：
推理判断题。定位句指出，“聚会之路”使许多学生的大学毕业变得更加容易，而各种让学生参加聚会的俱乐部以及大量更简单的专业也促成了这一点，通过批准这种精简版本的学院，大学“正在迎合有钱学生的社会和教育需求，却以牺牲其他学生为代价”，由此可知，享有社会和经济特权的学生为了享受人生而能够选择较简单的专业，故答案为 B。
10
What does the author suggest in the last paragraph?
A.
American higher education has lost its global competitiveness.
B.
People should not expect too much from American higher education.
C.
The current situation in American higher education may not last long.
D.
It will take a long time to change the current trend in higher education.
本题答案：
A
B
C
D
参考答案：
C
系统解析：
推理判断题。定位句指出，对于那些学习要求少，却提供更多诱惑并收取更高学费的大学而言，聚会可能很快就会结束了，由此可知，美国高等教育的现状不会持续太久了，故答案为 C。
我的笔记
最大支持140字
收藏
0
好题
0
烂题
0
提交纠错
请输入您发现的错误详情
用户：
