教育类文章精选:YES, YOUR RACE STILL MATTERS

时间:2006-09-13 01:38:21

(单词翻译:单击)

5 YES, YOUR RACE STILL MATTERS

  As students primp and preen1 to wow their favorite colleges, there's one characteristic they can't control: their race. That's one reason voters, courts and politicians in six states have outlawed2 racial preferences in college admissions, while other colleges, fearful of lawsuits3, play down their affirmative-action efforts these days. But make no mistake: race still matters. How much depends on the school and the state.

  In Texas, public universities have managed to counteract4 the effect of racial-preference bans by automatically admitting the top 10% of the graduating class of every high school, including those schools where most students are minorities. But Rice University in Houston, private and highly selective, has had to reinvent its admissions strategies to maintain the school's minority enrollment5. Each February, 80 to 90 black, Hispanic and Native American kids visit Rice on an expenses-paid trip. Rice urges counselors6 from high schools with large minority populations to nominate qualified8 students. And in the fall, Rice sends two recruiters on the road to find minority applicants9; each recruiter visits about 80 predominantly black or Hispanic high schools. Two weeks ago, Rice recruiter Tamara Siler dropped in on Westlake High in Atlanta, where 99% of the 1,296 students are black. Siler went bearing literature and advice, and though only two kids showed up, she said, "I'm pleased I got two."

  Rice has also resorted to some almost comical end-runs around the spirit of the law. The university used to award a yearly scholarship to a Mexican-American student; now it goes to a student who speaks Spanish really well. Admissions officers no longer know an applicant's race. But a new essay question asks about each student's "background" and "cultural traditions." When Rice officials read applications, they look for "diverse life experiences" and what they awkwardly call "overcome students," who have triumphed over hardship.

  Last spring, admissions readers came across a student whose SAT score was lower than 1,200 and who did not rank in the top 10% of her class. Numerically speaking, she lagged far behind most accepted applicants. But her essay and recommendations indicated a strong interest in civil rights and personal experience with racial discrimination. She was admitted. "All the newspapers say affirmative action is done," says a veteran counselor7 at a large New York City high school. "But nothing has changed. I have a [minority] kid at Yale with an SAT score in the high 900s."

  While minority admissions at the University of California system overall have dipped only slightly since a ban on affirmative action took effect in 1998, they have plummeted10 at the most selective campuses. At Berkeley, for example, the class entering this fall included 608 Chicano students, vs. 1,013 in 1997. In response, the elite12 schools have moved aggressively to recruit at minority high schools--and even to improve the performance of students who are graduating from them. This year the U.C. system will spend $250 million on outreach, from installing tutors at low-income schools to inviting13 high school teachers to summer calculus14 seminars.

  By Amanda Ripley Reported by Flora15 Tartakovsky and David Nordan Time; 10/23/2000, Vol. 156 Issue 17, p77, 2/3p, 1c

  注(1):本文选自Time;10/23/2000, p77;

  注(2):本文习题命题模仿对象2001年真题text 2和2002年真题text 2第2题(5)

  1.Affirmative action is something ___________.

  [A] that guarantees students of different races to be admitted equally

  [B] American citizens fight against because it discriminates16 minority students

  [C] colleges take to give preference to minority students in college admission

  [D] favored by American colleges yet unpopular with American public

  2.Rice University sent two recruiters to find minority applicants because _________.

  [A] Rice wanted to maintain minority enrollment

  [B] minority students have better school performance

  [C] Rice has a large minority population

  [D] Rice is famous for admitting minority students

  3.The writer mentioned Rice’s some comic end-runs around the spirit of the law to show

  that_____________.

  [A] Rice abides17 by the law strictly18

  [B] Rice deals with students in a comic way

  [C] Rice prefers minority students

  [D] Rice has its own ways of dealing19 with the law

  4.It seems that minority students _________.

  [A] are still benefiting from affirmative action

  [B] have lower SAT scores

  [C] are often admitted by universities because they have unique racial experience

  [D] lag far behind than other students in school performance

  5.The word “plummeted” (Line 2, Paragraph 5) most probably means_________.

  [A] doubled

  [B] risen

  [C] stayed the same

  [D] decreased

  答案:C A D A D

  篇章剖析

  本文是一篇说明文,介绍了各大学是如何应对不允许在招生中照顾少数族裔的法律的。在第一段作者指出虽然一些州规定在大学招生中照顾某些种族的政策为非法,但学生的种族身份仍然很重要。第二段介绍了德克萨斯州公立大学的应对策略和私立大学莱斯大学对付这一情况的办法。第三段介绍了莱斯大学所采用的迂回策略。第四段以两个例子说明少数族裔的学生即使SAT成绩不高也能上名牌大学。最后一段介绍了加利福尼亚禁止平权措施带来的影响以及加利福尼亚大学为了克服这些不利影响所作的努力。

  词汇注释:

  primp: [primp] v. 梳理(头发),打扮

  preen: [pri:n] v. 把(自己)打扮漂亮

  wow: [wau] v. 激起热烈赞扬, 使惊叹, 使佩服

  affirmative-action: 平权措施

  counteract: [7kauntE5rAkt] v. 抵抗;抵制;消除,抵消

  enrollment: [in5rEulmEnt] n. 登记, 注册, 入学

  counselor: [5kaunsElE] n. 顾问

  nominate: [5nCmineit] v. 提名, 推荐

  predominantly: [pri5dCminEntli] adv. 主要地,占优势地

  Hispanic: [his5pAnik] adj. 西班牙的

  literature: [5litEritFE] n. 印刷品

  resort: [ri5zC:t] v. 求助, 诉诸, 采取(某种手段等)

  end-run: 迂回

  diverse: [dai5vE:s] adj. 不同的, 变化多的

  SAT: 学术能力测验指代(美国)学术能力测试的一种标志

  numerically: [nju(:)5merikEli] adv. 用数字, 在数字上

  recommendation: [7rekEmen5deiFEn] n. 推荐信

  discrimination: [dis7krimi5neiFEn] n. 歧视

  veteran: [5vetErEn] n. 老手, 富有经验的人

  dip: [dip] v. (短时间)降下一点,降低一些

  plummet11: [5plQmit] v. 骤降,爆跌突然和大幅度地降低

  Chicano: [tFi:`kB:nEJ] adj. <美>n.奇卡诺人(指墨西哥裔美国人或在美国的讲西班牙语的拉丁美洲人后裔)

  outreach: [aut5ri:tF] n. 扩大服务项目;有系统地尝试向一团体的特别部门提供超常规的服务

  calculus: [5kAlkjulEs] n. 微积分学

  seminar: [5seminB:] n. 研究会, 讨论发表会

  难句突破:

  That's one reason voters, courts and politicians in six states have outlawed racial preferences in college admissions, while other colleges, fearful of lawsuits, play down their affirmative-action efforts these days.

  主体句式That’s one reason…

  结构分析:这是一个复杂句,reason后面的成分是一个同位语从句,在这个从句里又包含了一个while引导的状语从句,表示对照。文中比较难的语言表达是play down和affirmative-action。“play down”的意思是“降低,减少”,而“affirmative action”指的是美国大学为了保证少数族裔的受教育机会而采取的照顾政策,称为“平权措施”。

  句子译文:正因如此,才会有六个州的选民,法庭和从政者将大学招生中的对某些种族的照顾政策宣布为非法,而其它的大学最近也因为担心法律诉讼而减少了在实施平权法案方面的努力。

  题目分析:

  1. 答案为C,属推理判断题。根据第一段中的上下文,美国六个州制定法律,规定“racial preferences in college admissions”为非法,继而说美国的学校为了免于诉讼就减少了“affirmation action”的努力,可见“affirmation action”应该是指在大学入学方面给与少数民族学生的照顾政策。

  2. 答案为A,属事实细节题。第二段第四行讲述了Rice University不得不重新制定策略“to maintain the school’s minority enrollment”,下面派招生员到各处招收少数族裔申请者则是实现这一目的的一个方式。可见答案是A。

  3. 答案为D,属推理判断题。文章第二段提到Rice University为了应对新法律不得不重新制定策略来保证学校少数族裔学生入学。接着在第三段中举了三个根法律玩擦边球的例子:把原来给墨西哥裔学生的年度奖学金变成给西班牙语流利的学生(墨西哥裔学生的母语多位西班牙语);虽然不知道申请人的种族,但申请者要回答的论文问题却是“背景”和“文化传统”,而且招生人员看重的是“不同的体验”和“克服困难”的学生(少数族裔学生通过回答这些问题就可以轻易地让招生人员把他们挑出来)。可见Rice大学自有一套对付法律的办法。

  4. 答案为A,属推理判断题。第四段举了两个大学入学考试成绩不高但依然被录取的少数族裔学生的例子,接着引用一位中学顾问的话:“所有的报纸都说平权措施(affirmative action)要过时了,但一切都是老样子。”来说明少数族裔的学生依然从平权措施中受益。

  5. 答案为D,属猜词题。这个词的意思可以从下文中给出的例子猜测出来。文中说:以伯克利为例,今年秋季入学的班级有608名奇卡诺裔学生,而在1997年,这个数字是1013人。可见少数族裔的入学人数是大幅下降了。

  参考译文:

  当学生们为了给自己喜爱的学校留下好印象而打扮修饰的时候,有一点却是他们无法控制的:那就是他们的种族身份。正因如此,才会有六个州的选民,法庭和从政者将大学招生中的对某些种族的照顾政策宣布为非法,而其它的大学最近也因为担心法律诉讼而减少了在实施平权措施方面的努力。但别弄错了:种族身份仍然很重要。到底有多重要则因学校和州而异。

  在德克萨斯州,公立大学通过自动录取各个中学毕业班成绩在前10%的学生,包括那些以少数族裔为主的学校的学生来抵消禁止照顾某些种族所产生的影响。但休斯敦的私立大学莱斯大学对学生的挑选比较严格,因而不得不重新制定其招生方针以保持学校少数民族学生的入学情况。每年二月,80到90名黑人,西班牙裔和印第安人儿童会免费参观莱斯。莱斯鼓励少数民族学生较多的中学的顾问提名合格的学生。今年秋季,莱斯还派了两名招生员到外地寻找少数族裔的申请人;每一名招生员走访了将近80所以黑人和西班牙裔学生为主的中学。两星期前,莱斯的招生员塔玛拉·塞勒顺便走访了亚特兰大市的西湖中学,该校1296名学生中99%都是黑人。塞勒带着印刷品和建议去到那所学校,虽然只有两个孩子露面,她仍然说:“我很高兴我招到了两个”

  莱斯大学还采取了一些可笑的迂回手段来应对这条法律。 这所大学以前每年都会给一位墨西哥裔美国学生授予年度奖学金;现在的要求则是能够说一口流利的西班牙语。招生官员再也无从知道申请人的种族身份。但一个新的考试题目问及每个学生的“背景”和“文化传统”。当莱斯的官员阅读申请书的时候,他们寻找的是“不同的生活体验”以及被他们笨拙地称为“克困学生”的那些成功克服困难的学生。

  去年春天,阅读招生信息的读者发现有一个学生的SAT(学术能力测验)成绩低于1200分,而且她也不在班里的前10%之列。如果按排序的话,她比大部分已经被接受的申请人的成绩要差很多。但她的论文和推荐信表明她对于民权有着浓厚的兴趣,而且还亲身经历过种族歧视。最后她被录取了。“所有的报纸都说平权措施要过时了,”来自一所规模较大的纽约市中学的一位资深顾问说道。“但一切都是老样子。我知道一个[少数族裔]学生上了耶鲁,SAT成绩也就900多分。”

  自从1998年开始禁止平权措施以来,加利福尼亚大学少数族裔的整体录取情况只是略有下降,尽管如此,他们在淘汰率高的校区却下降较多。以伯克利为例,今年秋季入学的班级有608名奇卡诺裔学生,而在1997年,这个数字是1013人。为了应对这一情况,那些主力学院都开始积极在少数民族中学招生---甚至还积极帮助那些从这类学校毕业的学生提高学习成绩。今年加利福尼亚大学将会花2.5亿美元系统地扩大服务项目,从在低收入学校安排指导教师到邀请中学老师参加夏季微积分研讨会等不一而足。

 


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1 preen 51Kz7     
v.(人)打扮修饰
参考例句:
  • 50% of men under 35 spend at least 20 minutes preening themselves every morning in the bathroom.50%的35岁以下男性每天早上至少花20分钟在盥洗室精心打扮。
  • Bill preened his beard.比尔精心修剪了他的胡须。
2 outlawed e2d1385a121c74347f32d0eb4aa15b54     
宣布…为不合法(outlaw的过去式与过去分词形式)
参考例句:
  • Most states have outlawed the use of marijuana. 大多数州都宣布使用大麻为非法行为。
  • I hope the sale of tobacco will be outlawed someday. 我希望有朝一日烟草制品会禁止销售。
3 lawsuits 1878e62a5ca1482cc4ae9e93dcf74d69     
n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权,耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
  • I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多,赢的也多,输的也多。 来自辞典例句
4 counteract vzlxb     
vt.对…起反作用,对抗,抵消
参考例句:
  • The doctor gave him some medicine to counteract the effect of the poison.医生给他些药解毒。
  • Our work calls for mutual support.We shouldn't counteract each other's efforts.工作要互相支持,不要互相拆台。
5 enrollment itozli     
n.注册或登记的人数;登记
参考例句:
  • You will be given a reading list at enrollment.注册时你会收到一份阅读书目。
  • I just got the enrollment notice from Fudan University.我刚刚接到复旦大学的入学通知书。
6 counselors f6ff4c2b4bd3716024922a76236b3c79     
n.顾问( counselor的名词复数 );律师;(使馆等的)参赞;(协助学生解决问题的)指导老师
参考例句:
  • Counselors began an inquiry into industrial needs. 顾问们开始调查工业方面的需要。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • We have experienced counselors available day and night. ) 这里有经验的法律顾问全天候值班。) 来自超越目标英语 第4册
7 counselor czlxd     
n.顾问,法律顾问
参考例句:
  • The counselor gave us some disinterested advice.顾问给了我们一些无私的忠告。
  • Chinese commercial counselor's office in foreign countries.中国驻国外商务参赞处。
8 qualified DCPyj     
adj.合格的,有资格的,胜任的,有限制的
参考例句:
  • He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
  • We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。
9 applicants aaea8e805a118b90e86f7044ecfb6d59     
申请人,求职人( applicant的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • There were over 500 applicants for the job. 有500多人申请这份工作。
  • He was impressed by the high calibre of applicants for the job. 求职人员出色的能力给他留下了深刻印象。
10 plummeted 404bf193ceb01b9d9a620431e6efc540     
v.垂直落下,骤然跌落( plummet的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • Share prices plummeted to an all-time low. 股票价格暴跌到历史最低点。
  • A plane plummeted to earth. 一架飞机一头栽向地面。 来自《简明英汉词典》
11 plummet s2izN     
vi.(价格、水平等)骤然下跌;n.铅坠;重压物
参考例句:
  • Mengniu and Yili have seen their shares plummet since the incident broke.自事件发生以来,蒙牛和伊利的股票大幅下跌。
  • Even if rice prices were to plummet,other brakes on poverty alleviation remain.就算大米价格下跌,其它阻止导致贫困的因素仍然存在。
12 elite CqzxN     
n.精英阶层;实力集团;adj.杰出的,卓越的
参考例句:
  • The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
  • We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。
13 inviting CqIzNp     
adj.诱人的,引人注目的
参考例句:
  • An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
  • The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人,使人感到亲切温馨。
14 calculus Is9zM     
n.微积分;结石
参考例句:
  • This is a problem where calculus won't help at all.对于这一题,微积分一点也用不上。
  • After studying differential calculus you will be able to solve these mathematical problems.学了微积分之后,你们就能够解这些数学题了。
15 flora 4j7x1     
n.(某一地区的)植物群
参考例句:
  • The subtropical island has a remarkably rich native flora.这个亚热带岛屿有相当丰富的乡土植物种类。
  • All flora need water and light.一切草木都需要水和阳光。
16 discriminates 6e196af54d58787174643156dbf5a037     
分别,辨别,区分( discriminate的第三人称单数 ); 歧视,有差别地对待
参考例句:
  • The new law discriminates against lower-paid workers. 这条新法律歧视低工资的工人。
  • One test governs state legislation that discriminates against interstate commerce. 一个检验约束歧视州际商业的州立法。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
17 abides 99cf2c7a9b85e3f7c0e5e7277a208eec     
容忍( abide的第三人称单数 ); 等候; 逗留; 停留
参考例句:
  • He abides by his friends. 他忠于朋友。
  • He always abides by the law. 他素来守法。
18 strictly GtNwe     
adv.严厉地,严格地;严密地
参考例句:
  • His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
  • The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。
19 dealing NvjzWP     
n.经商方法,待人态度
参考例句:
  • This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
  • His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

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