阅读理解：
The Carnegie Foundation report says that many colleges have tried to be“all things to all people”. In doing so, they have increasingly catered to a narrow-minded careerism while failing to cultivate a global vision among their students. The current crisis, it contends, does not derive from a legitimate desire to put learning to productive ends. The problem is that in too many academic fields, the work has no context; skills, rather than being means, have become ends. Students are offered a variety of options and allowed to pick their way to a degree. In short, driven by careerism,“the nation’s colleges and universities are more successful in providing credentials(文凭)than in providing a quality education for their students.”The report concludes that the special challenge confronting the undergraduate college is one of shaping an“integrated core”of common learning. Such a core would introduce students“to essential knowledge, to connections across the disciplines, and in the end, to application of knowledge to life beyond the campus.”
Although the key to a good college is a high-quality faculty, the Carnegie study found that most colleges do very little to encourage good teaching. In fact, they do much to undermine it. As one professor observed：“Teaching is important, we are told, and yet faculty know that research and publication matter most.”Not surprisingly, over the last twenty years colleges and universities have failed to graduate half of their four-year degree candidates. Faculty members who dedicate themselves to teaching soon discover that they will not be granted tenure(终身任期), promotion, or substantial salary increases. Yet 70 percent of all faculty say their interests lie more in teaching than in research. Additionally, a frequent complaint among young scholars is that“There is pressure to publish, although there is virtually no interest among administrators or colleagues in the content of the publications.”
1．When a college tries to be“all things to all people”(lines 2, Para. I), it aims to_______.
A．satisfy the needs of all kinds of students simultaneously
B．focus on training students in various skills
C．encourage all sorts of people to attend college
D．make learning serve academic rather than productive ends
2．The word“core”(1st paragraph) might mean_______.
A．aim
B．unit
C．center
D．course
3．One of the reasons for the current crisis in American colleges and universities is that_______.
A．a narrow vocationalism has come to dominate many colleges
B．students don’t have enough freedom in choosing what they want to learn
C．skills are being taught as a means to an end
D．students are not interested in learning
4．American colleges and universities failed to graduate half of their four-year degree candidates because_______.
A．most of them lack high-quality faculties
B．students are becoming more and more lazy
C．there are not enough incentives for students to study hard
D．they attach greater importance to research and publication than to teaching
5．It can be inferred from the passage that high-quality college education calls for_______.
A．high-quality faculties
B．a commitment to students and effective teaching
C．the cultivation of students’ interest in learning
D．dedication to research in frontier areas of knowledge
答案与提示：
内容概要：本文讲述的是美国大学的教育危机。卡内基基金会的报告表明一种狭隘的职业教育观在大学里盛行。在大学里，培养学生的各种技能成为了教育的目的，而学生的综合素质教育却被忽视。大学提供很多选择便于学生拿到学位。还有，在大学里的教学人员往往不是出于兴趣，而是迫于压力，他们把重点放在了学术研究和文章的出版，而不是教学。
1．B[译文]当一所大学想成为所有学生的万能钥匙时，其目的是把教育重心放在了训练学生的各种技能上面。
提示：从第一段中，我们知道一种狭隘的职业教育观在大学里盛行，技能成了教育的最终目的。从此句“…skills, rather than being means, have become ends.”可知选项B符合题意。
2．C[译文]单词“core’的意思可能是什么？
提示：选项A是目的，目标；B是单位，单元；C是中心，核心；D是课程；依据文章，可知C合乎句意。
3．A[译文]目前美国大学产生危机的一个原因是一种狭隘的职业观在大学里盛行。
提示：从文章中第二句“…, they have increasingly catered to a narrow-minded careerism while failing to cultivate a global vision…”，可知选项A正确。
4．D[译文]美国大学里本科生人数的一半都不能毕业的原因是美国大学更看重学术研究和文章的发表，而不是教学。
提示：从最后一段中此句“Teaching is important, we are told, and yet faculty know that research and publication matter most.”可知，虽然被告知教学重要，但是老师们都清楚，最要紧的是研究和出版。然后文章紧接着说“毫不奇怪，过半人数的本科生不能毕业了。”
5．B[译文]从文章中可以推论出：高质量的大学教育既需要来自学生方面的努力，也需要来自教师的高效率教学。
提示：选项A高素质的教学人员，以及选项C培养学生学习的兴趣都不全面，选项D致力于学科前的研究也不对，因为在文章的最后一段中，作者实际上批判的就是大学里过分注重研究，忽视了教学。选项B是正确的。
