Part A: Reading Comprehension
Directions: Read the following text. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET. (40 points)
Text 1
The weather in Texas may have cooled since the recent extreme heat, but the temperature will be high at the State Board of Education meeting in Austin this month as officials debate how climate change is taught in Texas schools.
Pat Hardy, who sympathises with the views of the energy sector, is resisting proposed changes to science standards for pre-teen pupils. “There are as many scientists working against all the panic of global climate change as there are those who are pushing it,” she claims. “Texas is an energy state and we need to recognise that. You need to remember where your bread is buttered.”
Most scientists and experts sharply dispute Hardy’s views. Board members like her “casually dismiss the career work of scholars and scientists as just another misguided opinion,” says Dan Quinn, senior communications strategist at the Texas Freedom Network, a non-profit group that monitors public education.
Such debates reflect fierce discussions across the US, as researchers, policymakers, teachers and students step up demands for a greater focus on teaching about the facts of climate change in schools.
A study last year by the National Center for Science Education, a non-profit group of scientists and teachers, looking at how state public schools across the country address climate change in science classes, gave barely half of US states a grade B+ or higher. Among the 10 worst performers were some of the most populous states, including Texas, which was given the lowest grade (F) and has a disproportionate influence because its textbooks are widely sold elsewhere.
Glenn Branch, the centre’s deputy director, cautions that setting state-level science standards is only one limited benchmark in a country that decentralises decisions to local school boards. Even if a state is considered a high performer in its science standards, “that does not mean it will be taught,” he says.
Another issue is that while climate change is well integrated into some subjects and at some ages—such as earth and space sciences in high schools—it is not as well represented in curricula for younger children and in subjects that are more widely taught, such as biology and chemistry. It is also less prominent in many social studies courses.
Branch points out that, even if a growing number of official guidelines and textbooks reflect scientific consensus on climate change, unofficial educational materials that convey more slanted perspectives are being distributed to teachers. They include materials sponsored by energy industry associations.
21. In Paragraph 1, the weather in Texas is mentioned to
22. What does Quinn think of Hardy?
23. The study mentioned in Paragraph 5 shows that
24. According to Branch, state-level science standards in the US
25. It is implied in the last paragraph that climate change teaching in some schools
答案与解析 (Answers)
21. [C] indicate the atmosphere at the board meeting.
解析：第一段首句运用了天气与会议气氛的双关修辞：“得州的天气可能已经降温...但是本月州教育委员会会议上的温度（temperature will be high）将会很高”。这里的“温度高”是在比喻官员们关于气候变化教育的辩论非常激烈。因此提到天气是为了“表明委员会会议的氛围（indicate the atmosphere）”。
22. [B] She denies the value of scientific work.
解析：第三段中，Quinn 批评了像 Hardy 这样的委员会成员：“漫不经心地将学者和科学家的毕生工作（career work）摒弃为仅仅是另一种被误导的观点”。“摒弃科学家的毕生工作”也就是“否认科学工作的价值（denies the value of scientific work）”，选 B。
23. [A] climate education is insufficient at state public schools.
解析：第五段引用的研究表明，在全美公立学校应对气候变化的教学上，“勉强只有一半（barely half）”的州获得了B+或更高的成绩，而且像得州这样人口众多、影响力大的州更是获得了最低分F。这充分说明公立学校的气候教育是“不足的（insufficient）”。
24. [C] have limited influence.
解析：第六段中，Branch 警告说，州一级的科学标准仅仅是一个“有限的基准（limited benchmark）”，因为美国是将决定权下放给地方学校委员会的。即使一个州的科学标准很高，“这并不意味着它会被教授”。这表明州级标准在实际教学中的影响是有限的（have limited influence），选 C。
25. [D] can be swayed by external forces.
解析：最后一段指出，即使官方指南和教科书反映了科学共识，但“传达更多偏颇视角的非官方教育材料正在被分发给教师。它们包括由能源行业协会赞助的材料（sponsored by energy industry associations）”。能源行业协会属于“外部力量（external forces）”，它们通过提供材料来影响教学，说明气候变化教学容易被外部力量左右（be swayed）。
核心长难句精解 (Highlighted Sentences)
1. 双关与时间状语从句：
"The weather in Texas may have cooled since the recent extreme heat, but the temperature will be high at the State Board of Education meeting in Austin this month as officials debate how climate change is taught in Texas schools."
【解析】句中的 weather 和 temperature 构成了字面与引申的双关。as 引导时间状语从句，意为“当...时/随着”。在从句中，how 引导宾语从句作 debate 的宾语。
【翻译】得克萨斯州的天气在经历了最近的极端高温后可能已经转凉，但本月在奥斯汀举行的州教育委员会会议上，随着官员们辩论应如何在得州学校教授气候变化，会议气氛将会变得热烈（温度将会升高）。
"The weather in Texas may have cooled since the recent extreme heat, but the temperature will be high at the State Board of Education meeting in Austin this month as officials debate how climate change is taught in Texas schools."
【解析】句中的 weather 和 temperature 构成了字面与引申的双关。as 引导时间状语从句，意为“当...时/随着”。在从句中，how 引导宾语从句作 debate 的宾语。
【翻译】得克萨斯州的天气在经历了最近的极端高温后可能已经转凉，但本月在奥斯汀举行的州教育委员会会议上，随着官员们辩论应如何在得州学校教授气候变化，会议气氛将会变得热烈（温度将会升高）。
2. 复杂的比较结构：
"“There are as many scientists working against all the panic of global climate change as there are those who are pushing it,” she claims."
【解析】as many... as... 构成了同级比较。第一个 as 修饰 many scientists，working against... 是现在分词短语作后置定语。第二个 as 引出比较的对象，who are pushing it 是定语从句修饰 those。
【翻译】她声称：“致力于消除对全球气候变化恐慌的科学家，和那些推波助澜的科学家一样多。”
"“There are as many scientists working against all the panic of global climate change as there are those who are pushing it,” she claims."
【解析】as many... as... 构成了同级比较。第一个 as 修饰 many scientists，working against... 是现在分词短语作后置定语。第二个 as 引出比较的对象，who are pushing it 是定语从句修饰 those。
【翻译】她声称：“致力于消除对全球气候变化恐慌的科学家，和那些推波助澜的科学家一样多。”
3. 现在分词作定语与倒装结构：
"A study last year by the National Center for Science Education, a non-profit group of scientists and teachers, looking at how state public schools across the country address climate change in science classes, gave barely half of US states a grade B+ or higher. Among the 10 worst performers were some of the most populous states..."
【解析】第一句的主干是 A study... gave... a grade。looking at... 是现在分词短语作后置定语修饰 A study。第二句是完全倒装，表语 Among the 10 worst performers 置于句首，系动词 were 放在主语 some of the most populous states 之前，以示强调并承上启下。
【翻译】由科学家和教师组成的非营利组织“国家科学教育中心”去年进行了一项研究，考察全国各州的公立学校如何在科学课上应对气候变化，结果该研究给勉强一半的美国州评定了B+或更高的分数。在10个表现最差的州中，有一些是人口最多的州……
"A study last year by the National Center for Science Education, a non-profit group of scientists and teachers, looking at how state public schools across the country address climate change in science classes, gave barely half of US states a grade B+ or higher. Among the 10 worst performers were some of the most populous states..."
【解析】第一句的主干是 A study... gave... a grade。looking at... 是现在分词短语作后置定语修饰 A study。第二句是完全倒装，表语 Among the 10 worst performers 置于句首，系动词 were 放在主语 some of the most populous states 之前，以示强调并承上启下。
【翻译】由科学家和教师组成的非营利组织“国家科学教育中心”去年进行了一项研究，考察全国各州的公立学校如何在科学课上应对气候变化，结果该研究给勉强一半的美国州评定了B+或更高的分数。在10个表现最差的州中，有一些是人口最多的州……