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 4

Scientific papers are the recordkeepers of progress in research. Each year researchers publish millions of papers in more than 30000 journals. The scientific community measures the quality of those papers in a number of ways, including the perceived quality of the journal (as reflected by the title’s impact factor) and the number of citations a specific paper accumulates. The careers of scientists and the reputation of their institutions depend on the number and prestige of the papers they produce, but even more so on the citations attracted by these papers.

Citation cartels, where journals, authors, and institutions conspire to inflate citation numbers, have existed for a long time. In 2016, researchers developed an algorithm to recognize suspicious citation patterns, including groups of authors that disproportionately cite one another and groups of journals that cite each other frequently to increase the impact factors of their publications. Recently, another expression of this predatory behavior has emerged: so-called support service consultancies that provide language and other editorial support to individual authors and to journals sometimes advise contributors to add a number of citations to their articles.

The advent of electronic publishing and authors’ need to find outlets for their papers resulted in thousands of new journals. The birth of predatory journals wasn’t far behind. These journals can act as milk cows where every single article in an issue may cite a specific paper or a series of papers. In some instances, there is absolutely no relationship between the content of the article and the citations. The peculiar part is that the journal that the editor is supposedly working for is not profiting at all — it is just providing citations to other journals. Such practices can lead an article to accrue more than 150 citations in the same year that it was published.

How insidious is this type of citation manipulation? In one example, an individual — acting as author, editor, and consultant — was able to use at least 15 journals as citation providers to articles published by five scientists at three universities. The problem is rampant in Scopus, a citation database, which includes a high number of the new “international” journals. In fact, a listing in Scopus seems to be a criterion to be targeted in this type of citation manipulation.

Scopus itself has all the data necessary to detect this malpractice. Red flags include a large number of citations to an article within the first year. And for authors who wish to steer clear of citation cartel activities: when an editor, a reviewer, or a support service asks you to add inappropriate references, do not oblige and do report the request to the journal.

36. According to Paragraph 1, the careers of scientists can be determined by

[A]

how many citations their works contain. 

[B]

how many times their papers are cited. 

[C]

the prestige of the people they work with. 

[D]

the status they have in scientific circles. 

37. The support service consultancies tend to

[A]

recommend journals to their clients. 

[B]

list citation patterns for their clients. 

[C]

ask authors to include extra citations. 

[D]

advise contributors to cite each other. 

38. The function of the “milk cow” journals is to

[A]

boost citation counts for certain authors. 

[B]

help scholars publish articles at low cost. 

[C]

instruct first-time contributors in citation. 

[D]

increase the readership of new journals. 

39. What can be learned about Scopus from the last two paragraphs?

[A]

It fosters competition among citation providers. 

[B]

It has the capability to identify suspicious citations. 

[C]

It hinders the growth of “international” journals. 

[D]

It is established to prevent citation manipulation. 

40. What should an author do to deal with citation manipulators?

[A]

Take legal action. 

[B]

Demand an apology. 

[C]

Seek professional advice. 

[D]

Reveal their misconduct. 

答案与解析 (Answers)

36. [B] how many times their papers are cited.
解析：第一段最后一句明确指出：科学家的职业生涯和其机构的声誉取决于他们产出论文的数量和威望，“更取决于这些论文吸引的引用量（even more so on the citations attracted by these papers）”。选项B“他们的论文被引用的次数”是原文的精确同义替换。

37. [C] ask authors to include extra citations.
解析：第二段最后一句指出，所谓的提供编辑支持的服务咨询公司“有时会建议投稿人在他们的文章中增加一定数量的引文（advise contributors to add a number of citations to their articles）”。这与选项C“要求作者包含额外的引文”意思完全一致。

38. [A] boost citation counts for certain authors.
解析：第三段提到，掠夺性期刊可以充当“摇钱树（milk cows）”，在这些期刊中，“一期中的每一篇文章都可能引用特定的一篇论文或一系列论文”。其奇怪之处在于这些期刊本身不获利，“只是为其他期刊提供引文”。通过这种做法，一篇文章在发表当年就能积累超过150次引用。因此，“摇钱树”期刊的作用就是“为特定作者提升引用量（boost citation counts for certain authors）”。

39. [B] It has the capability to identify suspicious citations.
解析：最后两段提到这个问题在引文数据库 Scopus 中很猖獗。但第五段首句强调：“Scopus 本身拥有检测这种不当行为所需的所有数据（Scopus itself has all the data necessary to detect this malpractice）”。这说明 Scopus 是“有能力识别可疑引文的（has the capability to identify suspicious citations）”。

40. [D] Reveal their misconduct.
解析：最后一段末尾给出了针对想要避开引文卡特尔活动的作者的建议：“当编辑、审稿人或支持服务要求你添加不适当的参考文献时，不要顺从，并且一定要向期刊报告这一要求（do not oblige and do report the request to the journal）”。“报告要求（举报）”也就是选项D的“揭露他们的不当行为（Reveal their misconduct）”。

核心长难句精解 (Highlighted Sentences)

1. 非限制性定语从句与同位语：
"Citation cartels, where journals, authors, and institutions conspire to inflate citation numbers, have existed for a long time."
【解析】where 引导非限制性定语从句，解释说明“引文卡特尔”的具体运作模式（期刊、作者和机构共谋夸大引用数量）。主干是 Citation cartels have existed for a long time。
【翻译】引文卡特尔——即期刊、作者和机构共谋来夸大引用数量的垄断联盟——已经存在很长一段时间了。

2. 冒号解释与定语从句嵌套：
"Recently, another expression of this predatory behavior has emerged: so-called support service consultancies that provide language and other editorial support to individual authors and to journals sometimes advise contributors to add a number of citations to their articles."
【解析】冒号后是对 another expression 的具体解释。其主干是 support service consultancies... advise contributors to add...。其中 that 引导定语从句修饰 consultancies，说明了这些咨询公司的表面业务（提供语言和编辑支持）。
【翻译】最近，这种掠夺性行为的另一种表现形式出现了：那些为个体作者和期刊提供语言及其他编辑支持的所谓“支持服务咨询公司”，有时会建议投稿人在他们的文章中增加一定数量的引用。

3. 表语从句与定语从句嵌套：
"The peculiar part is that the journal that the editor is supposedly working for is not profiting at all — it is just providing citations to other journals."
【解析】第一个 that 引导表语从句，说明“奇怪的部分”是什么。在表语从句中，主语是 the journal，后面的第二个 that 引导定语从句修饰 the journal。破折号后是对前文的进一步解释。
【翻译】奇怪的地方在于，编辑理应为其工作的那个期刊根本没有盈利——它只是在向其他期刊提供引文。