Section C: Reading Comprehension
Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.
Passage One
Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.
Nationally, one in six children miss 15 or more days of school in a year. Education officials have deplored all this missed instruction.
These chronically absent students suffer academically because of all the classroom instruction they miss out on. In 2015, the U.S. secretary of education responded to this crisis urging communities to support every student to attend every day and be successful in school. His open letter stated that missing 10% of school days in a year for any reason — excused or unexcused — is a primary cause of low academic achievement.
Worrying about whether children attend school makes sense. After all, if students don’t show up, teachers can’t teach them.
But what if America’s attendance crisis is about much more than students missing class? What if instead, it is a reflection of family and community crises these students face — such as being ejected from the family apartment, fearing for their safety in their neighborhood or suffering an illness?
As social scientists we investigated how excused and unexcused absences relate to children’s academic achievement. We find that absences excused by a parent do little to harm children’s learning. In fact, children with no unexcused absences — but 15 to 18 excused absences — have test scores equal to their peers who have no absences.
Meanwhile, the average child with even just one unexcused absence does much worse academically than peers with none. We believe unexcused absence is a strong signal of the many challenges children and families face, including economic and medical hardships. Unexcused absences can be a powerful signal of how those out-of-school challenges affect children’s academic progress.
Our evidence suggests unexcused absences are problematic, but for a different reason than people often think. Absence from school and especially unexcused absence, matters mainly as a signal of many crises children and their families may be facing. It matters less as a cause of lower student achievement due to missed instruction.
How we choose to think of school absences matters for educational policy. School attendance policies typically hold schools and families accountable for the days children miss, regardless of whether they were excused or unexcused absences. These policies assume that missing school for any reason harms children academically because they are missing classroom instruction. They also assume that schools will be able to effectively intervene by reducing student absences. We find neither to be the case.
As a result, these attendance policies end up disproportionately punishing families dealing with out-of-school crises in their lives and pressuring schools who serve them to get students to school more often.
We instead suggest using unexcused absence from school as a signal to channel resources to the children and families who need them most.
Passage Two
Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.
After earning a bachelor’s degree, I was determined to do what I love. I headed straight to graduate school to investigate the social problems that fascinated me.
For almost a decade, I told everyone I encountered that they should do the same. “Follow your passion,” I counseled. “You can figure out the employment stuff later.”
It wasn’t until I began to research this widely accepted career advice that I understood how problematic it really was. As a sociologist I interviewed college students and professional workers to learn what it really meant to pursue their dreams, which I will refer to here as the passion principle. I was stunned by what I found out about this principle in the research for my new book.
Surveys show the American public has long held the passion principle in high regard as a career decision-making priority. And its popularity is even stronger among those facing job instability.
Advocates of the passion principle found it compelling because they believed that following one’s passion can provide workers with both the motivation necessary to work hard and a place to find fulfillment.
Yet, what I found is that following one’s passion does not necessarily lead to fulfillment, but is one of the most powerful cultural forces perpetuating overwork. I also found that promoting the pursuit of one’s passion helps perpetuate social inequalities due to the fact that not everyone has the same economic resources to allow them to pursue their passion with ease.
While the passion principle is broadly popular, not everyone has the necessary resources to turn their passion into a stable, good-paying job. Passion-seekers from wealthy families are better able to wait until a job they are passionate about comes along without worrying about student loans in the meantime. They are also better situated to take unpaid internships to get their foot in the door while their parents pay their rent. And they often have access to parents’ social networks to help them find jobs. Surveys revealed that working-class and first-generation college graduates, regardless of their career field, are more likely than their wealthier peers to end up in low-paying unskilled jobs when they pursue their passion.
Colleges, workplaces and career counselors who promote the “follow your passion” path for everyone, without leveling the playing field, help perpetuate socioeconomic inequalities among career aspirants.
It’s not just well-off passion-seekers who benefit from the passion principle. Employers of passionate workers do, too. Potential employers showed greater interest in passionate applicants in part because they believed the applicants would work hard at their jobs without expecting an increase in pay. They even sacrifice a good salary, job stability and leisure time to work in a job they love.
Answers & Explanations (答案与解析)
Passage One
46. C。解析：题干问美国教育部长在他的公开信中说了什么。定位至第二段最后一句：“His open letter stated that missing 10% of school days in a year for any reason... is a primary cause of low academic achievement.”（他的公开信指出，一年中无论以何种原因缺课10%……是学业成绩低下的主要原因）。选项C“低学业成绩主要归因于缺勤”是对原句的精准同义转述。
47. A。解析：题干问作者对缺勤的发现是什么。定位至第五段第二句：“We find that absences excused by a parent do little to harm children’s learning.”（我们发现，由父母请假的缺勤对孩子的学习几乎没有损害）。选项A“准假的缺勤对孩子的学习影响很小”完美契合。
48. B。解析：题干问作者关于无故缺勤的看法。定位至第六段及第七段：“We believe unexcused absence is a strong signal of the many challenges children and families face... matters mainly as a signal of many crises children and their families may be facing.”（我们认为无故缺勤是儿童和家庭面临的许多挑战的强烈信号……主要作为儿童及其家庭可能面临的许多危机的信号而重要）。选项B“它们直接指向了儿童及其家庭面临的许多校外挑战”符合文章观点。
49. B。解析：题干问美国教育政策的潜在假设是什么。定位至第八段倒数第二句：“They also assume that schools will be able to effectively intervene by reducing student absences.”（他们还假设学校将能够通过减少学生缺勤来进行有效干预）。选项B“学校可以通过有效的干预来提升学生的学习成绩”符合这一假设逻辑（即减少缺勤=有效干预=成绩提升）。
50. C。解析：题干问关于缺勤，作者建议做什么。定位至文章最后一段：“We instead suggest using unexcused absence from school as a signal to channel resources to the children and families who need them most.”（相反，我们建议利用无故旷课作为一个信号，将资源引导给最需要它们的儿童和家庭）。选项C“引导资源去帮助有需要的儿童”是对这句话的完美概括。
Passage Two
51. D。解析：题干问作者在近十年的时间里建议人们做什么。定位至第二段：“For almost a decade... ‘Follow your passion,’ I counseled.”（近十年来……我建议道，‘追随你的激情’）。选项D的 "zealous for" (热衷于/充满激情) 是 "passion" 的同义词，"Do whatever they are zealous for" (做他们热衷的任何事) 完美替换了原句。
52. A。解析：题干问作者通过研究对“激情原则”感觉如何。定位至第三段末尾：“I was stunned by what I found out about this principle...” (我对我在这项原则的研究所发现的结果感到震惊)。"stunned" 对应 A 选项中的 "astonished"，"what I found out" 对应 "consequences"。因此选A。
53. D。解析：题干问把激情变成稳定、高薪工作的重要因素是什么。定位至第七段，文章指出富裕家庭的求职者能“wait until a job... without worrying about student loans” (无需担心助学贷款)，且父母能“pay their rent” (付房租) 以及提供“social networks” (社交网络/人脉)。这说明 D 选项 "Financial backing and social connections" (资金支持和社交人脉) 是关键。
54. C。解析：题干问当每个人都被鼓励去追随激情时会发生什么。定位至第八段：“Colleges, workplaces and career counselors who promote the ‘follow your passion’ path for everyone... help perpetuate socioeconomic inequalities...” (为所有人推广“追随激情”道路的大学、工作场所以及职业顾问……有助于使社会经济不平等永久化)。选项C "Socioeconomic inequality is likely to persist" (社会经济不平等可能会持续) 是原句的同义转述。
55. B。解析：题干问作者关于有激情员工的雇主说了什么。定位至最后一段，文章指出雇主对有激情的申请人感兴趣是因为他们认为这些申请人“would work hard at their jobs without expecting an increase in pay. They even sacrifice a good salary... to work in a job they love” (会努力工作而不期望加薪，他们甚至牺牲高薪……来做一份自己热爱的工作)。这表明雇主在利用 (exploit) 员工的激情来使自己受益 (benefit themselves)。选项B符合。
核心搭配与高分句型
【核心搭配与高频短语】
miss out on：错过（机会等）（all the classroom instruction they miss out on）
make sense：有道理，说得通（Worrying about... makes sense.）
hold accountable for：让...对...负责（hold schools and families accountable for the days children miss）
end up：最终成为，最后处于（end up disproportionately punishing families）
figure out：弄清楚，解决（You can figure out the employment stuff later.）
in high regard：高度评价，尊重（held the passion principle in high regard）
get one's foot in the door：迈进门槛，获得立足点（take unpaid internships to get their foot in the door）
level the playing field：创造公平的竞争环境（without leveling the playing field）
【亮点句型解析】
What if 引导的虚拟/假设反问句：
"But what if America’s attendance crisis is about much more than students missing class? What if instead, it is a reflection of family and community crises these students face...?"
（但是，如果美国的出勤危机远不止是学生旷课那么简单呢？如果相反，这是这些学生面临的家庭和社区危机的反映呢……？）这种连续的 `What if` 反问句打破了常规思维，非常强烈地引出了作者的独到见解，极具思辨色彩。
"But what if America’s attendance crisis is about much more than students missing class? What if instead, it is a reflection of family and community crises these students face...?"
（但是，如果美国的出勤危机远不止是学生旷课那么简单呢？如果相反，这是这些学生面临的家庭和社区危机的反映呢……？）这种连续的 `What if` 反问句打破了常规思维，非常强烈地引出了作者的独到见解，极具思辨色彩。
It was not until... that... 强调句型：
"It wasn’t until I began to research this widely accepted career advice that I understood how problematic it really was."
（直到我开始研究这个被广泛接受的职业建议，我才明白它到底有多大的问题。）这是一个非常经典且高级的强调句型，用来强调某事发生的时间点或转折点，写作中极易拿高分。
"It wasn’t until I began to research this widely accepted career advice that I understood how problematic it really was."
（直到我开始研究这个被广泛接受的职业建议，我才明白它到底有多大的问题。）这是一个非常经典且高级的强调句型，用来强调某事发生的时间点或转折点，写作中极易拿高分。
Not necessarily... but... 结构：
"Yet, what I found is that following one’s passion does not necessarily lead to fulfillment, but is one of the most powerful cultural forces perpetuating overwork."
（然而，我发现的是，追随自己的激情并不一定会带来成就感，反而是使过度工作长存的最强大的文化力量之一。） `does not necessarily` (不一定) 使得语气客观严谨，随后的 `but` 形成强烈反差，深刻揭示了事物的本质。
"Yet, what I found is that following one’s passion does not necessarily lead to fulfillment, but is one of the most powerful cultural forces perpetuating overwork."
（然而，我发现的是，追随自己的激情并不一定会带来成就感，反而是使过度工作长存的最强大的文化力量之一。） `does not necessarily` (不一定) 使得语气客观严谨，随后的 `but` 形成强烈反差，深刻揭示了事物的本质。