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.
Many see friendships as a comfort blanket: a shoulder to cry on, a reliable soul to confide in. However, more often than not, in our eagerness to seek individual success, we lose friends along the way and that has become part of the process.
The chaos and never-ending turmoil that accompanies everyday life is an aggressive obstacle in the pursuit of stable friendships. As students, we use this excuse to shrug off losing people who we once thought to be loved ones.
Instead of viewing our lives as a race, where everyone is on their own path to some form of success, we must relearn to value the connections we make along the track. We must reevaluate the harm of radical, individual freedom.
Radical individualism elevates the freedom of the individual over the collective. It argues, for instance, that universal healthcare, an example of collectivism, threatened the dream of many Americans.
Many of us have fallen victim to an individualistic culture. Society tends to celebrate personal achievement and commend it based on the assumption that winning or succeeding is a consequence of working harder than the next person.
As a society, we idolize the concept of “losing friends on the road to success.” I remember hearing in high school, “Don’t worry about losing friendships, just focus on study and getting into college. That’s all that will matter in the long run,” a sentiment that is not unique to my experience. It’s preached in many success stories, and it’s embedded in the way we see growth. Motivational speakers will push their audience to be complacent to the inevitable end of losing friends. Spend too much time with friends? You’re losing time better utilized on your achievements. Invest time in your relationships? Invest time in your work instead.
This constant need to succeed has blinded us from seeing through the whirlwind of change that accompanies our everyday lives. We are expected to tangibly succeed, earn awards, get higher positions, earn better grades. In order to succeed, we lose friends, and that has sadly become normalized.
We cannot be complacent with losing friendships because they are our anchors. Yes, pursue success. Challenge yourself. Push limits. But contrary to all the self-proclaimed success experts, doing it alone does not make you more successful or any better than someone who achieved it with the help of others.
Put effort into fostering healthy relationships, and maintaining them through your busy schedule that seems like it leaves no time for anyone else. Although we may be living in a society that treasures the independent pursuit of achievement, having people to support and love you on the way is far more important than any end result.
Passage Two
Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.
During his acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize, Martin Luther King Jr. said, “I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality.”
More than five decades later, our society is still struggling to separate truth from fantasy, fact from fiction. From disputes over the climate change to debates about how slavery is taught, America is at a crossroads. And the battle for equity is at the heart of these vital conversations.
Study after study shows that inequity has had appalling consequences. A 2020 report by Citi indicated that “Black students could have increased their lifetime incomes $90-$113 billion” if equity issues related to higher education had been adequately addressed over the past two decades.
This statistic represents a flood of issues we’ve failed to confront as a nation. It also highlights one truth: We're missing out on valuable opportunities to bridge the differences that divide us. However, by honoring King’s legacy, we can get our country back on the path toward true equity.
Students — and adults for that matter — simply cannot understand the conflicts we have today without understanding what caused them in the first place. That means we have a responsibility to help them make connections between U.S. history and current events. It also means giving them the tools they need to address inequity and bias in their own lives. Adherence to these principles, along with a commitment to truthful dialogue, can help every student better appreciate how far we've come and more clearly see the roads we have yet to travel.
With more truthful analysis of the need for more qualified, diverse educators, we can improve our recruiting, training, and retention strategies for schools across the country.
Unfortunately, our deeply rooted divisions are delaying these advancements. A recent survey found that 77 percent of Americans believe the nation is “more divided than ever before”. But reports of increased polarization shouldn’t persuade us to look away from one another. Instead, they should compel us to address our shared issues head-on.
We are not, as some would suggest, living in a “post-racial society”. We simply cannot afford to keep our heads buried in the sand when it comes to racial inequity. Unless we get honest about intolerance, bias, and how these social diseases impact the ways we treat one another, injustice will continue to haunt us. But our children and our grandchildren deserve better.
On this Martin Luther King Day and beyond, let’s commit to working together to disrupt the status quo. Let’s continue to build a better, more inclusive nation; and in the words of Martin Luther King Jr., “A society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience.”
Answers & Explanations (答案与解析)
Passage One
46. D。解析：定位第一段。人们渴望追求个人成功时，“we lose friends along the way”（我们一路上失去了朋友）。选项 D “忽视与朋友的联系”符合此意。
47. A。解析：定位第三段末尾。“We must reevaluate the harm of radical, individual freedom.”（我们必须重新评估激进的个人自由的危害）。A选项 “Reexamine its detrimental effects”（重新审视其有害影响）是对原句的精准同义替换。
48. D。解析：定位第五段。社会赞美个人成就，其假设是“succeeding is a consequence of working harder than the next person”（成功是比别人更努力工作的结果）。D选项 “It reflects a person’s exceptional endeavor”（它反映了一个人卓越的努力）是对原句工作更努力的概括。
49. B。解析：定位第六段后半部分。许多成功故事中宣扬的是：“Invest time in your relationships? Invest time in your work instead.”（把时间投资在人际关系上？不如把时间投资在工作上）。选项 B “把时间投资在工作上而不是与朋友联系”符合。
50. B。解析：定位第八段。文中强调“We cannot be complacent with losing friendships because they are our anchors.”（我们不能对失去友谊习以为常，因为他们是我们的锚/支柱）。B选项 “没有人能承担忽视亲密朋友的代价”是对此的合理推断。
Passage Two
51. C。解析：定位第二段。美国社会仍在努力区分真相与幻想，“the battle for equity is at the heart of these vital conversations”（争取公平的战斗是这些重要对话的核心）。这表明在实现公平之前，美国还有很长的路要走，选C。
52. A。解析：定位第三段。报告指出，如果过去二十年中与高等教育相关的“equity issues”（公平问题）得到妥善解决，黑人学生的终生收入本可以增加千亿美元。这暗示他们在高等教育方面受到了不公平对待（unfairly treated）。
53. C。解析：定位第四段末尾。“by honoring King’s legacy, we can get our country back on the path toward true equity.”（通过纪念/践行金的遗产，我们可以让国家回到通往真正公平的道路上）。C选项“通过继续追求马丁·路德·金的事业”是正确答案。
54. D。解析：定位第七段。最近的调查显示，77%的美国人认为国家“more divided than ever before”（比以往任何时候都更加分裂）。D选项 “它变得越来越分裂 (increasingly split)”是对原句的同义转述。
55. B。解析：定位最后一段。“let’s commit to working together to disrupt the status quo. Let’s continue to build a better, more inclusive nation”（让我们致力于共同努力打破现状，继续建设一个更好、更具包容性的国家）。B选项 “共同努力解决国家的公平问题”符合这段的核心主旨。