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

Educators and business leaders have more in common than it may seem. Teachers want to prepare students for a successful future. Technology companies have an interest in developing a workforce with the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) skills needed to grow the company and advance the industry. How can they work together to achieve these goals? Play may be the answer.

Focusing on STEM skills is important, but the reality is that STEM skills are enhanced and more relevant when combined with traditional, hands-on creative activities. This combination is proving to be the best way to prepare today's children to be the makers and builders of tomorrow. That is why technology companies are partnering with educators to bring back good, old-fashioned play.

In fact many experts argue that the most important 21st-century skills aren't related to specific technologies or subject matter, but to creativity; skills like imagination, problem-finding and problem-solving, teamwork, optimism, patience and the ability to experiment and take risks. These are skills acquired when kids tinker. High-tech industries such as NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have found that their best overall problem solvers were master tinkerers in their youth.

There are cognitive benefits of doing things the way we did as children—building something, tearing it down, then building it up again. Research shows that given 15 minutes of free play, four- and five-year-olds will spend a third of this time engaged in spatial, mathematical, and architectural activities. This type of play—especially with building blocks—helps children discover and develop key principles in math and geometry.

If play and building are critical to 21st-century skill development, that's really good news for two reasons: Children are born builders, makers, and creators, so fostering 21st-century skills may be as simple as giving kids room to play, tinker and try things out, even as they grow older. Secondly, it doesn't take 21st-century technology to foster 21st-century skills. This is especially important for under-resourced schools and communities. Taking whatever materials are handy and tinkering with them is a simple way to engage those important “maker” skills. And anyone, anywhere, can do it.

46. What does the author say about educators?

A) They seek advice from technology companies to achieve teaching goals.

B) They have been successful in preparing the workforce for companies.

C) They help students acquire the skills needed for their future success.

D) They partner with technology companies to enhance teaching efficiency.

47. How can educators better develop students' STEM skills, according to the author?

A) By blending them with traditional, stimulating activities.

B) By inviting business leaders to help design curriculums.

C) By enhancing students' ability to think in a critical way.

D) By showing students the best way to learn is through play.

48. How do children acquire the skills needed for the 21st century?

A) By engaging in activities involving specific technologies.

B) By playing with things to solve problems on their own.

C) By familiarizing themselves with high-tech gadgets.

D) By mastering basic principles through teamwork.

49. What can we do to help children learn the basics of math and geometry?

A) Stimulate their interest as early as possible.

B) Spend more time playing games with them.

C) Encourage them to make things with hands.

D) Allow them to tinker freely with calculators.

50. What does the author advise disadvantaged schools and communities to do?

A) Train students to be makers to meet future market demands.

B) Develop students' creative skills with the resources available.

C) Engage students with challenging tasks to foster their creativity.

D) Work together with companies to improve their teaching facilities.

Passage Two

Being an information technology, or IT, worker is not a job I envy. They are the ones who, right in the middle of a critical meeting, are expected to instantly fix the projector that's no longer working. They have to tolerate the bad tempers of colleagues frustrated at the number of times they've had to call the help desk for the same issue. They are also the ones who know there are systems that are more powerful, reliable and faster, but their employer simply will not put up the funds to buy them.

According to a recent survey, employees who have a job reliant on IT support consider IT a major source of job dissatisfaction. Through no fault of their own, they can suddenly find their productivity deteriorating or quality control non-existent. And there's little they can do about it.

The experience of using IT penetrates almost the entire work field. It has become a crucial part of employees' overall work experience. When IT is operating as it should, employee self-confidence swells. Their job satisfaction, too, can surge when well-functioning machines relieve them of dull tasks or repetitive processes. But if there's one thing that triggers widespread employee frustration, it's an IT transformation project gone wrong, where swollen expectations have been popped and a long list of promised efficiencies have been reversed. This occurs when business leaders implement IT initiatives with little consideration of how those changes will impact the end user.

Which is why managers should appreciate just how influential the IT user experience is to their employees, and exert substantial effort in ensuring their IT team eliminates programming errors and application crashes. Adequate and timely IT support should also be available to enable users to cope with technological issues at work. More importantly, IT practitioners need to understand what employees experience mentally when they use IT.

Therefore, businesses need to set up their IT infrastructure so that it is designed to fit in with their employees' work, rather than adjust their work to fit in with the company's IT limitations.

51. What does the author say about working in IT?

A) It is envied by many.

B) It does not appeal to him.

C) It is financially rewarding.

D) It does not match his abilities.

52. What is the finding of a recent survey on employees who have a job reliant on IT support?

A) IT helps boost productivity.

B) IT helps improve quality control.

C) Many employees are deeply frustrated by IT.

D) Most employees rely heavily on IT in their work.

53. What is said to happen when IT is functioning properly?

A) There is a big boost in employees' work efficiency.

B) Employees become more dependent on machines.

C) There are no longer any boring or repetitive tasks.

D) Employees become more confident in their work.

54. What should business leaders do before implementing new IT initiatives?

A) Consider the various expectations of their customers.

B) Draw up a list of the efficiencies to be promised.

C) Assess the swollen cost of training the employees.

D) Think about the possible effects on their employees.

55. How can a business help improve its employees' experience in using IT?

A) By designing systems that suit their needs.

B) By ensuring that their mental health is sound.

C) By adjusting their work to suit the IT system.

D) By offering them regular in-service training.

Answers & Explanations

Passage One: The Power of Play in STEM

46. C。解析：题干问作者怎么评价教育工作者。第一段第二句指出：Teachers want to prepare students for a successful future（老师们希望为学生成功的未来做好准备），对应 C 选项 (They help students acquire the skills needed for their future success)。

47. A。解析：题干问根据作者，教育者如何更好地培养学生的STEM技能。第二段第一句指出：STEM skills are enhanced and more relevant when combined with traditional, hands-on creative activities（当与传统的、动手的创造性活动相结合时，STEM技能会得到加强并变得更相关），对应 A 选项 (By blending them with traditional, stimulating activities)。

48. B。解析：题干问孩子们如何获得21世纪所需的技能。第三段指出这些技能包括想象力、发现和解决问题的能力等，并强调：These are skills acquired when kids tinker（这些是孩子们在“捣鼓/修补”时获得的技能），对应 B 选项 (By playing with things to solve problems on their own)。

49. C。解析：题干问我们能做些什么来帮助孩子学习数学和几何的基础知识。第四段末尾指出：This type of play—especially with building blocks—helps children discover and develop key principles in math and geometry（这种类型的玩耍——特别是玩积木——帮助孩子发现和发展数学和几何的关键原理），积木属于动手制作，对应 C 选项 (Encourage them to make things with hands)。

50. B。解析：题干问作者对弱势（资源匮乏的）学校和社区有什么建议。最后一段指出：Taking whatever materials are handy and tinkering with them is a simple way to engage those important “maker” skills（拿任何手边能拿到的材料进行修补/捣鼓，是培养这些重要的“创客”技能的简单方法），对应 B 选项 (Develop students' creative skills with the resources available 利用现有的资源发展学生的创造性技能)。

Passage Two: The IT User Experience

51. B。解析：题干问作者对从事IT工作有什么看法。文章首句指出：Being an information technology, or IT, worker is not a job I envy（做一名信息技术(IT)工作者并不是我羡慕的工作），对应 B 选项 (It does not appeal to him 它对他没有吸引力)。

52. C。解析：题干问最近一项关于依赖IT支持的员工的调查发现了什么。第二段指出：employees who have a job reliant on IT support consider IT a major source of job dissatisfaction... they can suddenly find their productivity deteriorating（依赖IT支持的员工认为IT是工作不满意的主要原因...生产力恶化），说明他们感到受挫，对应 C 选项 (Many employees are deeply frustrated by IT 很多员工对IT感到非常沮丧)。

53. D。解析：题干问当IT运行良好时会发生什么。第三段中间指出：When IT is operating as it should, employee self-confidence swells（当IT正常运行时，员工的自信心会增强），对应 D 选项 (Employees become more confident in their work)。

54. D。解析：题干问在实施新的IT举措之前，企业领导人应该做什么。第三段最后指出，IT转型失败 triggers widespread employee frustration（引发普遍的员工挫败感），发生的原因是 business leaders implement IT initiatives with little consideration of how those changes will impact the end user（商业领袖实施IT举措时，很少考虑这些变化将如何影响最终用户），所以反过来他们需要考虑这些影响，对应 D 选项 (Think about the possible effects on their employees 考虑对员工可能产生的影响)。

55. A。解析：题干问企业如何帮助改善员工使用IT的体验。最后一段得出结论：businesses need to set up their IT infrastructure so that it is designed to fit in with their employees' work（企业需要建立他们的IT基础设施，使其被设计来适应员工的工作），对应 A 选项 (By designing systems that suit their needs 设计适合他们需求的系统)。

核心搭配与高分句型

【核心搭配与高频短语】

• have... in common：在...方面有共同点
• combine with：与...结合
• subject matter：主题，题材
• tear down：拆毁，拆除（tearing it down, then building it up again）
• try things out：尝试，试验（try things out, even as they grow older）
• be reliant on：依赖于（have a job reliant on IT support）
• through no fault of one's own：不是某人自己的过错
• gone wrong：出错，出问题（an IT transformation project gone wrong）
• cope with：应对，处理（cope with technological issues at work）
• fit in with：适应，与...一致（designed to fit in with their employees' work）

【亮点句型解析】

• not... but... 句型（强调转折与重点）：
  "In fact many experts argue that the most important 21st-century skills aren't related to specific technologies or subject matter, but to creativity..."
  （事实上，许多专家认为，最重要的21世纪技能与特定技术或主题无关，而是与创造力有关...）在四级写作中，使用 `not... but...` 结构可以非常清晰地突出你想要强调的观点，形成强烈的对比效果。
• rather than 引导的平行结构对比：
  "...businesses need to set up their IT infrastructure so that it is designed to fit in with their employees' work, rather than adjust their work to fit in with the company's IT limitations."
  （...企业需要建立其IT基础设施，使其设计符合员工的工作，而不是调整他们的工作以适应公司的IT局限。）`rather than` 连接两个平行的动词短语 `fit in with...` 和 `adjust... to...`，逻辑极其严密，是英语高分作文常用的思辨句型。