Section B: Information Matching

Directions: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on your Answer Sheet.

No escape as “snow day” becomes “e-learning day”

[A] Certain institutions, such as schools are likely to close when bad weather, such as snow, flooding, or extreme heat or cold, causes travel difficulties, power outages or otherwise endangers public safety. When snowy weather arrives in the US, it means the chance of school children benefiting from the long-standing tradition of the “snow day”, when schools are forced to close and students get an unexpected day off.

[B] The criterion for a snow day is primarily the inability of school buses to operate safely on their routes and danger to children who walk to school. Often, the school remains officially open even though buses do not run and classes are canceled. Severe weather that causes cancellation or delay is more likely in regions that are less able to handle the situation. Snow days are less common in more northern areas of the United States that are used to heavy winter snowfall because municipalities are well equipped to clear roads and remove snow. In areas less accustomed to snow, even small snowfalls of an inch or two may render roads unsafe.

[C] Snow days are a familiar theme in American film and TV shows, with children getting the good news and then running outside for some seasonal snowman-building and snowball throwing, against a background of joyful pop music. But the tradition is now over for pupils in several US states such as South Carolina, Nevada, Georgia and Indiana. This academic year, many school boards have introduced policies which require students to work from home if the school is shut by snow or extreme weather. They are known as “e-learning days”, which certainly sounds less fun than a snow day.

[D] Teachers are also losing their snow days and instead will be expected to be on hand to take a virtual register and answer students' questions online. A pilot programme in a school district in Anderson County, South Carolina, has supplied students with electronic tablets loaded with assignments to complete in the event of a school closure. If it is successful, it could be rolled out across the state.

[E] But some parents object to the new policy if the vigorous debate on the Facebook page of Anderson County school district is anything to go by. “When it snows, let the kids enjoy it.” said one commenter. Another said the decision would “ruin school even more”, and someone else called snow days “a fun part of childhood”. But supporters of the policy say it means children will miss fewer days of school. It will also bring to an end a less popular US high school tradition: the “make-up day” which requires students in many states to make up the time lost due to weather by working during school holidays.

[F] Students in North Carolina already have several make-up days scheduled because of school closures during Hurricane Florence, which struck in September. Tom Wilson, the superintendent of Anderson County school district said the change away from snow days makes practical and financial sense. He said technology has changed every profession, so it makes sense to use it to “eliminate” make-up days. Adam Baker of the Department of Education in Indiana said e-learning days were proving a “great success”. He said most Indiana schools already use digital devices during lessons, so it was an “easy decision” to extend this to days when schools are closed. He denies the decision is depriving children of the chance to enjoy the snow. “Students are still able to enjoy snow days and outside time,” he said. “Many have PE and science assignments that have them out enjoying the weather.” But local school superintendents in Ohio are resisting proposals to adopt e-learning days. They fear that students without internet access at home will be disadvantaged by the policy, and superintendent Tom Roth is concerned that e-learning days will offer a lower quality of education.

[G] There are also so-called “blizzard bags”, with assignments that children take home ahead of an expected snow closure. But Mr. Roth says it is not sufficient as a replacement. “I think we still need the class time to give our kids the education that they deserve.” he said. “You can't get that with a blizzard bag or doing the work from home like that. It's not going to be as effective.”

[H] There is a long-running debate on whether missing days of school affects attainment. In England. there has been a focus on tackling absenteeism from school. The Department for Education (DFE) published research in 2016 arguing that missing any days at school could have a negative impact on results. Even a few days lost in a year could be enough to miss out on getting a good exam grade, the DFE's research concluded. This differed from the findings of a study from Harvard University in the US, which concluded that missing a few occasional days because of the weather did not damage learning.

[I] The Harvard study examined seven years of school results data and could not find any impact from snow closures. What caused more disruption was when schools tried to stay open in bad weather even though many staff and pupils were absent. But weather can make a difference to school results, according to another piece of Harvard research published last summer. It's hot weather that has the negative impact. The results of 10 million school students were examined over 13 years and researchers found a “significant” link between years with extremely hot weather and lower results.

[J] It's obvious that students should go to school every day to get the most out of education. In cases of extreme weather, students don't always have that option. However, research shows that authorised absences from school such as during extreme weather are less problematic for students than absences that are not authorised. This is because unauthorised absences tend to reflect patterns and behaviours of student disengagement or the possible negative attitudes of parents towards education that students adopt and carry with them through schooling. The level of impact on students' educational performance is all to do with the length of time that a student is absent from school and how regularly this occurs.

36. There is opposition to the practice of giving children assignments to take home before extreme weather forces a school closure.

37. New policies adopted by many US schools require students to do online learning at home in case of a school closure.

38. According to some research, extreme hot weather negatively affects students' performance.

39. There is a time-honoured tradition in the US for school kids to stay at home on “snow days”.

40. Debates on social media show some parents are opposed to ending the “snow day” tradition.

41. In more northern regions of the US, school is less likely to be affected by snowy weather.

42. Research indicates absences from school with permission do not cause as many problems as those without permission.

43. There is objection to e-learning days owing to fear that students with no access to the Internet at home will suffer.

44. In a pilot programme, students are given electronic devices to do assignments when schools are closed.

45. A long-standing debate is going on over the impact of school absences on students' academic performance.

Answers & Explanations

36. G。解析：题干中的 opposition to the practice of giving children assignments to take home（反对让孩子把作业带回家做的做法）对应 [G] 段。该段介绍了孩子在雪天停课前带回家做的 blizzard bags（暴风雪作业袋），并且 Roth 先生表示它不足以作为替代方案（not sufficient as a replacement），认为还是需要课堂时间（still need the class time），这表明了他对这种做法的反对（opposition）。

37. C。解析：题干中的 require students to do online learning at home（要求学生在家进行在线学习）对应 [C] 段的 require students to work from home if the school is shut... They are known as "e-learning days"（如果学校关闭，要求学生在家学习...它们被称为“电子学习日/网课日”）。

38. I。解析：题干中的 extreme hot weather negatively affects students' performance（极端高温天气对学生的表现有负面影响）对应 [I] 段的 It's hot weather that has the negative impact... a "significant" link between years with extremely hot weather and lower results（是炎热的天气产生了负面影响...极端炎热天气的年份与较低的成绩之间存在“显着”联系）。

39. A。解析：题干中的 time-honoured tradition... stay at home on "snow days"（在“下雪天”呆在家里的历史悠久的传统）对应 [A] 段的 benefiting from the long-standing tradition of the "snow day"（受益于“下雪天”这一由来已久的传统）。time-honoured 同义替换 long-standing。

40. E。解析：题干中的 Debates on social media show some parents are opposed...（社交媒体上的辩论表明一些父母反对...）对应 [E] 段的 some parents object to the new policy if the vigorous debate on the Facebook page... is anything to go by（如果在 Facebook 页面上的激烈辩论可以作为参考的话，一些家长反对这项新政策）。

41. B。解析：题干中的 more northern regions... less likely to be affected by snowy weather（在较北的地区...不太可能受到下雪天气的影响）对应 [B] 段的 Snow days are less common in more northern areas of the United States... because municipalities are well equipped to clear roads（在美国较北部的地区，下雪天不太常见...因为市政当局装备精良，可以清理道路）。

42. J。解析：题干中的 absences from school with permission do not cause as many problems as those without permission（经允许缺席学校不如未经允许缺席造成的问题多）对应 [J] 段的 authorised absences from school... are less problematic for students than absences that are not authorised（经授权的缺席...对学生来说比未经授权的缺席造成的问题少）。

43. F。解析：题干中的 objection / fear that students with no access to the Internet at home will suffer（反对/担心家里没有互联网连接的学生会受苦）对应 [F] 段末尾的 resisting proposals / fear that students without internet access at home will be disadvantaged（抵制提案/担心家里没有互联网连接的学生会处于劣势）。

44. D。解析：题干中的 pilot programme, students are given electronic devices（在试点项目中，学生会获得电子设备）对应 [D] 段的 A pilot programme... has supplied students with electronic tablets loaded with assignments（一项试点计划...为学生提供了装有作业的电子平板电脑）。

45. H。解析：题干中的 long-standing debate... over the impact of school absences on students' academic performance（关于学校缺勤对学生学业成绩影响的长期辩论）对应 [H] 段首句 There is a long-running debate on whether missing days of school affects attainment（关于旷课是否影响成绩存在长期争论）。long-standing 同义替换 long-running，academic performance 同义替换 attainment。

核心搭配与高分句型

【核心搭配与高频短语】

• endanger public safety：危及公共安全（otherwise endangers public safety）
• long-standing tradition：历史悠久/由来已久的传统（the long-standing tradition of the "snow day"）
• be accustomed to：习惯于（areas less accustomed to snow）
• roll out：推出，开展（计划等）（it could be rolled out across the state）
• if... is anything to go by：如果...可以作为参考/依据的话（if the vigorous debate... is anything to go by）
• deprive sb. of sth.：剥夺某人某物（denies the decision is depriving children of the chance）
• tackle absenteeism：解决/应对旷课问题（a focus on tackling absenteeism from school）
• get the most out of：充分利用，从...中获得最大收益（get the most out of education）

【亮点句型解析】

• With 复合结构 (with + 名词 + 现在分词)：
  "Snow days are a familiar theme..., with children getting the good news and then running outside for some seasonal snowman-building..."
  （下雪天是一个熟悉的主题...孩子们听到好消息，然后跑到外面堆雪人...）`with` 引导的独立主格结构作伴随状语，生动地描绘了下雪天孩子们玩耍的鲜活画面，在四六级写作中用来描写场景非常地道。
• It's... that... (强调句型)：
  "It's hot weather that has the negative impact."
  （是炎热的天气产生了负面影响。）使用强调句型来突出 `hot weather` 这个意想不到的因素（一般人以为是坏天气如暴风雪影响成绩），极大地增强了语言的表现力和反差感。