2020考研英語閱讀理解精讀100篇：Unit 21

Unit 21

As colleges and universities send another wave of graduates out into the world this spring, thousands of other job seekers with liberal-arts degrees like Martin’s find themselves in a similar bind. True enough, this is an era of record-breaking lows in unemployment. But technology companies, which are contributing the lion’s share of new jobs, are simultaneously declaring a shortage of qualified workers. The emphasis is on the word qualified.

It’s no surprise that high-tech companies rarely hire liberal-arts graduates. “Our p.r. people, our marketers, even our attorneys have technical talent,” says Tracy Koon, director of corporate affairs at Intel. The need for technical expertise is so pervasive that even retailers are demanding such skills. “Company-wide, we’re looking for students with specific information-systems skills,” says David McDearmon, director of field human resources at Dollar Tree Stores. “Typically we shy away from independent-college students who don’t have them.”

Fortunately for Martin, some invaluable help was at hand when he needed it. The Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges, a network of 15 liberal-arts colleges in the state, has teamed up with local companies to bridge the learning gap faced by its members’ graduates. VFIC invited 30 companies, including First Union and Electronic Data Systems, to link the needs of businesses with the skills being taught in college classrooms. With grants from corporate sponsors like AT&T, VFIC asked 20 information-technology managers to help its members create an exam, based on the work students will be expected to do in the real world, to test and certify their technological proficiency.

The result, Tek.Xam, is an eight-part test that requires students to design a website, build and analyze spreadsheets, research problems on the Internet and demonstrate understanding of legal and ethical issues. Says Linda Dalch, president of VFIC: “If an art-history major wants a job at a bank, he needs to prove he has the skills. That’s where this credential can help.” This year 245 students at VFIC’s member colleges have gone through the program. The long-term hope is that Tek.Xam will win the same kind of acceptance as the LSAT or CPA for law or accounting students. “To know a student has taken the initiative and passed could mean that less training is needed,” explains John Rudin, chief information officer at Reynolds Metals, one of the corporations that helped create the test.

All this begs an important question: Has the traditional liberal-arts curriculum become obsolete? College presidents naturally argue that the skills their schools provide are invaluable. A B.A. degree, says Mary Brown Bullock of Atlanta’s Agnes Scott College, “gives graduates the ability to reinvent themselves time and time again...and the knowledge and thinking skills that transcend a particular discipline or time frame.”

Martin is finding that to be the truth. “It would be nice to have computer classes on my transcript,” he says, but Tek.Xam has armed him with the power to learn those skills on his own—and a credential to show he has done so. He’s now waiting to hear when his job as a network-support assistant for a large Boston firm will start.

注（1）：文選自Time；

注（2）：本文習題命題模仿對象為2002年真題Text 3。

1. The main problem many liberal-arts students face in job seeking is ______.

A) too much competition in the job market

B) their lack of technical expertise

C) some companies’ discrimination against liberal-arts students

D) the recording-breaking unemployment rate

2. It can be inferred from the text that ______.

A) in the modern era, technical talent means everything in securing a job

B) independent colleges are not giving their students proper education

C) retailers are following the fashion only to promote sales

D) there is a big demand for students with technical skills

3. Tek.Xam is designed to ______.

A) offer VFIC members’ graduates more job opportunities

B) compete with LSAT and CPA

C) help students cope with real world problems

D) test students’ technical skills

4. We can draw a conclusion from the text that ______.

A) liberal arts education still proves valuable to students

B) Tek.Xam is gaining wide acceptance among employers and students alike

C) technology companies are eager to promote Tek.Xam

D) computer classes will be excluded from the curriculum of liberal-arts students

5. From the text we can see that the writer’s attitude to Tek.Xam seems ______.

A) positive

B) suspicious

C) pessimistic

D) disapproving

篇章剖析

本篇文章是說明文，主要介紹當前就業(yè)市場對技術知識的巨大需求以及為應對這種需求而設立的“技術考試”。文章第一段介紹了用人單位所面臨的問題，即缺少合格的員工；第二段說明文科生在就業(yè)市場不受青睞的原因：他們?nèi)鄙偌夹g知識；第三段交代了“技術考試”設立的背景；第四段介紹了“技術考試”的內(nèi)容，設立考試的目的，考試舉辦情況以及考試前景；第五段提出文科教育是否過時的問題；最后一段以一個具體例子說明二者結合的好處。

詞匯注釋

bind /ba?nd/ n. 困擾；困境

lion’s share 最大或最好的部分

pervasive /p???ve?s?v/ adj. 遍布的；普遍的

shy /?a?/ v. （常與away from連用）躲避，避免

proficiency /pr??f???nsi/ n. 熟練，精通

spreadsheet /?spred?i?t/ n. 【計】電子制表軟件，電子數(shù)據(jù)表

credential /kr??den??l/ n. 文憑；憑證；證書

initiative /??n????t?v/ n. 主動

obsolete /??bs?li?t/ adj. 廢棄的；過時的

discipline /?d?s?pl?n/ n. 學科

transcript /?tr?nskr?pt/ n. 成績單

難句突破

But technology companies, which are contributing the lion’s share of new jobs, are simultaneously declaring a shortage of qualified workers.

主體句式：But technology companies are declaring a shortage.

結構分析：本句結構并不算復雜，只包含一個非限定性定語從句，但其中用到的表達“the lion’s share”可能不太容易理解，“the lion’s share”意為“最大或最好的部分”。

句子譯文：但同時招聘新崗位最多的技術公司仍然宣稱缺少合格的員工。

題目分析

1. B 細節(jié)題。從文章第一段和第二段的內(nèi)容可知，技術公司的用人需求最大，但卻缺少合格的員工。在市場上，the need for technical expertise is pervasive。而很多公司不愿意要文科生的原因是they don’t have them，他們因缺少技能而難以找到工作。

2. D 推理題。文章第二段提到對技術知識的需求如此普遍，連零售商都需要這種技能。由此可見，D是正確答案。

3. D 細節(jié)題。文章第三段最后一行提到設立這一考試的目的是to test and certify their technological proficiency，所以應選擇D。

4. A 推理題。從文章第五段引用大學校長的話，以及第六段提到馬丁也贊同校長的話可以推知，文科教育仍然很有價值。

5. A 情感態(tài)度題。作者的態(tài)度可以從作者的選材角度判斷出來。本文提到了Tek.Xam這種考試設立的背景、考試的前景以及帶給考生的積極變化。由此可見，作者對這種考試是持肯定態(tài)度的。

參考譯文

今年春天又有一批畢業(yè)生從大學步入社會，與此同時，成千上萬名像馬丁那樣具有文科學歷的求職者發(fā)現(xiàn)他們面臨了一個同樣的問題。的確，現(xiàn)在的失業(yè)率比以往任何時候都低。但同時招聘崗位最多的技術公司仍然宣稱缺少合格的員工。關鍵就在這個詞：合格。

高技術公司很少雇用文科畢業(yè)生這不足為奇?！拔覀兊墓P人員、市場營銷人員，甚至律師都有技術才能，”英特爾公司企業(yè)事務部主管特雷茜·庫恩說。對于技術專長的需求非常普遍，連零售商都需要具有這種技能。“我們公司各個部門都需要掌握一定信息系統(tǒng)技術的畢業(yè)生，”Dollar Tree商店的人力資源總監(jiān)大衛(wèi)·麥克德蒙說。“一般我們都不會聘用那些沒有這些技能的獨立學院畢業(yè)生?！?

馬丁算是比較幸運的，他需要幫助的時候，寶貴的幫助就來了。弗吉尼亞獨立學院基金會（VFIC）是該州15所文科大學的網(wǎng)絡組織。它同當?shù)毓竞献鳎黄饚椭涑蓡T學校的畢業(yè)生彌補知識的不足。VFIC邀請了30家公司，包括第一聯(lián)合國家銀行和電子數(shù)據(jù)系統(tǒng)公司，將企業(yè)需求和大學課堂教授的技巧結合起來。在美國電話電報公司（AT&T）等企業(yè)的資助下，VFIC邀請了20位信息技術經(jīng)理來幫助其成員學校舉辦一個考試，考試內(nèi)容基于學生在現(xiàn)實世界中所需要做的工作，目的是測試和證明他們對技術的熟練程度。

“技術考試”（Tek.Xam）由此誕生。它分為八個部分，要求學生設計網(wǎng)站，建立和分析電子數(shù)據(jù)表，在互聯(lián)網(wǎng)上調(diào)查和研究問題以及證明自己對法律和倫理問題的理解等。VFIC的負責人琳達·戴奇說：“如果一個藝術史專業(yè)的學生想得到一份銀行的工作，他就要證明自己有這方面的技能。這個證書就是要在這方面幫助他?！苯衲闢FIC成員學校的245名學生參加了這一考試。今后“技術考試”也許能夠像法律專業(yè)學生參加的“法學院入學考試”（LSAT）和會計專業(yè)學生參加的“注冊會計師考試”（CPA）一樣受到廣泛認可?！叭绻硞€學生主動參加并且通過了這個考試，那么也就意味著他需要接受的培訓相應減少了，”雷諾茲金屬公司的信息總監(jiān)約翰·魯丁說道。雷諾茲金屬公司也參與了創(chuàng)立這一考試的工作。

所有這一切都避開了一個重要問題：傳統(tǒng)的文科課程過時了嗎？大學校長們自然認為學校所傳授的技能是無價的。亞特蘭大艾格尼絲·斯考特學院的瑪麗·布朗·布洛克說，本科學歷“讓畢業(yè)生有能力不斷重新塑造自己…而他們所學的知識和思維技巧超越了任何一個特定的學科或者時期?！?

馬丁也有同感?！俺煽儐紊嫌须娔X課當然好，”他說，但“技術考試”讓他有能力自學這些技能——而且一張證書可以證明他所付出的努力?，F(xiàn)在他已經(jīng)受聘成為波士頓一家大公司的網(wǎng)絡支持助理，正在等待上班通知。