2020考研英語(yǔ)閱讀理解精讀100篇：Unit 71

Unit 71

On campuses, cheerful undergraduates are pressing leaflets into freshers’ hands. At Heathrow airport, where many foreign students enter Britain, the welcome has been less warm. Officials herded recent arrivals into a separate queue that at times took six hours to get through—and those were the lucky ones. Many potential students are languishing at home, and will miss out on university places this autumn unless they receive visas in the next few days.

Universities had seen trouble looming since March, when a new student-visa system was introduced. By insisting that potential students prove their academic credentials and show that they have enough money to support themselves, the Home Office intended to deter those who were actually coming to Britain to work. It also hoped the reforms would keep out potential terrorists. But the advice it issued to applicants was poor （it has since been revised） and staff at many visa-processing centres were not properly trained.

The result has been a backlog at many centres—in Los Angeles, for example, students waited up to 40 days for a visa. But the problem has been particularly acute in the Indian subcontinent. In Pakistan, 5,000 aspiring students have yet to have their applications processed and 9,000 more are appealing against outright refusals.

The logjam affects mostly wealthy, well-educated folk in strategically important countries. The elite universities, some of which have long had a cosmopolitan clientele, are concerned. “We are all extremely worried about the damage that this could do to the reputation of British higher education overseas, particularly in the Indian subcontinent. It comes at a time when universities’ finances are under enormous pressure,” says Simeon Underwood, head of admissions policy at the London School of Economics.

International students are vital to British universities. Although British and European students pay tuition fees of up to ￡3,225 a year, the cost of educating them is far higher. The state partially plugs the gap and, for that reason, it also caps the number of these students. Fees from overseas students, who pay around ￡12,000 a year, contribute more than ￡1.5 billion annually, 8% of universities’ total income.

To attract these crucial customers, universities offer to meet them at airports, run events to settle them in and arrange for police to visit campuses to expedite visa controls. But if students cannot make it into Britain, such canny marketing is in vain. This year, even though a weak pound makes British universities a cheap option, some have seen the number of new students from outside the European Union fall by a fifth because of difficulties in getting visas.

On a visit to Islamabad on October 5th Alan Johnson, the home secretary, promised to cut the time it takes to process a visa from 60 days to 15 by hiring more staff, and to help Pakistan establish a national anti-terrorism agency, which would relieve the pressure on the visa system. But his intervention will not help this year’s blocked students. And if problems persist, more foreign students may plump for universities in America or Australia in future.

注（1）：本文選自Economist；

注（2）：本文習(xí)題命題模仿對(duì)象為1999年真題Text 4第1~ 4題和Text 1第4題。

1. We can learn from the first paragraph that ______.

A) Heathrow airport does not like international students as much as university undergraduates

B) the unavailability of visa may force many students to lose their admission into UK universities

C) students feel lucky to wait for only six hours in the airport to get into Britain

D) many students will arrive at the universities much later than expected because they cannot receive the visa

2. According to the new student-visa system, an international student should prove all of the following EXCEPT ______.

A) he should have adequate financial resources

B) he should meet the bottom requirements set by the universities

C) he should provide his birth certificate showing he is not from a terrorist country

D) he should convince the visa official that his purpose of coming to UK is to study

3. According to the text, the new student-visa system may lead to ______.

A) a negative influence on UK’s strategic relations with some important countries

B) more governmental subsidies to British universities

C) an increasing pressure on Britain’s governmental finance

D) the damage of the reputation of British higher education

4. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that ______.

A) the new student-visa system may undermine the competitiveness of British higher education

B) the new student-visa system will soon achieve a much better efficiency by hiring more staff

C) the new student-visa system aims to send students to other countries such as Australia and America

D) the new student-visa system will help Pakistan establish a national anti-terrorism agency

5. The author’s attitude towards the new student-visa system seems to be ______.

A) biased

B) indifferent

C) concerned

D) pessimistic

篇章剖析

本文主要講的是英國(guó)新頒布的簽證制度導(dǎo)致很多留學(xué)生不能及時(shí)來(lái)英國(guó)上學(xué)的問(wèn)題。第一段首先描述了目前學(xué)生進(jìn)入英國(guó)學(xué)習(xí)的困難；第二至四段說(shuō)明了出現(xiàn)這種現(xiàn)象的原因：新的簽證制度導(dǎo)致了一些問(wèn)題，把很多學(xué)生拒之門(mén)外，帶來(lái)了不好的影響；第五、六段則指出，國(guó)際學(xué)生對(duì)于英國(guó)大學(xué)非常重要，學(xué)校通常會(huì)有吸引他們的策略；最后一段則說(shuō)明了政府將采取的解決措施。

詞匯注釋

herd /h??d/ v. 使集在一起，把…趕在一起

languish /?l??gw??/ v. 焦思，因渴望而苦惱

loom /lu?m/ v. 隱隱呈現(xiàn)；逼近

credential /kr??den??l/ n. 證明書(shū)，證件

deter /d??t??/ v. 阻止；威懾

backlog /?b?kl?g/ n. 積壓的工作

subcontinent /s?b?k?nt?n?nt/ n. 次大陸

outright /?a?t?ra?t/ adj. 徹底的；無(wú)保留的；直率的

logjam /?l?gd??m/ n. 阻塞；僵局

cosmopolitan /?k?zm??p?l?t?n/ adj. 世界性的

clientele /?kla??n?tel/ n. 顧客，客戶(hù)

expedite /?eksp?da?t/ v. 加快；促進(jìn)

intervention /??nt??ven??n/ n. 干涉；介入

plump /pl?mp/ v. 只投票選一方

難句突破

This year, even though a weak pound makes British universities a cheap option, some have seen the number of new students from outside the European Union fall by a fifth because of difficulties in getting visas.

主體句式：This year some have seen the number fall.

結(jié)構(gòu)分析：本句的復(fù)雜之處在于句子中有很多定語(yǔ)和狀語(yǔ)。在this year后面用了一個(gè)even though引導(dǎo)的狀語(yǔ)從句來(lái)說(shuō)明前提，接著才引出主體句式。該句中賓語(yǔ)和賓語(yǔ)補(bǔ)足語(yǔ)之間相隔一定的距離，中間的of new students from outside the European Union是the number的定語(yǔ)，用來(lái)說(shuō)明其特征。賓語(yǔ)補(bǔ)足語(yǔ)fall后面跟了兩個(gè)狀語(yǔ)，分別是：by a fifth，說(shuō)明fall的程度；because of difficulties in getting visas，說(shuō)明原因。

句子譯文：今年，盡管英鎊疲軟使英國(guó)學(xué)費(fèi)相對(duì)較低，一些大學(xué)的非歐盟國(guó)家新生人數(shù)仍舊因?yàn)楹炞C困難而下跌了五分之一。

題目分析

1. B 推理題。本題主要針對(duì)文章第一段，文章中提到“At Heathrow airport, where many foreign students enter Britain, the welcome has been less warm”，而A項(xiàng)說(shuō)機(jī)場(chǎng)不那么喜歡這些國(guó)際學(xué)生，是對(duì)這句話(huà)的誤讀，所以該選項(xiàng)錯(cuò)誤。而該段說(shuō)的lucky不是因?yàn)橹坏攘r(shí)——事實(shí)上這個(gè)時(shí)間已經(jīng)很長(zhǎng)了，而是他們最終能夠順利通過(guò)，所以C項(xiàng)也不正確。文中說(shuō)“如果不能在接下來(lái)的幾天內(nèi)拿到簽證，那么他們很可能就會(huì)失去今年秋季的入學(xué)資格”（...will miss out on university places this autumn unless they receive visas in the next few days.），原文miss out on university places指的不是他們會(huì)晚到學(xué)校，而是他們會(huì)因此無(wú)法入學(xué)，所以D項(xiàng)不正確，B項(xiàng)正確。

2. C 細(xì)節(jié)題。文章第二段指出，根據(jù)新的留學(xué)生簽證制度，“英國(guó)內(nèi)政部要求留學(xué)生出具學(xué)業(yè)資格證書(shū)并證明有足夠的資金保障，以此來(lái)防止那些意在來(lái)英國(guó)打工的人員進(jìn)入”，A、B、D三個(gè)選項(xiàng)與此句內(nèi)容一一對(duì)應(yīng)。雖然文章后面提到“內(nèi)政部希望這些改革措施能夠?qū)撛诘目植婪肿泳苤T(mén)外”，但并沒(méi)有提到要出具出生證明，況且也很難定義恐怖國(guó)家，因此C項(xiàng)表述不正確，故選C。

3. D 細(xì)節(jié)題。本題可以將選項(xiàng)與原文信息一一對(duì)應(yīng)。首先文章第四段提到“這場(chǎng)僵局主要影響了許多富裕且受過(guò)良好教育的學(xué)生，他們都來(lái)自對(duì)英國(guó)具有戰(zhàn)略重要性的國(guó)家”，但這并不表示英國(guó)與這些國(guó)家的關(guān)系因此受到了影響，因此A項(xiàng)是錯(cuò)的。文章第五段雖然提到國(guó)際學(xué)生的減少會(huì)影響英國(guó)大學(xué)的收入，但沒(méi)有說(shuō)英國(guó)政府因此就會(huì)增加補(bǔ)助，同時(shí)這也并不表示英國(guó)政府的財(cái)政會(huì)受到影響，因此B項(xiàng)和C項(xiàng)都不正確。而第四段還提到大學(xué)負(fù)責(zé)人擔(dān)心新簽證政策損害英國(guó)高等教育在海外的聲譽(yù)，可見(jiàn)正確答案是D。

4. A 推理題。本題主要針對(duì)文章最后一段，正確答案是A，對(duì)應(yīng)信息為文章最后一句話(huà)“如果這些問(wèn)題得不到解決，那么可能會(huì)有更多的外國(guó)學(xué)生將選擇美國(guó)或澳大利亞的大學(xué)”，由此可以推斷，簽證問(wèn)題使外國(guó)學(xué)生被拒之門(mén)外而被迫選擇其他國(guó)家的大學(xué)，從而會(huì)降低英國(guó)高等教育的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)力。B項(xiàng)的錯(cuò)誤在于，雖然內(nèi)政部長(zhǎng)艾倫·約翰遜承諾增加人手，但這并不表示一定會(huì)提高效率。C項(xiàng)的錯(cuò)誤在于，留學(xué)生們轉(zhuǎn)向別國(guó)的大學(xué)這一結(jié)果并不是該政策的目的，而是英國(guó)不愿意看到的結(jié)果。D項(xiàng)的錯(cuò)誤在于，幫助巴基斯坦建立全國(guó)反恐機(jī)構(gòu)并不是留學(xué)生簽證制度的規(guī)定，而是英國(guó)政府的政策。

5. C 情感態(tài)度題?？v觀(guān)全文，作者并沒(méi)有直接表明自己的觀(guān)點(diǎn)，但是我們可以發(fā)現(xiàn)作者在用一種非常關(guān)切的口氣討論、分析問(wèn)題，對(duì)該問(wèn)題沒(méi)有偏見(jiàn)，也并沒(méi)有表現(xiàn)出漠然或者悲觀(guān)的態(tài)度，因此C是最佳選項(xiàng)。

參考譯文

在各個(gè)大學(xué)校園，本科生們正興高采烈地將一份份傳單塞給剛?cè)胄５男律５谕鈬?guó)學(xué)生抵達(dá)英國(guó)的希思羅機(jī)場(chǎng)，他們所受到的歡迎卻并非如此熱情。官員們讓剛到達(dá)的學(xué)生排成單獨(dú)的一列，有時(shí)得排隊(duì)等六個(gè)小時(shí)才能順利通關(guān)——而這都已經(jīng)算是幸運(yùn)的了。許多計(jì)劃赴英留學(xué)的學(xué)生們正在家里受著煎熬，因?yàn)槿绻荒茉诮酉聛?lái)的幾天內(nèi)拿到簽證，那么他們很可能就會(huì)失去今年秋季的入學(xué)資格。

自從今年五月實(shí)施新的留學(xué)生簽證制度以來(lái)，各大學(xué)的麻煩接踵而至。英國(guó)內(nèi)政部要求留學(xué)生出具學(xué)業(yè)資格證書(shū)并證明有足夠的資金保障，以此來(lái)防止那些意在來(lái)英國(guó)打工的人員進(jìn)入。同時(shí)，內(nèi)政部希望這些改革措施能夠?qū)撛诘目植婪肿泳苤T(mén)外。但是，它給申請(qǐng)人的建議卻沒(méi)什么用處（之后已進(jìn)行了修改），而且許多簽證中心的工作人員也并未受過(guò)良好的培訓(xùn)。

結(jié)果就是，許多簽證中心的工作堆積如山——比如在洛杉磯，學(xué)生們需要等待多達(dá)40天才能拿到簽證。但在印度次大陸這個(gè)問(wèn)題尤為突出。在巴基斯坦，5000名志向遠(yuǎn)大的學(xué)生所遞交的簽證申請(qǐng)仍未被受理，另外還有9000名學(xué)生正因無(wú)理由遭拒而進(jìn)行申訴。

這場(chǎng)僵局主要影響了富裕且受過(guò)良好教育的學(xué)生，他們都來(lái)自對(duì)英國(guó)具有戰(zhàn)略重要性的國(guó)家。許多精英大學(xué)對(duì)此憂(yōu)心忡忡，它們中有的一直擁有全球客戶(hù)。“我們都極為擔(dān)心這會(huì)損害英國(guó)高等教育在海外的聲譽(yù)，特別是在印度次大陸，而此時(shí)此刻英國(guó)大學(xué)的財(cái)政狀況正面臨巨大的壓力，”倫敦經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)院招生政策主管西米恩·安德伍德說(shuō)。

國(guó)際學(xué)生對(duì)英國(guó)大學(xué)至關(guān)重要。雖然英國(guó)以及歐洲學(xué)生每年的平均學(xué)費(fèi)高達(dá)3225英鎊，但是對(duì)他們進(jìn)行教育的成本遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)高于這個(gè)數(shù)字。國(guó)家對(duì)差額給予部分補(bǔ)貼，而且為此它也限制了本國(guó)及歐盟學(xué)生的人數(shù)。而海外學(xué)生每年平均學(xué)費(fèi)為1.2萬(wàn)英鎊，每年為英國(guó)貢獻(xiàn)超過(guò)15億英鎊的收入，占所有大學(xué)總收入的8%。

為了吸引這些重要顧客，各個(gè)大學(xué)都提供機(jī)場(chǎng)接機(jī)服務(wù)，舉辦各項(xiàng)活動(dòng)安置學(xué)生，并安排警方上門(mén)服務(wù)以加快簽證管理手續(xù)的辦理。但是如果這些學(xué)生無(wú)法來(lái)到英國(guó)，那這些用心良苦的營(yíng)銷(xiāo)策略都將付諸東流。今年，盡管英鎊疲軟使英國(guó)學(xué)費(fèi)相對(duì)較低，一些大學(xué)的非歐盟國(guó)家新生人數(shù)仍舊因?yàn)楹炞C困難而下跌了五分之一。

10月5日，正在對(duì)伊斯蘭堡進(jìn)行訪(fǎng)問(wèn)的內(nèi)政部長(zhǎng)艾倫·約翰遜承諾增加人手，將簽證辦理時(shí)間從60天減至15天，并幫助巴基斯坦建立一個(gè)全國(guó)反恐機(jī)構(gòu)，減輕簽證制度所面臨的壓力。然而，他的介入將無(wú)法幫助今年那些被擋在英國(guó)門(mén)外的學(xué)生。而且，如果這些問(wèn)題得不到解決，那么可能會(huì)有更多的外國(guó)學(xué)生將選擇美國(guó)或澳大利亞的大學(xué)。