大学英语创意阅读第2册第2单元答案

Unit 2 Schooldays: An Effective Education System Words to note

Understanding the text

Part A: Comprehending the text

Part B: Interpreting the text

1. Why, in paragraph 2 of the debate speech, does the speaker describe failing an examination as being like a "death sentence"?

These exams "decide their .futures" and the penalties .for .failure are ".final". Also look at speech paragraph 6 -- the "threat of being a .failure .for life" is perhaps even worse than a death sentence.

2. Why does the speaker mention the labour market in paragraph 4 of the speech?

The labour market does not urgently need "newly qualified people ". There is no "hurry"; the situation is not critical.

3. Why does the speaker introduce such exact figures in paragraph 7 of the speech?

To compare the large number of lessons ("17,745") with the tiny result ("how little I knew at the end ... ")and also to say that "40-minute pieces of learning" and "little pieces of 9eography or history or biology" do not really add up to any substantial body of knowledge. Perhaps, too, the writer wants to show that mere statistics ("17,745 lessons") do not really prove that the results are good.

4. What does the word "subjected" in paragraph 7 of the speech tell us about the speaker's attitude towards his own education?

The word suggests an unpleasant experience. The writer was, when a child, the subject -- and the education system was the "boss". The results o.1~ the child's subjection were not good. Also look at speech paragraph 8 again: the system "can never be called e. efficient"; it simply helps the administrators and the bureaucrats.

Developing your skills

Part A: Using reference markers

Circle the letter of your choice.

1. c)

In the text, "schooldays" is related to "remember" -- "schooldays" is the object of "remember"; "them" is also the object -- of the second verb "remember". The pronoun "them" means exactly the same, in this sentence, as the noun "schooldays"

2. b)

Here, "it" is connected -- or linked -- to "this question" by the word "as". And "as it exists in Britain" specifies that the discussion is limited to present-day Britain.

3. c)

This is more difficult: those refers, here, to the "school children" mentioned in the previous sentence! So the link -- or the connection -- is more distant. All the words in this phrase give clues to the link: "but", for example, is very important here because it indicates a limitation on what is being discussed. (The teacher might wish to point out that there are many small words which are very important in English --and "but" is one of these. A useful class exercise can be given in which each student-- or perhaps pair of