第一段
①For years, studies have found that first-generation college students-those who do not have a parent with a college degree-lag other students on a range of education achievement factors.②Their grades are lower and their dropout rates are higher.③But since such students are most likely to advance economically if they succeed in higher education, colleges and universities have pushed for decades to recruit more of them.④This has created “a paradox” in that recruiting first-generation students, but then watching many of them fail, means that higher education has “continued to reproduce and widen, rather than close” an achievement gap based on social class, according to the depressing beginning of a paper forthcoming in the journal Psychological Science.
单词&词组
college degree 大学学位
lag v. 落后（于）
lag sb. 落后于某人
dropout n. 退学，辍学；退学者
recruit v. 招收
paradox n. 自相矛盾的情形，悖论
forthcoming a. 即将到来的
social class 社会阶层
本段翻译
多年来的研究已发现，第一代大学生——那些父母均没有大学学位的大学生——在一系列学业成就指标上均落后于其他学生。他们考试分数更低，辍学率更高。但由于这类学生一旦成功完成高等教育，便会是最有可能在经济上取得发展的人群，所以各高校数十年来一直在努力招收更多这类学生。这就产生了“一种自相矛盾的情形”：高校把第一代大学生招进来，然后却任由他们中许多人走向失败，这意味着高等教育在“继续再生并扩大，而非弥合”基于社会阶层的成就差距，一篇即将发表在《心理科学》上的文章令人沮丧的开头部分如此写道。
第二段
①But the article is actually quite optimistic, as it outlines a potential solution to this problem, suggesting that an approach (which involves a one-hour, next-to-no-cost program) can close 63 percent of the achievement gap (measured by such factors as grades) between first-generation and other students.
单词&词组
optimistic a. 乐观的
outline v. 概述，勾勒
a potential solution to 解决某一问题的可能方案
potential a. 可能的
next-to-no-cost 接近零成本的，几乎无成本的
本段翻译
但这篇文章实际上相当乐观，因为它概述了解决这个问题的一种可能方案，指出有一种方式(一个一小时，几乎零成本的项目)能够将第一代大学生与其他学生之间的成就差距缩小63%(以成绩等指标衡量)。
第三段
①The authors of the paper are from different universities, and their findings are based on a study involving 147 students (who completed the project) at an unnamed private university.②First generation was defined as not having a parent with a four-year college degree.③Most of the first-generation students (59.1 percent) were recipients of Pell Grants, a federal grant for undergraduates with financial need, while this was true only for 8.6 percent of the students with at least one parent with a four-year degree.
单词&词组
finding n. 调查发现
an unnamed private university 匿名私立大学
recipients n. 接受者
recipients of... （助学金、奖项）等的获得者、接受者
grant n. 助学金，拨款
financial need 经济需求
本段翻译
这篇论文的作者们来自不同的大学，其发现是基于对一所匿名私立大学的147名学生的调查(这些学生均完成了该项目)。“第一代大学生”被定义为父母均无四年制大学学历的学生。大多数“第一代大学生”(59.1%)都是佩尔助学金，一项专门为有经济需求的本科生设立的联邦奖学金的受助对象，而那些父母至少一人有本科学历的学生中，这一比例仅为8.6%。
第四段
①Their thesis-that a relatively modest intervention could have a big impact-was based on the view that first-generation students may be most lacking not in potential but in practical knowledge about how to deal with the issues that face most college students. ②They cite past research by several authors to show that this is the gap that must be narrowed to close the achievement gap.
单词&词组
thesis n. 论点，论题
modest a. 较小的
intervention n. 干预
a big impact 巨大影响
practical knowledge 实用知识
deal with 处理
cite v. 引用
本段翻译
他们的论题——较小的干预便能产生很大的影响——是基于这样一种观点：第一代大学生最欠缺的可能并不是潜力，而是关于“如何应对摆在大多数高校学生面前的各种问题”的实用知识。他们引用了数位作者的已有研究说明，这正是弥合成就差距所必须缩小的缺口。
第五段
①Many first-generation students “struggle to navigate the middle-class culture of higher education, learn the ‘rules of the game,’ and take advantage of college resources,” they write.②And this becomes more of a problem when colleges don’t talk about the class advantages and disadvantages of different groups of students.③“Because U.S. colleges and universities seldom acknowledge how social class can affect students’ educational experiences, many first-generation students lack insight about why they are struggling and do not understand how students ‘like them’ can improve.”
单词&词组
struggle to... 挣扎于……
navigate v. 理解，应对
middle-class culture 中产阶级文化
take advantage of... 利用……
seldom ad. 很少，几乎不
本段翻译
许多第一代大学生“挣扎于应付高等教育中的中产阶级文化，学会‘游戏规则'并利用高校资源”，他们写道。当大学对于不同学生群体的阶层优势和劣势避而不谈时，这就会越发成为问题。“由于美国高校很少承认社会阶层能够影响学生的教育体验，所以很多第一代大学生不明白他们为何挣扎，也不知道‘像他们一样的'学生如何才能进步。”
五道题
26. Recruiting more first generation students has ________.
[A] reduced their dropout rates
[B] narrowed the achievement gap
[C] missed its original purpose
[D] depressed college students
27. The author of the research article are optimistic because ________.
[A] the problem is solvable
[B] their approach is costless
[C] the recruiting rate has increased
[D] their findings appeal to students
28. The study suggests that most first-generation students ________.
[A] study at private universities
[B] are from single-parent families
[C] are in need of financial support
[D] have failed their collage
29. The authors of the paper believe that first-generation students ________.
[A] are actually indifferent to the achievement gap
[B] can have a potential influence on other students
[C] may lack opportunities to apply for research projects
[D] are inexperienced in handling their issues at college
30. We may infer from the last paragraph that ________.
[A] universities often reject the culture of the middle-class
[B] students are usually to blame for their lack of resources
[C] social class greatly helps enrich educational experiences
[D]colleges are partly responsible for the problem in question
参考答案
CCCBD
答案解析
26、根据行为关键词recruiting more first-generation students定位到首段③④句。③可指出高校在争取招收更多第一代大学生，并说明原因：这类学生一旦能够顺利完成高等教育，就是最有可能取得经济发展的人群。④句却指出实际情形是：高校眼睁睁地看着很多“第一代大学生”走向失败，进一步拉大了各阶层的成就差异。结合两句可判断，高校的做法未达初衷，[C]符合文意。
27、根据关键词The authors of the research article、optimistic定位到第二段。该段主句指出文章作者态度相当乐观，从句则以as引出原因：问题的可能解决方案，可见，[C]正确。
28、文中对“第一代大学生”的介绍集中在第三段。该段指出第一代大学生被定义为父母均无本科学历的大学生，且大多数学生都是佩尔助学金(一项专门为有经济需求的本科生设立的联邦奖学金)的资助对象。由此可知，大多数第一代大学生都需要经济上的帮助，[C]选项正确。
29、第四段指出研究论文的作者认为：第一代大学生缺乏的并不是潜力，而是处理摆在大多数高校学生面前的各种问题的实用知识。即，第一代大学生缺乏处理“大学中遇到问题”的经验，[B]符合文意。
30、最后一段首先指出第一代大学生们在大学生活中困难重重：很难融入中产阶级文化、学会游戏规则并有效利用资源。随后指出，高校对学生群体间的阶层优劣势避而不谈使得上述问题加剧，正是由于高校不承认社会阶层会影响学生的学习体验，才使得许多“第一代大学生”无法认清自己为何挣扎以及怎样提高。由此可知，高校对“第一代大学生”面临的问题负有责任，[D]正确。
