中国名校英语四级密卷（1）PartⅡReadingComprehension(35minutes)Directions:Thereare4passagesinthispart.Eachpassageisfollowedbysomequestionsorunfinishedstatements.ForeachofthemtherearefourchoicesmarkedA),B),C)andD).YoushoulddecideonthebestchoiceandmarkthecorrespondingletterontheAnswerSheetwithasinglelinethroughthecenter.PassageOneQuestions21to25arebasedonthefollowingpassage.Antarcticahasactuallybecomeakindofspacestation—auniqueobservationpostfordetectingimportantchangesintheworld’senvironment.S1Remotefrommajorsourcesofpollutionandthecomplexgeologicalandecologicalsystemsthatprevailelsewhere,Antarcticamakespossiblescientificmeasurementsthatareoftensharperandeasiertointerpretthanthosemadeinotherpartsoftheworld.GrowingnumbersofscientiststhereforeseeAntarcticaasadistantearlywarningsensor,wherepotentiallydangerousglobaltrendsmaybespottedbeforetheyshowuptothenorth.Onepromisingfieldofinvestigationisglaciology.ScholarsfromtheUnitedStates,Switzerland,andFrancearepursuingsevenseparatebutrelatedprojectsthatreflecttheirconcernforthehealthoftheWestAntarcticIceSheet—aconcerntheybelievetheworldatlargeshouldshare.TheTransantarcticMountain,someofthemmorethan14,000feethigh,dividethecontinentintotwoverydifferentregions.Thepartofthecontinenttothe“east”ofthemountainsisahighplateaucoveredbyanicesheetnearlytwomilesthick.“West”ofthemountain,thehalfofthecontinentsouthoftheAmericasisalsocoveredbyanicesheet,buttheretheicerestsonrockthatismostlywellbelowsealevel.IftheWestAntarcticIceSheetdisappeared,thewesternpartofthecontinentwouldbereducedtoasparseclusterofisland.Whileiceandsnowareobviouslycentraltomanyenvironmentalexperiments,othersfocusonthemysterious“dryvalley”ofAntarctica,valleysthatcontainlittleiceorsnoweveninthedepthsofwinter.SlashedthroughthemountainsofsouthernVictorialand,thesevalleysonceheldenormousglaciersthatdescend9,000feetfromthepolarplateautotheRossSea.Nowtheglaciersaregone,perhapsacasualtyoftheTheCarnegieFoundationreportsaysthatmanycollegeshavetriedtobe“allthingstoallpeople”.Indoingso,theyhaveincreasinglycateredtoanarrowmindedcareerismwhilefailingtocultivateaglobalvisionamongtheirstudents.Thecurrentcrisis,itcontends,doesnotderivefromalegitimatedesiretoputlearningtoproductiveends.Theproblemisthatintoomanyacademicfields,theworkhasnocontext;skills,ratherthanbeingmeans,havebecomeends.Studentsareofferedavarietyofoptionsandallowedtopicktheirwaytoadegree.Inshort,drivenbycareerism,“thenation’scollegesanduniversitiesaremoresuccessfulinprovidingcredentials(文凭)thaninprovidingaqualityeducationfortheirstudents.”Thereportconcludesthatthespecialchallengeconfrontingtheundergraduatecollegeisoneofshapingan“integratedcore”ofcommonlearning.Suchacorewouldintroducestudents“toessentialknowledge,toconnectionsacrossthedisciplines,andintheend,toapplicationofknowledgetolifebeyondthecampus.”Althoughthekeytoagoodcollegeisahighqualityfaculty,theCarnegiestudyfoundthatmostcollegesdoverylittletoencouragegoodteaching.Infact,theydomuchtoun---本文于网络，仅供参考，勿照抄，如有侵权请联系删除---dermineit.Asoneprofessorobserved:“Teachingisimportant,wearetold,andyetfacultyknowthatresearchandpublicationmattermost.”Notsurprisingly30.Itcanbeinferredfromthepassagethathighqualitycollegeeducationcallsfor____.A)highqualityfacultiesB)acommitmenttostudentsande...