2018年6月大学英语四级真题试卷（三）

Since the 1940s, southern California has had a reputation for smog. Things are not as bad as they once were but, according to the American Lung Association, Los Angeles is still the worst city in the United States for levels of【C1】___Gazing down on the city from the Getty Center, an art museum in the Santa Monica Mountains, one would find the view of the Pacific Ocean blurred by the haze (霾). Nor is the state’ s bad air【C2】to its south. Fresno, in the central valley, comes top of the list in America for year-round pollution. Residents’ hearts and lungs are affected as a【C3】___.

All of which, combined with California’ s reputation as the home of technological【C4】___, makes the place ideal for developing and testing systems designed to monitor pollution in【C5】And that is just what Aclima, a new firm in San Francisco, has been doing over the past few months. It has been trying out monitoring stations that are【C6】to yield minute-to-minute maps of【C7】___air pollution. Such stations will also be able to keep an eye on what is happening inside buildings, including offices.

To this end, Aclima has been【C8】___with Google’ s Street View system. Davida Herzl, Aclima’ s boss, says they have revealed pollution highs on days when San Francisco’ s transit workers went on strike and the city’ s【C9】were forced to use their cars. Conversely, “cycle to work” days have done their job by【C10】___pollution lows.

A) assisted I) inhabitants

B) collaborating J) innovation

C) consequence K) intended

D) consumers L) outdoor

E) creating M) pollutants

F) detail N) restricted

G) domestic O) sum

H) frequently

Some College Students Are Angry That They Have to Pay to Do Their Homework

[A] Digital learning systems now charge students for access codes needed to complete coursework, take quizzes, and turn in homework. As universities go digital, students are complaining of a new hit to their finances that’ s replacing—and sometimes joining—expensive textbooks: pricey online access codes that are required to complete coursework and submit assignments.

[B] The codes—which typically range in price from $80 to $155 per course—give students online access to systems developed by education companies like McGraw Hill and Pearson. These companies, which long reaped big profits as textbook publishers, have boasted that their new online offerings, when pushed to students through universities they partner with, represent the future of the industry.

[C] But critics say the digital access codes represent the same profit-seeking ethos (观念) of the textbook business, and are even harder for students to opt out of. While they could once buy second-hand textbooks, or share copies with friends, the digital systems are essentially impossible to avoid.

[D] When we talk about access code we see it as the new face of the textbook monopoly (垄断) , a new way to lock students around this system,” said Ethan Senack, the higher education advocate for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, to BuzzFeed News. “Rather than $250 (for a print textbook) you’ re paying $120,” said Senack. “But because it’ s all digital it eliminates the used book market and eliminates any sharing and because homework and tests are through an access code, it eliminates any ability to opt out. “

[E] Sarina Harper, a 19-year-old student at Virginia Tech, was faced with a tough dilemma when she first started college in 2015—pay rent or pay to turn in her chemistry homework. She told BuzzFeed News that her freshman chemistry class required her to use Connect, a system provided by McGraw Hill where students can submit homework, take exams and track their grades. But the code to access the program cost $120—a big sum for Harper, who had already put down $450 for textbooks, and had rent day approaching. [F] She decided to wait for her next work-study paycheck, which was typically $150 - $200, to pay for the code. She knew that her chemistry grade may take a dive as a result. “It’s a balancing act,” she said. “ Can I really afford these access codes now?” She didn ’ t hand in her first two assignments for chemistry, which started her out in the class with a failing grade.

[G] The access codes may be another financial headache for students, but for textbook businesses, they’ re the future. McGraw Hill, which controls 21% of the higher education market, reported in March that its digital content sales exceeded print sales for the first time in 2015. The company said that 45% of its $140 million revenue in 2015 “was derived from digital products”.

[H] A Pearson spokesperson told BuzzFeed News that “ digital materials are less expensive and a good investment” that offer new features, like audio texts, personalized knowledge checks and expert videos. Its digital course materials save students up to 60% compared to traditional printed textbooks, the company added. McGraw Hill didn’ t respond to a request for comment, but its CEO David Levin told the Financial Times in August that “ in higher education, the era of the printed textbook is now over”.

[I] The textbook industry insists the online systems represent a better deal for students. “These digital products aren’ t just mechanisms for students to submit homework, they offer all kinds of features, ” David Anderson, the executive director of higher education with the Association of American Publishers, told BuzzFeed News. “ It helps students understand in a way that you can’ t do with print homework assignments. “

[J] David Hunt, an associate professor in sociology at Augusta University, which has rolled out digital textbooks across its math and psychology departments, told BuzzFeed News that he understands the utility of using systems that require access codes. But he doesn’ t require his students to buy access to a learning program that controls the class assignments. “I try to make things as inexpensive as possible,” said Hunt, who uses free digital textbooks for his classes but designs his own curriculum. “ The online systems may make my life a lot easier but I feel like I’ m giving up control. The discussions are the things where my expertise can benefit the students most. “

[K] A 20-year-old junior at Georgia Southern University told BuzzFeed News that she normally spends $500 - $600 on access codes for class. In one case, the professor didn’t require students to buy a textbook, just an access code to turn in homework. This year she said she spent $900 on access codes to books and programs. “That’s two months of rent,” she said. “You can’t sell any of it back. With a traditional textbook you can sell it for $30 - $50 and that helps to pay for your new semester’ s books. With an access code, you’ re out of that money. “

[L] Benjamin Wolverton, a 19-year-old student at the University of South Carolina, told BuzzFeed News that “ it’ s ridiculous that after paying tens of thousands in tuition we have to pay for all these access codes to do our homework”. Many of the access codes he’ s purchased have been required simply to complete homework or quizzes. “ Often it’ s only 10% of your grade in class,” he said. “ You’ re paying so much money for something that hardly affects your grade—but if you didn’ t have it, it would affect your grade enough. It would be bad to start out at a B or C. ” Wolverton said he spent $500 on access codes for digital books and programs this semester.

[M] Harper, a poultry (家禽) science major, is taking chemistry again this year and had to buy a new access code to hand in her homework. She rented her economics and statistics textbooks for about $20 each. But her access codes for homework, which can’ t be rented or bought second-hand, were her most expensive purchases: $120 and $85.

[N] She still remembers the sting of her first experience skipping an assignment due to the high prices. “We don’t really have a missed assignment policy,” she said. “If you miss it, you just miss it. I just got zeros on a couple of first assignments. I managed to pull everything back up. But as a scared freshman looking at their grades, it’ s not fun. “

For thousands of years, people have known that the best way to understand a concept is to explain it to someone else. “While we teach, we learn,” said Roman philosopher Seneca. Now scientists are bringing this ancient wisdom up-to-date. They’ re documenting why teaching is such a fruitful way to learn, and designing innovative ways for young people to engage in instruction.

Researchers have found that students who sign up to tutor others work harder to understand the material, recall it more accurately and apply it more effectively. Student teachers score higher on tests than pupils who’ re learning only for their own sake. But how can children, still learning themselves, teach others? One answer; They can tutor younger kids. Some studies have found that first-born children are more intelligent than their later-born siblings (兄弟姐妹). This suggests their higher IQs result from the time they spend teaching their siblings. Now educators are experimenting with ways to apply this model to academic subjects. They engage college undergraduates to teach computer science to high school students, who in turn instruct middle school students on the topic.

But the most cutting-edge tool under development is the “ teachable agent” —a computerized character who learns, tries, makes mistakes and asks questions just like a real-world pupil. Computer scientists have created an animated (动画的) figure called Betty’s Brain, who has been “taught” about environmental science by hundreds of middle school students. Student teachers are motivated to help Betty master certain materials. While preparing to teach, they organize their knowledge and improve their own understanding. And as they explain the information to it, they identify problems in their own thinking.

Feedback from the teachable agents further enhances the tutors’ learning. The agents’ questions compel student tutors to think and explain the materials in different ways, and watching the agent solve problems allows them to see their knowledge put into action.

Above all, it’ s the emotions one experiences in teaching that facilitate learning. Student tutors feel upset when their teachable agents fail, but happy when these virtual pupils succeed as they derive pride and satisfaction from someone else’ s accomplishment.

A new batch of young women—members of the so-called Millennial (千禧的) generation—has been entering the workforce for the past decade. At the starting line of their careers, they are better educated than their mothers and grandmothers had been—or than their young male counterparts are now. But when they look ahead, they see roadblocks to their success. They believe that women are paid less than men for doing the same job. They think it’ s easier for men to get top executive jobs than it is for them. And they assume that if and when they have children, it will be even harder for them to advance in their careers.

While the public sees greater workplace equality between men and women now than it did 20 - 30 years ago, most believe more change is needed. Among Millennial women, 75% say this country needs to continue making changes to achieve gender equality in the workplace, compared with 57% of Millennial men. Even so, relatively few young women (15% ) say they have been discriminated against at work because of their gender.

As Millennial women come of age they share many of the same views and values about work as their male counterparts. They want jobs that provide security and flexibility, and they place relatively little importance on high pay. At the same time, however, young working women are less likely than men to aim at top management jobs: 34% say they’ re not interested in becoming a boss or top manager; only 24% of young men say the same. The gender gap on this question is even wider among working adults in their 30s and 40s, when many women face the trade-offs that go with work and motherhood.

These findings are based on a new Pew Research Center survey of 2,002 adults, including 810 Millennials (ages 18 -32), conducted Oct. 7 -27, 2013. The survey finds that, in spite of the dramatic gains women have made in educational attainment and labor force participation in recent decades, young women view this as a man’ s world—just as middle-aged and older women do.