2020考研英語閱讀理解精讀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）：本文習題命題模仿對象為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新頒布的簽證制度導致很多留學生不能及時來英國上學的問題。第一段首先描述了目前學生進入英國學習的困難；第二至四段說明了出現(xiàn)這種現(xiàn)象的原因：新的簽證制度導致了一些問題，把很多學生拒之門外，帶來了不好的影響；第五、六段則指出，國際學生對于英國大學非常重要，學校通常會有吸引他們的策略；最后一段則說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，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

expedite /?eksp?da?t/ v. 加快；促進

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：本句的復雜之處在于句子中有很多定語和狀語。在this year后面用了一個even though引導的狀語從句來說明前提，接著才引出主體句式。該句中賓語和賓語補足語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，用來說明其特征。賓語補足語fall后面跟了兩個狀語，分別是：by a fifth，說明fall的程度；because of difficulties in getting visas，說明原因。

句子譯文：今年，盡管英鎊疲軟使英國學費相對較低，一些大學的非歐盟國家新生人數(shù)仍舊因為簽證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項說機場不那么喜歡這些國際學生，是對這句話的誤讀，所以該選項錯誤。而該段說的lucky不是因為只等六小時——事實上這個時間已經(jīng)很長了，而是他們最終能夠順利通過，所以C項也不正確。文中說“如果不能在接下來的幾天內(nèi)拿到簽證，那么他們很可能就會失去今年秋季的入學資格”（...will miss out on university places this autumn unless they receive visas in the next few days.），原文miss out on university places指的不是他們會晚到學校，而是他們會因此無法入學，所以D項不正確，B項正確。

2. C 細節(jié)題。文章第二段指出，根據(jù)新的留學生簽證制度，“英國內(nèi)政部要求留學生出具學業(yè)資格證書并證明有足夠的資金保障，以此來防止那些意在來英國打工的人員進入”，A、B、D三個選項與此句內(nèi)容一一對應。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外”，但并沒有提到要出具出生證明，況且也很難定義恐怖國家，因此C項表述不正確，故選C。

3. D 細節(jié)題。本題可以將選項與原文信息一一對應。首先文章第四段提到“這場僵局主要影響了許多富裕且受過良好教育的學生，他們都來自對英國具有戰(zhàn)略重要性的國家”，但這并不表示英國與這些國家的關(guān)系因此受到了影響，因此A項是錯的。文章第五段雖然提到國際學生的減少會影響英國大學的收入，但沒有說英國政府因此就會增加補助，同時這也并不表示英國政府的財政會受到影響，因此B項和C項都不正確。而第四段還提到大學負責人擔心新簽證政策損害英國高等教育在海外的聲譽，可見正確答案是D。

4. A 推理題。本題主要針對文章最后一段，正確答案是A，對應信息為文章最后一句話“如果這些問題得不到解決，那么可能會有更多的外國學生將選擇美國或澳大利亞的大學”，由此可以推斷，簽證問題使外國學生被拒之門外而被迫選擇其他國家的大學，從而會降低英國高等教育的競爭力。B項的錯誤在于，雖然內(nèi)政部長艾倫·約翰遜承諾增加人手，但這并不表示一定會提高效率。C項的錯誤在于，留學生們轉(zhuǎn)向別國的大學這一結(jié)果并不是該政策的目的，而是英國不愿意看到的結(jié)果。D項的錯誤在于，幫助巴基斯坦建立全國反恐機構(gòu)并不是留學生簽證制度的規(guī)定，而是英國政府的政策。

5. C 情感態(tài)度題。縱觀全文，作者并沒有直接表明自己的觀點，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、分析問題，對該問題沒有偏見，也并沒有表現(xiàn)出漠然或者悲觀的態(tài)度，因此C是最佳選項。

參考譯文

在各個大學校園，本科生們正興高采烈地將一份份傳單塞給剛?cè)胄５男律?。但在外國學生抵達英國的希思羅機場，他們所受到的歡迎卻并非如此熱情。官員們讓剛到達的學生排成單獨的一列，有時得排隊等六個小時才能順利通關(guān)——而這都已經(jīng)算是幸運的了。許多計劃赴英留學的學生們正在家里受著煎熬，因為如果不能在接下來的幾天內(nèi)拿到簽證，那么他們很可能就會失去今年秋季的入學資格。

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

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

這場僵局主要影響了富裕且受過良好教育的學生，他們都來自對英國具有戰(zhàn)略重要性的國家。許多精英大學對此憂心忡忡，它們中有的一直擁有全球客戶?！拔覀兌紭O為擔心這會損害英國高等教育在海外的聲譽，特別是在印度次大陸，而此時此刻英國大學的財政狀況正面臨巨大的壓力，”倫敦經(jīng)濟學院招生政策主管西米恩·安德伍德說。

國際學生對英國大學至關(guān)重要。雖然英國以及歐洲學生每年的平均學費高達3225英鎊，但是對他們進行教育的成本遠遠高于這個數(shù)字。國家對差額給予部分補貼，而且為此它也限制了本國及歐盟學生的人數(shù)。而海外學生每年平均學費為1.2萬英鎊，每年為英國貢獻超過15億英鎊的收入，占所有大學總收入的8%。

為了吸引這些重要顧客，各個大學都提供機場接機服務(wù)，舉辦各項活動安置學生，并安排警方上門服務(wù)以加快簽證管理手續(xù)的辦理。但是如果這些學生無法來到英國，那這些用心良苦的營銷策略都將付諸東流。今年，盡管英鎊疲軟使英國學費相對較低，一些大學的非歐盟國家新生人數(shù)仍舊因為簽證困難而下跌了五分之一。

10月5日，正在對伊斯蘭堡進行訪問的內(nèi)政部長艾倫·約翰遜承諾增加人手，將簽證辦理時間從60天減至15天，并幫助巴基斯坦建立一個全國反恐機構(gòu)，減輕簽證制度所面臨的壓力。然而，他的介入將無法幫助今年那些被擋在英國門外的學生。而且，如果這些問題得不到解決，那么可能會有更多的外國學生將選擇美國或澳大利亞的大學。