For 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. Their grades are lower and their dropout rates are higher. But 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. This 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.
But 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.
The 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. First generation was defined as not having a parent with a four-year college degree. Most 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.
Their 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. They cite past research by several authors to show that this is the gap that must be narrowed to close the achievement gap.
Many 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. And this becomes more of a problem when collages don’t talk about the class advantage and disadvantages of different groups of students. Because US colleges and universities seldom acknowledge how social class can affect students’ educational experience, many first-generation students lack sight about why they are struggling and do not understand how students like them can improve.
1.Recruiting more first-generation students has （ ）.
2.The authors of the research article are optimistic because （ ）.
3.The study suggests that most first-generation students （ ）.
4.The author of the paper believe that first-generation students （ ）.
5.We may infer from the last paragraph that（ ）.
问题1选项
A.reduced their dropout rates
B.narrowed the achievement gap
C.missed its original purpose
D.depressed college students
问题2选项
A.the problem is solvable
B.their approach is costless
C.the recruiting rate has increased
D.their findings appeal to students
问题3选项
A.study at private universities
B.are from single-parent families
C.are in need of financial support
D.have failed their college
问题4选项
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
问题5选项
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
第1题:C
第2题:A
第3题:C
第4题:D
第5题:D
第1题:
【选项释义】
Recruiting more first-generation students has _____. 招录更多的“初代”大学生已经_____。
A. reduced their dropout rates A. 降低了辍学率
B. narrowed the achievement gap B. 缩小了成就差距
C. missed its original purpose C. 偏离了最初目的
D. depressed college students D. 使大学生沮丧
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】由题干定位文章第一段第三句“一旦这样的学生成功地接受了高等教育，他们在经济上更有可能成功”，以及下文第四句“这产生了一种矛盾（a paradox）：招收更多的‘初代’学生，但眼睁睁看着他们失败”，由此可知，结果与原本的设想或目的是相违背的。因此C选项符合题意。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“降低了辍学率”，与原文“their dropout rates are higher辍学率更高”不符，属于反向干扰；
B选项“缩小了成就差距”，与原文“rather than close an achievement gap而不是缩小成就差距”不符，属于反向干扰；
D选项“使大学生沮丧”，原文第一段提到的是“depressing beginning of a paper文章开头不乐观”，该选项属于无中生有。
第2题:
【选项释义】
The author of the research article are optimistic because _____. 论文作者们很乐观是因为_____。
A. the problem is solvable A. 此问题能解决
B. their approach is costless B. 他们的方式没有任何成本
C. the recruiting rate has increased C. 招生率已经提升了
D. their findings appeal to students D. 他们的发现对学生有吸引力
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据题干定位到原文第二段首句“事实上，这篇文章相当乐观（optimistic），因为（as）它简要列举了这个问题的潜在解决方式（solution）”，由此可知，选项A符合原文。
【干扰项排除】
B选项“他们的方式没有任何成本”，与原文“next-to-no-cost”不符，属于反向干扰；
C、D选项原文没有提及，属于无中生有。
第3题:
【选项释义】
The study suggests that most first-generation students _____. 研究显示大多数“初代”学生_____。
A. study at private universities A. 在私立学校求学
B. are from single-parent families B. 来自单亲家庭
C. are in need of financial support C. 需要经济资助
D. have failed their college D. 大学过得失败
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据题干定位到第三段最后一句“大多数（59.1%）‘初代’大学生都接受了旨在为有需要的学生提供经济资助（financial need）的佩尔助学金，而对父母中有人完成本科教育的其他学生而言，这一数据仅维持在8.6%”，也就是说，“初代”大学生接受了经济资助，选项C符合。
【干扰项排除】
A、B、D选项原文没有提及，属于无中生有。
第4题:
【选项释义】
The author of the paper believe that first-generation students _____. 论文作者认为“初代”学生_____。
A. are actually indifferent to the achievement gap A. 实际上毫不关心成就差距
B. can have a potential influence on other students B. 能潜移默化影响其他学生
C. may lack opportunities to apply for research projects C. 可能缺少申请研究项目的机会
D. are inexperienced in handling their issues at college D. 欠缺处理大学中出现问题的经验
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据题干定位到原文第四段第一句“‘初代’大学生最欠缺的不是潜力，而是如何处理大多数学生面对问题（deal with the issues that face most college students）的实际能力（practical knowledge）上”，也就是选项D的内容。
【干扰项排除】
A、B、C选项原文没有提及，属于无中生有。
第5题:
【选项释义】
We may infer from the last paragraph that _____. 从最后一段可推断出_____。
A. universities often reject the culture of the middle-class A. 大学经常抵制中产阶级文化
B. students are usually to blame for their lack of resources B. 学生经常因缺少资源而受责备
C. social class greatly helps enrich educational experiences C. 社会阶层极大地有助于教育经历的丰富
D. colleges are partly responsible for the problem in question D. 大学应为探讨中的问题负部分责任
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】本段前面两句提出“初代”学生中存在的与社会阶层有关的问题。第三句以一个“because”所引导的原因状语从句点明中心，明确了问题的来源是美国高校未承认（seldom acknowledge）社会阶层（social class）对学生教育经历的影响，说明高校应该为出现的问题担负部分责任，因此选项D正确。
【干扰项排除】
A、B、C选项原文没有提及，属于无中生有。
【参考译文】
多年来，研究发现，第一代大学生——那些父母没有大学文凭的学生——在一系列教育成就因素上落后于其他学生。他们的成绩较低，辍学率较高。但是，由于这些学生如果在高等教育中取得成功，就最有可能在经济上得到提升，因此，几十年来，高校一直在努力招收更多这样的学生。即将发表在《心理科学》杂志上的一篇论文令人沮丧的开头指出，这就产生了一个“悖论”，即招收第一代学生，但又眼睁睁地看着他们中的许多人失败，这意味着高等教育“继续复制和扩大，而不是缩小基于社会阶层的成绩差距”。
但这篇文章实际上相当乐观，因为它概述了解决这一问题的潜在方案，提出一种方法（涉及一个小时、几乎不花钱的课程）可以缩小第一代学生与其他学生之间63%的成绩差距（以成绩等因素衡量）。
该论文的作者来自不同的大学，他们的研究结果基于一项涉及一所未具名私立大学147名学生（完成了该项目）的研究。第一代学生的定义是父母中没有一方拥有四年制大学学位。大多数第一代学生（59.1%）都是佩尔助学金的获得者，这是一种为有经济需求的本科生提供的联邦助学金，而在父母至少有一方拥有四年制学位的学生中，这一比例仅为8.6%。
他们的论点是，相对适度的干预可能会产生很大的影响，这是基于这样一种观点，即第一代学生最缺乏的可能不是潜力，而是如何处理大多数大学生所面临问题的实用知识。他们引用了几位作者过去的研究，说明要缩小成绩差距，就必须缩小这种差距。
他们写道，许多第一代学生“很难适应高等教育的中产阶级文化、学习‘游戏规则’和利用大学资源”。如果高校不讨论不同学生群体的阶级优势和劣势，问题就会更加严重。由于美国高校很少承认社会阶层如何影响学生的教育经历，很多第一代学生不知道自己为什么会陷入困境，也不明白像他们这样的学生如何才能进步。
【出处】《Inside Higher Ed》2014.2.16
