hefty adj. 沉重的

agonising n. 烦恼，苦闷

rigour n. 严格

secular adj. 长期的

egalitarianism n. 平等主义

baccalauréat n. （法国和一些国际学校的）中学毕业考试

catchment n. 抓取





难句突破


① Mr. Sarkozy has established a commission under Michel Rocard, a former prime minister and yet another of his recruits from the left, to look into the teaching profession—and perhaps to soften up the unions before less palatable changes.

主体句式：Mr. Sarkozy has established a commission...

结构分析：这是一个简单句，a former prime minister and yet...是Michel Rocard的同位语。

句子译文：Sarkozy先生成立了一个委员会，由前总理、现在仍担任其幕僚的左派人士Michel Rocard负责，主要审查教师行业，可能也是为了在推进其他更严厉的变革之前软化工会。

② He hints at more streaming of pupils by ability, so that children can stay with their age group, but the unions are hostile.

主体句式：He hints at..., but the unions are...

结构分析：这是一个并列句，前面分句中带有一个目的状语从句。

句子译文：他提到可能会根据学生的能力来编班，这样学生就可以和同处一个年龄层的同学待在一起，但是工会却表示反对。





题目分析


1. The president of the Sorbonne-University of Paris IV thinks the bac is worth nothing because _____.

[A] the pass rate of baccalauréat is too low now given the quality of the present education

[B] there exists serious problem in the education of baccalauréat period

[C] students can easily get the baccalauréat at present

[D] the advance of society requires people to be equipped with higher degree

1. 巴黎第四大学——索邦大学的校长认为毕业考试一文不值，是因为 _____。

[A] 根据目前教育的质量来看毕业考试的通过率太低了

[B] 在为通过毕业考试而进行的教育阶段存在严重的问题

[C] 学生们目前可以轻松地通过毕业考试

[D] 社会的进步需要人们有更高的学位

答案：C　难度系数：☆☆☆☆

分析：推理题。第三段最后提到：This year's pass rate of 83% is up from just over 60% in the early 1960s. “The bac is worth absolutely nothing,” asserts Jean-Robert Pitte, president of the Sorbonne-University of Paris IV. 也就是说，今年的毕业率比20世纪60年代提高了许多，因此校长认为，毕业考试太容易通过了，含金量不高了。所以，选项C符合题意。

2. The word “palatable” (Line 5, Paragraph 4) most probably means _____.

[A] radical

[B] moderate

[C] demanding

[D] acceptable

2. palatable这个词（第四段第五行） 最有可能的意思是 _____。

[A] 激进的

[B] 温和的

[C] 苛求的

[D] 可接受的

答案：D　难度系数：☆☆

分析：猜词题。上文提到，已经开始了一些改变，而本句提到，要在实施一些其他变革之前软化工会。由此可知后实施的变革与之前的相比，应该是不易被接受的，因此D为正确答案。

3. Which one of the following statements is NOT true of France's education system compared to other OECD countries?

[A] It has the highest rate of redoublement than that of the other OECD countries.

[B] It pays more attention to the academic education than that of the other OECD countries.

[C] It gives students more equal opportunity to achieve education than that of the other OECD countries.

[D] It results in students' being more polarized than that of the other OECD countries in terms of academic performance.

3. 关于法国的教育体系与其他OECD国家的比较，下列哪个陈述是错误的？

[A] 与其他OECD国家相比，法国的复读率最高。

[B] 比其他OECD国家的教育体系更关注学术教育。

[C] 与其他OECD国家的教育体系相比，给予学生更多的受教育机会。

[D] 使得学生与其他OECD国家的教育体系相比，在学术表现的层面上更两极分化。

答案：C　难度系数：☆☆☆

分析：推理题。选项A，这点从第一段和第五段都可以看出来。选项B，根据最后一段，各国学生们在教室中花费的时间对比可以推出这点。选项C，这点文章没有谈到过。选项D，从第五段可以看出这一点。因此，选项C为正确答案。

4. From the ideas of Mr. Sarkozy to reform the education system, it can be inferred that he is _____.

[A] a leftist

[B] a rightist

[C] an idealist

[D] a reformist

4. 从Sarkozy对改革教育体系提出的意见可以看出，他是一个 _____。

[A] 左派

[B] 右派

[C] 理想主义者

[D] 改革者

答案：A　难度系数：☆☆☆☆

分析：推理题。从Sarkozy的意见来看，他对教育体系改革的动作比较大，令人惊叹，因此是比较激进的，选项A最为符合这一点。选项D是一个较大的迷惑选项，因为文章谈到了很多Sarkozy的改革措施，所以容易认为他就是一个改革家。但一个人是否是改革家不是从一个方面体现出来的，因为文章中只谈论了教育体系的改革，不能反映出来他是否是一个“改革家”，因此该选项错误。

5. The best title of the passage could be _____.

[A] The Reform of Education in France

[B] New Policy on Education by New President

[C] Mr. Sarkozy, the Reformist in Education

[D] The Future of France's Education

5. 这篇文章的最佳题目为 _____。

[A] 法国的教育改革

[B] 新总统的新教育举措

[C] Sarkozy先生，教育的改革家

[D] 法国教育的未来

答案：B　难度系数：☆☆☆

分析：主旨题。本文主要讲述了在Sarkozy总统上台后，法国的教育体系所发生的一些变化。因此，选项B最为符合这个意思。





参考译文


本周，法国的孩子们背着沉重的书包，带着对教育体系的新苦恼又回到了学校。法国的教育以其严格、平等以及非常重视毕业考试而闻名，因此孩子们有这样的反应就很奇怪了。那么法国人觉得哪出了问题呢？

很多地方都有问题，这是在Nicholas Sarkozy总统刚刚递交的长达30页的“致老师书”里表达的意见。有太多辍学的学生；课堂中没有尊重和威信（他称学生应该在老师进教室时起立）；教师职业评价不够；课程安排中的艺术和体育课程太少；有太多死记硬背的教学；还有太多的“理论和抽象”。总统最后的结论是，法国需要“重新建立”其教育体系的基础。

这些批评涉及了各个层次。政府进行的一项研究表明，五分之二的小学生因为在基础读写和算术方面的“学习差距过大”而辍学。五分之一的中学生毕业后没有取得毕业证书。甚至连毕业考试也受到了抨击。今年的毕业率从20世纪60年代早期的60%多上升到了83%。“毕业考试一文不值，”巴黎第四大学——索邦大学的校长Jean-Robert Pitte这样说。

毕业考试目前不在考虑之列，但是其他的一些变化已经开始了。教育部长Xavier Darcos放宽了学校的招生规则，允许贫穷地区的孩子到其他地方的好学校上学。他为初中学校设立了课后服务，监督学生做家庭作业，不让他们在街上乱逛。Sarkozy先生成立了一个委员会，由前总理、现在仍担任其幕僚的左派人士Michel Rocard负责，主要审查教师行业，可能也是为了在推进其他比较不易被接受的变革之前软化工会。

但是还有一些棘手的问题。法国严格的教育体系只适合那些能力强的学生：所有15岁的青少年中，只有一半达到了写作、数学和科学课程标准，这是富裕国家OECD最优秀学生的标准。但是学校忽略了最差的学生。在法国15岁青少年中，15%最差的学生是OECD国家中最差的。对于这些学生，主要的解决方法就是复读，即重新读一年。法国38%的学生在15岁前都曾复读过一年，这个比率要比其他OECD国家都高。但是一个官方的报告却指出，复读对学生的提高没有显著的作用。

Darcos先生本周接受《巴黎人》的采访时说，他“认为复读几乎没有什么成效”。但是，至于他要用什么样的方法来取代复读还不清楚。他计划减少教师的数量。他提到可能会根据学生的能力来编班，这样学生就可以和同处一个年龄层的同学待在一起，但是工会却表示反对。Sarkozy建议采取另外一种办法：减少理论教学，这样可能会吸引那些非学院派的学生。Sarkozy先生会发现，想要将自己的宏图大志转化为具体的计划难度很大。他对于课程安排的希望让人害怕：要有更多的艺术和体育课，但也要有更多的“公民教育”、比较宗教学、“普通文化”、到剧院参观、在森林中散步、去公司参观。但是法国15岁的青少年平均每年花在教室中的时间已经有1,042小时了，这比德国学生多了150小时，比英国学生多了282个小时。





TEXT FOUR


It's normal for your muscles to lose tone when you sleep—that's why people in meetings nod off so amusingly. But in as many as 10 percent of middle-aged and older adults, the throat muscles relax so much that the airway repeatedly closes up, a condition that can be deadly, as it turns out. According to a study published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine, obstructive sleep apnea sharply increases the risk of stroke or death.

People with sleep apnea often don't realize they have it, since they don't remember waking up again and again, gasping for breath. Often, it's a bed partner who hears the choking and “industrial-strength snoring”, says Klar Yaggi, a sleep specialist at Yale who led the study. He and his colleagues followed two groups of patients who were tested for sleep apnea (defined as stopping breathing five or more times per hour). Some had the condition; some didn't. During the three and a half years or so that they were studied, the people with sleep apnea were about twice as likely to have a stroke or die.

No one really knows why, although the explanation could have to do with the spikes of adrenaline that course through the body when breathing stops, increasing blood pressure, or with repeated plunges in the level of oxygen in the blood. This study didn't look at whether treatment—sleeping with a contraption that continuously blows air into the mouth—lowers risk. But losing weight will improve sleep apnea. And patients who use the machine get much more rest, Yaggi says, which should help them avoid one of the other major dangers of sleep apnea: car accidents.

Another study in the same issue of the New England Journal of Medicine looked at how well the continuous air treatment works for people with central sleep apnea, a different disorder altogether. In both forms of sleep apnea, you stop breathing periodically. But in central sleep apnea, the problem is not an obstructed airway but that the brain fails to send out the command to breathe. The disorder is usually caused by congestive heart failure, in which the heart doesn't pump as well as it should and fluid collects in the chest. Researchers think that providing a continuous air flow during sleep might help drive water out of the lungs and make breathing more regular.

The treatment did help people with central sleep apnea in some ways: Their hearts worked better, they didn't stop breathing as often, they didn't have adrenaline surges, and they were able to exercise more. “That's the good news,” says Douglas Bradley, a pulmonologist at the University of Toronto and author of the article. “The bad news is that we didn't improve survival.”

The treated patients weren't any less likely to die in the follow-up period than those who were not given the treatment. While Bradley suspects a larger study would prove a lower risk of dying, he says the benefits shown in this study aren't significant enough to recommend using the treatment routinely in people with central sleep apnea.

1. The air contraption should help patients avoid car accidents because _____.

[A] it could improve sleep quality of patients

[B] it could increase the level of oxygen in the patients' blood

[C] it could lower the risk of the occurrence of sleep apnea

[D] it could both help the patients to get more sleep and lose weight

2. Which one of the following statements is NOT true of Yaggi's study?

[A] The study proves that the machine could help the patients avoid car accidents.

[B] The study verifies that losing weight could lowers risk of sleep apnea.

[C] The study did not provide a definite answer to the cause of sleep apnea.

[D] The study argues that people with sleep apnea have more risks of death.

3. Which one of the following is NOT the characteristic sleep apnea and central sleep apnea have in common?

[A] Both of them belong to the category of periodical disorder in breathing.

[B] Both of them are still hard for patients to survive from.

[C] Both of them share the same cause that is rooted in the brain system.

[D] Both of them could be effectively dealt with by the new treatment.

4. The study conducted by Douglas Bradley proves the following except that _____.

[A] the air treatment works positively in improving sleep apnea

[B] the central apnea is caused by congestive heart failure

[C] the air treatment could help people's brain to with central sleep apnea work better

[D] the death risk is strongly suppressed by the application of air treatment

5. Bradley thinks the treatment could not be used routinely in people with central sleep apnea because _____.

[A] the study they have carried out is not authoritative enough

[B] the air treatment proves to have no improve-ment on survival

[C] the study they have carried out is not large enough

[D] the treatment needs further verification





文章剖析


这篇文章讲述了睡眠呼吸暂停这种疾病的有关情况。第一段讲述了该疾病有很大的危险性；第二段和第三段讲述关于该疾病的一项研究；第四段和第五段讲述另外一项疾病研究；第六段讲述目前治疗该病的方法还存在许多问题。





词汇注释


apnea n. 呼吸暂停

spike n. 动作电位

adrenaline n. 肾上腺素

plunge n. 下落

contraption n. 装置

congestive adj. 先天的





难句突破


① But in as many as 10 percent of middle-aged and older adults, the throat muscles relax so much that the airway repeatedly closes up, a condition that can be deadly, as it turns out.

主体句式：..., the throat muscles relax so much that...

结构分析：in as many as...作本句状语，a condition...为前面句子的同位语，其后的as it turns out为定语从句，修饰整个句子。

句子译文：但是在中年或稍微年长的人中，有10%的人的咽喉肌会过于松弛，以至于呼吸道会反复关闭，事实证明，这个情况是会致命的。

② No one really knows why, although the explanation could have to do with the spikes of adrenaline that course through the body when breathing stops, increasing blood pressure, or with repeated plunges in the level of oxygen in the blood.

主体句式：No one really knows why, although the explanation could have to do with...

结构分析：这是一个并列句，后面分句的结构比较复杂，that引导的定语从句用来修饰spikes；when...作从句中的状语。

句子译文：没有人知道这是为什么，虽然这可能与肾上腺素的动作电位差有关系，当呼吸停止时，该电位差通过身体，血压升高；或者是与血液中氧的水平反复降低有关。





题目分析


1. The air contraption should help patients avoid car accidents because _____.

[A] it could improve sleep quality of patients

[B] it could increase the level of oxygen in the patients' blood

[C] it could lower the risk of the occurrence of sleep apnea

[D] it could both help the patients to get more sleep and lost weight

1. 空气装置可以帮助病人避免车祸，因为 _____。

[A] 它可以提高病人的睡眠质量

[B] 它可以增加病人血液中的含氧量

[C] 它可以降低呼吸暂停发生的风险

[D] 它可以帮助病人睡得更好并减少体重

答案：A　难度系数：☆☆☆

分析：细节题。根据第三段最后一句：And patients who use the machine get much more rest, Yaggi says, which should help them avoid one of the other major dangers of sleep apnea: car accidents. 由此可知，是因为空气装置提高了病人的睡眠质量，才使得病人可以集中精力开车，从而避免车祸的发生。因此，答案为A。

2. Which one of the following statements is NOT true of Yaggi's study?

[A] The study proves that the machine could help the patients avoid car accidents.

[B] The study verifies that losing weight could lowers risk of sleep apnea.

[C] The study did not provide a definite answer to the cause of sleep apnea.

[D] The study argues that people with sleep apnea have more risks of death.

2. 关于Yaggi的研究，下列哪个陈述是错误的？

[A] 该研究证明了这种机器可以帮助病人避免车祸。

[B] 该研究证明了减肥可以降低睡眠呼吸暂停的风险。

[C] 该研究没有为睡眠呼吸暂停的原因给出肯定的答案。

[D] 该研究证明了有睡眠呼吸暂停的人有更高的死亡的风险。

答案：A　难度系数：☆

分析：细节题。选项A，根据第三段，Yaggi只是提到，因为该机器能使病人得到更多的休息，因此就可以减少疲劳驾驶出车祸的几率，但该研究并没有去专门论证这一点。选项B，第三段提到了这点。选项C，第三段提到了虽然有可能是肾上腺素的原因，但是还是不确定。选项D，第二段就提到了这一点，也是该研究主要证明的结果。因此，选项A为正确答案。

3. Which one of the following is NOT the characteristic sleep apnea and central sleep apnea have in common?

[A] Both of them belong to the category of periodical disorder in breathing.

[B] Both of them are still hard for patients to survive from.

[C] Both of them share the same cause that is rooted in the brain system.

[D] Both of them could be effectively dealt with by the new treatment.

3. 以下各项中哪个不是睡眠呼吸暂停和中央睡眠呼吸暂停的共同特点？

[A] 它们都属于间歇性呼吸不正常。

[B] 两种病人仍很难存活下来。

[C] 它们的根本病因都与脑部系统有关。

[D] 它们都可以通过新疗法得到有效的治疗。

答案：C　难度系数：☆☆☆☆

分析：细节题。主要信息在文章的第四段和第五段中有所提及。A对应于第四段中的In both forms of sleep apnea, you stop breathing periodically. 因此该选项正确。B对应的是第五段中的The bad news is that we didn't improve survival. 可见也是正确的。选项D也是正确的，从文中我们可以发现，两种睡眠呼吸暂停在新疗法的治疗下都取得了很好的效果。而选项C对应于第四段中的：But in central sleep apnea, the problem is not an obstructed airway but that the brain fails to send out the command to breathe. 这是中央睡眠呼吸暂停独有的特点，不是二者共有的。因此，答案为C。

4. The study conducted by Douglas Bradley proves the following except that _____.

[A] the air treatment works positively in improving sleep apnea

[B] the central apnea is caused by congestive heart failure

[C] the air treatment could help people's brain with central sleep apnea to work better

[D] the death risk is strongly suppressed by the application of air treatment

4. Douglas Bradley的研究证明了下列除 _____ 之外的其他陈述。

[A] 空气疗法可以改善睡眠呼吸暂停的情况

[B] 中央睡眠呼吸暂停是由先天性心脏病引起的

[C] 空气疗法有助于那些患有中央睡眠呼吸暂停的人的大脑更好地工作

[D] 空气疗法大大地降低了死亡的风险