外國人寫文章都愛用破題法，只要看第一段即可知道文章大概在講什麼內容，但有時主題句不見得會出現在一開始，也有可能在段末才出現。此篇文章的開頭，有提到“tale” (故事)、“blind men” (瞎子)、“elephant” (大象)，所以文章一定跟“瞎子摸象”的故事有關嗎？然而，這只是一個寓言來吸引讀者，整篇文章其實與“高等教育”有關。文章裡到處都是線索，掌握主題後，就可以輕鬆作答囉！
Sometime around the seventh grade, many American students
are introduced to the tale of 10 blind men inspecting an elephant.
When each blind man reaches different conclusions about the
creature, the students are invited to consider whether truth is absolute
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or lies in the eye of the beholder. College professors and
administrators might want to remember that fable when they take the
measure of American higher education. Many of them, who tend to
see only what they stand to lose, perceive the beast as wounded,
suffering from the shocks of rising costs, dwindling resources and
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life-draining cutbacks. But foreigners, who compare America’s
universities with their own, often reach very different conclusions
about the nature of the beast.
If sheer numbers provide any proof, America’s universities and
colleges are the envy of the world. For all their abiding troubles, the
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United States’ 3,500 institutions were flooded with 407,530 students
from 193 different countries last year. Asia led the way with 39,600
students from China and 36,610 from Japan, followed by India and
Canada. Many of the foreigners entered graduate and
undergraduate programs in roughly equal numbers….
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Most European and Asian universities provide an elite service to a
small and privileged clientele. While fully 60% of all U.S. high school
graduates attend college at some point in their life, just 30% of the
comparable German population, 28% of the French, 20% of the
British and 37% of the Japanese proceed beyond high school.
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German students who survive the Abitur or Britons who pass their A
levels may still not qualify for a top university at home, but find
American universities far more welcoming. Some U.S. schools
acknowledge the rigor of European secondary training and will give
up to a year’s credit to foreigners who have passed their high school
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exams.
( ) 1. What do American college professors and administrators believe about American universities?
(A) American universities are better than foreign universities.
(B) There is a financial crisis in American universities.
(C) American universities are well-equipped.
(D) The students in American universities are not as good as those in foreign universities.
( ) 2. The phrase “at some point in their life” in the third paragraph means that most U.S. high school graduates _____.
(A) enter college at the same age (B) enter college before they get married
(C) enter college at different times (D) seldom enter college
( ) 3. According to this passage, which of the following statements is true?
(A) More U.S. high school graduates go to college than their European counterparts.
(B) More foreign students enter undergraduate schools than graduate schools.
(C) Most foreign students in American universities come from Canada.
(D) Secondary training in the U.S. is more difficult than that in Europe.
( ) 4. Why does the author begin the passage with the fable of the elephant?
(A) The author thinks it is meaningless to define an elephant.
(B) The author wants to emphasize that a blind man can never know what an elephant is like.
(C) The author is especially interested in elephants.
(D) The author wants to demonstrate that it is not easy to see the whole truth.
英銘老師：閱讀測驗是很多考生畏懼的英文題型之一，其實閱題測驗的的解題並不難，因為外國人寫文章都愛用破題法，只要看第一段即可知道文章大概在講什麼內容，但有時主題句不見得會出現在一開始，也有可能在段末才出現。例如在此篇文章的開頭，有提到“tale” (故事)、“blind men” (瞎子)、“elephant” (大象)，所以文章一定跟“瞎子摸象”的故事有關嗎？然而，這只是一個寓言來吸引讀者，整篇文章其實與“高等教育”有關。
更多完整內容 請至國考專門店 英銘國考英文周刊-No.44-閱讀測驗篇
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