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  3. Distance Learning in Britain In times of inflation, smart investors look for a safe haven. So, with universities complaining

Distance Learning in Britain In times of inflation, smart investors look for a safe haven. So, with universities complaining

admin2013-07-11  37
问题                         Distance Learning in Britain
    In times of inflation, smart investors look for a safe haven. So, with universities complaining about grade inflation and Cambridge warning applicants away from 20 fluffy A-level subjects, it is perhaps not surprising that the fastest-growing A-level by far is "further mathematics", the second, harder exam in what is already seen as one of the hardest subjects of all.
    In the past scientifically-minded boys at selective schools would take A-levels in maths, further maths and physics, and then study yet more maths at university. But recently many comprehensive schools, without enough keen A-level students to justify redirecting a precious maths teacher from teaching the basics to younger students, have dropped further maths entirely. Students, meanwhile, have been lured away by fancy new subjects such as media studies and information technology. Afraid of turning away talented state-school applicants, most universities stopped asking for further maths, even for maths or physics degrees—removing any remaining inclination among state schools to offer the subject.
    The number of students taking A-level further maths fell from around 15,000 in the late 1980s to a low of some 5,000 by the late 1990s. Now, however, it is picking up. Last summer 7,270 students took the exam, up more than a fifth on the previous year. And this autumn, for the first time, every A-level student in England can study further maths, if not at school, then at one of the 46 centres set up by the Further Mathematics Network (FMN). And a clever redesign of the syllabus has made it easier to teach further maths over two years along with standard maths, thus boosting its popularity.
    Universities are delighted to see the return of students who need less hand holding. John Begg, who runs the FMN centre in Manchester, says that more than half of maths undergraduates at the city’s university have done further maths, up from a quarter just a few years ago. The maths department at the University of Warwick, one of the top-ranked in the country, is thinking of requiring further maths again, for the first time in more than a decade. For students, the main attraction of the subject is getting a qualification with hard-currency purchasing power. Maths departments are so keen on candidates with further maths that they often accept them with lower grades in other subjects. And students looking for places on sought-after courses such as medicine and veterinary science see advanced maths as a way to stand out.
    There are signs, too, that the wider availability of further maths will boost the dwindling number of maths teachers. More graduates may be willing to pass up tempting salaries elsewhere for the chance of teaching something really interesting. Language teachers might also take a leaf from the further-maths textbook. Since 2004, when studying a foreign language beyond age 14 became optional in state schools, the number of students taking a language at GCSE has dropped dramatically. Some students have quit with relief, but others have been put off by schools that now schedule languages against other subjects. A distance-learning scheme might help to stem that decline too.
In the opening paragraph, the author introduces his topic by______.
选项 A、drawing an analogy
B、making an exemplification
C、making a comparison
D、justifying an assumption
答案A
解析 本题考查写作方法。本题就引入主题的方式提问，因此首先要找到主题。第一段先举了投资的例子：通货膨胀时期，精明的投资者寻求一个安全的避风港。接着文章谈到了大学的情况：很多A-level科目的成绩出现“分数膨胀”，因此“进阶数学”成为增长最快的A—level科目。从下文来看，文章主要围绕A—level课程中“进阶数学”再次受到欢迎展开论述。因此第一段末句提出了全文的主题。之所以能从“投资”过渡到“选修进阶数学”，是因为它们有相似之处。当很多其他科目出现分数膨胀时，“进阶数学”是大家寻求的安全地带，其原因在第一段末给出了解释：它是已被认为所有学科中最难的学科之一的数学的第二次、难度更大的考试。由于作者类比了两个事物的相似点，因此[A]正确。[C]中comparison强调比较同类事物的异同，不如analogy准确。虽然该段中有举例，也提出了一种假定，但它们都不是引入主题的方法，排除[B]和[D]。
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