1、all,thepercentage of Americans who say a college degree is very important has fallen28in the last 5-6 years.Purdue now has a pilot test to assess students critical thinking skills. Yet like many collegeteachers around the U.S., the faculty remain _29_ that their work as educators can bemeasuredbylea
2、rning30_ such as a graduates ability to investigate and reason. However,the professors need not worry so much. The results of a recent experimentshowedthatprofessorscanuse_31_ metrics to measure how well students do in three key areas: critical thinking, written communication, and quantitative liter
3、acy.Despite the success of the experiment, the actual results are worrisome, and mostly _32_ earlier studies. The organizers of the experimentconcluded that far fewer students were achieving high levels on critical thinking than they were doing for written communication orquantitative literacy. And
4、that conclusion is based only on students nearing graduation.American universities, despite their global 33_ for excellence in teaching, have onlybegun to demonstrate what they can produce in real-world learning. Knowledge-based degrees are still important, but employers arestill important, but empl
5、oyers are _34_ advanced thinking skills from college graduates. If the intellectual worth of a college degree canbe _35_ measured, more people will seek higher educationand come out better thinkers.A. accurately B. confirm C. demanding D. doubtful E. drastically F. justifyG. monopolized H. outcome I
6、. predominance J. presuming K. reputation L. significantM. signify N. simultaneously O. standardized答案： （26）L. significant（27）F. justify（28）E. drastically（29）D. doubtful（30）H. outcome（31）O. standardized（32）B. confirm（33）K. reputation（34）C. demanding（35）A. accurately第1套仔细阅读2 篇Open data sharers are st
7、ill in the minority in many fields. Although many researchers broadlyagree that public access to raw data would accelerate science, most are reluctant to post the results of their own labors online.Some communities have agreed to share onlinegeneticists, for example, post DNA sequencesat the GenBank
8、 repository （ 库 ） , and astronomers are accustomed to accessing images ofgalaxies and stars from, say, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, a telescope that has observed some500 million objects but these remain the exception, not the rule. Historically, scientists have objected to sharing for many reasons:
9、 it is a lot of work; until recently, good databases did notexist; grant funders were not pushing for sharing; it has been difficult to agree on standardsfor formatting data; and there is no agreed way to assign credit for data.But the barriers are disappearing, in part because journals and funding
10、agencies worldwide are encouraging scientists to make their data public. Last year, the Royal Society in London said inits report that scientists need to shift away from a research culture where data is viewed as a private preserve. Funding agencies note that data paid for with public money should b
11、e public information, and the scientific community is recognizing that data can now be shared digitally in ways that were not possible before. To match the growing demand, services are springing upto make it easier to publish research products online and enable other researchers to discover and cite
12、 them.Although calls to share data often concentrate on the moral advantages of sharing, the practice is not purely altruistic （ 利 他的）. Researchers who share get plenty of personal benefits, including more connections with colleagues, improved visibility and increased citations. The most successful
13、sharersthose whose data are downloaded and cited the most often-getnoticed, and their work gets used. For example, one of the most popular data sets on multidisciplinary repository Dryad is about wood density around the world; it has beendownloaded 5,700 times. Co-author Amy Zanne thinks that users
14、probably range from climate-change researchers wanting to estimate how much carbon is stored in biomass, to foresters looking for information on different grades of timber. Id much prefer to have my data used by the maximum number of people to ask their own questions, she says. Its important to allo
15、wreaders and reviewers to see exactly how you arrive at your results. Publishing data and code allows your science to be reproducible. Even people whose data are less popular can benefit. By making the effort to organize andlabel files so others can understand them, scientists become more organized
16、and better disciplined themselves, thus avoiding confusion later on.46.What do many researchers generally accept?A.It is imperative to protect scientists patents.B.Repositories are essential to scientific research.C.Open data sharing is most important to medical science.D.Open data sharing is conduc
17、ive to scientific advancement.47.What is the attitude of most researchers towards making their own data public? A. Opposed.B. Ambiguous. C. Liberal.D. Neutral.48.According to the passage, what might hinder open data sharing?49.What helps lift some of the barriers to open data sharing? A. The ever-gr
18、owing demand for big data.B. The advancement of digital technology.C. The changing attitude of journals and funders. D. The trend of social and economic development.50.Dryad serves as an example to show how open data sharing _. A. is becoming increasingly popularB. benefits sharers and users alike C
19、. makes researchers successful D. saves both money and laborPassage TwoQuestions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.Macys reported its sales plunged 5.2% in November and December at stores open more than a year, a disappointing holiday season performance that capped a difficult year for a d
20、epartment store chain facing wide-ranging challenges. Its flagship stores in major U.S. cities depend heavily on international tourist spending, which shrank at many retailers due to a strong dollar. Meanwhile, Macys has simply struggledto lure consumers who are more interested in spending on travel
21、 or dining out than on new clothes or accessories.The company blamed much of the poor performance in November and December on unseasonably warm weather. About 80% of our companys year-over-year declines in comparable sales can be attributed to shortfalls （ 短缺 ） in cold-weather goods, said chief exec
22、utive Teny Lundgren in a press release. This prompted the company to cut its forecasts for the full fourth quarter.However, its clear that Macys believes its troubles run deeper than a temporary aberration （ 偏离 ） off the thermometer. The retail giant said the poor financial performance this year has
23、 pushed it to begin implementing $400 million in cost-cutting measures. The company pledged to cut 600 back-office positions, though some 150 workers in those roles would be reassigned to other jobs. It also plans to offer voluntary separation packages to 165 senior executives. It will slash staffin
24、g at its fleet of 770 stores, a move affecting some 3,000 employees.The retailer also announced the locations of 36 stores it will close in early 2016. The company had previously announced the planned closures, but had not said which locations would be affected. None of the chains stores in the Wash
25、ington metropolitan area are to be closed.s has been moving aggressively to try to remake itself for a new era of shopping. It has plans to open more locations of Macys Backstage, a newly-developed off-price concept which might help it better compete with ambitious T. J. Maxx. Its also pushing ahead
26、 in 2016 with an expansion of Bluemercury, the beauty chain it bought last year. At a time when young beauty shoppers are often turning to Sephora or Ulta instead of department store beauty counters, Macys hopes Bluemercury will help strengthen its position in the category.One relative bright spot f
27、or Macys during the holiday season was the online channel, where it rang up double-digit increases in sales anda 25% increase in the number of orders it filled. That relative strength would be consistent with what was seen in the wilder retail industryduring the early part of the holiday season. Whi
28、le Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday all saw record spending online, in-store salesplunged over the holiday weekend.51.What does the author say about the shrinking spending of international tourists in the U.S.?A.It is attributable to the rising value of the U.S. dollar.B.It is a direct re
29、sult of the global economic recession.C.It reflects a shift of their interest in consumer goods.D.It poses a potential threat to the retail business in the U.S.52.What does Macys believe about its problems? A. They can be solved with better management. B. They cannot be attributed to weather only.C.
30、 They are not as serious in its online stores. D. They call for increased investments.53.In order to cut costs, Macys decided to _.54.Why does Macys plan to expand Bluemercury in 2016? A. To experiment on its new business concept.B. To focus more on beauty products than clothing. C. To promote sales of its products by lowering prices. D. To be more competitive in sales of beauty pro
