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编辑人: 桃花下浅酌

calendar2025-06-16

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2020年12月第2套英语六级真题参考答案

一、Part Ⅱ Listening Comprehension

1、Question 1 is based on the conversation you have just heard.

A、A driving test.

B、A video game.

C、Traffic routes.

D、Cargo logistics.


2、Question 2 is based on the conversation you have just heard.

A、He found it instructive and realistic.

B、He bought it when touring Europe.

C、He was really drawn to its other versions.

D、He introduced it to his brother last year.


3、Question 3 is based on the conversation you have just heard.

A、Travelling all over the country.

B、Driving from one city to another.

C、The details in the driving simulator.

D、The key role of the logistics industry.


4、Question 4 is based on the conversation you have just heard.

A、Clearer road signs.

B、More people driving safely.

C、Stricter traffic rules.

D、More self-driving trucks on the road.


5、Question 5 is based on the conversation you have just heard.

A、It isn’t so enjoyable as he expected.

B、It isn’t so motivating as he believed.

C、It doesn’t enable him to earn as much money as he used to.

D、It doesn’t seem to offer as much freedom as he anticipated.


6、Question 6 is based on the conversation you have just heard.

A、Not all of them care about their employees’ behaviors.

B、Few of them are aware of their employees’ feelings.

C、Few of them offer praise and reward to their employees.

D、Not all of them know how to motivate their employees.


7、Question 7 is based on the conversation you have just heard.

A、Job satisfaction.

B、Self-awareness.

C、Autonomy.

D、Money.


8、Question 8 is based on the conversation you have just heard.

A、The importance of cultivating close relationships with clients.

B、The need for getting recommendations from their managers.

C、The advantages of permanent full-time employment.

D、The way to explore employees’ interests and talents.


9、Question 9 is based on the passage you have just heard.

A、Consumers visualize their activities in different weather.

B、Good weather triggers consumers’ desire to go shopping.

C、Weather conditions influence consumers’ buying behavior.

D、Consumers’ mental states change with the prices of goods.


10、Question 10 is based on the passage you have just heard.

A、Active consumption.

B、Direct correlation.

C、Individual association.

D、Mental visualization.


11、Question 11 is based on the passage you have just heard.

A、Enabling them to simplify their mathematical formulas.

B、Helping them determine what to sell and at what price.

C、Enabling them to sell their products at a higher price.

D、Helping them advertise a greater variety of products.


12、Question 12 is based on the passage you have just heard.

A、A naturally ventilated office is more comfortable.

B、A cool office will boost employees’ productivity.

C、Office air-conditioning should follow guidebooks.

D、Air-conditioning improves ventilation in the office.


13、Question 13 is based on the passage you have just heard.

A、People in their comfort zone of temperature are more satisfied with their productivity.

B、People in different countries vary in their tolerance to uncomfortable temperatures.

C、Twenty-two degrees is the optimal temperature for office workers.

D、There is a range of temperatures for people to feel comfortable.


14、Question 14 is based on the passage you have just heard.

A、It will have no negative impact on work.

B、It will be immediately noticeable.

C、It will sharply decrease work efficiency.

D、It will cause a lot of discomfort.


15、Question 15 is based on the passage you have just heard.

A、They tend to favor lower temperatures.

B、They suffer from rapid temperature changes.

C、They are not bothered by temperature extremes.

D、They become less sensitive to high temperatures.


16、Question 16 is based on the recording you have just heard.

A、It overlooked the possibility that emotions may be controlled.

B、It ignored the fact that emotions are personal and subjective.

C、It classified emotions simply as either positive or negative.

D、It measured positive and negative emotions independently.


17、Question 17 is based on the recording you have just heard.

A、Sitting alone without doing anything seemed really distressing.

B、Solitude adversely affected the participants’ mental well-being.

C、Siting alone for 15 minutes made the participants restless.

D、Solitude had a reductive effect on high-arousal emotions.


18、Question 18 is based on the recording you have just heard.

A、It proved hard to depict objectively.

B、It went hand in hand with sadness.

C、It helped increase low-arousal emotions.

D、It tended to intensify negative emotions.


19、Question 19 is based on the recording you have just heard.

A、It uses up much less energy than it does in deep thinking.

B、It remains inactive without burning calories noticeably.

C、It continues to burn up calories to help us stay in shape.

D、It consumes almost a quarter of the body’s total energy.


20、Question 20 is based on the recording you have just heard.

A、Much of the consumption has nothing to do with conscious activities.

B、It has something to do with the difficulty of the activities in question.

C、Energy usage devoted to active learning accounts for a big part of it.

D、A significant amount of it is for performing difficult cognitive tasks.


21、Question 21 is based on the recording you have just heard.

A、It is believed to remain basically constant.

B、It is a prerequisite for any mental activity.

C、It is conducive to relieving mental exhaustion.

D、It is thought to be related to food consumption.


22、Question 22 is based on the recording you have just heard.

A、Job candidates rarely take it seriously.

B、Job seekers tend to have a ready answer.

C、Job seekers often feel at a loss where to start in answering it.

D、Job candidates can respond freely due to its open-ended nature.


23、Question 23 is based on the recording you have just heard.

A、Follow their career coaches’ guidelines.

B、Strive to take control of their narrative.

C、Do their best to impress the interviewer.

D、Repeat the information on their resume.


24、Question 24 is based on the recording you have just heard.

A、To reflect on their past achievements as well as failures.

B、To produce examples for different interview questions.

C、To discuss important details they are going to present.

D、To identify a broad general strength to elaborate on.


25、Question 25 is based on the recording you have just heard.

A、Getting acquainted with the human resources personnel.

B、Finding out why the company provides the job opening.

C、Figuring out what benefits the company is able to offer them.

D、Tailoring their expectations to the company’s long-term goal.


二、Part III Reading Comprehension

Virtually every activity that entails or facilitates in-person human interaction seems to be in the midst of a total meltdown as the coronavirus (冠状病毒) outbreak erases Americans’ desire to travel. Amtrak says bookings are down by 50 percent and cancellations are up to 300 percent. Hotels in San Francisco are experiencing (26)_____ rates between 70 and 80 percent. Broadway goes dark on Thursday night. Universities, now emptying their campuses, have never tried online learning on this (27)_____. White-collar companies like Amazon, Apple, and the New York Times are asking employees to work from home for the (28)_____ future.

        But what happens after the coronavirus?

        In some ways, the answer is: All the old normal stuff. The pandemic (大流行病) will take lives, (29)_____economies and destroy routines, but it will pass. Americans will never stop going to basketball games. They won’t stop going on vacation. They’ll meet to do business. No decentralizing technology so far—not telephones, not television, and not the internet—has dented that human desire to shake hands, despite technologists’ (30)_____to the contrary.

        Yet there are real reasons to think that things will not return to the way they were last week. Small (31)_____ create small societal shifts; big ones change things for good. The New York transit strike of 1980 is (32)_____ with prompting several long-term changes in the city, including bus and bike lanes, and women wearing sports shoes to work. The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 prompted the development of national health care in Europe.

        Here and now, this might not even be a question of (33)_____. It’s not clear that the cruise industry will (34)_____. Or that public transit won’t go broke without (35)_____ assistance. The infrastructure might not even be in place to do what we were doing in 2019.

26、(1)

A、cumulative

B、strangle

C、vacancy

D、federal

E、predictions

F、subtle

G、wedge

H、foreseeable

I、preference

J、scale

K、disruptions

L、credited

M、survive

N、summoned

O、credentials


Virtually every activity that entails or facilitates in-person human interaction seems to be in the midst of a total meltdown as the coronavirus (冠状病毒) outbreak erases Americans’ desire to travel. Amtrak says bookings are down by 50 percent and cancellations are up to 300 percent. Hotels in San Francisco are experiencing (26)_____ rates between 70 and 80 percent. Broadway goes dark on Thursday night. Universities, now emptying their campuses, have never tried online learning on this (27)_____. White-collar companies like Amazon, Apple, and the New York Times are asking employees to work from home for the (28)_____ future.

        But what happens after the coronavirus?

        In some ways, the answer is: All the old normal stuff. The pandemic (大流行病) will take lives, (29)_____economies and destroy routines, but it will pass. Americans will never stop going to basketball games. They won’t stop going on vacation. They’ll meet to do business. No decentralizing technology so far—not telephones, not television, and not the internet—has dented that human desire to shake hands, despite technologists’ (30)_____to the contrary.

        Yet there are real reasons to think that things will not return to the way they were last week. Small (31)_____ create small societal shifts; big ones change things for good. The New York transit strike of 1980 is (32)_____ with prompting several long-term changes in the city, including bus and bike lanes, and women wearing sports shoes to work. The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 prompted the development of national health care in Europe.

        Here and now, this might not even be a question of (33)_____. It’s not clear that the cruise industry will (34)_____. Or that public transit won’t go broke without (35)_____ assistance. The infrastructure might not even be in place to do what we were doing in 2019.

27、(2)

A、cumulative

B、strangle

C、vacancy

D、federal

E、predictions

F、subtle

G、wedge

H、foreseeable

I、preference

J、scale

K、disruptions

L、credited

M、survive

N、summoned

O、credentials


Virtually every activity that entails or facilitates in-person human interaction seems to be in the midst of a total meltdown as the coronavirus (冠状病毒) outbreak erases Americans’ desire to travel. Amtrak says bookings are down by 50 percent and cancellations are up to 300 percent. Hotels in San Francisco are experiencing (26)_____ rates between 70 and 80 percent. Broadway goes dark on Thursday night. Universities, now emptying their campuses, have never tried online learning on this (27)_____. White-collar companies like Amazon, Apple, and the New York Times are asking employees to work from home for the (28)_____ future.

        But what happens after the coronavirus?

        In some ways, the answer is: All the old normal stuff. The pandemic (大流行病) will take lives, (29)_____economies and destroy routines, but it will pass. Americans will never stop going to basketball games. They won’t stop going on vacation. They’ll meet to do business. No decentralizing technology so far—not telephones, not television, and not the internet—has dented that human desire to shake hands, despite technologists’ (30)_____to the contrary.

        Yet there are real reasons to think that things will not return to the way they were last week. Small (31)_____ create small societal shifts; big ones change things for good. The New York transit strike of 1980 is (32)_____ with prompting several long-term changes in the city, including bus and bike lanes, and women wearing sports shoes to work. The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 prompted the development of national health care in Europe.

        Here and now, this might not even be a question of (33)_____. It’s not clear that the cruise industry will (34)_____. Or that public transit won’t go broke without (35)_____ assistance. The infrastructure might not even be in place to do what we were doing in 2019.

28、(3)

A、cumulative

B、strangle

C、vacancy

D、federal

E、predictions

F、subtle

G、wedge

H、foreseeable

I、preference

J、scale

K、disruptions

L、credited

M、survive

N、summoned

O、credentials


Virtually every activity that entails or facilitates in-person human interaction seems to be in the midst of a total meltdown as the coronavirus (冠状病毒) outbreak erases Americans’ desire to travel. Amtrak says bookings are down by 50 percent and cancellations are up to 300 percent. Hotels in San Francisco are experiencing (26)_____ rates between 70 and 80 percent. Broadway goes dark on Thursday night. Universities, now emptying their campuses, have never tried online learning on this (27)_____. White-collar companies like Amazon, Apple, and the New York Times are asking employees to work from home for the (28)_____ future.

        But what happens after the coronavirus?

        In some ways, the answer is: All the old normal stuff. The pandemic (大流行病) will take lives, (29)_____economies and destroy routines, but it will pass. Americans will never stop going to basketball games. They won’t stop going on vacation. They’ll meet to do business. No decentralizing technology so far—not telephones, not television, and not the internet—has dented that human desire to shake hands, despite technologists’ (30)_____to the contrary.

        Yet there are real reasons to think that things will not return to the way they were last week. Small (31)_____ create small societal shifts; big ones change things for good. The New York transit strike of 1980 is (32)_____ with prompting several long-term changes in the city, including bus and bike lanes, and women wearing sports shoes to work. The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 prompted the development of national health care in Europe.

        Here and now, this might not even be a question of (33)_____. It’s not clear that the cruise industry will (34)_____. Or that public transit won’t go broke without (35)_____ assistance. The infrastructure might not even be in place to do what we were doing in 2019.

29、(4)

A、cumulative

B、strangle

C、vacancy

D、federal

E、predictions

F、subtle

G、wedge

H、foreseeable

I、preference

J、scale

K、disruptions

L、credited

M、survive

N、summoned

O、credentials


Virtually every activity that entails or facilitates in-person human interaction seems to be in the midst of a total meltdown as the coronavirus (冠状病毒) outbreak erases Americans’ desire to travel. Amtrak says bookings are down by 50 percent and cancellations are up to 300 percent. Hotels in San Francisco are experiencing (26)_____ rates between 70 and 80 percent. Broadway goes dark on Thursday night. Universities, now emptying their campuses, have never tried online learning on this (27)_____. White-collar companies like Amazon, Apple, and the New York Times are asking employees to work from home for the (28)_____ future.

        But what happens after the coronavirus?

        In some ways, the answer is: All the old normal stuff. The pandemic (大流行病) will take lives, (29)_____economies and destroy routines, but it will pass. Americans will never stop going to basketball games. They won’t stop going on vacation. They’ll meet to do business. No decentralizing technology so far—not telephones, not television, and not the internet—has dented that human desire to shake hands, despite technologists’ (30)_____to the contrary.

        Yet there are real reasons to think that things will not return to the way they were last week. Small (31)_____ create small societal shifts; big ones change things for good. The New York transit strike of 1980 is (32)_____ with prompting several long-term changes in the city, including bus and bike lanes, and women wearing sports shoes to work. The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 prompted the development of national health care in Europe.

        Here and now, this might not even be a question of (33)_____. It’s not clear that the cruise industry will (34)_____. Or that public transit won’t go broke without (35)_____ assistance. The infrastructure might not even be in place to do what we were doing in 2019.

30、(5)

A、cumulative

B、strangle

C、vacancy

D、federal

E、predictions

F、subtle

G、wedge

H、foreseeable

I、preference

J、scale

K、disruptions

L、credited

M、survive

N、summoned

O、credentials


Virtually every activity that entails or facilitates in-person human interaction seems to be in the midst of a total meltdown as the coronavirus (冠状病毒) outbreak erases Americans’ desire to travel. Amtrak says bookings are down by 50 percent and cancellations are up to 300 percent. Hotels in San Francisco are experiencing (26)_____ rates between 70 and 80 percent. Broadway goes dark on Thursday night. Universities, now emptying their campuses, have never tried online learning on this (27)_____. White-collar companies like Amazon, Apple, and the New York Times are asking employees to work from home for the (28)_____ future.

        But what happens after the coronavirus?

        In some ways, the answer is: All the old normal stuff. The pandemic (大流行病) will take lives, (29)_____economies and destroy routines, but it will pass. Americans will never stop going to basketball games. They won’t stop going on vacation. They’ll meet to do business. No decentralizing technology so far—not telephones, not television, and not the internet—has dented that human desire to shake hands, despite technologists’ (30)_____to the contrary.

        Yet there are real reasons to think that things will not return to the way they were last week. Small (31)_____ create small societal shifts; big ones change things for good. The New York transit strike of 1980 is (32)_____ with prompting several long-term changes in the city, including bus and bike lanes, and women wearing sports shoes to work. The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 prompted the development of national health care in Europe.

        Here and now, this might not even be a question of (33)_____. It’s not clear that the cruise industry will (34)_____. Or that public transit won’t go broke without (35)_____ assistance. The infrastructure might not even be in place to do what we were doing in 2019.

31、(6)

A、cumulative

B、strangle

C、vacancy

D、federal

E、predictions

F、subtle

G、wedge

H、foreseeable

I、preference

J、scale

K、disruptions

L、credited

M、survive

N、summoned

O、credentials


Virtually every activity that entails or facilitates in-person human interaction seems to be in the midst of a total meltdown as the coronavirus (冠状病毒) outbreak erases Americans’ desire to travel. Amtrak says bookings are down by 50 percent and cancellations are up to 300 percent. Hotels in San Francisco are experiencing (26)_____ rates between 70 and 80 percent. Broadway goes dark on Thursday night. Universities, now emptying their campuses, have never tried online learning on this (27)_____. White-collar companies like Amazon, Apple, and the New York Times are asking employees to work from home for the (28)_____ future.

        But what happens after the coronavirus?

        In some ways, the answer is: All the old normal stuff. The pandemic (大流行病) will take lives, (29)_____economies and destroy routines, but it will pass. Americans will never stop going to basketball games. They won’t stop going on vacation. They’ll meet to do business. No decentralizing technology so far—not telephones, not television, and not the internet—has dented that human desire to shake hands, despite technologists’ (30)_____to the contrary.

        Yet there are real reasons to think that things will not return to the way they were last week. Small (31)_____ create small societal shifts; big ones change things for good. The New York transit strike of 1980 is (32)_____ with prompting several long-term changes in the city, including bus and bike lanes, and women wearing sports shoes to work. The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 prompted the development of national health care in Europe.

        Here and now, this might not even be a question of (33)_____. It’s not clear that the cruise industry will (34)_____. Or that public transit won’t go broke without (35)_____ assistance. The infrastructure might not even be in place to do what we were doing in 2019.

32、(7)

A、cumulative

B、strangle

C、vacancy

D、federal

E、predictions

F、subtle

G、wedge

H、foreseeable

I、preference

J、scale

K、disruptions

L、credited

M、survive

N、summoned

O、credentials


Virtually every activity that entails or facilitates in-person human interaction seems to be in the midst of a total meltdown as the coronavirus (冠状病毒) outbreak erases Americans’ desire to travel. Amtrak says bookings are down by 50 percent and cancellations are up to 300 percent. Hotels in San Francisco are experiencing (26)_____ rates between 70 and 80 percent. Broadway goes dark on Thursday night. Universities, now emptying their campuses, have never tried online learning on this (27)_____. White-collar companies like Amazon, Apple, and the New York Times are asking employees to work from home for the (28)_____ future.

        But what happens after the coronavirus?

        In some ways, the answer is: All the old normal stuff. The pandemic (大流行病) will take lives, (29)_____economies and destroy routines, but it will pass. Americans will never stop going to basketball games. They won’t stop going on vacation. They’ll meet to do business. No decentralizing technology so far—not telephones, not television, and not the internet—has dented that human desire to shake hands, despite technologists’ (30)_____to the contrary.

        Yet there are real reasons to think that things will not return to the way they were last week. Small (31)_____ create small societal shifts; big ones change things for good. The New York transit strike of 1980 is (32)_____ with prompting several long-term changes in the city, including bus and bike lanes, and women wearing sports shoes to work. The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 prompted the development of national health care in Europe.

        Here and now, this might not even be a question of (33)_____. It’s not clear that the cruise industry will (34)_____. Or that public transit won’t go broke without (35)_____ assistance. The infrastructure might not even be in place to do what we were doing in 2019.

33、(8)

A、cumulative

B、strangle

C、vacancy

D、federal

E、predictions

F、subtle

G、wedge

H、foreseeable

I、preference

J、scale

K、disruptions

L、credited

M、survive

N、summoned

O、credentials


Virtually every activity that entails or facilitates in-person human interaction seems to be in the midst of a total meltdown as the coronavirus (冠状病毒) outbreak erases Americans’ desire to travel. Amtrak says bookings are down by 50 percent and cancellations are up to 300 percent. Hotels in San Francisco are experiencing (26)_____ rates between 70 and 80 percent. Broadway goes dark on Thursday night. Universities, now emptying their campuses, have never tried online learning on this (27)_____. White-collar companies like Amazon, Apple, and the New York Times are asking employees to work from home for the (28)_____ future.

        But what happens after the coronavirus?

        In some ways, the answer is: All the old normal stuff. The pandemic (大流行病) will take lives, (29)_____economies and destroy routines, but it will pass. Americans will never stop going to basketball games. They won’t stop going on vacation. They’ll meet to do business. No decentralizing technology so far—not telephones, not television, and not the internet—has dented that human desire to shake hands, despite technologists’ (30)_____to the contrary.

        Yet there are real reasons to think that things will not return to the way they were last week. Small (31)_____ create small societal shifts; big ones change things for good. The New York transit strike of 1980 is (32)_____ with prompting several long-term changes in the city, including bus and bike lanes, and women wearing sports shoes to work. The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 prompted the development of national health care in Europe.

        Here and now, this might not even be a question of (33)_____. It’s not clear that the cruise industry will (34)_____. Or that public transit won’t go broke without (35)_____ assistance. The infrastructure might not even be in place to do what we were doing in 2019.

34、(9)

A、cumulative

B、strangle

C、vacancy

D、federal

E、predictions

F、subtle

G、wedge

H、foreseeable

I、preference

J、scale

K、disruptions

L、credited

M、survive

N、summoned

O、credentials


Virtually every activity that entails or facilitates in-person human interaction seems to be in the midst of a total meltdown as the coronavirus (冠状病毒) outbreak erases Americans’ desire to travel. Amtrak says bookings are down by 50 percent and cancellations are up to 300 percent. Hotels in San Francisco are experiencing (26)_____ rates between 70 and 80 percent. Broadway goes dark on Thursday night. Universities, now emptying their campuses, have never tried online learning on this (27)_____. White-collar companies like Amazon, Apple, and the New York Times are asking employees to work from home for the (28)_____ future.

        But what happens after the coronavirus?

        In some ways, the answer is: All the old normal stuff. The pandemic (大流行病) will take lives, (29)_____economies and destroy routines, but it will pass. Americans will never stop going to basketball games. They won’t stop going on vacation. They’ll meet to do business. No decentralizing technology so far—not telephones, not television, and not the internet—has dented that human desire to shake hands, despite technologists’ (30)_____to the contrary.

        Yet there are real reasons to think that things will not return to the way they were last week. Small (31)_____ create small societal shifts; big ones change things for good. The New York transit strike of 1980 is (32)_____ with prompting several long-term changes in the city, including bus and bike lanes, and women wearing sports shoes to work. The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 prompted the development of national health care in Europe.

        Here and now, this might not even be a question of (33)_____. It’s not clear that the cruise industry will (34)_____. Or that public transit won’t go broke without (35)_____ assistance. The infrastructure might not even be in place to do what we were doing in 2019.

35、(10)

A、cumulative

B、strangle

C、vacancy

D、federal

E、predictions

F、subtle

G、wedge

H、foreseeable

I、preference

J、scale

K、disruptions

L、credited

M、survive

N、summoned

O、credentials


Why lifelong learning is the international passport to success

【A】Picture yourself at a college graduation day, with a fresh cohort (一群) of students about to set sail for new horizons. What are they thinking while they throw their caps in the air? What is it with this thin sheet of paper that makes it so precious? It’s not only the proof of acquired knowledge but plays into the reputation game of where you were trained. Being a graduate from Harvard Law School carries that extra glamour, doesn’t it? Yet take a closer look, and the diploma is the perfect ending to the modern tragedy of education.

【B】Why? Because universities and curricula are designed along the three unities of French classical tragedy: time, action, and place. Students meet at the university campus (unity of place) for classes (unity of action) during their 20s (unity of time). This classical model has traditionally produced prestigious universities, but it is now challenged by the digitalisation of society—which allows everybody who is connected to the internet to access learning—and by the need to acquire skills in step with a fast-changing world. Universities must realise that learning in your 20s won’t be enough. If technological diffusion and implementation develop faster, workers will have to constantly refresh their skills.

【C】The university model needs to evolve. It must equip students with the right skills and knowledge to compete in a world “where value will be derived largely from human interaction and the ability to invent and interpret things that machines cannot”, as the English futurist Richard Watson puts it. By teaching foundational knowledge and up-to-date skills, universities will provide students with the future-proof skills of lifelong learning, not just get them “job-ready”.

【D】Some universities already play a critical role in lifelong learning as they want to keep the value of their diplomas. This new role comes with a huge set of challenges, and needs largely to be invented. One way to start this transformation process could be to go beyond the ‘five-year diploma model’ to adapt curricula to lifelong learning. We call this model the lifelong passport.

【E】The Bachelor’s degree could be your passport to lifelong learning. For the first few years, students would ‘learn to learn’ and get endowed with reasoning skills that remain with them for the rest of their lives. For instance, physics allows you to observe and rationalise the world, but also to integrate observations into models and, sometimes, models into theories or laws that can be used to make predictions. Mathematics is the language used to formulate the laws of physics or economy, and to make rigorous computations that turn into predictions. These two disciplines naturally form the foundational pillars of education in technical universities.

【F】Recent advances in computational methods and data science push us into rethinking science and engineering. Computers increasingly become principal actors in leveraging data to formulate questions, which requires radically new ways of reasoning. Therefore, a new discipline blending computer science, programming, statistics and machine learning should be added to the traditional foundational topics of mathematics and physics. These three pillars would allow you to keep learning complex technical subjects all your life because numeracy (计算) is the foundation upon which everything else is eventually built.

【G】According to this new model, the Master of Science (MSc) would become the first stamp in the lifelong learning journey. The MSc curriculum should prepare students for their professional career by allowing them to focus on acquiring practical skills through projects.

【H】Those projects are then interwoven with fast-paced technical modules (模块) learned ‘on-the-fly’ and ‘at will’ depending on the nature of the project. If, for instance, your project is developing an integrated circuit, you will have to take a module on advanced concepts in microelectronics. The most critical skills will be developed before the project even starts, in the form of boot camps (短期强化训练), while the rest can be fostered along with the project, putting them to immediate use and thus providing a rich learning context.

【I】In addition to technical capabilities, the very nature of projects develops social and entrepreneurial skills, such as design thinking, initiative taking, team leading, activity reporting or resource planning. Not only will those skills be actually integrated into the curriculum but they will be very important to have in the future because they are difficult to automate.

【J】 After the MSc diploma is earned, there would be many more stamps of lifelong learning over the years. If universities decide to engage in this learning model, they will have to cope with many organisational challenges that might shake their unity of place and action. First, the number of students would be unpredictable. If all of a university’s alumni (往届毕业生) were to become students again, the student body would be much bigger than it is now, and it could become unsustainable for the campus in terms of both size and resources. Second, freshly graduated students would mix with professionally experienced ones. This would change the classroom dynamics, perhaps for the best. Project-based learning with a mixed team reflects the reality of the professional world and could therefore be a better preparation for it.

【K】Sound like science fiction? In many countries, part-time studying is not exceptional: on average across OECD countries, part-time students in 2016 represented 20 per cent of enrolment in tertiary education. In many countries, this share is higher and can exceed 40 per cent in Australia, New Zealand and Sweden.

【L】If lifelong learning were to become a priority and the new norm, diplomas, just like passports, could be revalidated periodically. A time-determined revalidation would ease administration for everybody. Universities as well as employers and employees would know when they have to retrain. For instance, graduates from the year 2000 would have to come back in 2005.

【M】This could fix the main organisational challenges for the university, but not for the learners, due to lack of time, family obligations or funds. Here, online learning might be an option because it allows you to save your ‘travel time’, but it has its limits. So far, none of the major employers associated with online learning platforms such as Coursera and Udacity has committed to hire or even interview graduates of their new online programmes.

【N】Even if time were not an issue, who will pay for lifelong learning? That’s the eternal debate: should it be the learner’s responsibility, that of his employer, or of the state? For example, in Massachusetts, the healthcare professions require continuing education credits, which are carefully evidenced and documented. Yet the same state’s lawyers don’t require continuing legal education, although most lawyers do participate in it informally. One explanation is that technology is less of factor in law than it is in healthcare.

【O】Europe has many scenarios, but the French and Swiss ones are interesting to compare. In France, every individual has a right to lifelong learning organised via a personal learning account that is credited as you work. In Switzerland, lifelong learning is a personal responsibility and not a government one. However, employers and the state encourage continuing education either by funding parts of it or by allowing employees to attend it.

【P】Universities have a fundamental role to play in this journey, and higher education is in for a change. Just like classical theatre, the old university model produced talent and value for society. We are not advocating its abolition but rather calling for the adaptation of its characteristics to meet the needs of today.

36、36. Students should develop the key skills before they start a project.

A、A

B、B

C、C

D、D

E、E

F、F

G、G

H、H

I、I

J、J

K、K

L、L

M、M

N、N

O、O

P、P


Why lifelong learning is the international passport to success

【A】Picture yourself at a college graduation day, with a fresh cohort (一群) of students about to set sail for new horizons. What are they thinking while they throw their caps in the air? What is it with this thin sheet of paper that makes it so precious? It’s not only the proof of acquired knowledge but plays into the reputation game of where you were trained. Being a graduate from Harvard Law School carries that extra glamour, doesn’t it? Yet take a closer look, and the diploma is the perfect ending to the modern tragedy of education.

【B】Why? Because universities and curricula are designed along the three unities of French classical tragedy: time, action, and place. Students meet at the university campus (unity of place) for classes (unity of action) during their 20s (unity of time). This classical model has traditionally produced prestigious universities, but it is now challenged by the digitalisation of society—which allows everybody who is connected to the internet to access learning—and by the need to acquire skills in step with a fast-changing world. Universities must realise that learning in your 20s won’t be enough. If technological diffusion and implementation develop faster, workers will have to constantly refresh their skills.

【C】The university model needs to evolve. It must equip students with the right skills and knowledge to compete in a world “where value will be derived largely from human interaction and the ability to invent and interpret things that machines cannot”, as the English futurist Richard Watson puts it. By teaching foundational knowledge and up-to-date skills, universities will provide students with the future-proof skills of lifelong learning, not just get them “job-ready”.

【D】Some universities already play a critical role in lifelong learning as they want to keep the value of their diplomas. This new role comes with a huge set of challenges, and needs largely to be invented. One way to start this transformation process could be to go beyond the ‘five-year diploma model’ to adapt curricula to lifelong learning. We call this model the lifelong passport.

【E】The Bachelor’s degree could be your passport to lifelong learning. For the first few years, students would ‘learn to learn’ and get endowed with reasoning skills that remain with them for the rest of their lives. For instance, physics allows you to observe and rationalise the world, but also to integrate observations into models and, sometimes, models into theories or laws that can be used to make predictions. Mathematics is the language used to formulate the laws of physics or economy, and to make rigorous computations that turn into predictions. These two disciplines naturally form the foundational pillars of education in technical universities.

【F】Recent advances in computational methods and data science push us into rethinking science and engineering. Computers increasingly become principal actors in leveraging data to formulate questions, which requires radically new ways of reasoning. Therefore, a new discipline blending computer science, programming, statistics and machine learning should be added to the traditional foundational topics of mathematics and physics. These three pillars would allow you to keep learning complex technical subjects all your life because numeracy (计算) is the foundation upon which everything else is eventually built.

【G】According to this new model, the Master of Science (MSc) would become the first stamp in the lifelong learning journey. The MSc curriculum should prepare students for their professional career by allowing them to focus on acquiring practical skills through projects.

【H】Those projects are then interwoven with fast-paced technical modules (模块) learned ‘on-the-fly’ and ‘at will’ depending on the nature of the project. If, for instance, your project is developing an integrated circuit, you will have to take a module on advanced concepts in microelectronics. The most critical skills will be developed before the project even starts, in the form of boot camps (短期强化训练), while the rest can be fostered along with the project, putting them to immediate use and thus providing a rich learning context.

【I】In addition to technical capabilities, the very nature of projects develops social and entrepreneurial skills, such as design thinking, initiative taking, team leading, activity reporting or resource planning. Not only will those skills be actually integrated into the curriculum but they will be very important to have in the future because they are difficult to automate.

【J】 After the MSc diploma is earned, there would be many more stamps of lifelong learning over the years. If universities decide to engage in this learning model, they will have to cope with many organisational challenges that might shake their unity of place and action. First, the number of students would be unpredictable. If all of a university’s alumni (往届毕业生) were to become students again, the student body would be much bigger than it is now, and it could become unsustainable for the campus in terms of both size and resources. Second, freshly graduated students would mix with professionally experienced ones. This would change the classroom dynamics, perhaps for the best. Project-based learning with a mixed team reflects the reality of the professional world and could therefore be a better preparation for it.

【K】Sound like science fiction? In many countries, part-time studying is not exceptional: on average across OECD countries, part-time students in 2016 represented 20 per cent of enrolment in tertiary education. In many countries, this share is higher and can exceed 40 per cent in Australia, New Zealand and Sweden.

【L】If lifelong learning were to become a priority and the new norm, diplomas, just like passports, could be revalidated periodically. A time-determined revalidation would ease administration for everybody. Universities as well as employers and employees would know when they have to retrain. For instance, graduates from the year 2000 would have to come back in 2005.

【M】This could fix the main organisational challenges for the university, but not for the learners, due to lack of time, family obligations or funds. Here, online learning might be an option because it allows you to save your ‘travel time’, but it has its limits. So far, none of the major employers associated with online learning platforms such as Coursera and Udacity has committed to hire or even interview graduates of their new online programmes.

【N】Even if time were not an issue, who will pay for lifelong learning? That’s the eternal debate: should it be the learner’s responsibility, that of his employer, or of the state? For example, in Massachusetts, the healthcare professions require continuing education credits, which are carefully evidenced and documented. Yet the same state’s lawyers don’t require continuing legal education, although most lawyers do participate in it informally. One explanation is that technology is less of factor in law than it is in healthcare.

【O】Europe has many scenarios, but the French and Swiss ones are interesting to compare. In France, every individual has a right to lifelong learning organised via a personal learning account that is credited as you work. In Switzerland, lifelong learning is a personal responsibility and not a government one. However, employers and the state encourage continuing education either by funding parts of it or by allowing employees to attend it.

【P】Universities have a fundamental role to play in this journey, and higher education is in for a change. Just like classical theatre, the old university model produced talent and value for society. We are not advocating its abolition but rather calling for the adaptation of its characteristics to meet the needs of today.

37、37. By acquiring reasoning skills in the first few years of college, students can lay a foundation for lifelong learning.

A、A

B、B

C、C

D、D

E、E

F、F

G、G

H、H

I、I

J、J

K、K

L、L

M、M

N、N

O、O

P、P


Why lifelong learning is the international passport to success

【A】Picture yourself at a college graduation day, with a fresh cohort (一群) of students about to set sail for new horizons. What are they thinking while they throw their caps in the air? What is it with this thin sheet of paper that makes it so precious? It’s not only the proof of acquired knowledge but plays into the reputation game of where you were trained. Being a graduate from Harvard Law School carries that extra glamour, doesn’t it? Yet take a closer look, and the diploma is the perfect ending to the modern tragedy of education.

【B】Why? Because universities and curricula are designed along the three unities of French classical tragedy: time, action, and place. Students meet at the university campus (unity of place) for classes (unity of action) during their 20s (unity of time). This classical model has traditionally produced prestigious universities, but it is now challenged by the digitalisation of society—which allows everybody who is connected to the internet to access learning—and by the need to acquire skills in step with a fast-changing world. Universities must realise that learning in your 20s won’t be enough. If technological diffusion and implementation develop faster, workers will have to constantly refresh their skills.

【C】The university model needs to evolve. It must equip students with the right skills and knowledge to compete in a world “where value will be derived largely from human interaction and the ability to invent and interpret things that machines cannot”, as the English futurist Richard Watson puts it. By teaching foundational knowledge and up-to-date skills, universities will provide students with the future-proof skills of lifelong learning, not just get them “job-ready”.

【D】Some universities already play a critical role in lifelong learning as they want to keep the value of their diplomas. This new role comes with a huge set of challenges, and needs largely to be invented. One way to start this transformation process could be to go beyond the ‘five-year diploma model’ to adapt curricula to lifelong learning. We call this model the lifelong passport.

【E】The Bachelor’s degree could be your passport to lifelong learning. For the first few years, students would ‘learn to learn’ and get endowed with reasoning skills that remain with them for the rest of their lives. For instance, physics allows you to observe and rationalise the world, but also to integrate observations into models and, sometimes, models into theories or laws that can be used to make predictions. Mathematics is the language used to formulate the laws of physics or economy, and to make rigorous computations that turn into predictions. These two disciplines naturally form the foundational pillars of education in technical universities.

【F】Recent advances in computational methods and data science push us into rethinking science and engineering. Computers increasingly become principal actors in leveraging data to formulate questions, which requires radically new ways of reasoning. Therefore, a new discipline blending computer science, programming, statistics and machine learning should be added to the traditional foundational topics of mathematics and physics. These three pillars would allow you to keep learning complex technical subjects all your life because numeracy (计算) is the foundation upon which everything else is eventually built.

【G】According to this new model, the Master of Science (MSc) would become the first stamp in the lifelong learning journey. The MSc curriculum should prepare students for their professional career by allowing them to focus on acquiring practical skills through projects.

【H】Those projects are then interwoven with fast-paced technical modules (模块) learned ‘on-the-fly’ and ‘at will’ depending on the nature of the project. If, for instance, your project is developing an integrated circuit, you will have to take a module on advanced concepts in microelectronics. The most critical skills will be developed before the project even starts, in the form of boot camps (短期强化训练), while the rest can be fostered along with the project, putting them to immediate use and thus providing a rich learning context.

【I】In addition to technical capabilities, the very nature of projects develops social and entrepreneurial skills, such as design thinking, initiative taking, team leading, activity reporting or resource planning. Not only will those skills be actually integrated into the curriculum but they will be very important to have in the future because they are difficult to automate.

【J】 After the MSc diploma is earned, there would be many more stamps of lifelong learning over the years. If universities decide to engage in this learning model, they will have to cope with many organisational challenges that might shake their unity of place and action. First, the number of students would be unpredictable. If all of a university’s alumni (往届毕业生) were to become students again, the student body would be much bigger than it is now, and it could become unsustainable for the campus in terms of both size and resources. Second, freshly graduated students would mix with professionally experienced ones. This would change the classroom dynamics, perhaps for the best. Project-based learning with a mixed team reflects the reality of the professional world and could therefore be a better preparation for it.

【K】Sound like science fiction? In many countries, part-time studying is not exceptional: on average across OECD countries, part-time students in 2016 represented 20 per cent of enrolment in tertiary education. In many countries, this share is higher and can exceed 40 per cent in Australia, New Zealand and Sweden.

【L】If lifelong learning were to become a priority and the new norm, diplomas, just like passports, could be revalidated periodically. A time-determined revalidation would ease administration for everybody. Universities as well as employers and employees would know when they have to retrain. For instance, graduates from the year 2000 would have to come back in 2005.

【M】This could fix the main organisational challenges for the university, but not for the learners, due to lack of time, family obligations or funds. Here, online learning might be an option because it allows you to save your ‘travel time’, but it has its limits. So far, none of the major employers associated with online learning platforms such as Coursera and Udacity has committed to hire or even interview graduates of their new online programmes.

【N】Even if time were not an issue, who will pay for lifelong learning? That’s the eternal debate: should it be the learner’s responsibility, that of his employer, or of the state? For example, in Massachusetts, the healthcare professions require continuing education credits, which are carefully evidenced and documented. Yet the same state’s lawyers don’t require continuing legal education, although most lawyers do participate in it informally. One explanation is that technology is less of factor in law than it is in healthcare.

【O】Europe has many scenarios, but the French and Swiss ones are interesting to compare. In France, every individual has a right to lifelong learning organised via a personal learning account that is credited as you work. In Switzerland, lifelong learning is a personal responsibility and not a government one. However, employers and the state encourage continuing education either by funding parts of it or by allowing employees to attend it.

【P】Universities have a fundamental role to play in this journey, and higher education is in for a change. Just like classical theatre, the old university model produced talent and value for society. We are not advocating its abolition but rather calling for the adaptation of its characteristics to meet the needs of today.

38、38. The easy access to learning and rapid technological changes have brought the traditional model of education under challenge.

A、A

B、B

C、C

D、D

E、E

F、F

G、G

H、H

I、I

J、J

K、K

L、L

M、M

N、N

O、O

P、P


Why lifelong learning is the international passport to success

【A】Picture yourself at a college graduation day, with a fresh cohort (一群) of students about to set sail for new horizons. What are they thinking while they throw their caps in the air? What is it with this thin sheet of paper that makes it so precious? It’s not only the proof of acquired knowledge but plays into the reputation game of where you were trained. Being a graduate from Harvard Law School carries that extra glamour, doesn’t it? Yet take a closer look, and the diploma is the perfect ending to the modern tragedy of education.

【B】Why? Because universities and curricula are designed along the three unities of French classical tragedy: time, action, and place. Students meet at the university campus (unity of place) for classes (unity of action) during their 20s (unity of time). This classical model has traditionally produced prestigious universities, but it is now challenged by the digitalisation of society—which allows everybody who is connected to the internet to access learning—and by the need to acquire skills in step with a fast-changing world. Universities must realise that learning in your 20s won’t be enough. If technological diffusion and implementation develop faster, workers will have to constantly refresh their skills.

【C】The university model needs to evolve. It must equip students with the right skills and knowledge to compete in a world “where value will be derived largely from human interaction and the ability to invent and interpret things that machines cannot”, as the English futurist Richard Watson puts it. By teaching foundational knowledge and up-to-date skills, universities will provide students with the future-proof skills of lifelong learning, not just get them “job-ready”.

【D】Some universities already play a critical role in lifelong learning as they want to keep the value of their diplomas. This new role comes with a huge set of challenges, and needs largely to be invented. One way to start this transformation process could be to go beyond the ‘five-year diploma model’ to adapt curricula to lifelong learning. We call this model the lifelong passport.

【E】The Bachelor’s degree could be your passport to lifelong learning. For the first few years, students would ‘learn to learn’ and get endowed with reasoning skills that remain with them for the rest of their lives. For instance, physics allows you to observe and rationalise the world, but also to integrate observations into models and, sometimes, models into theories or laws that can be used to make predictions. Mathematics is the language used to formulate the laws of physics or economy, and to make rigorous computations that turn into predictions. These two disciplines naturally form the foundational pillars of education in technical universities.

【F】Recent advances in computational methods and data science push us into rethinking science and engineering. Computers increasingly become principal actors in leveraging data to formulate questions, which requires radically new ways of reasoning. Therefore, a new discipline blending computer science, programming, statistics and machine learning should be added to the traditional foundational topics of mathematics and physics. These three pillars would allow you to keep learning complex technical subjects all your life because numeracy (计算) is the foundation upon which everything else is eventually built.

【G】According to this new model, the Master of Science (MSc) would become the first stamp in the lifelong learning journey. The MSc curriculum should prepare students for their professional career by allowing them to focus on acquiring practical skills through projects.

【H】Those projects are then interwoven with fast-paced technical modules (模块) learned ‘on-the-fly’ and ‘at will’ depending on the nature of the project. If, for instance, your project is developing an integrated circuit, you will have to take a module on advanced concepts in microelectronics. The most critical skills will be developed before the project even starts, in the form of boot camps (短期强化训练), while the rest can be fostered along with the project, putting them to immediate use and thus providing a rich learning context.

【I】In addition to technical capabilities, the very nature of projects develops social and entrepreneurial skills, such as design thinking, initiative taking, team leading, activity reporting or resource planning. Not only will those skills be actually integrated into the curriculum but they will be very important to have in the future because they are difficult to automate.

【J】 After the MSc diploma is earned, there would be many more stamps of lifelong learning over the years. If universities decide to engage in this learning model, they will have to cope with many organisational challenges that might shake their unity of place and action. First, the number of students would be unpredictable. If all of a university’s alumni (往届毕业生) were to become students again, the student body would be much bigger than it is now, and it could become unsustainable for the campus in terms of both size and resources. Second, freshly graduated students would mix with professionally experienced ones. This would change the classroom dynamics, perhaps for the best. Project-based learning with a mixed team reflects the reality of the professional world and could therefore be a better preparation for it.

【K】Sound like science fiction? In many countries, part-time studying is not exceptional: on average across OECD countries, part-time students in 2016 represented 20 per cent of enrolment in tertiary education. In many countries, this share is higher and can exceed 40 per cent in Australia, New Zealand and Sweden.

【L】If lifelong learning were to become a priority and the new norm, diplomas, just like passports, could be revalidated periodically. A time-determined revalidation would ease administration for everybody. Universities as well as employers and employees would know when they have to retrain. For instance, graduates from the year 2000 would have to come back in 2005.

【M】This could fix the main organisational challenges for the university, but not for the learners, due to lack of time, family obligations or funds. Here, online learning might be an option because it allows you to save your ‘travel time’, but it has its limits. So far, none of the major employers associated with online learning platforms such as Coursera and Udacity has committed to hire or even interview graduates of their new online programmes.

【N】Even if time were not an issue, who will pay for lifelong learning? That’s the eternal debate: should it be the learner’s responsibility, that of his employer, or of the state? For example, in Massachusetts, the healthcare professions require continuing education credits, which are carefully evidenced and documented. Yet the same state’s lawyers don’t require continuing legal education, although most lawyers do participate in it informally. One explanation is that technology is less of factor in law than it is in healthcare.

【O】Europe has many scenarios, but the French and Swiss ones are interesting to compare. In France, every individual has a right to lifelong learning organised via a personal learning account that is credited as you work. In Switzerland, lifelong learning is a personal responsibility and not a government one. However, employers and the state encourage continuing education either by funding parts of it or by allowing employees to attend it.

【P】Universities have a fundamental role to play in this journey, and higher education is in for a change. Just like classical theatre, the old university model produced talent and value for society. We are not advocating its abolition but rather calling for the adaptation of its characteristics to meet the needs of today.

39、39. Unbelievable as it may seem, part-time students constitute a considerable portion of the student body in many universities across the world.

A、A

B、B

C、C

D、D

E、E

F、F

G、G

H、H

I、I

J、J

K、K

L、L

M、M

N、N

O、O

P、P


Why lifelong learning is the international passport to success

【A】Picture yourself at a college graduation day, with a fresh cohort (一群) of students about to set sail for new horizons. What are they thinking while they throw their caps in the air? What is it with this thin sheet of paper that makes it so precious? It’s not only the proof of acquired knowledge but plays into the reputation game of where you were trained. Being a graduate from Harvard Law School carries that extra glamour, doesn’t it? Yet take a closer look, and the diploma is the perfect ending to the modern tragedy of education.

【B】Why? Because universities and curricula are designed along the three unities of French classical tragedy: time, action, and place. Students meet at the university campus (unity of place) for classes (unity of action) during their 20s (unity of time). This classical model has traditionally produced prestigious universities, but it is now challenged by the digitalisation of society—which allows everybody who is connected to the internet to access learning—and by the need to acquire skills in step with a fast-changing world. Universities must realise that learning in your 20s won’t be enough. If technological diffusion and implementation develop faster, workers will have to constantly refresh their skills.

【C】The university model needs to evolve. It must equip students with the right skills and knowledge to compete in a world “where value will be derived largely from human interaction and the ability to invent and interpret things that machines cannot”, as the English futurist Richard Watson puts it. By teaching foundational knowledge and up-to-date skills, universities will provide students with the future-proof skills of lifelong learning, not just get them “job-ready”.

【D】Some universities already play a critical role in lifelong learning as they want to keep the value of their diplomas. This new role comes with a huge set of challenges, and needs largely to be invented. One way to start this transformation process could be to go beyond the ‘five-year diploma model’ to adapt curricula to lifelong learning. We call this model the lifelong passport.

【E】The Bachelor’s degree could be your passport to lifelong learning. For the first few years, students would ‘learn to learn’ and get endowed with reasoning skills that remain with them for the rest of their lives. For instance, physics allows you to observe and rationalise the world, but also to integrate observations into models and, sometimes, models into theories or laws that can be used to make predictions. Mathematics is the language used to formulate the laws of physics or economy, and to make rigorous computations that turn into predictions. These two disciplines naturally form the foundational pillars of education in technical universities.

【F】Recent advances in computational methods and data science push us into rethinking science and engineering. Computers increasingly become principal actors in leveraging data to formulate questions, which requires radically new ways of reasoning. Therefore, a new discipline blending computer science, programming, statistics and machine learning should be added to the traditional foundational topics of mathematics and physics. These three pillars would allow you to keep learning complex technical subjects all your life because numeracy (计算) is the foundation upon which everything else is eventually built.

【G】According to this new model, the Master of Science (MSc) would become the first stamp in the lifelong learning journey. The MSc curriculum should prepare students for their professional career by allowing them to focus on acquiring practical skills through projects.

【H】Those projects are then interwoven with fast-paced technical modules (模块) learned ‘on-the-fly’ and ‘at will’ depending on the nature of the project. If, for instance, your project is developing an integrated circuit, you will have to take a module on advanced concepts in microelectronics. The most critical skills will be developed before the project even starts, in the form of boot camps (短期强化训练), while the rest can be fostered along with the project, putting them to immediate use and thus providing a rich learning context.

【I】In addition to technical capabilities, the very nature of projects develops social and entrepreneurial skills, such as design thinking, initiative taking, team leading, activity reporting or resource planning. Not only will those skills be actually integrated into the curriculum but they will be very important to have in the future because they are difficult to automate.

【J】 After the MSc diploma is earned, there would be many more stamps of lifelong learning over the years. If universities decide to engage in this learning model, they will have to cope with many organisational challenges that might shake their unity of place and action. First, the number of students would be unpredictable. If all of a university’s alumni (往届毕业生) were to become students again, the student body would be much bigger than it is now, and it could become unsustainable for the campus in terms of both size and resources. Second, freshly graduated students would mix with professionally experienced ones. This would change the classroom dynamics, perhaps for the best. Project-based learning with a mixed team reflects the reality of the professional world and could therefore be a better preparation for it.

【K】Sound like science fiction? In many countries, part-time studying is not exceptional: on average across OECD countries, part-time students in 2016 represented 20 per cent of enrolment in tertiary education. In many countries, this share is higher and can exceed 40 per cent in Australia, New Zealand and Sweden.

【L】If lifelong learning were to become a priority and the new norm, diplomas, just like passports, could be revalidated periodically. A time-determined revalidation would ease administration for everybody. Universities as well as employers and employees would know when they have to retrain. For instance, graduates from the year 2000 would have to come back in 2005.

【M】This could fix the main organisational challenges for the university, but not for the learners, due to lack of time, family obligations or funds. Here, online learning might be an option because it allows you to save your ‘travel time’, but it has its limits. So far, none of the major employers associated with online learning platforms such as Coursera and Udacity has committed to hire or even interview graduates of their new online programmes.

【N】Even if time were not an issue, who will pay for lifelong learning? That’s the eternal debate: should it be the learner’s responsibility, that of his employer, or of the state? For example, in Massachusetts, the healthcare professions require continuing education credits, which are carefully evidenced and documented. Yet the same state’s lawyers don’t require continuing legal education, although most lawyers do participate in it informally. One explanation is that technology is less of factor in law than it is in healthcare.

【O】Europe has many scenarios, but the French and Swiss ones are interesting to compare. In France, every individual has a right to lifelong learning organised via a personal learning account that is credited as you work. In Switzerland, lifelong learning is a personal responsibility and not a government one. However, employers and the state encourage continuing education either by funding parts of it or by allowing employees to attend it.

【P】Universities have a fundamental role to play in this journey, and higher education is in for a change. Just like classical theatre, the old university model produced talent and value for society. We are not advocating its abolition but rather calling for the adaptation of its characteristics to meet the needs of today.

40、40. Some social and managerial skills, which are not easily automated, will be of great importance to students’ future careers.

A、A

B、B

C、C

D、D

E、E

F、F

G、G

H、H

I、I

J、J

K、K

L、L

M、M

N、N

O、O

P、P


Why lifelong learning is the international passport to success

【A】Picture yourself at a college graduation day, with a fresh cohort (一群) of students about to set sail for new horizons. What are they thinking while they throw their caps in the air? What is it with this thin sheet of paper that makes it so precious? It’s not only the proof of acquired knowledge but plays into the reputation game of where you were trained. Being a graduate from Harvard Law School carries that extra glamour, doesn’t it? Yet take a closer look, and the diploma is the perfect ending to the modern tragedy of education.

【B】Why? Because universities and curricula are designed along the three unities of French classical tragedy: time, action, and place. Students meet at the university campus (unity of place) for classes (unity of action) during their 20s (unity of time). This classical model has traditionally produced prestigious universities, but it is now challenged by the digitalisation of society—which allows everybody who is connected to the internet to access learning—and by the need to acquire skills in step with a fast-changing world. Universities must realise that learning in your 20s won’t be enough. If technological diffusion and implementation develop faster, workers will have to constantly refresh their skills.

【C】The university model needs to evolve. It must equip students with the right skills and knowledge to compete in a world “where value will be derived largely from human interaction and the ability to invent and interpret things that machines cannot”, as the English futurist Richard Watson puts it. By teaching foundational knowledge and up-to-date skills, universities will provide students with the future-proof skills of lifelong learning, not just get them “job-ready”.

【D】Some universities already play a critical role in lifelong learning as they want to keep the value of their diplomas. This new role comes with a huge set of challenges, and needs largely to be invented. One way to start this transformation process could be to go beyond the ‘five-year diploma model’ to adapt curricula to lifelong learning. We call this model the lifelong passport.

【E】The Bachelor’s degree could be your passport to lifelong learning. For the first few years, students would ‘learn to learn’ and get endowed with reasoning skills that remain with them for the rest of their lives. For instance, physics allows you to observe and rationalise the world, but also to integrate observations into models and, sometimes, models into theories or laws that can be used to make predictions. Mathematics is the language used to formulate the laws of physics or economy, and to make rigorous computations that turn into predictions. These two disciplines naturally form the foundational pillars of education in technical universities.

【F】Recent advances in computational methods and data science push us into rethinking science and engineering. Computers increasingly become principal actors in leveraging data to formulate questions, which requires radically new ways of reasoning. Therefore, a new discipline blending computer science, programming, statistics and machine learning should be added to the traditional foundational topics of mathematics and physics. These three pillars would allow you to keep learning complex technical subjects all your life because numeracy (计算) is the foundation upon which everything else is eventually built.

【G】According to this new model, the Master of Science (MSc) would become the first stamp in the lifelong learning journey. The MSc curriculum should prepare students for their professional career by allowing them to focus on acquiring practical skills through projects.

【H】Those projects are then interwoven with fast-paced technical modules (模块) learned ‘on-the-fly’ and ‘at will’ depending on the nature of the project. If, for instance, your project is developing an integrated circuit, you will have to take a module on advanced concepts in microelectronics. The most critical skills will be developed before the project even starts, in the form of boot camps (短期强化训练), while the rest can be fostered along with the project, putting them to immediate use and thus providing a rich learning context.

【I】In addition to technical capabilities, the very nature of projects develops social and entrepreneurial skills, such as design thinking, initiative taking, team leading, activity reporting or resource planning. Not only will those skills be actually integrated into the curriculum but they will be very important to have in the future because they are difficult to automate.

【J】 After the MSc diploma is earned, there would be many more stamps of lifelong learning over the years. If universities decide to engage in this learning model, they will have to cope with many organisational challenges that might shake their unity of place and action. First, the number of students would be unpredictable. If all of a university’s alumni (往届毕业生) were to become students again, the student body would be much bigger than it is now, and it could become unsustainable for the campus in terms of both size and resources. Second, freshly graduated students would mix with professionally experienced ones. This would change the classroom dynamics, perhaps for the best. Project-based learning with a mixed team reflects the reality of the professional world and could therefore be a better preparation for it.

【K】Sound like science fiction? In many countries, part-time studying is not exceptional: on average across OECD countries, part-time students in 2016 represented 20 per cent of enrolment in tertiary education. In many countries, this share is higher and can exceed 40 per cent in Australia, New Zealand and Sweden.

【L】If lifelong learning were to become a priority and the new norm, diplomas, just like passports, could be revalidated periodically. A time-determined revalidation would ease administration for everybody. Universities as well as employers and employees would know when they have to retrain. For instance, graduates from the year 2000 would have to come back in 2005.

【M】This could fix the main organisational challenges for the university, but not for the learners, due to lack of time, family obligations or funds. Here, online learning might be an option because it allows you to save your ‘travel time’, but it has its limits. So far, none of the major employers associated with online learning platforms such as Coursera and Udacity has committed to hire or even interview graduates of their new online programmes.

【N】Even if time were not an issue, who will pay for lifelong learning? That’s the eternal debate: should it be the learner’s responsibility, that of his employer, or of the state? For example, in Massachusetts, the healthcare professions require continuing education credits, which are carefully evidenced and documented. Yet the same state’s lawyers don’t require continuing legal education, although most lawyers do participate in it informally. One explanation is that technology is less of factor in law than it is in healthcare.

【O】Europe has many scenarios, but the French and Swiss ones are interesting to compare. In France, every individual has a right to lifelong learning organised via a personal learning account that is credited as you work. In Switzerland, lifelong learning is a personal responsibility and not a government one. However, employers and the state encourage continuing education either by funding parts of it or by allowing employees to attend it.

【P】Universities have a fundamental role to play in this journey, and higher education is in for a change. Just like classical theatre, the old university model produced talent and value for society. We are not advocating its abolition but rather calling for the adaptation of its characteristics to meet the needs of today.

41、41. A new model of college education should provide students with the knowledge and skills that will make them more inventive and capable of lifelong learning.

A、A

B、B

C、C

D、D

E、E

F、F

G、G

H、H

I、I

J、J

K、K

L、L

M、M

N、N

O、O

P、P


Why lifelong learning is the international passport to success

【A】Picture yourself at a college graduation day, with a fresh cohort (一群) of students about to set sail for new horizons. What are they thinking while they throw their caps in the air? What is it with this thin sheet of paper that makes it so precious? It’s not only the proof of acquired knowledge but plays into the reputation game of where you were trained. Being a graduate from Harvard Law School carries that extra glamour, doesn’t it? Yet take a closer look, and the diploma is the perfect ending to the modern tragedy of education.

【B】Why? Because universities and curricula are designed along the three unities of French classical tragedy: time, action, and place. Students meet at the university campus (unity of place) for classes (unity of action) during their 20s (unity of time). This classical model has traditionally produced prestigious universities, but it is now challenged by the digitalisation of society—which allows everybody who is connected to the internet to access learning—and by the need to acquire skills in step with a fast-changing world. Universities must realise that learning in your 20s won’t be enough. If technological diffusion and implementation develop faster, workers will have to constantly refresh their skills.

【C】The university model needs to evolve. It must equip students with the right skills and knowledge to compete in a world “where value will be derived largely from human interaction and the ability to invent and interpret things that machines cannot”, as the English futurist Richard Watson puts it. By teaching foundational knowledge and up-to-date skills, universities will provide students with the future-proof skills of lifelong learning, not just get them “job-ready”.

【D】Some universities already play a critical role in lifelong learning as they want to keep the value of their diplomas. This new role comes with a huge set of challenges, and needs largely to be invented. One way to start this transformation process could be to go beyond the ‘five-year diploma model’ to adapt curricula to lifelong learning. We call this model the lifelong passport.

【E】The Bachelor’s degree could be your passport to lifelong learning. For the first few years, students would ‘learn to learn’ and get endowed with reasoning skills that remain with them for the rest of their lives. For instance, physics allows you to observe and rationalise the world, but also to integrate observations into models and, sometimes, models into theories or laws that can be used to make predictions. Mathematics is the language used to formulate the laws of physics or economy, and to make rigorous computations that turn into predictions. These two disciplines naturally form the foundational pillars of education in technical universities.

【F】Recent advances in computational methods and data science push us into rethinking science and engineering. Computers increasingly become principal actors in leveraging data to formulate questions, which requires radically new ways of reasoning. Therefore, a new discipline blending computer science, programming, statistics and machine learning should be added to the traditional foundational topics of mathematics and physics. These three pillars would allow you to keep learning complex technical subjects all your life because numeracy (计算) is the foundation upon which everything else is eventually built.

【G】According to this new model, the Master of Science (MSc) would become the first stamp in the lifelong learning journey. The MSc curriculum should prepare students for their professional career by allowing them to focus on acquiring practical skills through projects.

【H】Those projects are then interwoven with fast-paced technical modules (模块) learned ‘on-the-fly’ and ‘at will’ depending on the nature of the project. If, for instance, your project is developing an integrated circuit, you will have to take a module on advanced concepts in microelectronics. The most critical skills will be developed before the project even starts, in the form of boot camps (短期强化训练), while the rest can be fostered along with the project, putting them to immediate use and thus providing a rich learning context.

【I】In addition to technical capabilities, the very nature of projects develops social and entrepreneurial skills, such as design thinking, initiative taking, team leading, activity reporting or resource planning. Not only will those skills be actually integrated into the curriculum but they will be very important to have in the future because they are difficult to automate.

【J】 After the MSc diploma is earned, there would be many more stamps of lifelong learning over the years. If universities decide to engage in this learning model, they will have to cope with many organisational challenges that might shake their unity of place and action. First, the number of students would be unpredictable. If all of a university’s alumni (往届毕业生) were to become students again, the student body would be much bigger than it is now, and it could become unsustainable for the campus in terms of both size and resources. Second, freshly graduated students would mix with professionally experienced ones. This would change the classroom dynamics, perhaps for the best. Project-based learning with a mixed team reflects the reality of the professional world and could therefore be a better preparation for it.

【K】Sound like science fiction? In many countries, part-time studying is not exceptional: on average across OECD countries, part-time students in 2016 represented 20 per cent of enrolment in tertiary education. In many countries, this share is higher and can exceed 40 per cent in Australia, New Zealand and Sweden.

【L】If lifelong learning were to become a priority and the new norm, diplomas, just like passports, could be revalidated periodically. A time-determined revalidation would ease administration for everybody. Universities as well as employers and employees would know when they have to retrain. For instance, graduates from the year 2000 would have to come back in 2005.

【M】This could fix the main organisational challenges for the university, but not for the learners, due to lack of time, family obligations or funds. Here, online learning might be an option because it allows you to save your ‘travel time’, but it has its limits. So far, none of the major employers associated with online learning platforms such as Coursera and Udacity has committed to hire or even interview graduates of their new online programmes.

【N】Even if time were not an issue, who will pay for lifelong learning? That’s the eternal debate: should it be the learner’s responsibility, that of his employer, or of the state? For example, in Massachusetts, the healthcare professions require continuing education credits, which are carefully evidenced and documented. Yet the same state’s lawyers don’t require continuing legal education, although most lawyers do participate in it informally. One explanation is that technology is less of factor in law than it is in healthcare.

【O】Europe has many scenarios, but the French and Swiss ones are interesting to compare. In France, every individual has a right to lifelong learning organised via a personal learning account that is credited as you work. In Switzerland, lifelong learning is a personal responsibility and not a government one. However, employers and the state encourage continuing education either by funding parts of it or by allowing employees to attend it.

【P】Universities have a fundamental role to play in this journey, and higher education is in for a change. Just like classical theatre, the old university model produced talent and value for society. We are not advocating its abolition but rather calling for the adaptation of its characteristics to meet the needs of today.

42、42. A mixed student body may change the classroom dynamics and benefit learning.

A、A

B、B

C、C

D、D

E、E

F、F

G、G

H、H

I、I

J、J

K、K

L、L

M、M

N、N

O、O

P、P


Why lifelong learning is the international passport to success

【A】Picture yourself at a college graduation day, with a fresh cohort (一群) of students about to set sail for new horizons. What are they thinking while they throw their caps in the air? What is it with this thin sheet of paper that makes it so precious? It’s not only the proof of acquired knowledge but plays into the reputation game of where you were trained. Being a graduate from Harvard Law School carries that extra glamour, doesn’t it? Yet take a closer look, and the diploma is the perfect ending to the modern tragedy of education.

【B】Why? Because universities and curricula are designed along the three unities of French classical tragedy: time, action, and place. Students meet at the university campus (unity of place) for classes (unity of action) during their 20s (unity of time). This classical model has traditionally produced prestigious universities, but it is now challenged by the digitalisation of society—which allows everybody who is connected to the internet to access learning—and by the need to acquire skills in step with a fast-changing world. Universities must realise that learning in your 20s won’t be enough. If technological diffusion and implementation develop faster, workers will have to constantly refresh their skills.

【C】The university model needs to evolve. It must equip students with the right skills and knowledge to compete in a world “where value will be derived largely from human interaction and the ability to invent and interpret things that machines cannot”, as the English futurist Richard Watson puts it. By teaching foundational knowledge and up-to-date skills, universities will provide students with the future-proof skills of lifelong learning, not just get them “job-ready”.

【D】Some universities already play a critical role in lifelong learning as they want to keep the value of their diplomas. This new role comes with a huge set of challenges, and needs largely to be invented. One way to start this transformation process could be to go beyond the ‘five-year diploma model’ to adapt curricula to lifelong learning. We call this model the lifelong passport.

【E】The Bachelor’s degree could be your passport to lifelong learning. For the first few years, students would ‘learn to learn’ and get endowed with reasoning skills that remain with them for the rest of their lives. For instance, physics allows you to observe and rationalise the world, but also to integrate observations into models and, sometimes, models into theories or laws that can be used to make predictions. Mathematics is the language used to formulate the laws of physics or economy, and to make rigorous computations that turn into predictions. These two disciplines naturally form the foundational pillars of education in technical universities.

【F】Recent advances in computational methods and data science push us into rethinking science and engineering. Computers increasingly become principal actors in leveraging data to formulate questions, which requires radically new ways of reasoning. Therefore, a new discipline blending computer science, programming, statistics and machine learning should be added to the traditional foundational topics of mathematics and physics. These three pillars would allow you to keep learning complex technical subjects all your life because numeracy (计算) is the foundation upon which everything else is eventually built.

【G】According to this new model, the Master of Science (MSc) would become the first stamp in the lifelong learning journey. The MSc curriculum should prepare students for their professional career by allowing them to focus on acquiring practical skills through projects.

【H】Those projects are then interwoven with fast-paced technical modules (模块) learned ‘on-the-fly’ and ‘at will’ depending on the nature of the project. If, for instance, your project is developing an integrated circuit, you will have to take a module on advanced concepts in microelectronics. The most critical skills will be developed before the project even starts, in the form of boot camps (短期强化训练), while the rest can be fostered along with the project, putting them to immediate use and thus providing a rich learning context.

【I】In addition to technical capabilities, the very nature of projects develops social and entrepreneurial skills, such as design thinking, initiative taking, team leading, activity reporting or resource planning. Not only will those skills be actually integrated into the curriculum but they will be very important to have in the future because they are difficult to automate.

【J】 After the MSc diploma is earned, there would be many more stamps of lifelong learning over the years. If universities decide to engage in this learning model, they will have to cope with many organisational challenges that might shake their unity of place and action. First, the number of students would be unpredictable. If all of a university’s alumni (往届毕业生) were to become students again, the student body would be much bigger than it is now, and it could become unsustainable for the campus in terms of both size and resources. Second, freshly graduated students would mix with professionally experienced ones. This would change the classroom dynamics, perhaps for the best. Project-based learning with a mixed team reflects the reality of the professional world and could therefore be a better preparation for it.

【K】Sound like science fiction? In many countries, part-time studying is not exceptional: on average across OECD countries, part-time students in 2016 represented 20 per cent of enrolment in tertiary education. In many countries, this share is higher and can exceed 40 per cent in Australia, New Zealand and Sweden.

【L】If lifelong learning were to become a priority and the new norm, diplomas, just like passports, could be revalidated periodically. A time-determined revalidation would ease administration for everybody. Universities as well as employers and employees would know when they have to retrain. For instance, graduates from the year 2000 would have to come back in 2005.

【M】This could fix the main organisational challenges for the university, but not for the learners, due to lack of time, family obligations or funds. Here, online learning might be an option because it allows you to save your ‘travel time’, but it has its limits. So far, none of the major employers associated with online learning platforms such as Coursera and Udacity has committed to hire or even interview graduates of their new online programmes.

【N】Even if time were not an issue, who will pay for lifelong learning? That’s the eternal debate: should it be the learner’s responsibility, that of his employer, or of the state? For example, in Massachusetts, the healthcare professions require continuing education credits, which are carefully evidenced and documented. Yet the same state’s lawyers don’t require continuing legal education, although most lawyers do participate in it informally. One explanation is that technology is less of factor in law than it is in healthcare.

【O】Europe has many scenarios, but the French and Swiss ones are interesting to compare. In France, every individual has a right to lifelong learning organised via a personal learning account that is credited as you work. In Switzerland, lifelong learning is a personal responsibility and not a government one. However, employers and the state encourage continuing education either by funding parts of it or by allowing employees to attend it.

【P】Universities have a fundamental role to play in this journey, and higher education is in for a change. Just like classical theatre, the old university model produced talent and value for society. We are not advocating its abolition but rather calling for the adaptation of its characteristics to meet the needs of today.

43、43. The question of who will bear the cost of lifelong learning is a topic of constant debate.

A、A

B、B

C、C

D、D

E、E

F、F

G、G

H、H

I、I

J、J

K、K

L、L

M、M

N、N

O、O

P、P


Why lifelong learning is the international passport to success

【A】Picture yourself at a college graduation day, with a fresh cohort (一群) of students about to set sail for new horizons. What are they thinking while they throw their caps in the air? What is it with this thin sheet of paper that makes it so precious? It’s not only the proof of acquired knowledge but plays into the reputation game of where you were trained. Being a graduate from Harvard Law School carries that extra glamour, doesn’t it? Yet take a closer look, and the diploma is the perfect ending to the modern tragedy of education.

【B】Why? Because universities and curricula are designed along the three unities of French classical tragedy: time, action, and place. Students meet at the university campus (unity of place) for classes (unity of action) during their 20s (unity of time). This classical model has traditionally produced prestigious universities, but it is now challenged by the digitalisation of society—which allows everybody who is connected to the internet to access learning—and by the need to acquire skills in step with a fast-changing world. Universities must realise that learning in your 20s won’t be enough. If technological diffusion and implementation develop faster, workers will have to constantly refresh their skills.

【C】The university model needs to evolve. It must equip students with the right skills and knowledge to compete in a world “where value will be derived largely from human interaction and the ability to invent and interpret things that machines cannot”, as the English futurist Richard Watson puts it. By teaching foundational knowledge and up-to-date skills, universities will provide students with the future-proof skills of lifelong learning, not just get them “job-ready”.

【D】Some universities already play a critical role in lifelong learning as they want to keep the value of their diplomas. This new role comes with a huge set of challenges, and needs largely to be invented. One way to start this transformation process could be to go beyond the ‘five-year diploma model’ to adapt curricula to lifelong learning. We call this model the lifelong passport.

【E】The Bachelor’s degree could be your passport to lifelong learning. For the first few years, students would ‘learn to learn’ and get endowed with reasoning skills that remain with them for the rest of their lives. For instance, physics allows you to observe and rationalise the world, but also to integrate observations into models and, sometimes, models into theories or laws that can be used to make predictions. Mathematics is the language used to formulate the laws of physics or economy, and to make rigorous computations that turn into predictions. These two disciplines naturally form the foundational pillars of education in technical universities.

【F】Recent advances in computational methods and data science push us into rethinking science and engineering. Computers increasingly become principal actors in leveraging data to formulate questions, which requires radically new ways of reasoning. Therefore, a new discipline blending computer science, programming, statistics and machine learning should be added to the traditional foundational topics of mathematics and physics. These three pillars would allow you to keep learning complex technical subjects all your life because numeracy (计算) is the foundation upon which everything else is eventually built.

【G】According to this new model, the Master of Science (MSc) would become the first stamp in the lifelong learning journey. The MSc curriculum should prepare students for their professional career by allowing them to focus on acquiring practical skills through projects.

【H】Those projects are then interwoven with fast-paced technical modules (模块) learned ‘on-the-fly’ and ‘at will’ depending on the nature of the project. If, for instance, your project is developing an integrated circuit, you will have to take a module on advanced concepts in microelectronics. The most critical skills will be developed before the project even starts, in the form of boot camps (短期强化训练), while the rest can be fostered along with the project, putting them to immediate use and thus providing a rich learning context.

【I】In addition to technical capabilities, the very nature of projects develops social and entrepreneurial skills, such as design thinking, initiative taking, team leading, activity reporting or resource planning. Not only will those skills be actually integrated into the curriculum but they will be very important to have in the future because they are difficult to automate.

【J】 After the MSc diploma is earned, there would be many more stamps of lifelong learning over the years. If universities decide to engage in this learning model, they will have to cope with many organisational challenges that might shake their unity of place and action. First, the number of students would be unpredictable. If all of a university’s alumni (往届毕业生) were to become students again, the student body would be much bigger than it is now, and it could become unsustainable for the campus in terms of both size and resources. Second, freshly graduated students would mix with professionally experienced ones. This would change the classroom dynamics, perhaps for the best. Project-based learning with a mixed team reflects the reality of the professional world and could therefore be a better preparation for it.

【K】Sound like science fiction? In many countries, part-time studying is not exceptional: on average across OECD countries, part-time students in 2016 represented 20 per cent of enrolment in tertiary education. In many countries, this share is higher and can exceed 40 per cent in Australia, New Zealand and Sweden.

【L】If lifelong learning were to become a priority and the new norm, diplomas, just like passports, could be revalidated periodically. A time-determined revalidation would ease administration for everybody. Universities as well as employers and employees would know when they have to retrain. For instance, graduates from the year 2000 would have to come back in 2005.

【M】This could fix the main organisational challenges for the university, but not for the learners, due to lack of time, family obligations or funds. Here, online learning might be an option because it allows you to save your ‘travel time’, but it has its limits. So far, none of the major employers associated with online learning platforms such as Coursera and Udacity has committed to hire or even interview graduates of their new online programmes.

【N】Even if time were not an issue, who will pay for lifelong learning? That’s the eternal debate: should it be the learner’s responsibility, that of his employer, or of the state? For example, in Massachusetts, the healthcare professions require continuing education credits, which are carefully evidenced and documented. Yet the same state’s lawyers don’t require continuing legal education, although most lawyers do participate in it informally. One explanation is that technology is less of factor in law than it is in healthcare.

【O】Europe has many scenarios, but the French and Swiss ones are interesting to compare. In France, every individual has a right to lifelong learning organised via a personal learning account that is credited as you work. In Switzerland, lifelong learning is a personal responsibility and not a government one. However, employers and the state encourage continuing education either by funding parts of it or by allowing employees to attend it.

【P】Universities have a fundamental role to play in this journey, and higher education is in for a change. Just like classical theatre, the old university model produced talent and value for society. We are not advocating its abolition but rather calling for the adaptation of its characteristics to meet the needs of today.

44、44. To the traditional subjects of math and physics should be added a new discipline which combines computer science with statistics and other components.

A、A

B、B

C、C

D、D

E、E

F、F

G、G

H、H

I、I

J、J

K、K

L、L

M、M

N、N

O、O

P、P


Why lifelong learning is the international passport to success

【A】Picture yourself at a college graduation day, with a fresh cohort (一群) of students about to set sail for new horizons. What are they thinking while they throw their caps in the air? What is it with this thin sheet of paper that makes it so precious? It’s not only the proof of acquired knowledge but plays into the reputation game of where you were trained. Being a graduate from Harvard Law School carries that extra glamour, doesn’t it? Yet take a closer look, and the diploma is the perfect ending to the modern tragedy of education.

【B】Why? Because universities and curricula are designed along the three unities of French classical tragedy: time, action, and place. Students meet at the university campus (unity of place) for classes (unity of action) during their 20s (unity of time). This classical model has traditionally produced prestigious universities, but it is now challenged by the digitalisation of society—which allows everybody who is connected to the internet to access learning—and by the need to acquire skills in step with a fast-changing world. Universities must realise that learning in your 20s won’t be enough. If technological diffusion and implementation develop faster, workers will have to constantly refresh their skills.

【C】The university model needs to evolve. It must equip students with the right skills and knowledge to compete in a world “where value will be derived largely from human interaction and the ability to invent and interpret things that machines cannot”, as the English futurist Richard Watson puts it. By teaching foundational knowledge and up-to-date skills, universities will provide students with the future-proof skills of lifelong learning, not just get them “job-ready”.

【D】Some universities already play a critical role in lifelong learning as they want to keep the value of their diplomas. This new role comes with a huge set of challenges, and needs largely to be invented. One way to start this transformation process could be to go beyond the ‘five-year diploma model’ to adapt curricula to lifelong learning. We call this model the lifelong passport.

【E】The Bachelor’s degree could be your passport to lifelong learning. For the first few years, students would ‘learn to learn’ and get endowed with reasoning skills that remain with them for the rest of their lives. For instance, physics allows you to observe and rationalise the world, but also to integrate observations into models and, sometimes, models into theories or laws that can be used to make predictions. Mathematics is the language used to formulate the laws of physics or economy, and to make rigorous computations that turn into predictions. These two disciplines naturally form the foundational pillars of education in technical universities.

【F】Recent advances in computational methods and data science push us into rethinking science and engineering. Computers increasingly become principal actors in leveraging data to formulate questions, which requires radically new ways of reasoning. Therefore, a new discipline blending computer science, programming, statistics and machine learning should be added to the traditional foundational topics of mathematics and physics. These three pillars would allow you to keep learning complex technical subjects all your life because numeracy (计算) is the foundation upon which everything else is eventually built.

【G】According to this new model, the Master of Science (MSc) would become the first stamp in the lifelong learning journey. The MSc curriculum should prepare students for their professional career by allowing them to focus on acquiring practical skills through projects.

【H】Those projects are then interwoven with fast-paced technical modules (模块) learned ‘on-the-fly’ and ‘at will’ depending on the nature of the project. If, for instance, your project is developing an integrated circuit, you will have to take a module on advanced concepts in microelectronics. The most critical skills will be developed before the project even starts, in the form of boot camps (短期强化训练), while the rest can be fostered along with the project, putting them to immediate use and thus providing a rich learning context.

【I】In addition to technical capabilities, the very nature of projects develops social and entrepreneurial skills, such as design thinking, initiative taking, team leading, activity reporting or resource planning. Not only will those skills be actually integrated into the curriculum but they will be very important to have in the future because they are difficult to automate.

【J】 After the MSc diploma is earned, there would be many more stamps of lifelong learning over the years. If universities decide to engage in this learning model, they will have to cope with many organisational challenges that might shake their unity of place and action. First, the number of students would be unpredictable. If all of a university’s alumni (往届毕业生) were to become students again, the student body would be much bigger than it is now, and it could become unsustainable for the campus in terms of both size and resources. Second, freshly graduated students would mix with professionally experienced ones. This would change the classroom dynamics, perhaps for the best. Project-based learning with a mixed team reflects the reality of the professional world and could therefore be a better preparation for it.

【K】Sound like science fiction? In many countries, part-time studying is not exceptional: on average across OECD countries, part-time students in 2016 represented 20 per cent of enrolment in tertiary education. In many countries, this share is higher and can exceed 40 per cent in Australia, New Zealand and Sweden.

【L】If lifelong learning were to become a priority and the new norm, diplomas, just like passports, could be revalidated periodically. A time-determined revalidation would ease administration for everybody. Universities as well as employers and employees would know when they have to retrain. For instance, graduates from the year 2000 would have to come back in 2005.

【M】This could fix the main organisational challenges for the university, but not for the learners, due to lack of time, family obligations or funds. Here, online learning might be an option because it allows you to save your ‘travel time’, but it has its limits. So far, none of the major employers associated with online learning platforms such as Coursera and Udacity has committed to hire or even interview graduates of their new online programmes.

【N】Even if time were not an issue, who will pay for lifelong learning? That’s the eternal debate: should it be the learner’s responsibility, that of his employer, or of the state? For example, in Massachusetts, the healthcare professions require continuing education credits, which are carefully evidenced and documented. Yet the same state’s lawyers don’t require continuing legal education, although most lawyers do participate in it informally. One explanation is that technology is less of factor in law than it is in healthcare.

【O】Europe has many scenarios, but the French and Swiss ones are interesting to compare. In France, every individual has a right to lifelong learning organised via a personal learning account that is credited as you work. In Switzerland, lifelong learning is a personal responsibility and not a government one. However, employers and the state encourage continuing education either by funding parts of it or by allowing employees to attend it.

【P】Universities have a fundamental role to play in this journey, and higher education is in for a change. Just like classical theatre, the old university model produced talent and value for society. We are not advocating its abolition but rather calling for the adaptation of its characteristics to meet the needs of today.

45、45. Students who are burdened with family duties might choose to take online courses.

A、A

B、B

C、C

D、D

E、E

F、F

G、G

H、H

I、I

J、J

K、K

L、L

M、M

N、N

O、O

P、P


        Why does social media trigger feelings of loneliness and inadequacy? Because instead of being real life, it is, for the most part, impression management, a way of marketing yourself, carefully choosing and filtering the pictures and words to put your best face forward.

        Online “friends” made through social media do not follow the normal psychological progression of an interpersonal relationship. You share neither physical time nor emotional conversations over the Internet. You simply communicate photographs and catchy posts to a diverse group of people whom you have “friended” or “followed” based on an accidental interaction. This is not to say that your social media friends can’t be real friends. They absolutely can, but the two are not synonymous. Generally speaking, there are no unfiltered comments or casually taken photos on our social media pages. And, rightfully so, because it wouldn’t feel safe to be completely authentic and vulnerable with some of our “friends” whom we don’t actually know or with whom trust has yet to be built.

        Social media can certainly be an escape from the daily grind, but we must be cautioned against the negative effects, such as addiction, on a person’s overall psychological well-being.

        As humans, we yearn for social connection. Scrolling (滚动) through pages of pictures and comments, however, does not provide the same degree of fulfillment as face to face interactions do. Also, we tend to idealize others’ lives and compare our downfalls to their greatest accomplishments, ending in feelings of loneliness and inadequacy.

        Social media can lead people on the unhealthy quest for perfection. Some people begin to attend certain events or travel to different places so that they can snap that “perfect” photo. They begin to seek validation through the number of people who “like” their posts. In order for it to play a psychologically healthy role in your social life, social media should supplement an already healthy social network. Pictures and posts should be byproducts of life’s treasured moments and fun times, not the planned and calculated image that one is putting out into cyberspace in an attempt to fill insecurities or unmet needs.

        Ultimately, social media has increased our ability to connect with various types of people all over the globe. It has opened doors for businesses and allowed us to stay connected to people whom we may not otherwise get to follow. However, social media should feel like a fun experience, not one that contributes to negative thoughts and feelings. If the latter is the case, increasing face to face time with trusted friends, and minimizing time scrolling online, will prove to be a reminder that your social network is much more rewarding than any “like”, “follow” or “share” can be.

46、46. What does the author imply social media may do to our life?

A、It may facilitate our interpersonal relationships.

B、It may filter our negative impressions of others.

C、It may make us feel isolated and incompetent.

D、It may render us vulnerable and inauthentic.


        Why does social media trigger feelings of loneliness and inadequacy? Because instead of being real life, it is, for the most part, impression management, a way of marketing yourself, carefully choosing and filtering the pictures and words to put your best face forward.

        Online “friends” made through social media do not follow the normal psychological progression of an interpersonal relationship. You share neither physical time nor emotional conversations over the Internet. You simply communicate photographs and catchy posts to a diverse group of people whom you have “friended” or “followed” based on an accidental interaction. This is not to say that your social media friends can’t be real friends. They absolutely can, but the two are not synonymous. Generally speaking, there are no unfiltered comments or casually taken photos on our social media pages. And, rightfully so, because it wouldn’t feel safe to be completely authentic and vulnerable with some of our “friends” whom we don’t actually know or with whom trust has yet to be built.

        Social media can certainly be an escape from the daily grind, but we must be cautioned against the negative effects, such as addiction, on a person’s overall psychological well-being.

        As humans, we yearn for social connection. Scrolling (滚动) through pages of pictures and comments, however, does not provide the same degree of fulfillment as face to face interactions do. Also, we tend to idealize others’ lives and compare our downfalls to their greatest accomplishments, ending in feelings of loneliness and inadequacy.

        Social media can lead people on the unhealthy quest for perfection. Some people begin to attend certain events or travel to different places so that they can snap that “perfect” photo. They begin to seek validation through the number of people who “like” their posts. In order for it to play a psychologically healthy role in your social life, social media should supplement an already healthy social network. Pictures and posts should be byproducts of life’s treasured moments and fun times, not the planned and calculated image that one is putting out into cyberspace in an attempt to fill insecurities or unmet needs.

        Ultimately, social media has increased our ability to connect with various types of people all over the globe. It has opened doors for businesses and allowed us to stay connected to people whom we may not otherwise get to follow. However, social media should feel like a fun experience, not one that contributes to negative thoughts and feelings. If the latter is the case, increasing face to face time with trusted friends, and minimizing time scrolling online, will prove to be a reminder that your social network is much more rewarding than any “like”, “follow” or “share” can be.

47、47. Why do people post comments selectively on social media?

A、They do not find all their online friends trustworthy.

B、They want to avoid offending any of their audience.

C、They do not want to lose their followers.

D、They are eager to boost their popularity.


        Why does social media trigger feelings of loneliness and inadequacy? Because instead of being real life, it is, for the most part, impression management, a way of marketing yourself, carefully choosing and filtering the pictures and words to put your best face forward.

        Online “friends” made through social media do not follow the normal psychological progression of an interpersonal relationship. You share neither physical time nor emotional conversations over the Internet. You simply communicate photographs and catchy posts to a diverse group of people whom you have “friended” or “followed” based on an accidental interaction. This is not to say that your social media friends can’t be real friends. They absolutely can, but the two are not synonymous. Generally speaking, there are no unfiltered comments or casually taken photos on our social media pages. And, rightfully so, because it wouldn’t feel safe to be completely authentic and vulnerable with some of our “friends” whom we don’t actually know or with whom trust has yet to be built.

        Social media can certainly be an escape from the daily grind, but we must be cautioned against the negative effects, such as addiction, on a person’s overall psychological well-being.

        As humans, we yearn for social connection. Scrolling (滚动) through pages of pictures and comments, however, does not provide the same degree of fulfillment as face to face interactions do. Also, we tend to idealize others’ lives and compare our downfalls to their greatest accomplishments, ending in feelings of loneliness and inadequacy.

        Social media can lead people on the unhealthy quest for perfection. Some people begin to attend certain events or travel to different places so that they can snap that “perfect” photo. They begin to seek validation through the number of people who “like” their posts. In order for it to play a psychologically healthy role in your social life, social media should supplement an already healthy social network. Pictures and posts should be byproducts of life’s treasured moments and fun times, not the planned and calculated image that one is putting out into cyberspace in an attempt to fill insecurities or unmet needs.

        Ultimately, social media has increased our ability to connect with various types of people all over the globe. It has opened doors for businesses and allowed us to stay connected to people whom we may not otherwise get to follow. However, social media should feel like a fun experience, not one that contributes to negative thoughts and feelings. If the latter is the case, increasing face to face time with trusted friends, and minimizing time scrolling online, will prove to be a reminder that your social network is much more rewarding than any “like”, “follow” or “share” can be.

48、48. What are humans inclined to do according to the passage?

A、Exaggerate their life’s accomplishments.

B、Strive for perfection regardless of the cost.

C、Paint a rosy picture of other people’s lives.

D、Learn lessons from other people’s downfalls.


        Why does social media trigger feelings of loneliness and inadequacy? Because instead of being real life, it is, for the most part, impression management, a way of marketing yourself, carefully choosing and filtering the pictures and words to put your best face forward.

        Online “friends” made through social media do not follow the normal psychological progression of an interpersonal relationship. You share neither physical time nor emotional conversations over the Internet. You simply communicate photographs and catchy posts to a diverse group of people whom you have “friended” or “followed” based on an accidental interaction. This is not to say that your social media friends can’t be real friends. They absolutely can, but the two are not synonymous. Generally speaking, there are no unfiltered comments or casually taken photos on our social media pages. And, rightfully so, because it wouldn’t feel safe to be completely authentic and vulnerable with some of our “friends” whom we don’t actually know or with whom trust has yet to be built.

        Social media can certainly be an escape from the daily grind, but we must be cautioned against the negative effects, such as addiction, on a person’s overall psychological well-being.

        As humans, we yearn for social connection. Scrolling (滚动) through pages of pictures and comments, however, does not provide the same degree of fulfillment as face to face interactions do. Also, we tend to idealize others’ lives and compare our downfalls to their greatest accomplishments, ending in feelings of loneliness and inadequacy.

        Social media can lead people on the unhealthy quest for perfection. Some people begin to attend certain events or travel to different places so that they can snap that “perfect” photo. They begin to seek validation through the number of people who “like” their posts. In order for it to play a psychologically healthy role in your social life, social media should supplement an already healthy social network. Pictures and posts should be byproducts of life’s treasured moments and fun times, not the planned and calculated image that one is putting out into cyberspace in an attempt to fill insecurities or unmet needs.

        Ultimately, social media has increased our ability to connect with various types of people all over the globe. It has opened doors for businesses and allowed us to stay connected to people whom we may not otherwise get to follow. However, social media should feel like a fun experience, not one that contributes to negative thoughts and feelings. If the latter is the case, increasing face to face time with trusted friends, and minimizing time scrolling online, will prove to be a reminder that your social network is much more rewarding than any “like”, “follow” or “share” can be.

49、49. What is the author’s view of pictures and posts on social media?

A、They should record the memorable moments in people’s lives.

B、They should be carefully edited so as to present the best image.

C、They should be shown in a way that meets one’s security needs.

D、They should keep people from the unhealthy quest for perfection.


        Why does social media trigger feelings of loneliness and inadequacy? Because instead of being real life, it is, for the most part, impression management, a way of marketing yourself, carefully choosing and filtering the pictures and words to put your best face forward.

        Online “friends” made through social media do not follow the normal psychological progression of an interpersonal relationship. You share neither physical time nor emotional conversations over the Internet. You simply communicate photographs and catchy posts to a diverse group of people whom you have “friended” or “followed” based on an accidental interaction. This is not to say that your social media friends can’t be real friends. They absolutely can, but the two are not synonymous. Generally speaking, there are no unfiltered comments or casually taken photos on our social media pages. And, rightfully so, because it wouldn’t feel safe to be completely authentic and vulnerable with some of our “friends” whom we don’t actually know or with whom trust has yet to be built.

        Social media can certainly be an escape from the daily grind, but we must be cautioned against the negative effects, such as addiction, on a person’s overall psychological well-being.

        As humans, we yearn for social connection. Scrolling (滚动) through pages of pictures and comments, however, does not provide the same degree of fulfillment as face to face interactions do. Also, we tend to idealize others’ lives and compare our downfalls to their greatest accomplishments, ending in feelings of loneliness and inadequacy.

        Social media can lead people on the unhealthy quest for perfection. Some people begin to attend certain events or travel to different places so that they can snap that “perfect” photo. They begin to seek validation through the number of people who “like” their posts. In order for it to play a psychologically healthy role in your social life, social media should supplement an already healthy social network. Pictures and posts should be byproducts of life’s treasured moments and fun times, not the planned and calculated image that one is putting out into cyberspace in an attempt to fill insecurities or unmet needs.

        Ultimately, social media has increased our ability to connect with various types of people all over the globe. It has opened doors for businesses and allowed us to stay connected to people whom we may not otherwise get to follow. However, social media should feel like a fun experience, not one that contributes to negative thoughts and feelings. If the latter is the case, increasing face to face time with trusted friends, and minimizing time scrolling online, will prove to be a reminder that your social network is much more rewarding than any “like”, “follow” or “share” can be.

50、50. What does the author advise people to do when they find their online experience unconstructive?

A、Use social media to increase their ability to connect with various types of people.

B、Stay connected to those whom they may not otherwise get to know and befriend.

C、Try to prevent negative thoughts and feelings from getting into the online pages.

D、Strengthen ties with real-life friends instead of caring about their online image.


        Imagine that an alien species landed on Earth and, through their mere presence, those aliens caused our art to vanish, our music to homogenize, and our technological know-how to disappear. That is effectively what humans have been doing to our closest relatives—chimps (大猩猩).

        Back in 1999, a team of scientists led by Andrew Whiten showed that chimps from different parts of Africa behave very differently from one another. Some groups would get each other’s attention by rapping branches with their knuckles (指关节), while others did it by loudly ripping leaves with their teeth. The team identified 39 of these traditions that are practiced by some communities but not others—a pattern that, at the time, hadn’t been seen in any animal except humans. It was evidence, the team said, that chimps have their own cultures.

        It took a long time to convince skeptics that such cultures exist, but now we have plenty of examples of animals learning local traditions from one another.

        But just when many scientists have come to accept the existence of animal cultures, many of those cultures might vanish. Ammie Kalan and her colleagues have shown, through years of intensive fieldwork, that the very presence of humans has eroded the diversity of chimp behavior. Where we flourish, their cultures wither. It is a bitterly ironic thing to learn on the 20th anniversary of Whiten’s classic study.

        “It’s amazing to think that just 60 years ago, we knew next to nothing of the behavior of our sister species in the wild,” Whiten says. “But now, just as we are truly getting to know our primate (灵长类) cousins, the actions of humans are closing the window on all we have discovered.”

        “Sometimes in the rush to conserve the species, I think we forget about the individuals,” says Cat Hobaiter, a professor at the University of St. Andrews. “Each population, each community, even each generation of chimps is unique. An event might only have a small impact on the total population of chimps, but it may wipe out an entire community—an entire culture. No matter what we do to restore habitat or support population growth, we may never be able to restore that culture.”

        No one knows whether the destruction of chimp culture is getting worse. Few places have tracked chimp behavior over long periods, and those that have are also more likely to have protected their animals from human influence.

        Obviously conservationists need to think about saving species in a completely new way—by preserving animal traditions as well as bodies and genes. “Instead of focusing only on the conservation of genetically based entities like species, we now need to also consider culturally based entities,” says Andrew Whiten.

51、51. What does the author say we humans have been doing to chimps?

A、Ruining their culture.

B、Accelerating their extinction.

C、Treating them as alien species.

D、Homogenizing their living habits.


        Imagine that an alien species landed on Earth and, through their mere presence, those aliens caused our art to vanish, our music to homogenize, and our technological know-how to disappear. That is effectively what humans have been doing to our closest relatives—chimps (大猩猩).

        Back in 1999, a team of scientists led by Andrew Whiten showed that chimps from different parts of Africa behave very differently from one another. Some groups would get each other’s attention by rapping branches with their knuckles (指关节), while others did it by loudly ripping leaves with their teeth. The team identified 39 of these traditions that are practiced by some communities but not others—a pattern that, at the time, hadn’t been seen in any animal except humans. It was evidence, the team said, that chimps have their own cultures.

        It took a long time to convince skeptics that such cultures exist, but now we have plenty of examples of animals learning local traditions from one another.

        But just when many scientists have come to accept the existence of animal cultures, many of those cultures might vanish. Ammie Kalan and her colleagues have shown, through years of intensive fieldwork, that the very presence of humans has eroded the diversity of chimp behavior. Where we flourish, their cultures wither. It is a bitterly ironic thing to learn on the 20th anniversary of Whiten’s classic study.

        “It’s amazing to think that just 60 years ago, we knew next to nothing of the behavior of our sister species in the wild,” Whiten says. “But now, just as we are truly getting to know our primate (灵长类) cousins, the actions of humans are closing the window on all we have discovered.”

        “Sometimes in the rush to conserve the species, I think we forget about the individuals,” says Cat Hobaiter, a professor at the University of St. Andrews. “Each population, each community, even each generation of chimps is unique. An event might only have a small impact on the total population of chimps, but it may wipe out an entire community—an entire culture. No matter what we do to restore habitat or support population growth, we may never be able to restore that culture.”

        No one knows whether the destruction of chimp culture is getting worse. Few places have tracked chimp behavior over long periods, and those that have are also more likely to have protected their animals from human influence.

        Obviously conservationists need to think about saving species in a completely new way—by preserving animal traditions as well as bodies and genes. “Instead of focusing only on the conservation of genetically based entities like species, we now need to also consider culturally based entities,” says Andrew Whiten.

52、52. What is the finding of Andrew Whiten’s team?

A、Chimps demonstrate highly developed skills of communication.

B、Chimps rely heavily upon their body language to communicate.

C、Chimps behave in ways quite similar to those of human beings.

D、Different chimp groups differ in their way of communication.


        Imagine that an alien species landed on Earth and, through their mere presence, those aliens caused our art to vanish, our music to homogenize, and our technological know-how to disappear. That is effectively what humans have been doing to our closest relatives—chimps (大猩猩).

        Back in 1999, a team of scientists led by Andrew Whiten showed that chimps from different parts of Africa behave very differently from one another. Some groups would get each other’s attention by rapping branches with their knuckles (指关节), while others did it by loudly ripping leaves with their teeth. The team identified 39 of these traditions that are practiced by some communities but not others—a pattern that, at the time, hadn’t been seen in any animal except humans. It was evidence, the team said, that chimps have their own cultures.

        It took a long time to convince skeptics that such cultures exist, but now we have plenty of examples of animals learning local traditions from one another.

        But just when many scientists have come to accept the existence of animal cultures, many of those cultures might vanish. Ammie Kalan and her colleagues have shown, through years of intensive fieldwork, that the very presence of humans has eroded the diversity of chimp behavior. Where we flourish, their cultures wither. It is a bitterly ironic thing to learn on the 20th anniversary of Whiten’s classic study.

        “It’s amazing to think that just 60 years ago, we knew next to nothing of the behavior of our sister species in the wild,” Whiten says. “But now, just as we are truly getting to know our primate (灵长类) cousins, the actions of humans are closing the window on all we have discovered.”

        “Sometimes in the rush to conserve the species, I think we forget about the individuals,” says Cat Hobaiter, a professor at the University of St. Andrews. “Each population, each community, even each generation of chimps is unique. An event might only have a small impact on the total population of chimps, but it may wipe out an entire community—an entire culture. No matter what we do to restore habitat or support population growth, we may never be able to restore that culture.”

        No one knows whether the destruction of chimp culture is getting worse. Few places have tracked chimp behavior over long periods, and those that have are also more likely to have protected their animals from human influence.

        Obviously conservationists need to think about saving species in a completely new way—by preserving animal traditions as well as bodies and genes. “Instead of focusing only on the conservation of genetically based entities like species, we now need to also consider culturally based entities,” says Andrew Whiten.

53、53. What did Ammie Kalan and her colleagues find through their intensive fieldwork?

A、Whiten’s classic study has little impact on the diversity of chimp behavior.

B、Chimp behavior becomes less varied with the increase of human activity.

C、Chimps alter their culture to quickly adapt to the changed environment.

D、It might already be too late to prevent animal cultures from extinction.


        Imagine that an alien species landed on Earth and, through their mere presence, those aliens caused our art to vanish, our music to homogenize, and our technological know-how to disappear. That is effectively what humans have been doing to our closest relatives—chimps (大猩猩).

        Back in 1999, a team of scientists led by Andrew Whiten showed that chimps from different parts of Africa behave very differently from one another. Some groups would get each other’s attention by rapping branches with their knuckles (指关节), while others did it by loudly ripping leaves with their teeth. The team identified 39 of these traditions that are practiced by some communities but not others—a pattern that, at the time, hadn’t been seen in any animal except humans. It was evidence, the team said, that chimps have their own cultures.

        It took a long time to convince skeptics that such cultures exist, but now we have plenty of examples of animals learning local traditions from one another.

        But just when many scientists have come to accept the existence of animal cultures, many of those cultures might vanish. Ammie Kalan and her colleagues have shown, through years of intensive fieldwork, that the very presence of humans has eroded the diversity of chimp behavior. Where we flourish, their cultures wither. It is a bitterly ironic thing to learn on the 20th anniversary of Whiten’s classic study.

        “It’s amazing to think that just 60 years ago, we knew next to nothing of the behavior of our sister species in the wild,” Whiten says. “But now, just as we are truly getting to know our primate (灵长类) cousins, the actions of humans are closing the window on all we have discovered.”

        “Sometimes in the rush to conserve the species, I think we forget about the individuals,” says Cat Hobaiter, a professor at the University of St. Andrews. “Each population, each community, even each generation of chimps is unique. An event might only have a small impact on the total population of chimps, but it may wipe out an entire community—an entire culture. No matter what we do to restore habitat or support population growth, we may never be able to restore that culture.”

        No one knows whether the destruction of chimp culture is getting worse. Few places have tracked chimp behavior over long periods, and those that have are also more likely to have protected their animals from human influence.

        Obviously conservationists need to think about saving species in a completely new way—by preserving animal traditions as well as bodies and genes. “Instead of focusing only on the conservation of genetically based entities like species, we now need to also consider culturally based entities,” says Andrew Whiten.

54、54. What does Cat Hobaiter think we should do for chimp conservation?

A、Try to understand our sister species’ behavior in the wild.

B、Make efforts to preserve each individual chimp community.

C、Study the unique characteristics of each generation of chimps.

D、Endeavor to restore chimp habitats to expand its total population.


        Imagine that an alien species landed on Earth and, through their mere presence, those aliens caused our art to vanish, our music to homogenize, and our technological know-how to disappear. That is effectively what humans have been doing to our closest relatives—chimps (大猩猩).

        Back in 1999, a team of scientists led by Andrew Whiten showed that chimps from different parts of Africa behave very differently from one another. Some groups would get each other’s attention by rapping branches with their knuckles (指关节), while others did it by loudly ripping leaves with their teeth. The team identified 39 of these traditions that are practiced by some communities but not others—a pattern that, at the time, hadn’t been seen in any animal except humans. It was evidence, the team said, that chimps have their own cultures.

        It took a long time to convince skeptics that such cultures exist, but now we have plenty of examples of animals learning local traditions from one another.

        But just when many scientists have come to accept the existence of animal cultures, many of those cultures might vanish. Ammie Kalan and her colleagues have shown, through years of intensive fieldwork, that the very presence of humans has eroded the diversity of chimp behavior. Where we flourish, their cultures wither. It is a bitterly ironic thing to learn on the 20th anniversary of Whiten’s classic study.

        “It’s amazing to think that just 60 years ago, we knew next to nothing of the behavior of our sister species in the wild,” Whiten says. “But now, just as we are truly getting to know our primate (灵长类) cousins, the actions of humans are closing the window on all we have discovered.”

        “Sometimes in the rush to conserve the species, I think we forget about the individuals,” says Cat Hobaiter, a professor at the University of St. Andrews. “Each population, each community, even each generation of chimps is unique. An event might only have a small impact on the total population of chimps, but it may wipe out an entire community—an entire culture. No matter what we do to restore habitat or support population growth, we may never be able to restore that culture.”

        No one knows whether the destruction of chimp culture is getting worse. Few places have tracked chimp behavior over long periods, and those that have are also more likely to have protected their animals from human influence.

        Obviously conservationists need to think about saving species in a completely new way—by preserving animal traditions as well as bodies and genes. “Instead of focusing only on the conservation of genetically based entities like species, we now need to also consider culturally based entities,” says Andrew Whiten.

55、55. What does the author suggest conservationists do?

A、Focus entirely on culturally-based entities rather than genetically-based ones

B、Place more stress on animal traditions than on their physical conservation.

C、Conserve animal species in a novel and all-round way.

D、Explore the cultures of species before they vanish.


三、Part IV Translation

56、       北京大兴国际机场位于天安门广场以南46公里处,于2019年9月30日投入使用。该巨型工程于2014年开工建设,高峰时工地上有4万多工人。航站楼设计紧凑,可以允许最大数量的飞机直接停靠在最靠近航站楼中心的位置,这给乘客提供了极大的方便。航站楼共有82个登机口,但乘客通过安检后,只需不到8分钟就能抵达任何一个登机口。机场的设计可确保每小时300架次起降。机场年客运量2040年将达到1亿人次,有望成为世界上最繁忙的机场。

参考答案:

参考译文

Located 46 kilometers south of Tian’anmen Square, Beijing Daxing International Airport was put into operation on September 30, 2019. The construction of this giant project began in 2014, with more than 40,000 workers on the site at its peak. The compact design of the terminal allows a maximum number of aircraft to be parked directly at the closest place near the centre of the terminal, providing great convenience for passengers. There are a total of 82 boarding gates, but it only takes passengers less than eight minutes to reach any boarding gate after passing through the security. The airport is designed to ensure 300 takeoffs and landings per hour. The airport will handle 100 million passengers a year by 2040 and is expected to be the busiest airport in the world.


四、Part I Writing

57、Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay on why students should be encouraged to develop the ability to meet challenges. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.

参考答案:

参考范文

In this ever-changing world, people are bound to face various challenges. However, challenges mean not only difficulties, but also opportunities. Considering that there are many possibilities in the future, we should encourage students to develop the ability to cope with challenges.

In the first place, challenges can cultivate our personality. It is inevitable that we will encounter difficulties and problems. At critical times, one’s positive attitude towards challenges plays a crucial role in turning hardship into good results. In addition, it is challenges that can inspire our potential. Whatever situation we are faced with, people who have the ability of dealing with difficulties have a greater chance of success, and this ability is usually developed in response to challenges. Just as the saying goes: A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.

From what I have discussed above, we may safely draw the conclusion that challenges have positive effects on our life. The earlier we are aware of the positive side of challenges, the more benefits we will get.

参考译文

在这个不断变化的世界里,人们一定会面临各种挑战。但挑战不仅意味着困难,还意味着机遇。鉴于未来有很多可能性,我们应该鼓励学生培养应对挑战的能力。

首先,挑战可以磨炼我们的品性。我们难免会遇到各种困难和问题。在关键时刻,一个人对挑战的积极态度对于将困难转化为好的结果起着至关重要的作用。另外,挑战可以激发我们的潜能。无论面对什么样的情况,有能力应对困难的人成功的几率更高,而这种能力通常是在应对挑战的过程中形成的。正如常言所说:“平静的水面练不出精悍的水手。”

从上述讨论中,我们可以得出结论:挑战对我们的生活有积极影响。我们越早意识到挑战带来的积极一面,就越能从中获得更多的益处。


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