Question

It is that time of the year again. Up and down the country, thousands of students stay in the library, attempting to cram（ 死记硬背） the information necessary to get through finals. I am one of them — a Cambridge finalist, attempting to deal with the Oxbridge stress in the only way I know: caffeine hits and reclusion（隐遁生活）. Whether you love or hate Oxbridge, the fact that these two universities provide unique learning environments is something of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, students have access to some of the best education in the world; on the other hand, the pressure that comes with this can prove damaging to them and can’t be swept under the carpet for they have to face it eventually.

Many Cambridge students find themselves trapped in a pressure of expectation, whether this comes from their supervisors or tutors, their director of studies or even from themselves. The drive towards achievement is either the key to success or to possible serious personal issues, as Mark Phippen, head of the University of Cambridge’s Counseling Service said, “There are plenty of perfectionists in Cambridge, but it can work two ways: it can push them to accomplish and to achieve, or it can get out of hand, disabling them.”

Many students say that they can’t handle it any more while working in certain libraries which are filled with other students hard at work. The competition and paranoia（ 多 疑 ） are more common than what we realize or question: you can feel as if you are being judged for how much time you spend on Facebook or YouTube, or how little time you spend reading.

Too many students feel almost frustrated by the pressure to achieve but feel unable to speak about it. As everyone seems to be coping, they must also pretend to cope too. The only thing students have: tutors and supervisors regularly encourage students to avoid extracurricular activities, urging them to focus on their studies to such an extent that many find it hard to handle it. One current Cambridge tutor has been known for checking up on the activities of students involved in extracurricular theatre by searching for them on the camdram.net website, which details who is involved in certain plays each term — just in case it affects the student’s work output.

Problems arise when the pressure produces mental health issues. Problems have been brought to attention in articles primarily from Oxford’s Cherwell and Cambridge’s The Tab. The attention has made  the  Cambridge University Student Union set up Students Deserve Better — a campaign to handle complaints  about supervisors and tutors lacking the ability to provide proper spiritual support. “When I told  my  supervisor about my problems with anxiety and therefore about my worries surrounding the workload she was suggesting, she said that I would probably feel less anxious once the work was done,” a finalist student called Jane said. “It shouldn’t be an accepted response in one of the world’s best universities. Their responses only worsened any feelings I had concerning my final year.”

Phippen said, “At this point the exams seem like the most important thing in the world. However, two years down the line you’ll realize that the exams you did at university aren’t very important at all,  as what  then becomes more important is what you have done within those two years afterwards. Finalist exams can become depressing for students studying at any university. All you must remember is that you are not alone and you are good enough, and that a few years down the line, your ability to recount the plots of Euripides’ nineteen plays will no longer matter. So why worry?”

1.The underlined part “be swept under the carpet” in Paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to “     ”.

A. be covered up    B. be dealt with

C. be given up    D. be figured out

2.What’s Mark Phippen’s attitude towards the pressure put on the students at Oxbridge?

A. Critical.    B. Doubtful.

C. Objective.    D. Ambiguous.

3.What can we know from Paragraph 4?

A. Extracurricular activities fail to appeal to most students.

B. Some tutors and supervisors push their students too hard.

C. There is a lack of communication between students and their supervisors.

D. Some students don’t speak about the pressure because they think they can handle it.

4.What Jane said in Paragraph 5 suggests that she     .

A. didn’t get her problems across to her supervisor

B. had expected better spiritual guidance from her tutors

C. was dissatisfied with her supervisor’s delayed responses

D. was glad that Students Deserve Better was set up to help students like her

5.In the last paragraph, Mark Phippen aims to.

A. guarantee the equality of exams

B. stress the importance of exams

C. ease students’ pressure from exams

D. encourage students to perform better in exams

6.Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?

A. Oxbridge pressure: the key to students’ achievements

B. Oxbridge finals: the toughest exams in the country

C. Oxbridge graduates: the strongest competitors in the job market

D. Oxbridge success: the result of teacher-student interaction

Answer

1. A

2. C

3. B

4. B

5. C

6. B

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文。文章讲述的是Oxbridge期末考试:这个国家最难的考试。

1.词义猜测题。根据第一段中On the one hand, students have access to some of the best education in the world; on the other hand, the pressure that comes with this can prove damaging to them and can’t be swept under the carpet for they have to face it eventually. 一方面，学生可以接受世界上最好的教育；另一方面，随之而来的压力可能会对他们造成伤害，无法掩盖，因为他们最终不得不面对。由此推知划线部分的意思是“被掩盖”，故选A。

2.推理判断题。根据第二段中as Mark Phippen, head of the University of Cambridge’s Counseling Service said, “There are plenty of perfectionists in Cambridge, but it can work two ways: it can push them to accomplish and to achieve, or it can get out of hand, disabling them.可知，马克·菲彭对牛津剑桥学生所面临的压力的态度是“客观的”，故选C。

3.推理判断题。根据第四段中The only thing students have: tutors and supervisors regularly encourage students to avoid extracurricular activities, urging them to focus on their studies to such an extent that many find it hard to handle it.可知，从第四段我们得知一些导师和监管人员对学生要求过于严格。故选B。

4.推理判断题。根据第五段中she said that I would probably feel less anxious once the work was done,” a finalist student called Jane said. “It shouldn’t be an accepted response in one of the world’s best universities. Their responses only worsened any feelings I had concerning my final year.”可知，Jane在第5段中所说的话表明，她曾期望从她的导师那里得到更好的精神指导。故选B。

5.推理判断题。根据最后一段中All you must remember is that you are not alone and you are good enough, and that a few years down the line, your ability to recount the plots of Euripides’ nineteen plays will no longer matter. So why worry?可知，在最后一段中，Mark Phippen旨在缓解学生考试的压力。故选C。

6.主旨大意题。根据第一段中It is that time of the year again. Up and down the country, thousands of students stay in the library, attempting to cram（ 死记硬背） the information necessary to get through finals. I am one of them — a Cambridge finalist, attempting to deal with the Oxbridge stress in the only way I know: caffeine hits and reclusion（隐遁生活）.可知，本文讲述的是Oxbridge期末考试:这个国家最难的考试。