英语四级考试巅峰阅读训练(七)

　　The standardized educational or psychological tests, which are widely used to aid in selecting, assigning or promoting students, employees and military personnel, have been the target of recent attacks in books, magazines, the daily press, and even in Congress. The target is wrong, for, in attacking the tests, critics divert attention from the fault that lies with ill-informed or incompetent users. The tests themselves are merely tools. Whether the results will be valuable, meaningless, or even misleading depends partly upon the tool itself but largely upon the user.

　　All informed predictions of future performance are based upon some knowledge of relevant past performance. How well the predictions will be validated by later performance depends upon the amount, reliability and appropriateness of the information used and on the skill and wisdom with which it is interpreted. Anyone who keeps careful score knows that the information available is always incomplete and that the predictions are always subject to error.

　　Standardized tests should be considered in this context: they provide a quick, objective method of getting some kind of information about what a person has learned, the skills he has developed, or the kind of person he is. The information so obtained has, qualitatively, the same advantages and shortcomings as other kinds of information. Whether to use tests, other kinds of information, or both in a particular situation depends, therefore, upon the empirical evidence concerning comparative validity and upon such factors as cost and availability.

　　In general, the tests work most effectively when the traits or qualities to be measured can be most precisely defined and least effectively when what is to be measured or predicted cannot be well defined, for example, personality or creativity. Properly used, they provide a rapid means of getting comparable information about many people. Sometimes they identify students whose high potential has not been previously recognized.

　　1. In this passage, the author is primarily concerned with _________.

　　A. the necessity of standardized tests

　　B. the validity of standardized tests

　　C. the method used in interpreting the results of standardized tests.

　　D. the theoretical grounds of standardized tests.

　　2. We can infer from the passage that _______.

　　A. standardized tests should no longer be used.

　　B. results of standardized tests accurately reflect the abilities of the testees

　　C. the value of standardized tests lies in their proper interpretation

　　D. special methods must be applied to the result of standardized tests.

　　3. The word empirical most probably means ___________

　　A. theoretical

　　B. critical

　　C. indisputable

　　D. experiential

　　4. According to the passage, standardized tests work work most effectively when ____________.

　　A. the user knows how to interpret the results in advance.

　　B. the objectives are most clearly defined.

　　C. the persons who take the test are intelligent or skillful.

　　D. they measure the traits or qualities of the tests

　　5. The authors attitude toward standardized tests could be described as _______.

　　A. positive

　　B. critical

　　C. prejudiced

　　D. indifferent.

　　答案：DDDBA

　　解题思路

　　1 选D。主旨大意题。第一段是给出话题，作为主题内容的第二、三段都是对标准花测试的理论基础的介绍。

　　2 选D。推理判断题。第二段提到，要进行准确预测必须有两个条件，一个是获得的信息本身，另一个是对所获得的信息进行分析。所以对于标准化测试所获得的信息，也必须使用特殊的方法进行分析。因此D正确。原文中，作者是反对抨击标准化考试的。因此A标准化考试不应再使用可排除。测试结果是否有效，取决与很多因素，B过于绝对。标准化测试的价值在于它的快速和客观性，所以C错误。

　　3 选D。语意理解题。前句提到通过标准化测试所获得的信息与其他信息一样有缺点，也有优点。那么到底采用哪种信息，就应该根据以往实际应用效果为依据的意见。 D正是。ABC分别是：理论上的，紧要的，无可争辩的。

　　4 选B。事实细节题。文章最后一段提到，当所要测定的特性能被很准确地界定时，测试最为有效。

　　5 选A。 观点态度题。文章第一段中作者就提出不应该抨击标准化考试;弊病不在测试本身，而在使用者。最后提出如果使用得当，标准化考试能为人民提供游泳的比较信息。综上所述，可知作为对标准化测试是持肯定态度的。ABCD分别为：肯定的，批评的，有偏见的，不关心的。

　　全文翻译

　　标准化的教育或心理测试，目前广泛应用与对学生、员工和军事人员的筛选、分配或晋升工作。不过它近来成了各种图书、杂志、日报甚至议会的抨击对象。他们的抨击目标选错了，因为在抨击这类测试时，批评者没有注意到，测试的弊病来自人们对测试不太了解或使用不当。测试本身只是一个工具。其结果是否有价值，是否无意义或者是否产生误导，除了取决于测试本身，主要取决于使用测试的人。

　　所有对未来表现的准确推测都基于对过去恩德相关表现的了解。这些测试在多大程度上会被后来的表现所证实，取决于预测所采用信息的量、可靠性和相关性，以及对这些信息进行分析所需要的技能和才智。一个谨慎的人都会知道，可用的信息总是不够全面的，而那些推测也总会有出错的地方。

　　要对标准化测试进行评价，首先就应该知道，这种测试提供的是一种迅速而客观地获取一个人的学识，技能或个人品质的相关信息的方法。所获得的信息，从质量上来讲，与其他信息一样，既有缺点也有优点。因此在某一特定情况下，究竟是采用测试还是其他种类的信息，或是两者兼用，须凭关于相对效度的经验依据而定，还取决于诸如费用和实用性等因素。

　　一般而言，当所要测定的特性能被准确的界定时，测试效果会非常好，而当所要测定或预测的东西不能被准确地界定时，测试效果会非常差。只要使用得当，这种测试是获得很多人的可比较信息的快捷方法，有时候还能够发现一些之前没有发现的潜力很大的大学生。