Unit 22

Plowing through the New York Times on a recent Sunday, I read in the Metro Section that infertile couples in the market for smart-kid genes regularly place advertisements in the newspapers of their own Ivy League alma maters offering female undergraduates $7,500 for a donated egg. Before I could get that news comfortably digested, I came across an article in the Magazine section describing SAT prep courses for which parents spend thousands in the hope of raising their child's test scores enough to make admission to an Ivy League college possible. So how can people who have found a potential egg donor at an Ivy League college tell whether the donor carries genuine smart-kid genes or just pushy-parents genes?

 

The donor herself may not even be aware that such a distinction exists. After years of expensive private schooling and math tutors and tennis camps and SAT prep courses and letters of recommendation from important family friends, she's been told that, unlike beneficiaries of affirmative action, she got into an Ivy League college on pure merit.

 

Since it is probably safe to assume that people intent on securing high-priced Ivy League eggs are carrying some pushy-parents genes themselves, their joining forces with a donor who got into an Ivy League college by dint of her family's willingness to fork over 10 grand to an SAT prep course could result in a child with somewhere between a dose and a half and 2 1/2 doses of pushy-parents genes. Apparently the egg seekers aren't troubled by the prospect of having their grandchildren raised by this sort of person.

 

If you have any doubts about whether the dosages I cite are based on a thorough grounding in genetics and statistics and advanced microbiology, rest assured that I attended an Ivy League college myself. That was in the days, I'll admit, when any number of people were admitted to such institutions without having shown any evidence of carrying smart-kid genes even in trace elements. Somehow, most of these dimmer bulbs managed to graduate--every class needs a lower third in order to have an upper two-thirds--and somehow most of them are now millionaires on Wall Street.

 

One element many of them had going for them in the admissions process was that they were identified as "legacies"--the offspring of alumni. In Ivy League colleges, alumni children are even now admitted at twice the rate of other applicants. For that reason, egg seekers may not actually need genuine smart-kid genes for their children: after all, an applicant whose mother and father and egg donor were all alumni could be considered a triple legacy.

 

But how about the college-admission prospects of the grandchildren? As methods are perfected of enhancing a college application through increasingly expensive services--one young man mentioned in the magazine article had $25,000 worth of SAT preparation--it might become more important to have a parent who's a Wall Street millionaire than to have smart-kid genes. Maybe it would be prudent to add a sentence to those ads in college papers: "Preference given to respondents in the lower third of the class."

 

注（1）：本文选自Time；01/25/99, p20；

注（2）：本文习题命题模仿对象为：1、2、3题模仿2000年真题text4 1-3题；4、5题分别模仿1999年真题text1第4题和text4第4题；

 

1.       In the author’s eyes, a female student from an Ivy League college is__________.

 

[A] an ideal egg donor

[B] not necessarily an intelligent person

[C] more influenced by her parents than by anything else

[D] more likely to carry smart-kid genes

 

2.       According to the author, what may chiefly be the reason for the donor’s admission in an

Ivy League college?

 

[A] her own merits

[B] the affirmative action

[C] her smart-kid genes

[D] her parents’ efforts

 

3.       Which of the following is true according to the author?

 

[A] American parents would send their children into an Ivy League college at any cost

[B] Ivy League colleges used to admit students who showed no sign of intelligence

[C] alumni children stand a better chance to be admitted than other applicants

[D]egg-seekers care nothing about the pushy-parents genes

 

4.       The author’s attitude towards the issue seems to be ____________.

 

[A] approving

[B] objective

[C] indifferent

[D] ironic

 

5.       It could be inferred from the text that____________.

 

[A] wealth is more important than intelligence in application for Ivy League colleges

[B] Ivy League colleges are increasingly expensive

[C] egg-seekers can get better genes from millionaires

[D] the prospects of college-admission are gloomy

 

答案：B D C D A

 

篇章剖析：

本文为议论文，指出不孕夫妇高价求购名校大学生卵子之事的荒谬之处以及名校门槛难进的严峻现实。本文采用的是提出问题―分析问题―解决问题的模式。在第一段，作者指出为了生下聪明宝宝而高价求购名校大学生卵子的人无法真正知道捐卵人的基因是聪明孩子的基因还是要强家长的基因。第二段着重说明这些捐卵者都是在家庭的帮助下进入名校学习的。第三段分析了了求卵者与捐卵者联合的可能结果。第四段指出智商和成功之间联系并不明显――因为很多差生也能成为百万富翁。第五段进一步分析名校学生被录取的一个原因，那就是他们的“校友子女”身份。最后一段提出一个讽刺性的解决办法：优先考虑可能成为百万富翁的差生。

 

词汇注释：

SAT: （美国）学术能力测验（Scholastic Aptitude Test）

admission: [Ed5miFEn] n. 许可入场；入学、入会

pushy: [5pJFI] adj. 有进取心的

affirmative action: 平权措施，指美国大学在录取新生和分配奖学金时，在成绩相同或相近的条件下优先考虑少数族裔的学生，如非洲裔、西班牙裔和印第安裔考生。

dint: [dint] n. 力量，努力；权力 by dint of 由于；凭藉

fork over: 花费，为…投入金钱

trace element: 微量元素

alumni: [E5lQmnai] n. 校友

prudent: [5pru:dEnt] adj. 谨慎的；明智的

 

难句突破：

1.Since it is probably safe to assume that people intent on securing high-priced Ivy League eggs are carrying some pushy-parents genes themselves, their joining forces with a donor who got into an Ivy League college by dint of her family’s willingness to fork over 10 grand to an SAT prep course could result in a child with somewhere between a dose and a half and 2 1/2 doses of push-parents genes.

主体句式：their joining forces…could result in a child…

结构分析：本句是个复杂长句，首先由since引导一个原因状语从句，在这个从句里又包含了一个宾语从句（assume后面that引导的部分），一个较长的定语（intent on securing high-priced Ivy League eggs），主句的主语是一个较长的动名词短语，其中包含了一个定语从句（who引导的部分），而这个定语从句中还含有一个较长的状语（由介词词组by dint of引导），主句的宾语里也包含有一个由介词with引导的长定语。在阅读的时候，一定要先理清主次，然后把各部发之间的修饰，限定等关系看清楚，才不至于出错。

句子译文：也许可以安全地假定那些想要获得高价常青藤联盟卵子的人自己身上就带有要强的家长的基因，他们和那些靠家庭心甘情愿花1万美元参加SAT考前辅导班而进入常青藤联盟学校的捐卵者联合，其结果也许就是生出的孩子身上的要强父母基因剂量介于1.5至2.5之间 。

2.As methods are perfected of enhancing a college application through increasingly expensive services---one young man mentioned in the magazine article had $25,000 worth of SAT preparation---it might become more important to have a parent who’s a Wall Street millionaire than to have smart-kid genes.

主体句式：it might become more important to have a parent…

结构分析：本句也是一个复杂长句。as引导一个较长的原因状语从句，其中还含有一个插入语，对increasingly expensive进行实例说明，从句中的时态为被动，主语method的定语修饰成分（of引导的部分）因为过长而被后置到谓语之后；主句是以it做形式主语，两个被比较的不定式做为真正主语的结构。

句子译文：由于通过日益昂贵的服务来提高大学申请成功的可能性的方法日臻完美---杂志文章里面提到的一个年轻人花了25000美元准备SAT考试---那么有个华尔街百万富翁家长也许比有聪明孩子基因更重要。

 

题目分析：

1. 答案为B，属于推理判断题。作者在第一段提出疑问：how can people…tell whether the donor carries genuine smart-kid genes or just pushy-parents genes? 接着又在下文中分析这些学生是如何入学的：父母不惜重金的栽培以及父母为校友的优势。文中第二段末作者以讽刺的口吻说道：they were told…they got into an Ivy League college on pure merit。文中第四段作者以那些后来成为百万富翁的差生来说明名校的学生未必聪明。可见作者并不认为那些名校女生真的是因为聪明智慧而被录取的。

2. 答案为D，属于事实细节题。文章举了很多例子说明捐卵者的家庭为她们进入常青藤联盟学校所作的一切：多年的昂贵私立学校教育，数学辅导，网球训练营，不惜重金的SAT考前辅导班，有身分地位的家庭友人的推荐信以及父母的校友身份等。可见D为最佳答案。

3. 答案为C，属于事实细节题。文章第5段提到了校友子女的录取比例是其他申请人的两倍，可见他们的被录取机会较大。

4. 答案为D，属于推理判断题。作者通过分析举例来说明高价求购名校女生卵子做法的荒谬之处，并在文章最后写道：应该在这类求卵广告上加一句“差生应征，优先考虑”，语气中充满讽刺意味，应该选D。

5. 答案为A，属于推理判断题。作者在文章最后一段指出：“methods are perfected of enhancing a college application through increasingly expensive service”在下文中又说：“it might become more important to have a parent who’s a Wall Street millionaire than to have smart-kid genes”，可见跨入名校门槛需要付出高昂代价，因此申请这些学校的时候，财富比智慧更重要。

 

参考译文：

最近的某个星期天，我在翻阅《纽约时报》的时候，在都市版读到一则消息，说一些不孕不育夫妇到市场上求购能生下聪明宝宝的基因，这些夫妇定期在他们自己的常青藤联盟母校的报纸上刊登广告，出资7500美元欲求大学本科女生捐赠一枚卵子。我还没有从那条消息中回过味来，就又在杂志版读到一篇文章，讲述家长们花费数千元让孩子参加SAT（大学入学考试）考前辅导班，希望孩子的考试成绩能提高到有可能考取常青藤联盟学校。那么那些在常青藤联盟学校找到捐卵者的人怎么能够辨别捐卵人的基因是真正的聪明孩子的基因还是那些要强的家长的基因呢？

 

捐卵者本人也许甚至都没有意识到存在这样一种区别。多年的昂贵私立学校教育，数学辅导，网球训练营，SAT考前辅导班以及有身分地位的家庭友人的推荐信，这些都在告诉她，不像那些平权措施的受益者，她是因为表现出色而被常青藤联盟学校录取的。

 

也许可以安全地假定那些想要获得高价常青藤联盟卵子的人自己身上就带有要强的家长的基因，他们和那些靠家庭心甘情愿花1万美元参加SAT考前辅导班而进入常青藤联盟学校的捐卵者联合，其结果也许就是生出的孩子身上的要强父母基因剂量介于1.5至2.5之间 。显然，那些渴望得到卵子的人不会因为他们的孙子可能会由这种人抚养长大而烦恼。

 

如果你怀疑我引用的剂量是否完全基于遗传学和统计学以及先进的微生物学，那么大可以放心，因为我本人就曾在常青藤联盟学校就读。我要承认，那时候上这些学校的人很多，而且不必出示任何证据来证明连他们的微量元素里面都有聪明孩子基因。不知何故，这些成绩不太出色的学生大都顺利毕业---每个班都需要有三分之一的差生，这样才会有另外三分之二的好学生---而且他们中的大部分人现在都成了华尔街的百万富翁。

 

他们很多人有一样帮助他们顺利入学的共同之处，那就是他们的“传承者”身份---他们是校友们的子女。在常青藤联盟学校里，校友子女的入学率是其他申请人的两倍之多。鉴于此，渴望得到卵子的人也许实际上并不需要给他们的子女一些真正的聪明孩子基因：毕竟，申请人的父母和捐卵者都是校友的话，那么他就算得上是一个三倍“传承者”了。

 

那么他们的孙子辈的大学入学前景如何呢？由于通过日益昂贵的服务来提高大学申请成功的可能性的方法日臻完美---杂志文章里面提到的一个年轻人花了25000美元准备SAT考试---那么有个华尔街百万富翁家长也许比有聪明孩子基因更重要。不妨在这些大学报纸广告上加上一句：“优先考虑成绩在班级后三分之一的应征者。”