Question

For many students in the UK today, deciding whether or not to go to university can be as much about affordability as it is about ambition and aspiration.
In the past, students in the UK could apply to a university or college. They were sure that even if they came from a low income family, their tuition fees and some of their living (or maintenance) costs would be covered by a local authority grant(撥款). A university education was, in a financial sense, open to all and the number of students attending university grew yearly.
Sadly, it seems, those days are long gone. The turning point came in 1998, when the Labour Government introduced tuition fees of ￡1,000 a year and, instead of giving students a maintenance grant, asked them to cover their own living expenses with a repayable student loan. Only students on the lowest incomes were entitled to a grant.
The flood gates had been opened. As time passed, the ceiling on tuition fees rose, and although applicants from Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales still qualified for varying levels of subsidy(補貼), by 2009/10 students in England often found themselves facing tuition fees over￡3,000 a year.
In 2011 the Government announced that, from 2012, universities could charge fees of up to ￡9,000 a year. Although the Government sweetened the pill by stating that postgraduates did not have to begin repaying their student loans until they were earning more than ￡21,000 a year, the news created over-dissatisfaction. Many students argued that it was unfair that students should have to begin their work life loaded with huge debt, while others complained that the changes would bring back a class divide to university education. These views were reflected in the number of students applying for a university place, which by January 2012 fell by more than 22,000. The Universities Minister, David Willetts, stood by the decision to increase tuition fees, saying that they would not “put universities’ finance on a bearable footing” and that they would accelerate “a stronger focus on high quality teaching.”
小題1:From the first paragraph, we can infer that _____ in attending university.

A．affordability plays more important roles than ambition and aspiration

B．ambition and aspiration are more important than affordability

C．affordability is as important as ambition and aspiration

D．ambition and aspiration make a greater difference

小題2:We can put the sentence “But the biggest change was still to come” at the beginning of Paragraph _____.

A．2

B．3

C．4

D．5

小題3:The underlined part “sweetened the pill” in the last paragraph possibly means_____.

A．made a sweet pill	B．made the change appear good
C．increased the pill	D．reduced the pill

小題4:The writer _____ the change about university education fees.

A．is in favor of	B．is opposed to
C．takes no notice of	D．is neither for nor against

Answer 1

小題1:C
小題2:D
小題3:B
小題4:B

試題分析：文章介紹英國高校學費和資助制度影響入學率。很多學校提高了學費，這讓很多學生和家庭背負沉重的負擔，此舉也引起公眾的不滿。
小題1:細節題：從文章的第一段的句子：For many students in the UK today, deciding whether or not to go to university can be as much about affordability as it is about ambition and aspiration.可知在上大學的時候，經濟可承受性和抱負愿望一樣重要，選C
小題2:推理題：從第五段的句子：In 2011 the Government announced that, from 2012, universities could charge fees of up to ￡9,000 a year.可知這段講的是政府宣布從2012年大學的學費可以要每年9000英鎊，這也是最大的改變，選 D
小題3:猜詞題：從文章最后一段的句子：Although the Government sweetened the pill by stating that postgraduates did not have to begin repaying their student loans until they were earning more than ￡21,000 a year, the news created over-dissatisfaction.雖然政府說畢業生到每年21，000英鎊的時候，才需要還貸款，但是這個改變還是引起人們的不滿，可知“sweetened the pill” 是“讓這個改變看起來好一些”的意思，選B
小題4:作者態度題：從文章第三段的句子：Sadly, it seems, those days are long gone.可知作者對于大學學費的改變是反對的，選B