26. What is commonly regarded as the cause of grade inflation?
- A. The change of course catalogs.
- B. Students’ indifference to GPAs.
- C. Colleges’ neglect of GPAs.
- D. The influence of consumer culture.
答案：D
答案句：Grade inflation – the gradual increase in average GPAs (grade-point averages) over the past few decades – is often considered a product of a consumer era in higher education, in which students are treated like customers to be pleased.
参考译文：成绩膨胀——过去几十年平均GPA（平均绩点）的逐渐上升——通常被认为是高等教育消费时代的产物，在这个时代，学生被视为需要取悦的顾客。
定位线索：题干“commonly regarded as the cause of grade inflation”→答案句取自第1段“is often considered a product of a consumer era”；文中“consumer era”对应选项D“consumer culture”。
解析：题干问成绩膨胀的普遍原因，答案句明确指出其“often considered a product of a consumer era”，即消费时代的产物，与选项D“consumer culture”（消费文化）同义。选项A“课程目录的变化”、B“学生对GPA的漠视”、C“大学对GPA的忽视”均无原文依据，属于无中生有。
27. What was the original purpose of grade forgiveness?
- A. To help freshmen adapt to college learning.
- B. To maintain colleges’ graduation rates.
- C. To prepare graduates for a challenging future.
- D. To increase universities’ income from tuition.
答案：A
答案句：When this practice first started decades ago, it was usually limited to freshmen, to give them a second chance to take a class in their first year if they struggled in their transition to college-level courses.
参考译文：当这种做法在几十年前首次开始时，通常仅限于大一新生，目的是如果他们在向大学课程过渡中遇到困难，给他们一个在一年级重修课程的机会。
定位线索：题干“original purpose of grade forgiveness”→答案句取自第3段“When this practice first started decades ago”；文中“limited to freshmen”和“give them a second chance”对应选项A“help freshmen adapt to college learning”。
解析：题干问grade forgiveness的最初目的，答案句说明其最初“limited to freshmen”，目的是帮助新生适应大学课程，与选项A“帮助新生适应大学学习”直接对应。选项B“维持毕业率”、D“增加学费收入”是后来发展的目的，选项C“为挑战性未来做准备”无原文依据，均答非所问。
28. According to Paragraph 5, grade forgiveness enables colleges to
- A. obtain more financial support.
- B. boost their student enrollments.
- C. improve their teaching quality.
- D. meet local governments’ needs.
答案：A
答案句：For public institutions, state funds are sometimes tied partly to their success on metrics such as graduation rates and student retention – so better grades can, by boosting figures like those, mean more money.
参考译文：对于公立院校，州政府资金有时部分与其在毕业率和学生保留率等指标上的成功挂钩——因此更好的成绩可以通过提升这些数字来意味着更多的资金。
定位线索：题干“According to Paragraph 5”→答案句取自第5段“state funds are sometimes tied partly to their success”；文中“state funds”和“mean more money”对应选项A“obtain more financial support”。
解析：题干定位到第5段，答案句说明公立院校的州资金与毕业率等指标挂钩，更好的成绩能提升这些数字从而带来更多资金，与选项A“获得更多财政支持”同义。选项B“提高招生人数”、C“提高教学质量”无原文依据，选项D“满足地方政府需求”偷换概念，原文是“state funds”而非“local governments' needs”。
29. What does the phrase “to be aligned” (Line 5, Para. 6) most probably mean?
- A. To counterbalance each other.
- B. To complement each other.
- C. To be identical with each other.
- D. To be contradictory to each other.
答案：C
答案句：Since students and parents expect a college degree to lead to a job, it is in the best interest of a school to turn out graduates who are as qualified as possible – or at least appear to be. On this, students’ and colleges’ incentives seem to be aligned.
参考译文：由于学生和家长期望大学学位能带来工作，学校最有利的做法是培养出尽可能合格——或至少看起来合格的毕业生。在这一点上，学生和大学的动机似乎是一致的。
定位线索：题干“to be aligned”→答案句取自第6段末句“students’ and colleges’ incentives seem to be aligned”；前句说明双方都期望毕业生合格，文中“seem to be”和上下文逻辑对应选项C“identical with each other”。
解析：词义题需结合上下文，前句指出学生和家长期望学位带来工作，学校也愿意培养合格毕业生，双方利益一致，因此“aligned”意为“一致的”，对应选项C“identical with each other”。选项A“相互抵消”、B“相互补充”、D“相互矛盾”均不符合上下文逻辑，属于曲解词义。
30. The author examines the practice of grade forgiveness by
- A. assessing its feasibility.
- B. analyzing the causes behind it.
- C. comparing different views on it.
- D. listing its long-run effects.
答案：B
答案句：Grade inflation – the gradual increase in average GPAs (grade-point averages) over the past few decades – is often considered a product of a consumer era in higher education, in which students are treated like customers to be pleased. … But another, related force – a policy often buried deep in course catalogs called “grade forgiveness” – is helping raise GPAs. … Indeed, grade forgiveness is just another way that universities are responding to consumers’ expectations for higher education.
参考译文：成绩膨胀——过去几十年平均GPA的逐渐上升——通常被认为是高等教育消费时代的产物，在这个时代，学生被视为需要取悦的顾客。……但另一个相关的力量——一个通常深藏在课程目录中的政策，称为“成绩宽恕”——正在帮助提高GPA。……确实，成绩宽恕只是大学回应消费者对高等教育期望的另一种方式。
定位线索：题干“examines the practice of grade forgiveness”→答案句取自第1段和第6段；文中“product of a consumer era”、“responding to consumers' expectations”对应选项B“analyzing the causes behind it”。
解析：题干问作者如何审视grade forgiveness，全文从第1段提出其作为成绩膨胀的原因之一，到第6段总结其是大学回应消费者期望的方式，始终在分析其背后的原因，与选项B“分析其背后的原因”对应。选项A“评估可行性”、C“比较不同观点”、D“列举长期影响”均不符合文章结构，属于无中生有。