美国高校正努力增加男大学生人数

黄连英

Gates is 18 years old and lives in Chicago， Illinois. His family wants him to go to college in the fall. But Gates is thinking about going to a trade school instead. He says he worries about the cost of college and is not sure if it will be valuable to him.

Women now make up about 58 percent of U.S. college undergraduates. That information comes from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. The percentage of men in higher education is getting smaller each year.

College officials say some ideas about men and boys add to the enrollment difficulties. Rick Childers， a college teacher said many male students he meets face the same outdated ideas about masculinity that he did. In that old way of thinking， going to college was not something a strong man would do.

Ioakim Boutakidis， a professor of California State University Fullerton noted that some officials think men already have more advantages than women. As a result， those schools may be less likely to offer special support for male students. Overall， men of color are less likely to attend college than white men. Because of this， Boutakidis said he thinks schools should focus on men of color first.

Some colleges across the country have started to do that. Californias large community college system has increased support of its A2MEND program. The program aims to attract and keep Black men.

One way it does this is by giving one-on-one mentoring and providing places for the students to meet. The program hopes this will make Black students feel welcome and build a sense of community. Amanuel Gebru， president of the A2MEND board said he thinks colleges should hire more Black professors.

In New Jersey， Montclair State University has tried several ways to attract male students from communities in that state. This includes providing tutoring， counseling， food and other things students need.

But many communities still believe men do not belong in college， said assistant provost Daniel Jean. “Theres an anti-intellectual environment thats gotten worse，” he said. “The definition of manhood is often flawed.”

（材料來自“51VOA”网站，有删改）

1. Whats the function of the first paragraph？

A. To introduce the topic.

B. To tell us the authors opinion.

C. To give background information.

D. To arouse the readers interest.

2. What is mainly talked about in Paragraph 3 and Paragraph 4？

A. The difficulties with male students to enroll for a college.

B. The measures some colleges take to attract male students.

C. The reasons for the decrease of male college undergraduates.

D. The outdated ideas preventing male students from going to college.

3. Which of the following isnt included in the A2MEND programme？

A. Providing one-on-one instruction.

B. Providing food that students need.

C. Providing places for the students to meet.

D. Developing studentss sense of community.

4. What does Daniel Jean think of the percentage of men in higher education？

A. Itll be much larger.

B. Itll be enlarged little by little.

C. Itll be the same as before.

D. It may be smaller than before.

参考答案

1. A。解析：推理判断题。材料第一段提到Gates的家人希望他去上大学，但是他正在考虑去一所职业学校。由此引出话题：接受高等教育的男性比例逐年下降。故選A。

2. C。解析：推理判断题。材料第三段主要讲述了有关上大学的一些错误观念导致一些男生不想上大学；材料第四段提到一些高校对男学生不够关注，不大可能提供任何特殊帮助。综合起来看，这两段解释了接受高等教育的男性比例逐年下降的原因。故选C。

3. B。解析：细节理解题。根据材料第六段的第一个和第二个句子，我们可知A、C、D选项都与A2MEND项目有关。根据材料倒数第二段，我们可知B选项的内容是Montclair State University采取的措施。故选B。

4. D。解析：观点态度题。根据最后一段中Daniel Jean所说的话，我们可知Daniel Jean认为“反智”环境变得越来越糟糕，男子气概的定义往往是有缺陷的。这就意味着他认为高校里男大学生比例下降的可能性更大。故选D。