Section A

Directions: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.

Questions 26 to 35 are based on the following passage.

“Science and everyday life cannot and should not be separated." Those were the words uttered by pioneering British scientist Rosalind Franklin, who firmly believed that the pursuit of science should be (26)         to all.

As a woman working in the first half of the 20th century, Franklin’.s contributions to some of the greatest scientific discoveries of our time - including the structure of DNA - were sadly

(27)         in her lifetime. One of my proudest moments in my role as universities and science minister was being able to go some way to redress this injustice last month, by unveiling the new Mars rover named after this brilliant British scientist.

Today, on International Women’ s Day, it is only right that we recognize the important work of female scientists like Franklin and seek to honour her memory by inspiring more women and girls to follow in her footsteps.

More than 60 years after Franklin’ s death, we are (28)          living in a different world, where women play an important part in every echelon of our society-not least in science, innovation, higher education and research.

UK universities are world leaders when it comes to advancing and (29)          gender equality. The Athena SWAN charter, initially established to improve the representation of women in scientific disciplines in higher education, now has 145 members. It has also expanded to promote gender equality in multiple disciplines-including the arts, social sciences, humanities, business and law.

In the past decade, we have seen a (30)          increase in England in the number of women accepted on to full-time undergraduate degrees in science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem subjects). And in the last academic year, women (31)          for more than half of all Stem postgraduates at UK universities. The government is taking further steps to improve women’ s representation in science and has today awarded nine inspiring women £50,000 to develop inventions to tackle the challenges and seize the opportunities we face as a society. From new materials to cut down on plastics pollution to special devices to improve posture and comfort for wheelchair users, these women are at the forefront of creating the new technology for tomorrow.

This is significant progress, but access to higher education is only half of the equation. To have real equality in the sector, we need to ensure talented women are able to progress into the academic and leadership roles they desire, and get the remuneration they deserve.

Data shows us the (32)          to success gets harder for women to climb the further up they go.

Although women make up the majority of undergraduates in our universities, just under half of academic staff are female. At (33)          levels, only a quarter of professors are women, and black women make up less than 2% of all female academic staff.

I welcome the introduction of pro-active strategies like the new initiative at the University of

Leicester, which I am visiting today, to increase the number of female professors by 1.5% each year,with the overall goal of having 30% professorships held by women by 2020.

There are also stark differences in pay across grades. The gender pay gap based on median salaries across the sector in 2016-17 was 13.7%, (34)          there is still some way to go to ensure women are rising through the ranks to higher grade positions and being paid (35)          .

【答案及解析】

26.[A] accessible

解析：空格所在句为Rosalind Franklin, who firmly believed that the pursuit of science should be     to all. be后面接形容词，对比选项，既是形容词又能构成固定搭配的只有选项A，be accessible to易受影响的，可以理解的，可以被接受的。因此，正确答案为A。

27.[J] overlooked

解析：根据句意，Franklin的贡献不幸在生前被     。对比选项，既表示被动又带有负面含义的只有选项J。因此，正确答案为J。

28.[O]thankfully

解析：空格所在句为we are     living in…，从语法角度上来讲，所需要的是副词。后面讲到女性如今在社会中发挥着重要的作用，也就是带有正面含义。对比选项，符合这两点的只有O。因此，正确答案为O。

29.[K]promoting

解析：空格所在句中的and表并列，前后结构一样，前面是advancing，因此后面也应该是ing形式，对比选项只有K和N。从语义上来看，advancing and promoting表示提高和促进，因此正确答案为K。

30.[E]considerable

解析：空格所在句为we have seen a     increase, 需要一个形容词。对比选项，能够修饰increase的只有选项E。a considerable increase表示大幅增长，因此正确答案为E。

31. [B]accounted

解析：本题考查固定搭配，account for表示占比，占据。后面加的是具体的数量，因此正确答案为B。

32.[G] ladder

解析：空格所在句为the     to success，并且后面搭配climb，对比选项只有G符合语义，即成功的阶梯。

33.[L] senior

解析：空格所在句为At    levels, 根据语法可知，空格处应该是形容词。同时根据后面的句意：只有四分之一的教授是女性，整段内容都在描述女性攀爬成功的阶梯不容易，也就是说越往上越艰难。对比选项，只有L最合适。因此，正确答案为L。

34.[N] suggesting

解析：空格句句意为性别收入差距为13.7%，意味着确保女性工资增长还有一段路要走，符合句意的只有选项N。因此，正确答案为N。

35.[D] appropriately

解析：空格所在句为be paid    , 修饰动词应该是副词，对比选项只剩下选项D，同时符合语义。因此，正确答案为D。