从3篇阅读材料中解读SSAT阅读考试的难度

第三篇阅读材料：

Social scientists agree that everyone in ageneration is not identical. Nevertheless, many demographers assert that generalizations about the distinct characters of birth groups are helpful forsocial analysis. They aid in designing policy and education targeted toward the unique characteristics of specific cohorts. A case in point are those born between 1981 and 2000, dubbed "The Millennial Generation" because they are the first adults of the 21st century. According to the Pew Research Center, a think tank, the current group of 13- to 29-year-olds is more ethnically and racially diverse than any other similarly-aged cohort in our history. Many believe this explains their tendency to see the mselves as global citizens. Millennials have been described as "digital natives" because of their total comfort with technology. This is in stark contrast with previous generations, such as the Silent Generation, born before 1946; the Baby Boomers, born during the spike in births between 1946-1964 that followed World War II; or even Generation X, born between 1965-1980. Millennials inhabit a world where personal devices have always existed and are all around us, as ubiquitous as the air we breathe.Because two-thirds of Millennials voted for Barack Obama for president in 2008,some suggest that Millennials are more politically progressive than previous generations.While some authors call Millennials narcissistic, others believe rather that this generation is notably unselfish and eager to be of service to others. Many sociologists believe that understanding Millennials will make those who work with them more productive citizens.

试题：

"Cohort"(line 8) as used in the passage most likely refers to any group

(A) of 13 year-olds

(B) made up of U.S. citizens

(C) of civic-minded global citizens

(D) that shares certain characteristics

(E) of extremely diverse individuals;

2. It can be logically inferred from the passage that the parents of the Baby Boomers

(A) were born after 1946

(B) belonged to Generation X

(C) were called "Hie Boomers"

(D) belonged to The Silent Generation

(E) were more progressive than the Millennials

3. It can be logically inferred from thepassage that the Baby Boomers

(A) fought in World War II

(B) were born before 1946

(C) were younger than The Boomers

(D) were more diverse than the Millennial

(E) were less progressive than the Millennials

4. Which of the following is true based on the passage?

(A) The Pew Research Center studies voting habits.

(B) Generalizations about generations may aid educators.

(C) Members of Generation X have never seen a cell phone.

(D) Generations usually receive nick names that reflect their natures.

(E) Social scientists universally agree that it is useful to categorize generations.

分析：

这是一篇典型的说明文，文中作者根据人们不同的出生年代，生活背景，接触的东西把近一世纪的人们划分成了：

The Millennial Generation(1981-2000)

The Silent Generation (before 1946)

The Baby Boomers(1946-1964)

Generation X(1965-1980)

每个年代的人都有共有的特征，比如Millennial的人在政治方面比较比较进步，在2008年美国总统选举中有2/3的Millennial把选票投给了黑人总统奥巴马，而他们因为出生在一个电子产品爆棚的年代，对电子产品的适应能力和喜爱程度也高于之前的几代人。更好的理解每个年代人大致的性格和特点能够更好的为社会分析，教育课程编排提供必要的纲领性的指向，让我们社会的发展变得更加有序和合理。

答题：

第一题：答案为D。

Cohort单词是拉丁语，愿意是指军队，现代的意思为一群有相同特征的人。

第二题：答案为D。

Baby Boomers为二战大量人员伤亡后出生的孩子们，在中国抗日战争结束后，毛主席提出了光荣妈妈的概念，所以中国40/50这批人大多是那时出生的。

Baby Boomers出生于(1946-1964)，那他们的父母倒推20+年，应该是1946年前出生，所以属于Silent Generation。

第三题：答案为E。

这是一题反推题，因为Millennial是所有Cohort当中最progressive的，那当然Baby Boomers和Millennial比起来还没那么的Progressive。

第四题：答案为B。

划分年代群体的最根本意义就是更好编订适合这个年龄段的社会法则，教育课程等等。

小站教育TIPS：

美国部分顶尖私立高中SSAT平均录取分数线

SSAT分成词汇，阅读和写作三个部分，词汇部分为同义词30题，类比题30题，总共30分钟，代表每30秒必须回答一个问题，阅读有8篇文章，大多是文学作品节选，诗歌，作者生平，或者一些著名的文章，共有40题，平均每一篇文章看完加上做题只能花5分钟；数学是国内学生的长项，只要题目看得懂，一般能得高分；写作虽然是不计分，但是作文和和成绩单一同寄给学校，所以是学校考核学生水平实力的依据，不得不重视。

SSAT每个单元最低500分，最高800分，因此总分最低1500，最高2400分，为了平衡各次考试题目难易不同，所以SSAT评分另外提供百分比的依据，最低1%，最高99%，该比例是跟同年级同性别过去三年的考生相比，例如：95%代表100人中你赢过95%的人，美国高中一般以百分比为审核依据。