Unit 15
Piggybacking on a recent Bloomberg administration initiative, Scott M. Stringer, the Manhattan borough president, plans to propose on Tuesday that New York City experiment with an innovative method to help pay for early education. Mr. Stringer, a Democrat who is a likely contender for mayor in 2013, is advocating that the city explore the use of social-impact bonds, also called pay-for-success bonds, to expand access to Early Head Start, which helps pregnant mothers and families with children up to age 3. Such bonds—actually loans made by investors to pay for a program—typically require a government to pay the investors a return on their principal only if a program meets certain goals and helps that entity save money.
Mr. Stringer said that his proposal would not cost taxpayers anything and stood in marked contrast to what other likely mayoral contenders have recently suggested in education, which has emerged as a key early issue in the mayor’s race.
Earlier this month, Bill de Blasio, the public advocate, proposed raising taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers to pay for more prekindergarten classes and after-school activities for students in Grades 6 to 8. In June, state lawmakers approved a proposal from Christine C. Quinn, the City Council speaker, to make kindergarten mandatory for all 5-year-olds in New York City, potentially covering 3,000 students who enter first grade without having first gone to kindergarten.
“We are fooling ourselves if we think the same old approach to funding education will get us to where we want to be,” said Mr. Stringer, who plans to discuss his proposal—and several others designed to allow working- and middle-class New Yorkers more access to legal services—during a speech to the New York City Bar Association.
To make the investment worthwhile for both investor and government, people who are experienced in the field say that an early-education program would likely require an investment of anywhere from $5 million to $25 million. But some critics fret that monetary incentives could distort the programs, or the way they are evaluated, and that the public sector could cater too much to potential investors.
In theory, Mr. Stringer’s proposal was welcomed by both the Bloomberg administration and Goldman Sachs. Alicia Glen, head of Goldman Sachs’s Urban Investment Group, which is investing in the Rikers Island project, noted that early education has attracted enormous interest, and that three or four other municipalities across the country were already trying to come up with early-education social-impact bonds.
注（1）：本文选自The New York Times；
注（2）：本文习题命题模仿对象：第1、2、3题模仿2011年真题Text 1第1、4、5题；第4、5题模仿2011年真题Text 2第4、5题。
1. What can we learn from Para.1 about Scott M. Stringer’s proposal?
A) The proposal is initially proposed by Bloomberg administration.
B) The proposal is merely proposed for the sake of mayoral race.
C) Investors should sponsor the program according to the proposal.
D) The proposal aims at paying for early education.
2. The writer’s attitude to Scott M. Stringer’s proposal can be said as ______.
A) objective
B) biased
C) supportive
D) oppositive
3. Regarding the expenditure in early-education program, many feared that ______.
A) investors and the government would not afford the expenditure
B) the investment could not stimulate the program
C) monetary incentives might bring negative effects on the program
D) the public sector might commit corruption
4. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that ______.
A) Goldman Sachs will invest in early-education
B) early-education will have a good development prospect
C) Alicia Glen put forward early-education social-impact bonds first
D) early-education needs to attract enormous interest
5. The most appropriate title for this text would be ______.
A) What Is Going on in the Mayoral Race
B) Proposals on Early Education
C) How to Collect Money for Early Education
D) Who Will Be the Winner in the Mayoral Race
篇章剖析
本文主要讲述了市长竞选人斯特林格先生提出的早教经费的支持方案。第一段详细介绍了斯特林格先生早教经费支持提案的具体内容；第二、三、四段进一步阐述了该提议与其他人关于教育的提议的不同，该提议不会花纳税人的钱；第五段指出对该项目实施前景的担忧；最后一段引用名人的话肯定了早教项目的前景。
词汇注释
piggyback / ˈpɪɡibæk/ v. 利用；借助
contender /kənˈtendə(r)/ n. 竞争者；争夺者
bond /bɒnd/ n. 债券；结合；约定
entity /ˈentəti/ n. 实体；存在；本质
mandatory /ˈmændətəri/ adj. 强制的；托管的；命令的
fret /fret/ v. 担忧；焦急
incentive /ɪnˈsentɪv/ n. 刺激；动机
municipality /mjuːˌnɪsɪˈpæləti/ n. 自治市或区；市民；市政当局
难句突破
Mr. Stringer said that his proposal would not cost taxpayers anything and stood in marked contrast to what other likely mayoral contenders have recently suggested in education, which has emerged as a key early issue in the mayor’s race.
主体句式：Mr. Stringer said that his proposal would...and stood in...
结构分析：该句修饰成分较多，结构复杂。主干部分为Mr. Stringer said that his proposal would...and stood in...，that从句中有两个并列的谓语成分，其中，第二个谓语中的介词to后是what引导的宾语从句，构成介宾结构。后面which所引导的分句为非限定性定语从句，用来修饰education，起补充说明作用。
句子译文：斯特林格先生说他的这次提议不会花纳税人的钱，且该提议与其他市长竞选者近期有关教育的提议形成鲜明对比，而教育已成为市长竞选早期的关键问题。
题目分析
1. D 细节题。第一段指出，斯特林格先生提出了早教经费支持方案，且可能参加市长竞选。选项A、B均与文意不符。社会效益债券通常需要政府在本金的基础上给予投资者回报，并不是投资者赞助，故C项不正确。答案为D。
2. A 情感态度题。本题考查作者对斯特林格先生提案的态度。通读全篇可知，作者就斯特林格先生的提案列举了多方面的看法及其利弊，而作者并没有发表自己的看法，可见作者的态度是比较客观的。因此只有A选项正确。
3. C 细节题。本题内容与早教项目经费相关。第五段指出，早教项目需要的经费比较多，有些评论家担心金钱激励会扭曲该项目或其评估方式，并且公共部门也会过多地迎合潜在的投资者。A、B项文中并未提到，D项与原文意思不符。只有C选项正确。
4. B 推理题。最后一段指出，斯特林格先生的提案是彭博政府和高盛集团都喜闻乐见的。艾丽西亚·格伦正在投资雷克斯岛项目，她认为，早教已经引起了广泛的关注，另外三四个美国自治市也已开始试着提出早教社会效益债券这一概念。可知A、C、D项均与题意不符，故答案为B。
5. B 主旨题。文章主要介绍了早教经费支持提案，市长竞选只是提出该提案的社会背景之一。综合全文可知，B为最佳答案。
参考译文
借助最近彭博政府的倡议，曼哈顿区区长斯科特·M. 斯特林格计划在周二提议，即纽约市将试行一项前所未有的早期教育经费支持方案。斯特林格先生是位民主党人，且很有可能在2013年竞选市长。他呼吁纽约市尝试使用社会效益债券，也叫做绩效支付债券，来扩大早期教育的范围，帮助孕妇以及有0-3岁儿童的家庭。这种债券实际上是由投资者发放贷款来支付该方案，通常需要政府在本金的基础上给予投资者回报，不过仅仅是当该项目达到特定目标并帮助政府省钱时。
斯特林格先生说他的这项提议不会花纳税人的钱，且该提议与其他市长竞选者近期有关教育的提议形成鲜明对比，而教育已成为市长竞选早期的关键问题。
本月早些时候，公益维护人比尔·白思豪提议，提高对纽约市最富有的人的税收，来为更多的学龄前课程和6到8年级学生的课外活动支付经费。六月，国家立法机构批准了市议会议长克里斯蒂娜·C.奎因的一项提议，即强制纽约市所有5岁的儿童进入幼儿园，可能会包括3000名未进入幼儿园就跨入一年级的学生。
斯特林格先生说：“如果我们认为资助教育的那一套老办法能达到我们的期望的话，那就是自欺欺人。”他打算在对纽约市律师协会进行演说时讨论他的提议，以及一些其他的旨在使工薪阶级和中产阶级的纽约人有更多机会享受法律服务的提议。
该领域的资深人士称，为了使投资对投资者和政府而言都物有所值，一个早教项目很可能需要500-2500万美元的投资。但是有些评论家担心金钱激励会扭曲该项目或其评估方式，并且公共部门也会过多地迎合潜在的投资者。
从理论上来讲，斯特林格先生的提案是彭博政府和高盛集团都喜闻乐见的。高盛城市投资集团的总裁艾丽西亚·格伦正在投资雷克斯岛项目，她认为，早教已经引起了广泛的关注，另外三四个美国自治市也已开始试着提出早教社会效益债券这一概念。
