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  3. Pity those who aspire to put the initials Ph.D after their names. After 16 years of closely supervised education, prospective do

Pity those who aspire to put the initials Ph.D after their names. After 16 years of closely supervised education, prospective do

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问题    Pity those who aspire to put the initials Ph.D after their names. After 16 years of closely supervised education, prospective doctors of philosophy are left more or less alone to write the equivalent of a large book. Most social-science postgraduates have still not completed their theses by the time their grant runs out after three years. They must then get a job and finish in their spare time, which can often take a further three. By then, most new doctors are sick to death of the narrowly defined subject, which has blighted their holidays and mined their evenings.
   The Economic and Social Research Council, which gives grants to postgraduate social scientists, wants to get better value for money by cutting short this agony. It would like to see faster completion rates: until recently, only about 25% of Ph.D candidates were finishing within four years. The ESRC’S response has been to stop Ph.D grants to all institutions where the proportion taking less than four years is below 10%; in the first year of this policy the national average shot up to 39%. The ESRC feels vindicated in its toughness, and will progressively raise the threshold to 40% in two years. Unless completion rates improve further, this would exclude 55 out of 73 universities and polytechnics -- including Oxford University, the London School of Economics and the London Business School.
   Predictably, howls of protest have come from the universities, who view the blacklisting of whole institutions as arbitrary and negative. They point out that many of the best students go quickly into jobs where they can apply their research skills, but consequently take longer to finish their theses. Polytechnics with as few as two Ph.D candidates complain that they are penalized by random fluctuations in student performance. The colleges say there is no hard evidence to prove that faster completion rates result from greater efficiency rather than lower standards or less ambitious doctoral topics.
   The ESRC thinks it might not be a bad thing if Ph.D students were more modest in their aims. It would prefer to see more systematic teaching of research skills and fewer unrealistic expectations placed on young men and women who are undertaking their first piece of serious research. So in future its grants will be given only where it is convinced that students are being trained as researchers, rather than carrying out purely knowledge-based studies.
   The ESRC cannot dictate the standard of thesis required by external examiners, or force departments to give graduates more teaching time. The most it can do is to try to persuade universities to change their ways. Recalcitrant professors should note that students want more research training and a less elaborate style of thesis, too.
Which is not argument against ESRC’s policy?
选项 A、All the institutions on the blacklist are arbitrary and negative, which will inevitably result in howls of protests
B、Faster completion rates may result from lower standards or less ambitious doctoral topics rather than efficiency
C、It takes some good students longer to finish their theses because they go more quickly into jobs where they can apply their research skills.
D、Polytechnics students’ performances vary unpredictably and penalty based on these completion rates is not justifie
答案A
解析 根据文章第三段“Predictably,howls of protest have come from the universities，who view the blacklisting of whole institutions as arbitrary and negative．They point out that many of the best students go quickly into jobs where they can apply their research skills，but consequently take longer to finish their theses．Polytechnics with as few as two Ph.D candidates complain that they are penalized by random fluctuations in student performance．The colleges say there is no hard evidence to prove that faster completion rates result from greater efficiency rather than lower standards or less ambitious doctoral topics．”可知，反对者的呼声主要来自于大学，他们认为将 所有研究所列入黑名单是武断的、消极的。他们指出，很多优秀的学生迅速找到了合适的工 作、发挥他们的研究技能，因此推迟了论文完成时间。技术类大学的哲学博士攻读人数少至 只有两名，他们抱怨受到了学生表现的随机变化的严重影响。各大学还称，并没有可靠的证 据证明更快、更多的学位授予是源于效率的提高还是博士论文选题标准的降低。B、C、D三 项表述恰好与原文意思相符，分别是作者列举的三个反对论据。A项表述中说黑名单上的研 究所是武断的、消极的，与原文意思相反，而且原文中提及这一点是作为论点而不是作为论 据的，所以不是反对ESRC政策的论据。据此判断，答案是A。
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