The Military Is In

Things have really changed. Not only is the military standing tall again, it is staging a remarkable comeback in the quantity and quality of the recruits it is attracting. Recruiters, once denounced by antiwar students as “baby killers” and barred from campuses, are welcomed ever at elite universities. ROTC (Reserve Officer’s Training Corps) programs, that faltered during the Viet Nam era, when protesters were fire bombing their headquarters, are flourishing again. The military academies are enjoying a steady increase in applications.

Certainly, the depressed economy has increased the allure of the jobs, technical training and generous student loans offered by the military. Students know that if they go in and become, say, nuclear weapons specialists, they can come out and demand a salary of $60,000 a year. Military salaries, while not always competitive with those paid for comparable jobs in the private sector, are more than respectable, especially considering the wide array of benefits that are available: free medical service, room and board, and PX (Post Exchange) privileges. Monthly pay for a recruit is $574; for a sergeant with four years services it is $906; for a major with ten years’ service it is $2,305. The services’ slick $175 million-a-year advertising campaign promising adventure and fulfillment has helped win over the TV generation. Kids are walking down the school hallways chanting ‘Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines,’ just like in the commercials. And many military officials feel that the key difference is the enhanced patriotism among the nation’s youth. There is a return to the view that the military is an honorable profession. The days of a judge telling a miscreant to join the Army or go to jail are over. Recruiting for all four services combined is running at 101%of authorized goals. And the retention rate is now so high, that the services are refusing some re-enlistment applications and reducing annual recruiting target.

The military academics are also enjoying halcyon years, attracting more and better-qualified students. Compared to private colleges, where tuition and expenses have been climbing sharply, the service schools are a real bargain: not only is tuition free, but recruits get allowances of up to $500 a mouth. It is reported 12,300 applicants are for the 1,450 positions in this year’s freshman class. Military academies are now just as selective as any of the best universities in the country.

Nationwide, ROTC enrollment exceeds 105,000,a 64% increase over the 1974 figure. In the mid 70’s, the ROTC students refused to wear their uniforms on campus because they suffered all sorts of ridicule, if they did. Now if they wear them to class no one looks at them twice. To them, Viet Nam is ancient history, something the old folks talk about.

1. What is the main idea of this passage?
[A] The Military is in ? ? ? [B] The Military is up
[C] The Military is down ?[D] The Military is on

2. What was the attitude of the students in 1970’s towards the military?
[A] Approval. [B] Indifferent. [C] Distaste. [D] Scolding.

3. The phrase “come out” is closest in meaning to
[A] “become visible”. ?[B] “begin to grow”.
[C] “be made public”. [D] “gain a certain position”.

4. Which one of the following is NOT mentioned as a reason to attract students.
[A] Free tuition. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?[B] Spacious room.
[C] Considerate allowance. [D] Technical training.

答案詳解（反白可見）：

1. A. 軍隊又吃香了。To be in 有“流行，時髦”之義。全篇文章圍繞這一點(diǎn)而寫。文章一開頭就點(diǎn)名宗旨“事情真的變了，軍隊形象不僅高大，招收新兵的質(zhì)量和數(shù)量明顯得到恢復(fù)?！钡诙伍_始：“可以肯定，經(jīng)濟(jì)蕭條使得軍隊提供就業(yè)，技術(shù)訓(xùn)練和對學(xué)生慷慨貸款提高了誘惑力……。”第二段倒數(shù)第七句“許多軍官感到關(guān)鍵性的變化是這個國家青年中的愛國心增強(qiáng)，當(dāng)兵是一個榮譽(yù)職業(yè)的看法又恢復(fù)了?！倍急硎境韵?。
B. to be up 有“完了，完畢，上漲”等義。 C. to be down 有“消沉，落魄，下降”等義。 D. tobe on 有“上演，開著”等義。這里都講不通。
2. C. 厭惡。答案在第一段第二句“招兵人員曾一度被反戰(zhàn)學(xué)生譴責(zé)為‘殺嬰犯’而拒之校園之外，現(xiàn)在甚至名牌大學(xué)都?xì)g迎。后備軍官訓(xùn)練隊計劃在越戰(zhàn)時期曾動搖不定，抗議的人向部隊投擲燃燒彈，如今又興旺起來。”最后一段第二句“70年代中期，后備軍官訓(xùn)練隊學(xué)生不愿在校內(nèi)穿制服，因?yàn)榇┝司驮獾礁鞣N嘲笑。”這些都說明70年代，學(xué)生對軍隊的態(tài)度是“厭惡”。所以
A. 贊成， B. 漠不關(guān)心， D. 漫罵，都不對。
3. 獲得地位。To come out 有 to gain certain position 獲得（名次，地位）之義，也有appear, tobe seen （出現(xiàn)，看得見）之義。這里的上下文，只能是D. 第二段第二句“學(xué)生們知道，要是參軍，當(dāng)上譬如核武器專家，他們就能揚(yáng)名并可要求6萬美元年薪?！?br> A. 看得見， B. 開始成長， C. 公開。
4. B. 寬敞的房間。
A. 免學(xué)費(fèi)。 C. 相當(dāng)高的津貼。 D. 技術(shù)培訓(xùn)，都提到過。第二段開始“可以肯定，經(jīng)濟(jì)蕭條使得軍隊提供就業(yè)，技術(shù)訓(xùn)練以及對學(xué)生慷慨貸款等的誘惑力增大。”第三句“軍隊薪金盡管比不是私人公司中類似工作的工資，但已經(jīng)很可觀了，尤其考慮到軍隊里有一系列的福利待遇，如免費(fèi)醫(yī)療，膳宿，軍人消費(fèi)合作社特惠等。”第三段“軍事院校招收的學(xué)生數(shù)量多了，質(zhì)量好，年頭也就好過。私立大學(xué)里，學(xué)費(fèi)和各類費(fèi)用一直急劇上升，相比之下，上軍事院校確實(shí)便宜，不僅學(xué)費(fèi)全面，新生每月還可拿5百美元的補(bǔ)貼。

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