5. Which of the following best summarizes the main idea of the passage?

(A) There should be further cooperation between British Aerospace and Higher Institutions.

(B) Shortage of engineers leads BAe to plan its own university.

(C) British Higher Education has recently been reevaluated.

(D) British Engineering education is severely criticized for its lack of quality.

精析：

1．原题所问的是英国航空航天局正在欧洲大陆招工程师是因为什么?从原文中有关部分"Sir Richard Evans，chief executive of British Aerospace，has already launched a recruiting drive for engineers on the Continent because of a shortage of high-calibre domestic candidates．“，可以看出，是因为国内缺乏有资格的人员。(A)项是说对他们所付的工资可以更低，(C)项为可以同法国、德国以及其他欧洲国家竞争，(D)项为设立自己的大学，这些选项均不符合题意，因此只有B因为国内没有足够的具有资格的候选人”是正确的。正确答案为(B)。

2．该句为具体短语和句子理解题。要求考生理解“to follow suit'‘这一短语在句子”Other engineering employers are expected to follow suit"中的含意；但要理解这一含意，又必须根据上文和下句(para．4)的含意才能作出判断。上文是说由于英国国内缺乏具有资格的工程师，因此要在海外(欧洲大陆)招聘毕业生，下旬又说“The move to take on overseas graduates comes after BAe left one in five of its graduate places unfilled last year，blaming shortcomings in the education system．”，所以"to follow suit'’意为“to recruit graduates overseas,”。(C)项为正确答案。

3．英国工程学课程不能吸引英国学生有各种各样的原因。题目所问为否定项，哪一个不是这一原因。其中，(A)项为英国制造业的衰落，(C)项为工程毕业生薪水更低，(D)为毕业后加官晋级、获得成功是一个漫长的过程，这些都符合篇章中提到的原因，而只有(B)项从国外招收工程师是由此产生的结果。所以，只有(B)项正确。

4．该题所问的是：篇章中提到牛津和剑桥两所大学是想表明什么?从篇章中的 para．8，“British universities have found it increasingly difficult to recruit well-qualified undergraduates．Even Oxford and Cambridge failt on meet their quotas in many engineering subjects．”，便可知选项(D)they can not fulfil their recruitment quotas in engineering．即：它们不能完成招收工程学学生的数额，符合题意。正确答案为(D)。

5．该题属于概括题。要求考生能选择出概括篇章的最佳句子。选项(A)There should be further cooperation between British Aerospace and Higher Institutions．英国航空航天局应该与高等教育机构进一步合作，选项（C）British Higher Education has recently been revaluated.近来已对英国高等教育进行了重新评估，选项 (D)British Engineering education is severely criticized for its lack of quality。即：英国工程教育由于质量不佳受到严肃批评，这些概括句子都不符合篇章的主旨，只有（B）Shortage of engineers leads Bae to plan its own university.符合篇章要旨。所以正确答案为（B）。

考生做该部分试题的一般原则是：略读全文-领会大意-阅读选项-寻读对照-准确判断。或：阅读选项-略读全文-领会大意-寻读对照相馆-准确判断。