2018年上海交通大学博士入学考试英语（回忆版：附阅读答案）其大作文题目为：大学是硬件重要还是有名学者重要？作文涉及内容为：Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Universities should spend more money in improving facilities (e.g. libraries and computer labs) than hiring famous teachers.作文字数要求为：300字左右。

passage 6Mass transportation revised the social and economic fabric of the American city in three fundamental ways. It catalyzed physical expansion， it sorted out people and land uses， and it accelerated the inherent instability of urban life. By opening vast areas of unoccupied land for residential expansion， the omnibuses， horse railways， commuter trains， and electric trolleys pulled settled regions outward two to four times more distant form city centers than they were in the premodern era. In 1850， for example， the borders of Boston lay scarcely two miles from the old business district; by the turn of the century the radius extended ten miles. Now those who could afford it could live far removed from the old city center and still commute there for work， shopping， and entertainment. The new accessibility of land around the periphery of almost every major city sparked an explosion of real estate development and fueled what we now know as urban sprawl. Between 1890 and 1920， for example， some 250，000 new residential lots were recorded within the borders of Chicago， most of them located in outlying areas. Over the same period，another 550，000 were plotted outside the city limits but within the metropolitan area. Anxious to take advantage of the possibilities of commuting， real estate developers added 800，000 potential building sites to the Chicago region in just thirty years – lots that could have housed five to six million people.Of course， many were never occupied; there was always a huge surplus of subdivided， but vacant，land around Chicago and other cities. These excesses underscore a feature of residential expansion related to the growth of mass transportation： urban sprawl was essentially unplanned. It was carried out by thousands of small investors who paid little heed to coordinated land use or tofuture land users. Those who purchased and prepared land for residential purposes， particularly land near or outside city borders where transit lines and middle-class inhabitants were anticipated， did so to create demand as much as to respond to it. Chicago is a prime example of this process. Real estate subdivision there proceeded much faster than population growth.1. With which of the following subjects is the passage mainly concerned?[A] Types of mass transportation.[B] Instability of urban life.[C] How supply and demand determine land use.[D] The effect of mass transportation on urban expansion.2. Why does the author mention both Boston and Chicago?[A] To demonstrate positive and negative effects of growth.[B] To exemplify cities with and without mass transportation.[C] To show mass transportation changed many cities.[D] To contrast their rate of growth.3. According to the passage， what was one disadvantage of residential expansion?[A] It was expensive.[B] It happened too slowly.[C] It was unplanned.[D] It created a demand for public transportation.4. The author mentions Chicago in the second paragraph as an example of a city，[A] that is large.[B] that is used as a model for land development.[C] where the development of land exceeded population growth.[D] with an excellent mass transportation system.Passage 5 Antarctica and EnvironmentAntarctica has actually become a kind of space station - a unique observation post for detecting important changes in the world’s environment. Remote from major sources of pollution and the complex geological and ecological systems that prevail elsewhere， Antarctica makes possiblescientific measurements that are often sharper and easier to interpret than those made in other parts of the world.Growing numbers of scientists therefore see Antarctica as a distant-early-warning sensor， where potentially dangerous global trends may be spotted before they show up to the north. One promising field of investigation is glaciology. Scholars from the United States， Switzerland， and France are pursuing seven separate but related projects that reflect their concern for the health of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet - a concern they believe the world at large should share.The Transantarctic Mountain， some of them more than 14，000 feet high， divide the continent into two very different regions. The part of the continent to the “east” of the mountains is a high plateau covered by an ice sheet nearly two miles thick. “West” of the mountain， the half of the continent south of the Americas is also covered by an ice sheet， but there the ice rests on rock that is mostly well below sea level. If the West Antarctic Ice Sheet disappeared，the western part of the continent would be reduced to a sparse cluster of island.While ice and snow are obviously central to many environmental experiments， others focus on the mysterious “dry valley” of Antarctica， valleys that contain little ice or snow even in the depths of winter. Slashed through the mountains of southern Victoria Land， these valleys once held enormous glaciers that descended 9，000 feet from the polar plateau to the Ross Sea. Now the glaciers are gone， perhaps a casualty of the global warming trend during the 10，000 years since the ice age. Even the snow that falls in the dry valleys is blasted out by vicious winds that roars down from the polar plateau to the sea. Left bare are spectacular gorges， rippled fields of sand dunes， clusters of boulders sculptured into fantastic shapes by 100-mile-an-hour winds， and an aura of extraterrestrial desolation.Despite the unearthly aspect of the dry valleys， some scientists believe they may carry a message of hope of the verdant parts of the earth. Some scientists believe that in some cases the dry valleys may soak up pollutants faster than pollutants enter them.1. What is the best title for this passage?[A] Antarctica and environmental Problems.[B] Antarctica： Earth’s Early-Warning station.[C] Antarctica： a Unique Observation Post.[D] Antarctica： a Mysterious Place.2. What would the result be if the West Antarctic Ice Sheet disappeared?[A] The western part of the continent would be disappeared.[B] The western part of the continent would be reduced.[C] The western part of the continent would become scattered Islands.[D] The western part of the continent would be reduced to a cluster of Islands.3. Why are the Dry Valleys left bare?[A] Vicious wind blasts the snow away.[B] It rarely snows.[C] Because of the global warming trend and fierce wind.[D] Sand dunes.4. Which of the following is true?[A] The “Dry Valleys” have nothing left inside.[B] The “Dry Valleys” never held glaciers.[C] The “Dry Valleys” may carry a message of hope for the verdant.[D] The “Dry Valleys” are useless to scientists.5.the meaning of an aura of extraterrestrial desolation 我记得有一个选项中含有bleak这个单词，答案应该是这个应译为：与地球格格不入的一种荒凉隔绝的气氛或与世隔绝的一种荒凉气氛。