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英语四级单项选择阅读理解附讲解Part IIReading ComprehensionSkimmingandScanning15minutesDirections:In thispart,you willhave15minutes togoover thepassage quicklyand answerthequestions onAnswer sheet1,For questions1-7,choose thebestanswer fromthe fourchoices markedA,B,CandD.For questions8-10,complete thesentences withthe informationgiv eninthe passage.Small SchoolsRisingThis yearslist of the top100high schoolsshows thattoday,those withfewerstudents areflourishing.Fifty yearsago,they werethe latestthing ineducational reform:big,moder n,suburban highschools with studentscounted in the thousands.As babybo二战后婴儿潮时期出生的omers人came ofhigh-school age,big schoolspromised economicefficiency.Agre aterchoiceof courses,and,of course,better footballteams.Only yearslaterdid weunderstand thetrade-offs thisinvolved:the creationof excess!官僚机构,vebureaucraciesthe difficultyof forgingpersonal connectionsbetween teachersandstudents.SAT scoresbegan droppingin1963;today onaverage,30%of stzudentsdo notcompletehigh schoolin fouryears,a figurethat risesto50%i npoorurbanneighborhoods.While theemphasis onteaching tohigher,test-driven standardsas setin NoChildLeft Behindresulted insignificantly betterperformanc einelementaryand somemiddleschools,high schoolsfor avariety ofreasonsseemed tohavemade littleprogress.Size isnteverything,but itdoes matter,and thepast decadehas seena noticeablecountertrendtoward smallerschools.This hasbeen due,in part,to the Billand Melinda Gates Foundation,which has invested$
1.8billion inAmerican highschools,helpingto openabout1,000small schools-most of them withabou t400kids eachwithan averageenrollment ofonly150per grade,About500more areon thedrawingboard.Districts allover thecountry aretaking notice,along withmay orsincitieslike NewYork,Chicago andSan Diego.The movementincludes independentpublic charterschools,such asNo.l BASISin Tucson,with only120high-sc hoolersand18graduates this year.It embracesdistrict-sanctioned magnetschools,such asthe TalentedandGifted School,with198students,and theScience andEngineeringMag net,with383,which sharea buildingin Dallas,as wellas theCity HonorsSchool inBuffalo,N.Y.,which grewout ofvolunteer eveningseminars forstude nts.(抽签),And itincludes alternativeschoolswith students selectedby lotterysuchas H-B WoodlawninArlington,Va.And most noticeable of all,there ist hephenomenonoflarge urbanand suburbanhigh schools that have split up into smallerunits of afewhundred,generally housedin the same groundsthat onceboasted thousandsofstudents allmarching tothe sameband.Hillsdale HighSchool inSan Mateo,Calif,is one ofthose,ranking No.423-among thetop2%in thecountry-on Newsweeksannual rankingofAmericas tophighschools.The successof small schools isapparent in the listings.Ten yearsa go,when thefirstNewsweek listbased oncollege-level testparticipation waspublished,only threeofthetop100schools hadgraduating Classessmaller than100stu dents.This yearthereare22,Nearly250schools onthe full,Newsweek list ofthetop5%of schoolsnationally hadfewer than200graduates in
2007.Although manyof Hillsdalesstudents camefrom wealthyhouseholds,by theI ate1990averagetest scoreswere slidingand ithad earnedthe unaffectionatenickname(绰号)Hillsjail.Jeff Gilbert.A Hillsdaleteacher whobecame principallast year,rememberss ittingwithother teacherswatching studentsfile outofagraduation ceremonyandasking oneanother inastonishment,nHow didthat studentgraduateSoin2003Hillsdale remadeitself intothree houses,romantically namedFlorence,Marrakechand Kyoto.Each ofthe300arriving ninthgraders arerando mly(随机地)assigned tooneofthe houses.Where theywill keepthe samefour cores objectteachersfortwo years,before movingon toanother for11th and12th grades.Thecloseness thissystem cultivatesis reinforcedby theinstitution ofadvisory1classes Teachersmeet withstudents in groupsof25,five morningsa week,fo ropen-ended discussionsof everythingfrom homeworkproblems tobad Saturday-ni ghtdates.Theadvisers alsomeetwithstudents privatelyand stayin touchwit hparents,sothey aredeeply investedinthestudents success.Were constantlytalking aboutoneanothers advisers,says Englishteacher ChrisCrockett.If youhear thatyoursisnt doingwell inmath,or seethem sittingoutside thedeans office,if slikea personalfailure.Along withthe newstructure camea moredemand!ngacademic program,the percentageof freshmentaking biologyjumped from17to95,It wasroughfor some.But bysenior year,two-thirds havemoved uptophysics/says GilbertOur kidsare comingto schoolin partbecause theyknow therea readultsherewho knowthem andcare forthem/But notallschoolsshow advancesafterdownsizing,and itremains tobe seenwhether smallerschools willbe acure-allsolution.The Newsweeklistoftop U.S.high schoolswas madethisyear,asinyears past,according toasingle metric,the proportionof studentstaking college-le velexams.Over theyears thissystem hascome infor itsshare ofcriticism foritssimplicity.Butthat isalso itsstrength:its easyfor readersto understand,and todothe arithmeticfor theirown schoolsif theydlike.Ranking schoolsis alwayscontroversial,and thisyear agroup of38superin(地区教育主tendents管)from fivestates wroteto askthat theirschools beexcluded fromthecalculation.It isimpossible toknow whichhigh schoolsare thebest in thenation,theirletter read,in part.Determining whetherdifferent schoolsdoor dontoffer ahigh qualityof educationrequires alook atman different measures,includingstudents overallacademic accomplishmentsand theirsubsequentperformance incollege.And takinginto considerationthe uniqueneeds oftheircommunities.11In theend,the superintendentsagreed toprovide thedata wesought,which is,after all,publicinformation.There is,in ourview,no realdispute here,weareall seekingthesamething,which isschoolsthatbetter serveour children and ournationbyencouraging studentsto tackletough subjectsunder theguidanee ofgiftedteachers.And ifwe keepworking towardthat goal,someday,perhaps alist wontbe necessary.注意此部分试题请在答卡上作答.
11.Fifty yearsago.big.Modern.Suburban high schools wereestablish ed・inthehope ofAensuring nochild isleft behindBincreasing economicefficiencyC improvingstudents*performance onSATDproviding good education for baby boomers
2.What happenedas aresult ofsetting upbig schoolsATeachersworkload increased.BStudents performancedeclined.CAdministration becamecentralized.DStudents focusedmore ontest scores.
3.What issaid about the schoolsforded bythe Billand MelindaGatesfoundationAThey areusually magnetschools.BThey areoften locatedin poorneighborhoods.CThey arepopular withhigh-achieving students.DThey are mostly small in size.
4.What ismostnoticeableaboutthecurrent trendin highschool educationASomelarge schools have splitup intosmaller ones.BA greatvariety ofschoolshavesprung upin urbanand suburbanareas.CMany schoolscompete forthe BillandMelindaGatesFoundationfunds.DStudents haveto meethigher academicstandards.
5.Newsweek rankedhighschoolsaccording to.Atheir studentsacademic achievementBthenumber of their studentsadmitted tocollegeCthe sizeand numberoftheirgraduating classesDtheircollege-level testparticipation
6.What canwe learnabout Hillsdalesstudentsinthe late1990sAThey weremade tostudy hardlike prisoners.BThey calledeach otherby unaffectionatenicknames.CMost ofthem didnot haveany senseof discipline,DTheir school performancewas gettingworse.
7.According toJeff Gilbert,the advisoryclasses atHillsdale werese tupso thatstudentscould.Atell theirteachers whatthey didon weekendsBexperiencea greatdeal ofpleasure inlearningCmaintain closer relationships with their teachersDtacklethe demandingbiology andphysics courses
8.is stillconsidered astrength ofNewsweeks schoolranking systeminspite ofthecriticism itreceives.
9.According tothe38superintendents,to rankschools scientifically,i tisnecessary touse.
10.To betterserve thechildrenandour nation,schools studentsto take.【参考答案】
1.D providinggoodeducationforbabyboomerSo
2.D Students1performance declinedo
3.D Theyaremostlysmallinsize
4.D Somelarge schoolshavesplitupintosmaller ones
5.C theircollege-level testparticipation
6.B Theirschoolperformancewas gettingworse
7.A maintaincloserrelationshipswiththeirteacherso
8.Simplicity
9.differentmeasures
10.tough subjects。