As a professor I have grown accustomed to the opinion regarding American education. We are repeatedly told that American schools are failing, that colleges are not teaching, and that the students of today are not as good as the students of the past.
There are, of course, problems with the education system. Because of economic inequality some schools are significantly better than others and the ideas of equality of education and equality of opportunity are cruel jokes. However, the mere fact that there are some serious problems does not mean that all the dire claims are true.
One stock (陈腐的) claim is that America has fallen behind the world in education in terms of performance on various tests. While the fact that America is behind other countries is a point of concern, there are at least three points worth considering here. The first is the above-mentioned economic inequality which will tend to result in poorer performance when taking the average for America. The second is that many countries have put considerable effort into improving their education systems and hence it is worth considering that America’s decline is also due to the improvement of others. The third is the matter of the measures— do they, in fact, present an accurate picture of the situation? I am not claiming that the data is bad. I am merely raising a reasonable concern about how accurate our picture of education is at this time.
Another stock claim is that American students are doing badly on standardized tests. While there is clearly value in assessment, it is reasonable to consider whether or not such tests are a proper and adequate measure of education. It is also worth considering whether the puzzle with these tests is itself causing damage to education. That is, as teachers teach for the test and students learn for the test, it might be the case that what is being taught is not what should be taught and what is being learned is not what should be learned.
【小题1】According to the professor, many people’s attitude towards American colleges is .A．negativeB．positive C．approvingD．indifferent【小题2】What does the underlined word “dire” in the second paragraph mean? A．Exact or precise.B．Extremely serious or terrible.C．Fair or objective.D．Long and boring.【小题3】Judging by the text ,the claims are centered on .A．what should be taught in the American classroom B．fair judgment of American education C．American students’ performance on testsD．an accurate picture of American colleges【小题4】The passage is written mainly to .A．defend American educationB．show dissatisfaction with American education C．explain why American students do badly on tests D．offer advice on American education reformA
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(答案→)A
解析：文章大意：本文作者就一些对美国教育的不满言论发表了自己的看法。
【小题1】A细节理解题。根据第一段…American schools are failing, that colleges are not teaching, and that the students of today are not as good as the students of the past.可知，这些言论都是负面的，因此人们对美国大学教育的态度是消极的（negative），所以答案选A。
【小题2】B 词义猜测题。 根据第二段…he mere fact that there are some serious problems does not mean that all the dire claims are true.可知，作者并不同意这些所谓的dire言论，所以可以猜测dire指“极端的，糟糕的”所以正确答案为B。
【小题3】C 细节理解题。根据第三段开头句子in terms of performance on various tests和第四段开头句子American students are doing badly on standardized tests.可知，这些言论都是集中在学生在考试中的表现。所以答案选C。
【小题4】A 写作意图题。纵观全文并结合上面的几个题目可以得出本文作者的写作意图是在为美国教育辩护。所以答案选A。