Going to school from 8 am until 5 pm may sound terrible，but Sydney Shaw，a seventh grader at the Alain Locke Charter Academy on Chicago's West Side，has e to like it—as well as the extra 20 or so days that she's in class every year．“I'm sure every kid at this school says bad things about the schedule sometimes，”says Sydney, who was at school on Columbus Day, when most Chicago schools had a holiday．“But we all know it's for our benefit.”
Finding ways to give kids more classroom time，through longer hours，a longer school year，or both，is getting more attention．“If you want to look at schools where the achievement gap is narrowing, they're saying they couldn't do it without the added time，”says Jennifer Davis．“Even when you get good teachers into schools，you also need more time．”
According to studies, low-ine students fall back more than two months in their reading skills over summer vacations．“It's over the summer months that poor kids fall behind，”says Karl Alexander，a sociologist．“If you have parents who themselves didn't succeed at school and aren't highly educated，kids aren't going to get those skills at home．”
Schools are asked to take a full year to plan how to best use the extra time—a process involving teachers，principals，students and parents．They are given outside support to help them base their plans on the best available analyses of student needs．It's still early，but officials are already seeing stronger test scores and a narrowing achievement gap．
But some critics are worried．“We risk producing something that's very expensive and time-consuming, and that will give educators a lot of trouble，”says Frederick Hess．“Before we spend all that extra money，I'd much rather see if we can figure out how to get 50 percent more instructional time out of the current school day．”
【小题1】From the first paragraph，we learn that ．A．the longer schedule is harmful to kid's healthB．all Chicago students had a holiday on Columbus DayC．Sydney Shaw supports the added timeD．few kids are bored with the lack of holidays【小题2】Low-ine students fall behind in summer because ．A．no good teachers are willing to teach themB．they can't get help from their parentsC．their parents are unwilling to hire private teachersD．they themselves have no desire to learn【小题3】Some people are worried about adding school hours mainly because ．A．it will have a bad effect on the kids’ futuresB．the current school day has been too busyC．no one supports the ideaD．it will be costly and time-consuming【小题4】The text is mainly about ．A．whether a longer school day will help narrow the achievement gapB．how students have benefited from additional school hoursC．why the achievement gap among students needs to be narrowedD．what causes the achievement gap among studentsC
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(答案→)C
解析：本文是篇议论文，主要探讨了是否延长教学日将有助于缩小成就差距。有些学者赞同，有些学者认为延长教学日成本太高且耗时。
【小题1】根据Going to school from 8 am until 5 pm may sound terrible，but Sydney Shaw，a seventh grader at the Alain Locke Charter Academy on Chicago's West Side，has e to like it—as well as the extra 20 or so days that she's in class every year，故选C。
【小题2】根据“If you have parents who themselves didn't succeed at school and aren't highly educated，kids aren't going to get those skills at home．”
故选B。
【小题3】根据But some critics are worried．“We risk producing something that's very expensive and time-consuming, and that will give educators a lot of trouble，”says Frederick Hess.故选D。
【小题4】根据全文内容以及It's still early，but officials are already seeing stronger test scores and a narrowing achievement gap．故选A。