We are all interested in equality, but while some people try to protect the school and examination system in the name of equality, others, still in the name of equality, want only to destroy it. Any society which is interested in equality of opportunity and standards of achievement must regularly test its pupils. The standards may be changed—no examination is perfect—but to have tests or examinations would mean the end of equality and of standards. There are groups of people who oppose this view and who do not believe either in examinations or in any controls in school or on teachers. This would mean that everything would depend on luck since every pupil would depend on the efficiency, the values and the purpose of each teacher. Without examinations, employers will look for employees from the highly respected schools and from families known to them—a form of favoritism will replace equality. At the moment, the bright child from an ill-respected school can show certificates to prove he or she is suitable for a job, while the lack of certificate indicates the unsuitability of a dull child attending a well-respected school. This defense of excellence and opportunity would disappear if examinations were taken away, and the bright child from a poor family would be a prisoner of his or her school's reputation, unable to compete for employment with the child from the favored school. The opponents of the examination system suggest that examinations are an evil force because they show differences between pupils. According to these people, there must be no special, different , academic class. They have even suggested that there should be no form of difference in sport or any other area: all jobs or posts should be filled by unsystematic selection. The selection would be made by people who themselves are probably selected by some computer.

单选题 The word "favoritism" in paragraph 3 is used to describe the phenomenon that______.

A、 bright children also need certificates go get satisfying jobs
B、 children from well-respected schools tend to have good jobs
C、 poor children with certificates are favored in job markets
D、 children attending ordinary schools achieve great success

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】解析：从第三段开始employers will look for employees from the highly respected schools可看出这种favoritism是老板对从highly respected schools毕业的学生的一种偏爱，这样的学生也更倾向于能找到好工作。

单选题 What would happen if examinations were taken away according to the author?

A、 Schools for bright children would lose their reputation.
B、 There would be more opportunities and excellence.
C、 Children from poor families would be able to change their schools.
D、 Children's job opportunity would be affected by their school reputation.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】解析：从第三段可知，若没有考试，employers will look for employees from the highly respectedschools，在最后又说the bright child from a poor family would…unable to compete…childfrom the favored school。故没有了考试，学校的名声会影响到学生的工作。D项正确。

单选题 The opponents of the examination system will agree that______.

A、 jobs should not be assigned by systematic selection
B、 computers should be selected to take over many jobs
C、 special classes are necessary to keep the school standards
D、 schools with academic subjects should be done away with

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】解析：从最后一段倒数第二句all jobs or posts should be filled by unsystematic selection可知答案A正确。

单选题 The passage mainly focuses on_____.

A、 schools and certificates
B、 examination and equality
C、 opportunity and employment
D、 standards and reputation

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】解析：文章开始就提出了其主要的focus：equality and examination。接下来从不同的角度不同的观点来展开论述考试对于学生竞争是否公平。

单选题 From the passage, we can feel the author's attitude towards examinations is______.

A、 objective
B、 subjective
C、 indifferent
D、 passionate

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】解析：作者在文章中客观地分别列出支持考试者和反对考试者的观点，并没有发表自己的意见，故选A。objective客观地。subjective主观的。indifferent冷漠的。passionate充满热情的。