单选题
If it were only necessary to decide whether to teach elementary science to everyone on a mass basis or to find the gifted few and take them as far as they can go, our task would be fairly simple. The public school system, however, has no such choice, for the job must be carried on at the same time. Because we depend so heavily upon science and technology for our progress, we must produce specialists in many fields. Because we live in a democratic nation, whose citizens make policies for the nation, large numbers of us must be educated to understand, to support, and when necessary, to judge the work of experts. The public school must educate both producers and users of scientific services.
In education, there should be a good balance between the branches of knowledge that contribute to effective thinking and wise judgment. Such balance is
defeated
by too much emphasis on any one field. The question of balance involves not only the relation of the natural sciences, the social sciences, and the arts but also relative emphases among the natural sciences themselves.
Similarly, we must have a balance between current and classical knowledge. The attention of the public is continually drawn to new possibilities in scientific fields and the discovery of new knowledge; these should not be allowed to turn our attention away from the sound, established materials that form the basis of courses for beginners.
单选题
It is indicated in Paragraph 1 that the task of education is fairly complicated because ______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 根据第一段第一句“If it were only necessary to decide whether to teach elementary science to everyone on a mass basis or to find the gifted few and take them as far as they can go, our task would be fairly simple. (如果只需要决定是把基础科学大批量地教给每一个人，或者选出少数天才并把他们推向极致，我们的任务将会十分简单。)”可推知，我们的任务实际上很复杂，因为既要考虑普通学生也要考虑天才学生。故选D。
单选题
The word "defeated" (Para. 2) most probably means ______.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 根据第二段第二句“Such balance is defeated by too much emphasis on any one field. ”可知，如果过于偏向于某一领域，这种平衡就会被打破。break the balance：打破平衡。故选A。
单选题
Which of the following statements is NOT included in the passage?
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 根据第二段第二句“Such balance is defeated by too much emphasis on any one field. ”可知，过多强调某一领域会破坏这种平衡，故B项错误。
单选题
It can be inferred from the passage that ______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 根据最后一段最后一句“...these should not be allowed to turn our attention away from the sound, established materials that form the basis of courses for beginners. ”可知，我们需要在当代和古典知识之间找到平衡点，现在公众将注意力转移到新科技领域以及发现新知识上；然而，我们不能忽视那些针对初学者开设的基础课程。由此可以推断出，作者认为还需要将注意力放在基础知识上。故选D。
单选题
The best title for this passage might be ______.