(1)Teachers in the United States earn less relative to national income than their counterparts in many industrialized countries, yet they spend far more hours in front of the classroom, according to a major new international study. (2)The salary differentials are part of a pattern of relatively low public investment in education in the United States compared with other member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development(OECD), a group in Paris that compiled the report. Total government spending on educational institutions in the United States slipped to 4.8 percent of gross domestic production in 1998, falling under the international average 5 percent-for the first time. (3)"The whole economy has grown faster than the education systems," Andreas Schleicher, one of the report's authors explained. "The economy has done very well, but teachers have not fully benefited." (4)The report, due out today, is the sixth on education published since 1991 by the organization of 30 nations, founded in 1960, and now covering much of Europe, North America, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. (5)In addition to the teacher pay gap, the report shows the other countries have begun to catch up with the United States in higher education: college enrollment has grown by 20 percent since 1995 across the group, with one in four young people now earning degrees. For the first time, the United States college graduation rate, now at 33 percent, is not the world highest. Finland, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Britain have surpassed it. (6)The United States is also producing fewer mathematics and science graduates than most of the other member states. And, the report says, a college degree produces a greater boost in income here while the lack of a high school diploma imposes a bigger income penalty. (7)"The number of graduates is increasing, but that stimulates even more of a demand—there is no end in sight," Mr. Schleicher said, "The demand for skill, clearly, is growing faster than the supply that is coming from schools and colleges." (8)The report lists the salary for a high school teacher in the United States with 15 years experiences as $36,219, above the international average of $31,887 but behind seven other countries and less than 60 percent of Switzerland's $62,052. Because teachers in the United States have a heavier classroom load, teaching almost a third more hours than their counterparts abroad, their salary per hour of actual teaching, $35, is less than the international average of $41(Denmark, Spain and Germany pay more than $50 per teaching hour, South Korea $77).
单选题 Which of the following statements is INCORRECT according to the passage?
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】解析:从第5段最后一句可知,英国高校的毕业率超过了美国的33%,故B(英国高校的毕业率已增长到33%)与原文不符,即为答案。根据第5段第1句可知,OECD其他成员国的大学入学率大幅提高,可排除A;根据第4段的内容可知,C的表述与原文一致,也排除;根据最后一段可知,美国教师实际的课酬只有每小时35美元,而韩国则达到77美元,D的表述也正确,也可排除。
单选题 Which of the following figures about U.S. is above the international average?
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】解析:根据题干和各选项内容定位到最后一段。该段提到,一个有15年教龄的美国高中教师的薪水为36219美元,高于国际平均水平的31887美元。由此可见,C为正确答案。该段还指出,美国教师每小时的课酬为35美元,低于世界平均的41美元,故排除A;第2段中提到,美国教育方面的政府投人的比重下降为4.8%、低于世界平均的5%,故排除B;D未提及,故排除。
单选题 An appropriate title for the passage might be _____.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】解析:本文从美国教师待遇不高入手,通过一份OECD报告指出美国的教育发展正呈下降趋势:教育投入比重、教师课酬等低于世界平均水平;其他许多国家不断赶超美国。种种迹象表明,美国教育正在逐步落后。由此可见,B为本题答案。文中虽有经济发展教育相对滞后的叙述,但这并不是本文讨论的重点,故A可排除;全文没有中途辍学的表述,故C也可排除。D最具干扰性,因为文中有很多美国和其他国家数据对比的叙述,但全文以OECD的报告为线索,着重指出的是美国教育出现的问题,和其他国家的对比也是为了突出这个论点, 故D也应排除。