单选题 Margaret Spellings, the secretary of education, announced a pilot reform to the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), George Bush's education law, which was passed in 2002. Up to ten states, she said, would be allowed to target their resources at the most severely struggling schools, rather than at the vast number needing improvement. The change drew a predictable mix of praise and censure. Above all, though, it was a reminder of utter inaction elsewhere.
Congress, which was supposed to re-authorize the law last year, has made little progress. On the campaign trail, concerns over Iraq and the economy have made education a minor issue. Contrary to appearances, the law's main tenets are unlikely to be abandoned completely. But for the Democratic candidates in particular, a proper debate on NCLB is to be avoided like political quicksand.
Most politicians agree that the law has the fight goals--to raise educational standards and hold schools accountable for meeting them. NCLB requires states to test pupils on math and reading from third to eighth grade (that is, from the ages of eight to 13), and once in high school. Some science testing is being added. Schools that do not make "adequate yearly progress" towards meeting state standards face sanctions. Pupils in failing schools can supposedly transfer to a better one or get tutoring.
Most also agree that NCLB has big flaws that must be fixed. Few pupils in bad schools actually transfer--less than 1% of those eligible did so in the 2003-04 school year. Teachers' unions say the tests are focused too narrowly on math and reading, fail to measure progress over time and encourage "teaching to the test". They also complain that the law lacks proper funding. The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, a conservative policy group, has exposed wide gaps in state standards. Test-data reflect this. In Mississippi 90% of fourth-graders were labeled "proficient" or better in the state reading test in 2006-07. Only 19% reached that level in a national test.
John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, offers NCLB tepid support but fails to elaborate. At Democratic rallies, NCLB is little more than a whipping-boy. Hillary Clinton proclaims that she will "end the unfunded mandate known as No Child Left Behind". But though she and Barack Obama deride NCLB publicly, each endorses the idea of accountability. They favor using more sophisticated "assessments" in place of tests, want to value a broader range of skills, punish schools less and support them more. How these ideas would be implemented remains unclear.
Not surprisingly, more controversial proposals can be found among those not running for president. Chester Finn of Fordham thinks the federal government needs greater power to set standards, while states should have more leeway in meeting them. A bipartisan commission on NCLB has issued a slew of proposals. Particularly contentious is a plan to use pupils' test scores to help identify ineffective teachers as in need of retraining.
Of course, standards alone do not improve education. Both Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama propose a host of new programs for schools, described on their websites if rarely on campaign. But accountability is likely to remain a big part of school reform. Last April a group of philanthropists announced a $60m effort to make education the top domestic issue of 2008. So far, it looks like money ill spent.

单选题 According to the passage, NCLB mainly aimed to
A. provide tests for pupils on maths and reading from third to eighth grade.
B. add some science testing in schools for pupils aged from 8 to 13.
C. enhance teaching standards which schools should be responsible for meeting.
D. transfer pupils in failing schools to a better one or get them some tutoring.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 根据题干中的NCLB mainly aimed to定位到第3段。
[解析] 文章第3段第1句提到大多数政客认为NCLB法案的目标是正确的，该目标就是破折号后的内容。选项C是原文的同义改写，故选C。
[点睛] 细节题。选项A的内容与原文该段第2句意思相近，B对应第3句内容，D对应最后一句，但它们都属于the goals的具体做法，故A、B、D均不能选。
单选题 The word "sanctions" in the third paragraph means
A. approval. B. punishment. C. support. D. decree.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 题于已给出定位在第3段。
[解析] 文章指出，要面对sanctions的对象足没有取得“一定年度进步”以达到教育标准的学校，因此，sanction在此应理解为“制裁，惩罚”，B项punishment的词义与它相近，因此选B。
[点睛] 词汇理解题。根据sanctions所在的倒数第2句句首的do not make…progress可推断sanction在此应为贬义，据此可排除表褒义的A和C；而D项decree为“颁布”，属中性词。
单选题 Which of the following is NOT a weakness of NCLB?
A. The law has been properly funded.
B. Only a few pupils in bad schools transfer.
C. The tests are focused on nothing but maths and reading.
D. The tests actually encourage "teaching to the test".
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 根据题干中的a weakness定位到第4段。
[解析] 原文该段第4句表明NCLB缺少足够的资金(lacks proper funding)，选项A的意思与原文相反，故A为答案。
[点睛] 细节题。选项B、C、D是原文该段第2、3句的同义改写，属于weakness of NCLB，故均可排除。
单选题 From the descripton in the passage, we learn that
A. controversial proposals can be found only among the presidential nominees.
B. using pupils' test scores to identify ineffective teachers has been widely accepted.
C. both Democratic presidential nominees support the idea of accountability.
D. neither the Republican nor the Democratic presidential nominees favor NCLB.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 根据选项巾较多出现的关键词presidential nominees以及proposals等定位到第5、6段。
[解析] 第5段第4句表明希拉里和奥巴马都认可责任制(each endorses the idea of accountability)，而选项C的Both Democratic presidential nominees指的就是这二人，support与原文的endorse同义，故C正确。
[点睛] 内容辨析题。过于绝对的选项往往与原文不符，选项A中含有“only”，据此可首先排除，根据第6段第1句也可知A不对；B中的widely accepted与第6段最后一句的contentious(有争议的)不符；第5段第1句表明麦凯恩给予NCLB不冷不热的支持(tepid support)，而D中的“neither…nor…”与此矛盾。