单选题
Text 1

Take the case of public education alone. The principal difficulty faced by the schools has been the tremendous increase in the number of pupils. This has been caused by the advance of the legal age for going into industry and the impossibility of finding a job even when the legal age has been reached. In view of the technological improvements in the last few years, business will require in the future proportionately fewer workers than ever before. The result will be still further raising of the legal age for going into employment, and still further difficulty in finding employment when that age has been attained. If we cannot put our children to work, we must put them in school.
We may also be quite confident that the present trend toward a shorter day and a shorter week will be maintained. We have developed and shall continue to have a new leisure class. Already the public agencies for adult education are swamped by the tide that has swept over them since a depression began. They wilt be little better off when it is over. Their support must come from the taxpayer.
It is surely too much to hope that these increases in the cost of public education can be borne by the local communities. They cannot care for the present restricted and inadequate system. The local communities have failed in their efforts to cope with unemployment. They cannot expect to cope with public education on the scale on which we must attempt it. The answer to the problem of unemployment has been Federal relief. The answer to the problem of public education may have to be much the same, and properly so. If there is one thing in which the citizens of all parts of the country have an interest, it is in the decent education of the citizens of all parts of the country. Our income tax now goes in part to keep our neighbors alive. It may have to go in part as well to make our neighbors intelligent. We are now attempting to preserve the present generation through Federal relief of the destitute. Only a people determined to ruin the next generation will refuse such Federal funds as public education may require.

单选题 What is the passage mainly about?
A. How to persuade local communities to provide more funds.
B. How to cope with the shortage of funds for public education.
C. How to solve the rising unemployment problem.
D. How to improve the public education system.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】主旨题。文章首先分析了公共学校当前面临的问题和产生困境的原因。在第二段阐明了问题为何难以解决的原因是:Their support must come from the taxpayer. 因此,在最后一段作者通过分析得出结论:联邦资金必须投入。综上所述,[B]项“怎样解决公共教育的资金缺乏”应是正确答案。本题的主要干扰项是[D]“怎样改进公共教育制度”,过于笼统。
单选题 What is the reason for the increase in the number of students?
A. The requirement of educated workers by business.
B. Raising of the legal age for going to work.
C. The trend toward a shorter workday.
D. People's concern for the future of the next generation.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】细节题。根据文章第一段第三句“This has been caused by the advance of the legal age for going into industry and the impossibility of finding a job even when the legal age has been reached.”可知,学生人数的增加有两个原因:法定工作年龄的增加和难以找到工作。所以选项[B]为正确答案。
单选题 The public agencies for adult education will be little better off because______.
A. the unemployed are too poor to continue their education
B. a new leisure class has developed
C. they are still suffering from a depression
D. an increase in taxes could be a problem
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】细节判断题。根据文章第二段“We have developed and shall continue to have a new leisure class. Already the public agencies for adult education are swamped by the tide that has swept over them since the depression began. They will be little better off when it is over.”可知,我们已形成了一个新的有闲阶层,而且还会继续存在。这正是成人教育公共机构状况不好的原因。所以,选项[B]为正确答案。
单选题 According to the author, the answer to the problem of public education is that the Federal government______.
A. should allocate Federal funds for public education
B. should demand that local communities provide support
C. should raise taxes to meet the needs of public education
D. should first of all solve the problem of unemployment
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】细节题。根据第三段第五、六句“The answer to the problem of unemployment has been Federal relief. The answer to the problem of public education may have to be much the same, and properly so.”可知,失业问题的解决靠政府救济,公共教育困难的解决也需靠政府投入。所以,选项[A]为正确答案。
单选题 Why does the author say "Only a people determined to ruin the next generation will refuse such Federal funds as public education may require". (Lines 10—11, Para. 3)
A. Only by appropriating adequate Federal funds for education can the next generation have a bright future.
B. Citizens of all parts of the country agree that the best way to support education is to use Federal funds.
C. People all over the country should make contributions to education in the interest of the next generation.
D. Educated people are determined to use part of the Federal funds to help the poor.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】细节判断题。本题问为什么作者说“Only a people determined to ruin the next generation will refuse such Federal funds as public education may require”。最后一段中“The answer to the problem of public education may have to be much the same, and properly so. …We are now attempting to preserve the present generation through Federal relief of the destitute (贫民)." 是这个问题的答案,所以,[A]为正确答案。