单选题 While the mission of public schools has expanded beyond education to include social support and extra-curricular activities, the academic schedule has changed little in more than a century. Reclaiming the school day for academic instruction and escaping the time-bound traditions of education are vital steps in the school-reform process, says a report released today by the National Education Commission on Time and Learning. The commission's report, titled "Prisoners of Time," calls the fixed clock and calendar in American education a "fundamental design flaw" in desperate need of change. "Time should serve children instead of children serving time," the report says. The two-year commission found that holding American students to "world-class standards," will require more time for classroom instruction. "We have been asking the impossible of our students—that they learn as much as their foreign peers while spending half as much as in core academic subjects," it states. The Commission compared the relationships between time and learning in Japan, Germany, and the United States and found that American students receive less than half the basic academic instruction that Japanese and German students are provided. On average, American students can earn a high school diploma if they spend only 41 percent of their school time on academics, says the report. American students spend an average of three hours a day on "core" academics such as English, math, science, and history, the commission found. Their report recommends offering a minimum of 5.5 hours of academics every school day. The nine-member commission also recommends lengthening the school day beyond the traditional six hours. "If schools want to continue offering important activities outside the academic core, as well as serving as a hub for family and community services, they should keep school doors open longer each day and each year," says John Hodge Jones, director of schools in Murfreesboro, Tenn., and chairman of the commission The typical school year in American public schools is 180 days. Eleven states allow school years of 175 days or less, and only one state requires more than 180 day. "For over a decade, education reform advocates have been working feverishly to improve our schools," says Milton Goldberg, executive director of the commission. "But... if reform is to truly take hold, the six-hour, 180-day school year should be put in museums—an exhibit from our education past."

单选题 Compared with the academic courses more than a hundred years ago, the academic courses now _____.

单选题 The researches by the commission are most concerned about _____.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】解析：根据题干中的关键词commission可定位到第二段。该段提到教育调查组(National Education Commission)的报告内容，表明在学校改革过程中至关重要的是：学校时间应重新用于学术教育上以及摒弃受时间限制的教育传统。该段通篇都在对时间进行讨论，从文中多次提到时间就可见一斑(school day，time-bound以及Time and Learning)，A项中的time与之相符合，故A项为正确答案。

单选题 American students differ from those in Japan, Germany in that_____.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】解析：题目是将美国学生和日本、德国学生在某些方面进行比较。根据关键词可定位到第五段①句。该句前半部分提到比较学生学习时间和学习之间的关系(compared．．．between time and learning)，A项和C项与此相关，其后found后的宾语从句则用比较级less than表示美国学生得到的基础学术教育不及日本和德国学生的一半，由此可知，C项符合文意，故为正确答案。

单选题 It can be learned that schools in the United States_____.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】解析：根据题干中的关键词schools in the United States可以将范围缩小到第六至第十段。其中第六、第七段提到美国应该要延长学术课程学习时间和学生每天的在校时间，第八段John Hodge Jones也表达了这个意思，并说明了这样做的目的和条件，If从句中的continue offering…as well as serving as a hub for．．．表明，学校之前就是家庭和社区服务的中心，由此可知B项正确。

单选题 According to the last paragraph, Milton Goldberg would most probably agree that _____.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】解析：根据题干可直接定位到末段。该段均为Milton Goldberg的看法。其中②句提到的the six-hour,180-day school year即为第九段所指的美国公立学校通常的时间安排，该句表示它应该被放到博物馆，成为教育史的展览品，即意味着应该改变这种时间安排，而如同上文提到的建议一样，Milton Goldberg认为将来教育时间应比现在更长，B项是对Milton Goldberg观点的正确把握。