单选题
Parents of the approximately 2,00,000 home-schooled children in California are reeling from the possibility that they may have to shutter their classrooms—and go back to school themselves—if they want to continue teaching their own kids. On Feb. 28, Judge H. Walter Croskey of the Second District Court of Appeals in Los Angeles ruled that children ages 6 to 18 may be taught only by credentialed teachers in public or private schools—or at home by Morn and Dad, but only if they have a teaching degree. Citing state law that goes back to the early 1950s, Croskey declared that "California courts have held that under provisions in the Education Code, parents do not have a constitutional right to home school their children. " Furthermore, the judge wrote, if instructors teach without credentials they will be subject to criminal action. This news raised a furor among home schooling advocates, including government officials. "Every California child deserves a quality education and parents should have the right to decide what's best for their children," Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a statement today. "Parents should not be penalized for acting in the best interests of their children's education. This outrageous ruling must be overturned by the courts and if the courts don't protect parents' rights then, as elected officials, we will. " "It's kind of scary," says Julie Beth Lamb, an Oakdale, California, parent who, with no teaching credentials, has taught her four children for 15 years. "If that ruling is held up, this would make us one of the most restrictive states in the nation. " The debacle originated with a suit over child abuse. One of the eight children of Philip and Mary Long, a Los Angeles couple, had filed a complaint of abuse and neglect with the L. A. Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). The agency determined that the Long children were being home schooled, taught by their uncredentialed mother while officially enrolled in independent study at Sunland Christian School. The DCFS then turned to the courts to mandate that the children attend public school so that teachers might spot evidence of abuse, a charge the parents deny. A juvenile court, however, determined that the Longs had a constitutional right to home school their children. The DCFS appealed and the case landed in Croskey's appellate court. For years, the state of California has allowed parents to home school as long as they file papers to create a private school and hire a tutor with credentials or if their child participates in an independent study program through a credentialed school. In evaluating the Long case, however, Judge Croskey found that state law forbade any home schooling that was not taught by a credentialed teacher and that what California had been allowing was, in his judicial opinion, illegal. In 1953, another appellate court ruled against home schooling parents who didn't want to adhere to California's compulsory education laws, which require kids between 6 and 18 to attend a credentialed school. The current case is most likely to be appealed to California's Supreme Court. "We weren't trying to change the law on home schooling," says Leslie Heimov of the Children's Law Center, which represents the Long children involved in the case. "The law is accurate—it hasn't changed since the 1950s. " She says the Center does not even have an opinion on home schooling. They just wanted to do what was best for the children represented in the case. The fact that this sweeping ruling has sprung from such an individualized case is what has most outraged home schooling advocates. "Public schools are not a solution to the problem of child abuse," says Leslie Buchanan, president of the Home School Association of California. Jack O' Connell, California State Superintendent of Public Instruction—the equivalent of a department of education—now faces the potential crisis of dealing with tens of thousands of truants. Does he know what will happen next? "I honestly don't know," O'Connell says, adding that his department is reviewing the case. "There is some angst in the field. /
单选题
The following people are allowed to teach children aging 6 to 18 in California EXCEPT ______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】题目问下列哪种人不允许给加利福尼亚6~18岁的孩子提供教育。根据首段第2句法院裁决内容“…children ages 6 to 18 may be taught only by credentialed teachers in public Or private schools—or at home by Morn and Dad,but only if they have a teaching degree”。A、B、C符合文意,故排除;选项D认为父母无论在学校从事什么工作,都可以教育学生,与首段末句提到的“if instructors teach without credentials they will be subject to criminal action(若教师在不具备教育资格的情况下从事教学工作,将被视为违法行为)”相矛盾,故选项D为答案。
单选题
The word "furor" in Line ONE of the second paragraph suggests that ______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】题目问“furor”一词在第2段中的含义。第2段首句指出了家庭教育支持者(包括政府官员)对该项裁决的反应。该段后面内容均为例证来支持本段主题“raise a furor”,例如“Every California child deserves a quality education and parents should have the right to decide what's best for their children”、“Parents should not be penalized…This outrageous ruling must be overturned by the courts”、“It's a kind of scary”。从这里的“outrageous(残暴的;不道德的)”和“scary(吓人的;可怕的)”可以看出提倡家庭教育的人对此项裁决感到非常生气和不满,选项C与此相符,故为答案。
单选题
Which of the following will NOT violate the law of California about home-schooling?
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】题目问下列哪种做法没有违背加州关于家庭教育的法律。第4段第2句指出“that state law forbade any home schooling that was not taught by a credentialed teacher(加州法律规定所有参与家庭教育的教师都要具备教师资格)”,A项符合此意,故为答案。B项与此矛盾,应排除;C项混淆了uncredentialed所限制的对象,应是教师,而非学生,故排除;D项与首段倒数第2句“parents do not have a constitutional right to home school their children”矛盾,故排除。
单选题
What has caused the home schooling advocates' strong response to the ruling?
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】题目问为什么家庭教育支持者对这项裁决产生强烈的反应。文章末段第1句指出:“The fact that this sweeping ruling has sprung from such an individualized case is what has most outraged home schooling advocates”。由此可以看出这一裁决引起家庭教育倡导者极大愤慨的原因在于该裁决仅仅始于一桩虐童诉讼案,政府进而出台限制儿童接受家庭教育的法规,难免有小题大做之嫌。文章继而指出:“Public schools are not a solution to the problem of child abuse(使此规定能使接受家庭教育的儿童重返公立学校,虐童问题也未必得到解决)”。D项符合文意,故为答案。
单选题
Which of the following will NOT possibly happen next?
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】题目问下列哪种情况接下去不大可能会发生。末段第2句指出“Public schools are not a solution to the problem of child abuse”。而选项A说公立学校的学生肯定会得到好的照顾,显然与文意不符,故选项 A为答案。