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The number of city schools put on a list for strict scrutiny by the state for poor academic performance went up slightly this year. and the number of city schools taken off the list by showing improvement dropped, the state's commissioner of education announced yesterday.
Ten city schools—now at risk of being shut down—were added to the list of Schools Under Registration Review, known as SURR, bringing the total in the city m 40. Statewide. 61 schools are under review, said the commissioner, Richard Mills. The addition of 10 city schools reverses what had been a trend in the past few years: the number of schools on the list had been falling. There were 55 schools in 2003, 46 in 2004 and 35 last year, an all-time low.
But this year a new factor was at work: The state raised the level of performance required to pass its standards. In addition, 6 of the 10 newly named schools are middle schools--and those schools have for years confounded educators by resisting the improvements that have worked in lower grades and even in high schools. Three city schools were removed from the list this year for improvement in academic performance, but that number was significantly lower than the number removed in each of the past several years. For instance, 16 schools were taken off the list last year.
Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein observed that the number of endangered schools still remains at a near-record low. "Nevertheless. we cannot accept failing performance by any of our schools for any reason," he said. "If a school proves incapable of providing a high-quality education m our students despite efforts to improve it, it will be closed." He said 8 of the 40 schools that have been on the list were scheduled m be closed this year and 5 more will be closed next year. The state also expanded its review process for the first time this year m District 75, which covers special education schools, and one District 75 school, Public School 12 in the Bronx, was put on the list.
Despite the additions, Mr. Mills said he was pleased. "I think it's impressive since we have been rinsing the bar," he said. "The city has essentially been staying ahead of a moving locomotive."
Elsewhere in the state, three schools in Buffalo and two in Syracuse were added to the list. The 10 New York City schools on the list are Legacy School for Integrated Studies in Manhattan; P.S. 220, P.S. 12, Junior High School 123 and Middle School 302 in the Bronx; J.H.S. 265. J.H.S. 57, M.S. 143, Intermediate School 291 and P.S. 12 in Brooklyn. The three schools removed from the list are P.S. 140 in the Bronx. Repertory Company High School in Manhattan and EBC/ENY High School for Public Safety and Law in Brooklyn.

单选题 In the opening paragraph, the author introduces his topic by______.

单选题 From the first 2 paragraphs, we can learn that______.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】推理判断题。文章前两段主要讲述一个调查表明的目前学校教育质量的情况——今年又有一些学校被列为差的学校，而甩掉这个坏名声的学校却没有几个。再分别看几个选项：A“目前的趋势是列入名单的学校数目下降了”，根据第一段头一句，“Then umber of city schools put on a list for strict scrutiny by the state for poor academic performance went up slightly this year,…”学校数目小幅增加；B“今年有更多的学校甩掉了坏名声”，而从第一段“and the number of city schools taken off the list by showing improvement dropped”可以看小，因质量提高而从名单上划掉的学校少了；C“今年的趋势和以往几年不同”，从第二段“The addition of 10 city schools reverses what had been a trend in the past few years”可以看出，今年扭转了前几年的趋势，另外，从后面的数据也可以看出，2003到2004足下降趋势，但今年上榜的有40个，比去年多，呈上升趋势；D“调查是不可靠的”，文章并没有提到这点。故选C。

单选题 The "new factor" in the third paragraph refers that______.

单选题 Schools Chancellor's words imply that______.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】推理判断题。这位大臣的话是“'Nevertheless, we cannot accept failing performance by any of our schools for any reason, he said. If a school proves incapable of providing a high-quality education to our students despite efforts to improve it , it will be closed.'”但是，我们不能接受任何学校因任何原因的不称职行为，如果一个学校不能提供高质量的教育，那么就得关门，哪怕是做了再多的努力也不行。)再看选项，A“所有列入名单的学校都得关闭”，虽然他表明了要关闭不合格的学校，但并没有说要关闭所有列入名单的学校，而且从本段后面他的说法来看也不是这样的；B“学校的表现是决定未来生存的唯一标准”，这正是他所说的“如果一个学校不能提供高质量的教育，就得关门，哪怕是做了再多的努力也不行”；C“任何学校不得给自己找借口”，这是他所提到过的内容，但并不是他话的主旨； D“他有最后的决定权”，最终决定因素还是学校的质量。故选B。