单选题 The estimates of the numbers of home-schooled children vary widely. The U. S. Department of Education estimates there are 250,000 to 350,000 home-schooled children in the country. Home school advocates put the number much higher—at about a million.
Many public school advocates take a harsh attitude toward home-schoolers, perceiving their actions as the ultimate slap in the face for public education and a damaging move for the children. Home-schoolers harbor few kind words for public schools, charging shortcomings that range from lack of religious perspective in the curriculum to a herdlike approach to teaching children.
Yet, as public school officials realize they stand little to gain by remaining hostile to the home-school population, and as home-schoolers realize they can reap benefits from public schools, these hard lines seem to be softening a bit. Public schools and home-schoolers have moved closer to tolerance and, in some cases, even cooperation.
Says John Marshall, an education official, "We are becoming relatively tolerant of home-schoolers. The idea is, 'Let's give the kids access to public school so they'll see it's not as terrible as they've been told, and they'll want to come back.'"
Perhaps, but don't count on it, say home-school advocates. Home-schoolers oppose the system because they have strong convictions that their approach to education—whether fueled by religious enthusiasm or the individual child's interests and natural pace—is best.
"The bulk of home-schoolers just want to be left alone," says Enge Cannon, associate director of the National Center For Home Education. She says home-schoolers choose that path for a variety of reasons, but religion plays a role 85% of the time.
Professor Van Galen breaks home-schoolers into two groups. Some home-schoolers want their children to learn not only traditional subject matters but also "strict religious doctrine and a conservative political and social perspective. Not incidentally, they also want their children to learn—both intellectually and emotionally—that family is the most important institution in society."
Other home-schoolers contend "not so much that the schools teach heresy, but that, schools teach whatever they teach inappropriately," Van Galen writes. "These parents are highly independent and strive to 'take responsibility' for their own lives within a society that they define as bureaucratic and inefficient."
单选题 According to the passage, home-schoolers are those who ______.
  • A. engage private teachers to provide additional education for their children
  • B. educate their children at home instead of sending them to school
  • C. advocate combining public education with home schooling
  • D. don't go to school but are educated at home by their parents
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 通读全文，就可以知道home-schoolels指家庭教育倡导者。这在第二段中尤其清楚：Many public school advocates take a harsh attitude toward home-schoolers, ...Home-schoolers habor few kind words for public school,....由此可见， home-schoolers与public school advocates对立。所以B项正确。
单选题 Public schools are softening their position on home-schooling because ______.
  • A. there isn't much they can go to change the present situation
  • B. they want to show their tolerance of different teaching systems
  • C. home-schooling provides a new variety of education for children
  • D. public schools have so many problems that they cannot offer proper education for all children
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 根据第三段第一句可知，public school advocates缓和态度的原因是保持敌对毫无益处。句中的as表示由于，因为，引导之后的原因。B项不对，因为文中未说Public schools有意(want)显示其对不同教育体系的容忍，他们表现出的容忍是被迫的(保持敌对对他们并无好处)。
单选题 Home-school advocates are of the opinion that ______.
  • A. things in public schools are not so bad as has often been said
  • B. their tolerance of public education' will attract more kids to public schools
  • C. home-schooling is superior and, they will not easily give in
  • D. their increased cooperation with public school will bring about the improvement of public education
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 本题考home-schoolers的观点。根据第五段及第六段第一句话可知，home-schoolers认为 their approach to education...is best，并且just want to be left alone，即他们认为自己的教育方式是最好的并希望不受干扰。所以C项正确。 A、B、D三项均与文中内容不符。
单选题 Most home-schoolers' opposition to public education stems from their ______.
  • A. respect for the interests of individuals
  • B. worry about the inefficiency of public schools
  • C. concern with the cost involved
  • D. devotion to religion
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 由第六段最后一句可以看出，home-schooler之所以选择他们的道路，主要是出于宗教方面的考虑，所以D项正确。A、B两项是home-schooler反对学校教育的原因，但不是主要原因。文中未提及C项的内容。
单选题 According to Van Galen some home-schoolers believe that ______.
  • A. public schools take up a herdlike approach to teaching children
  • B. teachers in public schools are not as responsible as they should be
  • C. public schools cannot provide an education that is good enough for their children
  • D. public schools are the source of bureaucracy and inefficiency in modem society
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 根据第七段和八段，Van Calen说，有些home-schoolers希望孩子不仅要学习传统的科目，还要学习宗教知识、保守的政治和社会观，有些则认为学校教育不够有效(schools teach whatever they teach inappropriately)，故C项正确。A项也是有些home-schoolers的观点，但Van Galen没提到。文中未涉及学校老师的问题，所以B项不对。D项与文中内容不符，Calen只说有些home-schoolers认为自己所在的社会毫无效率且到处是官僚主义。