阅读理解

Directions: There are 4 passages in this part. For each of them there are four choices marked A., B., C. and D. You should decide on the best choice.


Passage 1

Testing has replaced teaching in most public schools. My own children’s school week is framed by pretests, drills, tests, and retests. They know that the best way to read a textbook is to look at the questions at the end of the chapter and then skim the text for the answers. I believe that my daughter Erica, who gets excellent marks, has never read a chapter of any of her school textbooks all the way through. And teachers are often heard to state proudly and openly that they teach to the mandated state test.

Teaching to the test is a curious phenomenon. Instead of deciding what skills students ought to learn, helping students learn them, and then using some sensible methods of assessment to discover whether students have mastered the skills, teachers are encouraged to reverse the process. First one looks at a commercially available test. Then one distills the skills needed not to master reading, say, or math, but to do well on the test. Finally, the test skills are taught.

The ability to read or write or calculate might imply the ability to do reasonably well on standardized tests. However, neither reading nor writing develops simply through being taught to take tests. We must be careful to avoid mistaking preparation for a test of a skill with the acquisition of that skill. Too many discussions of basic skills make this fundamental confusion because people are test obsessed rather than concerned with the nature and quality of what is taught.

Recently many schools have faced what could be called the crisis of comprehension or, in simple terms, the phenomenon of students with phonic and grammar skills still being unable to understand what they read. These students are competent at test taking and filling in workbooks and ditto masters. However they have little or no experience reading or thinking, and talking about what they read. They know the details but can’t see or understand the whole. They are taught to be so concerned with grade that they have no time or ease of mind to think about meaning, and reread things if necessary. 

单选题 The author gives an account of Erica’s performance in her study in order to _____.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】前文说到， 如今考试代替了教学， 学校知道阅读课本最好的方式就是直接看章节后的习题， 然后浏览课文寻找答案。 Erica考试成绩好， 但从来没有把课本上的内容完整地读过。 这说明了现如今教学方式上出现的问题。
单选题 Which of the following is true according to the passage?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】第三段第三句We must be careful to avoid mistaking preparation for a test of a skill with the acquisition of that skill.意思是说掌握应试技巧并不能说明真正掌握了能力。
单选题 The author insists that _____.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】从全文来看， 作者认为如今以应试为导向的教学并不能培养学生的各项能力。 主张教学方式上的变革。
单选题 We can safely conclude that _____ may cause educational problems.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】从第三段可以看出， 作者认为掌握应试技巧并不能说明真正掌握了能力， 人们如今太沉迷于应试， 而不注重所教授知识的内容和质量。 所以可以推断出作者认为沉迷于应试会造成严重的教育问题。
单选题 By “crisis of comprehension” the author means many students _____.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】最后一段第一句Recently many schools have faced what could be called the crisis of comprehension or, in simple terms, the phenomenon of students with phonic and grammar skills still being unable to understand what they read.中in simple terms意思是“简而言之”， 所以后面内容即是对crisis of comprehension的解释， 也就是说一些掌握语音和语法的学生不能理解他们所阅读的内容。 下一句又指出， 这些学生擅长考试。 所以总结一下， 就是说考试成绩不错的学生不能理解他们所阅读的内容。 即D项。