单选题 Soon after starting his job as superintendent of the Memphis, Tenn., public schools, Kriner Cash ordered an assessment of his new district's 104,000 students. The findings were depressing: nearly a third had been held back at least one academic year. The high school graduation rate had fallen to 67%. One in five dropped out. But what most concerned him was that the number of students considered "highly mobile", meaning they had moved at least once during the school year, had ballooned to 34,000, partly because of the home-foreclosure crisis. At least 1,500 students were homeless—probably more. "I had a whole array of students who were angry, depressed, not getting the rest they needed," Cash says. It led him to consider an unusual proposition: What if the best way to help kids in impoverished urban neighborhoods is to get them out? Cash is now calling for Memphis to create a residential school for 300 to 400 kids whose parents are in financial distress, with a live-in faculty rivaling those of elite New England prep schools. If Cash' s dream becomes a reality, it will probably look a lot like SEED, a charter school in Southeast Washington, which stands for Schools for Educational Evolution and Development. Its 320 students—seventh-to 12th-graders—should live on campus five days a week. They are expected to adhere to a strict dress code and keep their room tidy. There are computers in the dorm's common areas, and each student in grades 10 and above is given a desktop computer. At 11:30 every night, it's lights out. In his plan for Memphis, Cash wants even more time. Perhaps the most provocative aspect of his proposal is to focus on students in grades 3 through 5 for homelessness is growing sharply among kids at that critical age, when much of their educational foundation is set, Cash says. His aim: to prevent illiteracy and clear other learning roadblocks early, so the problem "won' t migrate into middle and high school". Students will remain on campus year-round. The school would cost up to $50,000 a day to operate—three times the cost of a traditional day school with more than twice as many students. "It sounds very exciting, but the devil is in the details," says Ellen Bassuk, president of the National Center on Family Homelessness in Newton, Mass.
单选题 What is Kriner Cash worried about most after knowing the result of the assessment?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】解析:细节题。短文第一段第五句指出“But what most concemed him was that the number ofstudents considered‘highly mobile’…”。即Kriner Cash最担忧的是高度流动的学生数量在急剧增加。故选项D正确。
单选题 From the passage, we learn that the students in SEED______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】解析:细节题。根据短文第二段最后四句“Its 320 students…At 11:30 every night,it’s lightsout.”可知这些学生要遵守SEED制定的一些规定。选项A、B与原文表述不一致,可排除。选项D在文中没有提及。故选C。
单选题 What does Ellen Bassuk imply by saying "It sounds very exciting ... details"(Para. 3)?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】解析:推断题。由题干可定位至短文最后,联系上下文可知,“It sounds very exciting…details”中it指的是前一句中“The school..to operate…”,由此可知,寄宿制学校的运作没有想象中那么容易。故答案为D。
单选题 Why does Cash want to concentrate on students from the third to the fifth grade?
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】解析:细节题。文章最后一段第二句指出“Perhaps the most provocative aspect…students ingrades 3 through 5 for homelessness…at that critical age”,即Cash重点关注三到五年级的学生,因为在那个关键年龄段的孩子中无家可归的现象正在急剧增加。故选A。
单选题 What is the passage mainly about?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】解析:主旨题。通读全文,可知本文主要讲诉建立公共寄宿学校。选项D正确。选项A、B只是文中讲到的一个方面,不能概括全义内容;选项C只是说建立寄宿学校的目的。故选D。