单选题 {{B}}Passage 3{{/B}}
In the United States elementary education begins at the age of six. At this stage nearly all the teachers are women, mostly married. (80) {{U}}The atmosphere is usually very friendly, and the teachers have now accepted the idea that the important thing is to make the children happy and interested.{{/U}} The old authoritarian (要绝对服从的) methods of education were discredited (不被认可) rather a long time ago-so much so that many people now think that they have gone too far in the direction of trying to make children happy and interested rather than giving them actual instruction.
The social education of young children tries to make them accept the idea that human beings in a Society need to work together for their common good. So the emphasis is on cooperation rather than competition throughout most of this process. This may seem curious, in view of the fact that American society is highly competitive; however, the need for making people sociable in this sense has come to be regarded as one of the functions of education. Most Americans do grow up with competitive ideas, and obviously quite a few as criminals, but it is not fair to say that the educational system fails. It probably does succeed in making most people {{U}}sociable{{/U}} and ready to help one another both in material ways and through kindness and friendliness.
单选题 According to the passage, the U.S. elementary education is supposed to make children ______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】本题考查的是考生对全文整体的把握。全文分两个部分:第一段着重阐述美国初等教育是要给小孩创造一个充满快乐和兴趣的成长氛围。the important thing is to make the children happy and interested,“重要的是让孩子们快乐和有兴趣”;第二段主要阐述的是初等教育所包含的社会化教育,培养孩子们在竞争的过程中有合作的意识。 So the emphasis is on cooperation rather than competition throughout most of this process.“重点是在所有的过程中培养合作的意识而不是竞争。”因此,D选项是正确的,其他在文章中没有提到,不符合题意。
单选题 Some Americans complain about elementary schools because they think ______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】本题考查的是对具体句子意思的理解。The old authoritarian(要绝对服从的)methods of education were discredited(不被认可)rather a long time ago—so much so that many people now think that they have gone too far in the direction of trying to make children happy and interested rather than giving them actual instruction.这句话应理解为:“绝对服从式的教育方法已经不被认可了,久而久之,很多人认为,现在过分强调给孩子们一种快乐和有趣的氛围,而忽视了应该给孩子们一些实际的指导。”从以上理解我们可以判断,某些美国人抱怨初等教育的原因在于:忽视了应该给孩子们一些实际的指导。因此,正确答案是D。而前三项都不是抱怨的原因,而是当前初等教育所提倡的。
单选题 The author's attitude towards American education can be best described as ______.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】本题考查的是对全文基调的把握,即作者的态度问题。作者从利弊两方面,对美国初等教育作了介绍。
单选题 The American educational system emphasizes ______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】本题考查的是细节的理解。文中So the emphasis is on cooperation rather than competition throughout most of this process.依据以上句子可判断,C为正确选项。
单选题 The word "sociable" (Line 8, Paragraph 2) most probably means ______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】本题是词义题,考查的是考生根据上下文对具体词语的理解。