单选题
The effect of the baby boom on the schools helped to
make possible a shift in thinking about the role of public education in the
1920's. In the 1920's, but especially{{U}} {{U}} 1 {{/U}}
{{/U}}the Depression of the 1930's, the United States experienced a{{U}}
{{U}} 2 {{/U}} {{/U}}birth rate. Then with the prosperity{{U}}
{{U}} 3 {{/U}} {{/U}}on by the Second World War and the economic
boom that followed it, young people married and{{U}} {{U}} 4
{{/U}} {{/U}}households earlier and began to{{U}} {{U}} 5
{{/U}} {{/U}}larger families than had their{{U}} {{U}} 6
{{/U}} {{/U}}during the Depression. Birth rates rose to 102 per thousand in
1946, 106.2 in 1950, and 118 in 1955.{{U}} {{U}} 7 {{/U}}
{{/U}}economics was probably the most important{{U}} {{U}} 8
{{/U}} {{/U}}, it is not the only explanation for the baby boom. The increased
value placed{{U}} {{U}} 9 {{/U}} {{/U}}the idea of the family
also helps to{{U}} {{U}} 10 {{/U}} {{/U}}this rise in birth
rates. The baby boomers began streaming{{U}} {{U}} 11 {{/U}}
{{/U}}the first grade by the mid-1940's and became a{{U}} {{U}} 12
{{/U}} {{/U}}by 1950. The public school system suddenly found itself{{U}}
{{U}} 13 {{/U}} {{/U}}The wartime economy meant that few new schools
were buih between 1940 and 1945.{{U}} {{U}} 14 {{/U}} {{/U}},
large numbers of teachers left their profession during that period for
better-paying jobs elsewhere. {{U}} {{U}} 15
{{/U}} {{/U}}, in the 1950's, the baby boom hit an antiquated and inadequate
school system. Consequently, the custodial rhetoric of the 1930's no longer
made{{U}} {{U}} 16 {{/U}} {{/U}}; keeping youths ages sixteen
and older out of the labor market by keeping them in school could no longer be a
high{{U}} {{U}} 17 {{/U}} {{/U}}for an institution unable to
find space and staff to teach younger children. With the baby boom, the focus of
educators{{U}} {{U}} 18 {{/U}} {{/U}}turned toward the lower
grades and back to basic academic skills and{{U}} {{U}} 19
{{/U}} {{/U}}. The system no longer had much{{U}} {{U}} 20
{{/U}} {{/U}}in offering nontraditional, new, and extra services to older
youths.