If the world"s education systems have a common focus, it is to turn out school-leavers who are proficient in maths. Governments are impressed by evidence from the World Bank and others that better maths results raises GDP and incomes. That, together with the soul-searching provoked by the cross-country PISA comparisons of 15-year-olds" mathematical attainment produced by the OECD, a club of mostly rich countries, is prompting educators in many places to look afresh at what maths to teach, and how to teach it. Those countries fret about how to catch up without turning students off the subject with boring drill. Top performers, most of them Asian, fear that their focus on technical proficiency does not translate into an enthusiasm for maths after leaving school. And everyone worries about how to prepare pupils for a jobs market that will reward creative thinking ever more highly. Maths education has been a battlefield before: the American "maths wars" of the 1980s pitted traditionalists, who emphasized fluency in pen-and-paper calculations, against reformers led by the country"s biggest teaching lobby, who put real-world problem-solving, often with the help of calculators, at the centre of the curriculum. A backlash followed as parents and academics worried that the "new maths" left pupils ill-prepared for university courses in maths and the sciences. But as many countries have since found, training pupils to pass exams is not the same as equipping them to use their hard-won knowledge in work and life. Today"s reformers think new technology renders this old argument redundant. They include Conrad Wolfram, who worked on Mathematica, a program which allows users to solve equations, visualize mathematical functions and much more. He argues that computers make rote procedures, such as long division, obsolete. "If it is high-level problem-solving and critical thinking we"re after, there"s not much in evidence in a lot of curriculums," he says.
单选题
We can infer from the first paragraph that______.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】解析：选项[A]对应第一段第二句：Governments are impressed by evidence from the WorldBank and others that better maths results raises GDP and incomes．其中，better maths results raisesGDP and incomes与该项的表述相符，故该项正确。选项[B]和[C]文章没有提到，属于无中生有，错误。选项[D]对应该段最后一句：…OECD，a club of mostly rich countries，is promptingeducators in many places to look afresh at what maths to teach，and how to teach it．其中look afreshat what maths to teach，and how to teach it(重新审视数学教什么、怎么教)说明富裕国家的教师也在苦恼如何教数学，这与该项know exactly how to teach maths不符。故排除该项，本题答案为[A]。
单选题
According to Paragraph 2,which one is true?
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】解析：选项[A]与第二段第二句“Top performers，most of them Asian…”的信息不符，文章说“亚洲学生数学更好”，而不是该项的“富裕国家”，故该项错误。选项[B]的信息在原文没有体现，故错误。该段第一句提到：Those countries fret about how to catch up without turningstudents off the subject with boring drill．(那些国家(富裕国家)担心如何赶上其他国家，同时又不让单调的练习题使学生对这个学科感到厌烦。)可见该项中的“tired of厌烦”是根据该句“turn sb．off使某人厌烦”这一信息设置的干扰项。选项[C]对应最后一句：And everyone wor—ries about how to prepare pupils for a jobs market that will reward creative thinking ever more highly．其中，jobs market，reward creative thinking等信息表明该项表述是正确的。选项[D]中的“…craze for maths doesn’t wane after leaving school对数学的狂热在离开学校之后也没有减退”与原文“…does not translate into an enthusiasm for maths after leaving school．在离开学校之后，并没有转化为对数学的热情”不符，其中，“doesn’t wane没有消退”与“does not translate into没有转化为”信息不匹配，故该项表述不符合原文。综上所述，答案为选项[C]。
单选题
Many countries have found that______.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】解析：根据题干中的Many countries have found that定位到第三段最后一句：But as manycountries have since found，training pupils to pass exams is not the same as equipping them to usetheir hard—won knowledge in work and life．与之最接近的是选项[B]there is great differences between test and practical use。其中，difference对应原文中的not the same as；test对应原文中的exams；practical use对应原文中的use knowledge in work and life。故该项为答案。
单选题
Reformers think new technology is______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】解析：根据reformers，new technology定位到第四段首句：Today’s reformers think new tech—nology renders this old argument redundant．其中“renders this old argument redundant使得这个老生常谈的讨论变得多余"，其中，“argument讨论，争论”是相对不好的一个词，“redundant累赘的，多余的”也是一个否定词，因此该项表述是负负得正，是积极肯定的一个表达。四个选项分别为：[A]多余的；[B]矛盾的；[C]过度的；[D]有帮助的。显然四个选项中能够表示积极肯定的是[D]，故为答案。