单选题 It's conventional wisdom in the United States that the American education system is a mess. Since the rest of the world loves to criticize Uncle Sam, that view is held even more strongly elsewhere. But wait a minute. If education really is the source of economic success, as experts continually claim, American schools can't be too bad. If they were, the American economy would not be the wonder of the world, able to create good jobs at a pace that others can only envy, and with a huge advantage in many of the key technologies of the next centurey. Specially, American high schools can't be a disaster area. The proof lies in the quality of American universities. In any reasonable ranking of the best 100 universities of the world, the United States would dominate the list. College professors are not alchemists(炼金术士), they cannot turn base metal into gold. (I know; I used to be one.) If the output of American higher education is as good as it seems to be, the input must be a lot better than Americans fear.
We can at least be doubtful about some common claims. For example; it's often said that the United States has a skill shortage in high technology -- and the fact that Silicon Valley recruits (征募) heavily around the world is said to be evidence of that. But without more inquiry, we can't know whether this is because American college graduates are stupid, or because that hightechnology sector has grown so fast that it cannot possibly satisfy all its demands for high-level skills from the United States.

单选题 What do most Americans think of their education system?
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】本文论述了美国的教育体制并不像人们批评的那样一团糟。作者通过说明美国经济技术的发达以及美国大学的质量来论证他的观点,同时作者进一步认证了美国并不是培养不出高技术人材,而是因为高科技发展太快,美国的大学生无法满足全部的人才需求。
这是一道句子释义题。文中第一句即写道:“美国的教育体制一团糟,这在美国已成为一种传统的习惯常识。”A项对它的解释是“大多数美国人认为他们的教育系统不如它所被预期的那样好”。故A项的解释较准确。
单选题 What does the sentence "American schools can't be a disaster area" mean?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】这是一道句子释义题。文中第一段American schools can't be too bad与该选项 American high schools can't be a disaster area具有基本相同的意思,只是表达方式不同。该项的含义是“美国学校并不是真的那么糟糕”。
单选题 Which conclusion can we draw from this passage?
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】这是一道句子分析题。根据文中第一段所提到的内容,“世界上最好的100所大学合理的排名中,美国的大学占了主导地位”。C项的理解是正确的。C项的含义是“从这段话中我们可得出这样的结论,美国大学的质量是很高的”。
单选题 What is the main idea of this passage?
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】这是一道主旨题。本文作者的论点就是“美国的教育并不像许多人宣称的那样糟糕”。