单选题 All over the world mention of the British education suggests a picture of the "public school", and it suggests in particular the names of certain very famous institutions—Eton, Oxford and Cambridge; but people do not always realize what place these situations occupy in the whole educational system. Oxford and Cambridge are universities each having about 12,000 students out of a total of over 250,000 students at all British universities. Eton is a public school, and the best known of the public schools, which, in spite of their names, are not really public at all, but independent and private secondary schools taking boys from the age of thirteen to eighteen. The public schools in reality form a very small part of the school system of secondary education of Great Britain; only about one out of forty English boys goes to a public school, and one out of 1500 to Eton.
Apart from the so-called public schools there is a complete system of state primary and secondary education, which resembles in its general form the state education in most other countries. All children must, by law, receive full-time education between the ages of five and sixteen. Any child may attend, without paying fees, a school provided by the public authorities, and the great majority attend such schools. They may continue, still without paying fees, until they are eighteen. The public schools, although unimportant numerically , have been England"s most peculiar and characteristic to educational methods, and they have an immense influence on the whole of English educational practice and on the English social structure.

单选题 What was the purpose of the author to write the passage?

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解析] 文章第一句就说：...a picture of the“public schools”；显然，作者写这篇文章的目的是：(B项)告诉人们英国的公立学校是什么样子。A项的意思是：一方面告诉人们伊顿(Eton college：伊顿公学)与牛津(Oxford)的不同之处：另一方面也告诉人们它与剑桥的不同之处。文章提到伊顿和牛津学校，但并不旨在比较它们，只说这几所学校都非常出名。

单选题 How much full-time schooling must a British child receive and when does it begin?

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[解析] 从开始上学，每个英国孩子要接受多久全日制学校教育。这个题要经过一个简单的运算，文章第二段第二句：All children must, by law, receive full-time education between the ages of five and sixteen. 从五岁上到十六岁，显然有十一年。

单选题 Which of the following British child is allowed to go to a public school in Great Britain?

单选题 Why does the author say that the so-called public school Eton is not "public"?

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 为什么作者说被称为公立学校的伊顿并非“公立”?A项文章没有提及，比较少隐藏，上题我们的例句中说到...taking boys from...，知道伊顿接收的学习对象是男孩儿，但这并非其被认为非“公立”的原因；B项文章没有提及；C项为正确答案，参考文章最后一句：The public schools, although unimportant numerically, have been England"s most peculiar and characteristic to educational methods, and they have an immense influence on...。D项也不是其原因。