单选题 .  Historians tend to tell the same joke when they are describing history education in America. It's the one     41    the teacher standing in the schoolroom door     42    goodbye to students for the summer and calling     43    them, "By the way, we won World War Ⅱ."
    The problem with the joke, of course, is that it's     44    funny. The recent surveys on     45    illiteracy (无知)    are beginning to numb (令人震惊): nearly one third of American 17-year-olds cannot even     46    which countries the United States     47    against in that war. One third have no     48    when the Declaration of Independence was     49    . One third thought Columbus reached the New World after 1750. Two thirds cannot correctly     50    the Civil War between 1850 and 1900.     51    when they get the answers right, some are     52    guessing.
    Unlike math or science, ignorance of history cannot be     53    connected to loss of international     54    But it does affect our future     55    a democratic nation and as individuals.
    The     56    news is that there is growing agreement     57    what is wrong with the     58    of history and what needs to be     59    to fix it. The steps are tentative (常识性)     60    yet to he felt in most classrooms.41.