James and Bonnie Sturgis are the kind of parents any school would like to claim. He"s highly educated, has four degrees. She"s an energetic, stay-at-home mom who spends hours each week carting their four children to activities near their Palm Beach County, Fla., home. They are involved parents, committed to their children"s education—just not committed to the public schools. The Sturgises are home-schoolers, part of a growing movement that rejects many of the practices-and, at times, the very premises—of public education. Home-schoolers believe that parents are the best teachers, that family-centered education trumps the typical K-12 experience anytime, that only by separating themselves from a cumbersome and, some say, morally corrupt system can they retain control of their children"s lives. In the past, the response of many school board members has been: "If they don"t want what we offer, let them go." And on those occasions when home-schooled students asked to try out for the football team, play in the band, or enroll in high-level science classes, the response has often been "no". But that"s changing. More school districts are opening courses and extracurricular activities to home-schoolers, and the rhetoric is softening. The district"s former policy toward home-schooling "wasn"t friendly at all," says Renee Sessler, a board member for the Reynolds School District, near Portland, Ore.. "It said, we"re not going to do anything for you." Last year, the board opened physical education, music programs, and other activities and courses to home-schoolers. Extracurricular activities have also been opened to home-schoolers in Palm Beach County and districts throughout Florida since a state law was passed in 1996. Now every school system in the state has a coordinator who handles relations between the district and home-schooling parents. "I think, certainly, in the last five years or so there"s a different climate," says Mike Smith, president of the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), which advocates for the interests of home-schoolers and goes to court on their behalf. "Not everywhere, but it"s changing." Why the new attitude? For one thing, it"s good public relations. As any board member knows, it"s better to work with disillusioned parents than drive them farther away. And it"s good business to get a portion of the full-time equivalent funding for the period that home-schoolers are in school.
单选题
From the introduction of the Sturgises, we learn that
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】解析：推理判断题。由题干中的Sturgises定位至首段。开篇提到Sturgis夫妇是学校喜欢的父母类型。接着对其进行解释：父亲受过高等教育，拥有四个学位。母亲精力充沛，是全职母亲。由此可以推断出美国学校喜欢受过良好教育、有足够的时间陪孩子的学生父母。首段末句提到Sturgis夫妇有四个孩子，该段只提到学校对这对夫妻的评价，没有对孩子做出评价；虽然学校对Sturgis夫妇赞赏有加，但文中没有对其家庭模式做出任何评论；第三段首句The Sturgises are home-schoolers表明Sturgis的孩子目前正在家接受教育。
单选题
Home-schoolers believe that
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】解析：推理判断题。由题干中的Home-schoolers believe定位至第三段第二句。该句指出：认同在家教育的人认为父母是最好的老师。在家教育会胜过政府的12年制教育。可见这些父母认为自己会给孩子们提供最好的教育。该句中的parents are the best teachers表明孩子并非在家自学；由该段可知如果家长认为K-12 system适合孩子，一些父母就不会主张在家教育了；由末句可知这些家长们认为学校的教育很糟糕，有些人认为从道德角度来看，教育体制腐败，但这只是部分人的观点，无法得出"公共教育臭名昭著"的结论。
单选题
What"s the first response from school board towards home-schoolers?
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】解析：推理判断题。由题干中的school board定位至第四段，该段提到学校董事会对主张在家教育者的反应：let them go。当这些家庭的孩子要求参加足球队、乐队或上高级科学课程的时候，他们都会予以拒绝。可见，董事会对在家教育持排斥的态度。从第四段中的no我们只知道董事会对在家教育排斥，没有表示震惊或感到困惑之意；这里提问的是董事会最初对在家教育者的反应，他们不能接受这种形式。
单选题
The author says "the rhetoric is softening" to show that
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】解析：篇章结构题。由题干中的the rhetoric is softening定位至第五段。该段首句But that"s changing表明学校董事会的态度已经发生了转变。后面的"许多地区对接受在家教育的学生开设课程，开放课外活动"是对这一转变的具体说明，显然the rhetoric is softening也是对首句观点的说明。该句所在处的上下文都是有关学校董事会对在家教育者的态度问题，此处没有涉及在家接受教育者对学校持何种态度；这里只提及学校转变态度，开始让这些学生参加一些学校的活动，没有涉及两方面的合作问题；句子所在上下文处没有涉及使用何种语言。