Given the lack of fit between gifted students and their schools, it is not surprising that such students often have little good to say about their school experience. In one study of 400 adults who had achieved distinction in all areas of life, researchers found that three-fifths of these individuals either did badly in school or were unhappy in school. Few MacArthur Prize fellows, winners of the MacArthur Award for creative accomplishment, had good things to say about their precollegiate schooling if they had not been placed in advanced programs. Anecdotal (名人轶事) reports support this. Pablo Picasso, Charles Darwin, Mark Twain, Oliver Goldsmith, and William Butler Yeats all disliked school. So did Winston Churchill, who almost failed out of Harrow, an elite British school. About Oliver Goldsmith, one of his teachers remarked, "never was so dull a boy." Often these children realize that they know more than their teachers, and their teachers often feel that these children are arrogant, inattentive, or unmotivated. Some of these gifted people may have done poorly in school because their gifts were not scholastic. Maybe we can account for Picasso in this way. But most fared poorly in school not because they lacked ability but because they found school unchallenging and consequently lost interest. Yeats described the lack of fit between his mind and school, "because I had found it difficult to attend to anything less interesting than my own thoughts, I was difficult to teach." As noted earlier, gifted children of all kinds tend to be strong-willed nonconformists. Nonconformity and stubbornness (and Yeats's level of arrogance and self-absorption) are likely to lead to conflicts with teachers. When highly gifted students in any domain talk about what was important to the development of their abilities, they are far more likely to mention their families than their schools or teachers. A writing prodigy (神童) studied by David Feldman and Lynn Goldsmith was taught far more about writing by his journalist father than his English teacher. High-IQ children, in Australia studied by Miraca Gross had much more positive feelings about their families than their schools. About half of the mathematicians studied by Benjamin Bloom had little good to say about school. They all did well in school and took honors classes when available, and some skipped grades.
单选题
The main point the author is making about schools is that______ A. they should satisfy the needs of students from different family backgrounds B. they are often incapable of catering to the needs of talented students C. they should organize their classes according to the students' ability D. they should enroll as many gifted students as possible
单选题
The author quotes the remarks of one of Oliver Goldsmith's teachers______ A. to provide support for his argument B. to illustrate the strong will of some gifted children C. to explain how dull students can also be successful D. to show how poor Oliver's performance was at school
单选题
Pablo Picasso is listed among the many gifted children who______ A. paid no attention to their teachers in class B. contradicted their teachers much too often C. could not cope with their studies at school successfully D. behaved arrogantly and stubbornly in the presence of their teachers
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 根据文章第二段前两句“Some of these gifted people may have done poorly in school because their gifts were not scholastic．Maybe we can account for Picasso in this way．”可 知，一些有天分的学生在校表现很差是因为他们的天分不是体现在学习成绩上的。毕加索的 情况也许可以这样解释。所以，毕加索的天分不在于学习成绩。据此判断，答案是C。
单选题
Many gifted people attributed their success______ A. mainly to parental help and their education at home B. both to school instruction and to their parents' coaching C. more to their parents' encouragement than to school training D. less to their systematic education than to their talent
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 根据文章第三段第一句“When highly gifted students in any domain talk about what was important to the development of their abilities，they are far more likely to mention their families than their schools orteachers．”可知，当具有某方面天分的学生谈及能力发展 的重要因素候，他们都更多地提及自己的家庭教育而非学校老师的教育。据此判断，答案 是A。
单选题
The root cause of many gifted students having bad memories of their school years is that______ A. their nonconformity brought them a lot of trouble B. they were seldom praised by their teachers C. school courses failed to inspire or motivate them D. teachers were usually far stricter than their parents
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 根据文章第二段第三句“But most fared poorly in school not because they lacked ability but because they found school unchallenging and consequently lost interest．”可知，大多数 有天分的人在校表现差不是因为他们缺乏能力而是因为他们觉得学校缺乏挑战性从而失去了 兴趣。就是因为这样，他们才和学校不协调，很可能和老师产生冲突。所以，学校课程没有 激励和挑战性才是他们在校经历不愉快的主要原因。据此判断，答案是A。