学位英语

Goal of American Education

Education is an enormous and expensive partof American life. Its size is matched by its variety.

Differences in American schools comparedwith those found in the majority of other countries lie in the fact thateducation here has long been intended for everyone — not just for a privilegedelite. Schools are expected to meet the needs of every child, regardless ofability, and also the needs of society itself. This means that public schoolsoffer more than academic subjects. It surprises many people when they come hereto find high schools offering such courses as typing, sewing, radio repair,computer programming or driver training, along with traditional academicsubjects such as mathematics, history, and languages. Students choose theircurricula depending on their interests, future goals, and level of ability. Theunderlying goal of American education is to develop every child to the utmostof his or her own possibilities, and to give each one a sense of civic andcommunity consciousness.

Schools have traditionally played animportant role in creating national unity and “Americanizing” the millions ofimmigrants who have poured into this country from many different backgroundsand origins. Schools still play a large role in the community, especially inthe small towns.

The approach to teaching may seemunfamiliar to many, not only because it is informal, but also because there isnot much emphasis on learning facts. Instead, Americans try to teach theirchildren to think for themselves and to develop their own intellectual andcreative abilities. Students spend much time, learning how to use resourcematerials, libraries, statistics and computers. Americans believe that ifchildren are taught to reason well and to research well, they will be able tofind whatever facts they need throughout the rest of their lives. Knowing howto solve problems is considered more important than the accumulation of facts.

This is America's answer to the searchingquestion that thoughtful parents all over the world are asking themselves inthe fast-moving time: “How can one prepare today's child for a tomorrow thatone can neither predict nor understand?”

1. Which of the following best states thegoal of American education?

A. To teach every learner some practicalskills.

B. To provide every learner with richknowledge.

C. To give every student the opportunity tofully develop his/her ability.

D. To train every student to be a responsiblecitizen.

2. It is implied in the passage that

A. all high-school students take the samecourses.

B. every high-school student must take somepractical ability training courses.

C. every public school offers the sameacademic subjects.

D. the subject every student takes mayvary.

3. American schools place great emphasis onthe learner's

A. enrichment of knowledge.

B. accumulation of facts.

C. acquisition of the ability to becreative.

D. acquisition of the ability to work withhis hands.

4. According to the passage, Americaneducation meets the needs of all the following EXCEPT

A. the brightest students.

B. the slow students.

C. the students from foreign countries.

D. the immigrants.

5. Which of the following best states thefeature of American education that makes it different from education in othercountries?

A. The large number of its schools.

B. The variety of the courses offered inits schools.

C. Its special consideration given toimmigrants.

D. Its underlying goal to develop everychild's abilities to the fullest extent.

答案与题解：

1.【C】 A，B:D均只指出了美国教育目标的一个方面。

2.【D】文中提到学生可以根据自己的兴趣、目标和能力来选择课程。

3.【C】A，B，D都只提到教育的某一个方面，但美国教育最强调的是对学生独立解决问题能力的培养o

4.【C】本文中没有提到外国留学生。

5.【D】给每个学生最充分地发挥自己能力的机会是美国教育的最重要特点。

 

推荐学习：2015年职称英语网络课程

（责任编辑：中大编辑）