Question

  One of the things teachers dread is to have charge of a class dominated by a large,stupid,bullying boy. David Horsey gives such a young rude truly nightmarish (垂夢般的) proportions in today's cartoon：too large to fit in the room.

  The teacher in the cartoon is trying to interest her pupils in a violin. There are many ways in which to think about a violin：how it is played,how it makes those sounds,the kind of music that one can play on it,how the violin was crafted,who produced it,the historical origin of the violin,its beauty as an object,attitudes toward violins and violin music,etc. The violin is a perfect tool for stimulating curiosity and imagination,for encouraging experiment,for exciting wonder,for training taste. And such undertakings as these are fundamental to the best Western concept of education,just as important as the mastery of facts. Facts are important,but facts are also dead in themselves. Good education must include giving children experience in using facts to explore the unknown,in groups and on their own,and also to formulate opinions and impressions,and to defend them in debate.

  But progress in such matters as imagination,creativity and responsiveness cannot easily be tested,at least not numerically,while success in memorizing facts can be measured in neat ways to satisfy the bureaucrats (官僚) .Now President Bush has promised to improve American primary education,and most observers would agree that it needs improvement. He sides with the people who emphasize the use of tests to guarantee that pupils are reaching certain minimums in math and reading. That is the approach taken in the "No Child Left Behind" Act passed by Congress early in the Bush presidency：forced testing of children and schools,with published results for the schools and punitive (懲罰性的) measures for under performers.

  But Horsey sympathizes with teachers who complain that teaching to tests has little to do with true education. Education in fact is easy to organize;education for life―in using all the capacities of one's mind to meet the challenges of life―is an art that bureaucrats,like the class bully,know nothing about and want to hear nothing of.

(   ) 5. What does the underlined word " bullying boy" probably mean in the first paragraph?

   A. A smart but poor person.

   B. A rough and violent person.

   C. An honest but hottempered man.

   D. An intelligent but talkative one.

(   ) 6. The passage is mainly about         .

   A. how to teach a violin in an effective way

   B. what good education is like

   C. an argument about a law

   D. how to help students pass tests

(   ) 7. From the passage we can infer that .

   A. some officials don't know much about education

   B. creativity and responsiveness can easily be tested

   C. the students just need to learn what will be tested

   D. the testing can improve American primary education

(   ) 8. The writer's opinions are as follows EXCEPT         .

   A. It's good to take "No child left Behind" Act passed by Congress

   B. Education is more than test. In some way,it's a kind of Art

   C. We can test the facts but can't test the capacities of the students

   D. Teachers should let the students know more than tested facts

Answer 1

5. B從文中可知，a bullying boy是"恃強凌弱的孩子"。

6. C本文通過介紹一幅漫畫，對教育的一項新政策提出異議。

7. A從最后一段可知，這些官僚如漫畫中的又大又笨而且恃強凌弱的人一樣，一無所知，又不聽人勸告，所以，推斷出一些官員對教育是外行。

8. A作者對此法案持反對意見。