1、职称英语综合类 A 类-阅读理解及答案解析(总分：29.00，做题时间：90 分钟)一、阅读理解(总题数：29，分数：29.00)1.The idea of“ common schools“ that adopt the same curriculum and standards isnt new. It first arose in the 1840s, largely owing to the influence of the reformer Horace Mann. But the U. S. Constitution leave public education to the sta
2、tes, and the states devolve much of the authority to local school districts, of which there are now more than 13,000 in the U. S. The Federal Government Drovides less than 9% of the funding for K - 12 schools. That is why it has proved impossible thus far to create common curriculum standards nation
3、wide. In 1989, President George H. W. Bush summoned the nations governors to Charlottesville, V a. ,to attempt a standards -based approach to school reform. The result was only a vague endorsement of“ voluntary national standards. “which never gained much traction. In 1994 ,President Bill Clinton go
4、t federal money for standards -based reform, but the effort remained in the hands of the states, leading to a wildly varying hodgepodge of expectations for -as well as ideological battles over- math and English curriculums.“Common schools“ refer toA. schools that share funding and teaching facilitie
5、s.B. schools that share the same faculty staff.C. schools that accept students of all ages.D. schools that adopt the same curriculum and standards.（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.2.The attention of the public was first drawn to the dangers threatening the great old houses and castles of Britain by the death of lor
6、d Lothian, who left his great seventeenth - century house to the Trust together with the 4,500 -acre park and estate surrounding it. This gift attracted wide publicity and started the Trusts“ Country House Scheme“. Under this scheme, with the help of the Government and the general public, the Trust
7、has been able to save and make accessible to the public about one hundred and fifty of these old houses, usually at a very small charge.Who was Lord Lothian? A. He was a government official. B. He was a seventeenth -century noble. C. He was the owner of a seventeenth - century house. D. He was the f
8、ounder of the National Trust in Britain.（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.3.The No Child Left Behind Act pushed by President George W. Bush unintentionally exacerbated the problem. It required each state to ensure that its students achieve“ universal proficiency“ in reading and mathbut allowed each to define what th
9、at meant. The result was that many states made their job easier by setting their bar lower. This race to the bottom resulted in a Lake Wobegon world where every state declared that its kids were better than average. Take the amazing case of Mississippi. According to the standards it set for itself,8
10、9% of its fourth - graders were proficient or better in reading, making them the best in the nation. Yet according to the random sampling done every few years by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test, a mere 18 % of the states fourth- graders were proficient, making them the wo
11、rst in the nation. Even in Lake Wobegon that doesnt happen. Only in Americ a. The ThomasB. Fordham Institute, led by reformer Chester Finn Jr. , has been analyzing state standards for more than a decade and concludes, “Two - thirds of U. S. children attend schools in states with mediocre standards o
12、r worse. “In order to meet the requirement set the No Child Left Behind Act, every stateA. set lower assessment standards for students.B. worked extremely hard to help its students.C. assessed its students by way of sampling.D. focused all attention on reading and mat（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.4.What is bothe
13、ring our sons? Some experts suggest we are witnessing all epidemic of ADHD (注意力缺陷多动障症) and say boys need more treatment. Others say that environmental pollutants found in plastics, among other things, may be eroding their attention spans and their ability to regulate their emotions.Those experts may
14、 be right but I have another suggestion. Lets examine the way our child rearing and our schools have evolved in the last 10 years. Then ask ourselves this challenging question : could sonic of those changes we have embraced in our families, our communities and our schools be driving our sons crazy?W
15、hat might be the reason that caused the problems in the boys according to the author? A. The wide spread of ADHD. B. Environmental pollutants found in things we use. C. The way children are reared and educated. D. Over - attention from parents.（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.5.But for some teachers, the learning c
16、urve with the device is steep, and a generation gap has opened with teachers who are still accustomed to writing lesson plans with a pen and paper. Many older educators are“ Petrified“ (吓呆的，惊呆的) of the boards, says Peter Kornicker, a media specialist at P. S. 161 in Harlem, where despite a student p
17、overty rate of 98 percent, all 35 classrooms are equipped with touchscreens. “Always, it comes back to the ability of teachers to leverage this technology, “says Andy Rotherham of Education Sector, a Washington, D. C. - based think tank. “We have to train them to use it. Otherwise, it just another u
18、nderused, expensive thing. “What does “to leverage“ in bold most probably mean? A. To use B. To equip C. To learn D. To buy（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.6.Storm - water runoffalso called urban runoff or runoff pollutionis rainwater plus everything else it sucks up after hitting the ground: oil and grease from au
19、tos, emissions, brake dust, road salts and pathogens (病原体，致病菌) from animal waste. “In many U. S. cities, urban runoff far exceeds industrial waste as the main pollutant in local waterways, “says Steve Fleischli, president of the environmental watchdog Water keeper Alliance. The growth of AbTechs rev
20、enuesprojected to crack $10 million in 2010speaks to the growing number of cities eager to address the problem.Storm - water runoff is a mixture of A. rainwater pills everything it takes away after hitting the ground. B. oil grease from autos, emissions, brake dust, road salts and animal waste. C. i
21、ndustrial Waste plus pollutant in local waterways. D. rainwater plus industrial wast（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.7.The Great Depression of the 1930s was the most momentous(重大的，重要的)economic event of the 20th century. It was a direct cause of World War II, having fed the Nazis rise in Germany. It inspired a new A
22、merican welfare system as a response to mass misery. Everywhere, it discredited unsupervised capitalism. Given todays economic crisis, our renewed fascination with the Depression is natural. But we ought to be cautious in stretching the parallels too far.Its worth recalling how exceptional the Depre
23、ssion was. As Liaquat Ahamed writes in his engrossing (引人入胜的，使人着迷的) “Lords of Finance“:“During a three -year period, real GDP gross domestic product in the major economies fell by over 25 percent, a quarter of the adult male population was thrown out of work.The economic turmoil created hardships in
24、 every corner of the globe, from the prairies of Canada to the crowded cities of Asi a. “What does the author mean by“ exceptional“ ?A. The Depression was different from other economic depressions.B. No other economic crises are comparable to the Depression in terms of consequences.C. There are no p
25、arallels between the present economic crisis and the Depression.D. The fascination aroused by the Depression lasted all the way to today.（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.8.Teachers are conditioned to tolerate a lot of abuseits a professional hazardbut what faculty members at Sir G. E. Cartier Elementary School in L
26、ondon, Ontario, went through last spring seems beyond the call of duty :a few of them agreed to be duct -taped (用软管固定于)to a gym wall while students hit them in the face with pies. Why on earth would they do that? To raise $ 3,000 enough cash for an interactive whiteboard, the most desirable piece of
27、 educational technology on the market right now. These Internet - age chalkboards are essentially giant computer touchscreens, and theyre all the rage among teachers. But with little room for them in school budgets, many educators are doing whatever it takes to raise the money themselves. “Were a de
28、sperate breed, arent we?“ says Sharon Zinn, one of three teachers who volunteered for Cartier Elementarys whipped - cream - flavored firing squad.How does the author view the deed of some of the teachers at Sir G. E. Cartier Elementary School? A. It is what most teachers are going through. B. It is
29、something worth praise. C. It is too much for most teachers to tolerate. D. Its due to the fierce conflict between teachers and students.（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.9.The consequences go far beyond merely the loss of two pieces of property. Each satellite weighed more than half a metric ton and was moving at 7
30、.5 kilometers per second. The resulting explosion was catastrophic (灾难性的), generating a massive cloud of cosmic debrisperhaps 100, 000 pieces of junk bigger than one centimeter in diameter, estimates David Wright, a space expert at the Union of Concerned Scientists. In one stroke, the accident incre
31、ased by nearly a third the number of stray objects in the crucial 700 - to - 900 - kilometer band known as low Earth orbit (LEO). The junk cloud will eventually disperse around the entire planet, like a shroud(遮蔽物).According to David Wrights estimation, the explosion of the two satellites may result
32、 in A. 100,000 pieces of junk bigger than one centimeter in diameter. B. a massive cloud of cosmic debris beyond the low Earth orbit. C. a cloud of cosmic debris like a shroud around the sun. D. a third of the number of stray objects in the low Earth orbit.（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.10.Glaciers are a possible
33、 source of fresh water that has been overlooked until recently. Three quarters of the Earths fresh water supply is still tied up in glacial ice, a reservoir of untapped fresh water so immense that it could sustain all the rivers of the world for 1,000 years. Floating on the oceans are 7,659 trillion
34、 metric tons of ice encased in 10,000 icebergs that break away from the polar ice caps, more than ninety percent of them from Antarctic a.How much fresh water is tied up in glacial ice?A. 75 % of the Earths fresh water supply.B. 90% of the Earths fresh water supply.C. Enough to support human beings
35、for 1,000 years.D. As much as the water from 10,000 trillion metric tons of ic（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.11.Moreover, even with the federal stimulus money, school districts will still get the bulk of their funding from state and local coffers(资金) ,which havent been this low in decades. As Randall Moody, manag
36、er of federal advocacy(支持，拥护) for the National Education Association, says, When you have 40 states with serious budget issues and thats where schools get the bulk of their money, naturally theres going to be a problem.School districts will get most of their funding from A. the federal stimulus mone
37、y. B. loans from banks. C. state and local governments. D. from the National Education Association.（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.12.The National Trust in Britain plays an increasingly important part in the preservation for public enjoyment of the best that is left unspoiled of the British countryside. Although t
38、he Trust has received practical and moral support from the Government, it is not a rich Government department. It is a voluntary association of people who care for the unspoiled countryside and historic buildings of Britain. It is a charity which depends for its existence on voluntary support from m
39、embers of the public. Its primary duty is to protect places of great natural beauty and places of historical interest.Members of the National Trust are people A. who are government employees and get their pay from the government. B. who are interested in dealing with social problems. C. who are rich
40、 enough to work for the organization without pay. D. who care for the unspoiled countryside and historic buildings in Britain.（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.13.Compare the two worlds. On the one side is the West( plus Japan). with banks that are over-utilized and thus dysfunctional(不能正常动作的), governments groaning
41、under debt, and consumers who are rebuilding their broken balance sheets. America is having trouble selling its IOUs at attractive prices( the last three Treasury auctions (拍卖) have gone badly) ; its largest state, California, is heading toward total fiscal collapse; and its budget deficit is going
42、to surpass 13 percent of GDPa level last seen during World War II. With all these burdens, even if there is a recovery, the United States might not return to fast - paced growth for a while. And its probably more dynamic than Europe or Japan.All the following are problems the West is facing EXCEPT t
43、hat A. banks are not functioning properly. B. governments are buried in too much debt. C. people have big financial problems. D. economy is experiencing quick recovery.（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.14.With books tucked neatly off the shelves and a comfy purple - dragon rug in a back-coruer nook, the library at S
44、an Diegos Willard B. Hage Elementary School is the perfect place for children to fall in love with reading. Since the start of the school year, however, the library has been off - limits to students, who get to go there only when (already overworked)teachers can escort them and handle the record - k
45、eeping. “With all of the cutbacks weve had in the last few years, the district cant pay for someone to help check out books,“ explains Pare Wiesenberg, a third -grade teacher at the school. “As a result, the children suffer. “Students at Willard B. Hage Elementary school can use the library when A.
46、teachers can take care of them. B. they can handle the record - keeping themselves. C. teachers can go with them and help. D. they can to in groups and help each other.（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.15.The recession may have spread across the global economy, but recovery efforts havent taken the edge off the mort
47、gage meltdown (熔毁) that helped start it all. In fact, many American real estate markets may be at risk of even worse declines.What does the author say about the present recession? A. It has affected the global economy. B. Recovery efforts have functioned. C. It was triggered by mortgage crash. D. It
48、 is similar to the one in 2001.（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.16.The national foreclosure average is now 3%, but the average for subprime loans (不良贷款)a disproportionate share of mortgages in high - stress marketsis 13.9%. That number could rise even after the recession ends because solid economic growth cant brin
49、g back housing prices that fell so tar 80 fast after the boom.“We had a housing decline in Massachusetts in the 1990s with no recession, “says Mark Fleming, chief economist of real estate analytics firm First American CoreLogic, “and a recession in 2001 within the middle of the housing boom. “In other words, home prices and lending rates rising right along with the economy was never good for borrowers.What does the author what to convey to the reader by quoting Mark Flemings remarks? A. The general
