Question

America's top education official says many schools are spending too much time teaching the “basics”—reading, math and writing. It might seem opposite to what educators have been promoting. But U.S. Education Secretary John King says children really deserve access to a well-rounded education that includes music and arts because it will help them go into being well-rounded, well-educated persons．

King spoke about his own education when explaining why schools need to teach more than math， reading and writing．

King grew up in New York. Both his parents died when he was quite young. In his house, things were often crazy and frightening. It was his teacher, Mr. Osterwei, who helped him escape his difficult life. Quite often, the teacher took him and his classmates to the theater, the zoo, the ballet and famous Museum of Natural History. “Those were powerful, life-changing experiences, ”King says. King graduated from Harvard University. He received his law degree from Yale University. He took charge of New York State public schools from 2011-2015. The U.S. Senate approved him as Education secretary last month．

Many schools spend almost all funding on the “basics” because they lack money for other subjects, King says. Or they want students to do better on tests used to compare student performance．

Students need to connect their studies and things that matter to them personally, such as music if they are to become “sophisticated(水平高的) thinkers”. A 2013 report by UNESCO says today's world needs people able to solve new and unusual problems. It says arts can help students find those answers. In the report, UNESCO said teaching the arts in China, South Korea and Japan is different．

From that in many Western countries, the emphasis(重点) in those three countries is “on joyful experiences and children's interests. ” In the West, educators are more likely to connect the arts to reading, writing and math. A 2014 report tried to compare how well countries teach children how to solve problems. It found Singapore, South Korea, Japan, China, Canada, Australia and Finland with the highest scores for 15-year-olds. Singapore led the way with a score of 562 out of a possible 1，000. The average score was 500. The United States had a score of 508．

1.According to paragraph 1, what have educators been encouraging?

A. Teaching arts should never be put second to teaching the “basic”．

B. More money and time ought to be set aside for teaching arts．

C. Research should be done to ensure a well-rounded education．

D. Enough time is supposed to be spent in teaching the “basics”．

2.King spoke about his own education experience to ________.

A. share with us his extraordinary education background

B. tell us his teacher attached great importance to teaching

C. confirm access to arts contributes to good academic performances

D. call on schools to give arts lessons as much attention as the "basics" ones

3.The author convinces us of the importance of teaching arts by different means except ________.

A. by giving examples    B. by making comparisons

C. by analyzing figures    D. by performing experiments

4.What is the best title for the text?

A. Schools are supposed to be far-sighted

B. Kids should be well-rounded persons

C. Kids need more than “the basics” to learn

D. Teachers must have advanced teaching methods

Answer

1. B

2. D

3. D

4. C

【解析】

本文为议论文。美国最高教育官员表示，许多学校花太多时间教授“基础”知识——阅读、数学和写作，这似乎与教育者所提倡的相反。美国教育部长约翰·金说，儿童确实应该接受包括音乐和艺术在内的全面教育，因为这将帮助他们成为全面的、受过良好教育的人。文章就此话题展开了讨论。

1.推理判断题。根据第一段中It might seem opposite to what educators have been promoting. But U.S. Education Secretary John King says children really deserve access to a well-rounded education that includes music and arts because it will help them go into being well-rounded, well-educated persons.可知，学校花费太多时间教授“基础”知识——阅读、数学和写作，这与教育者所提倡的相反，儿童确实应该接受包括音乐和艺术在内的全面教育，因为这将帮助他们成为全面的、受过良好教育的人。B选项“应该拨出更多的钱和时间来教授艺术”与本段的观点相符。故B选项正确。

2.推理判断题。根据第二段中的King spoke about his own education when explaining why schools need to teach more than math， reading and writing．（在解释为什么学校需要教的不仅仅是数学、阅读和写作时，金谈到了他自己的教育。）及第三段对个人教育经历的具体描述可知，金谈到自己的教育经历是为了呼吁学校在重视“基础”课程的同时，也要重视艺术课。故D选项正确。

3.推理判断题。根据文章内容，作者为了向读者展示艺术教学的重要性讲述了自己的事例：King spoke about his own education when explaining why schools need to teach more than math， reading and writing…；倒数第二段Students need to connect their studies and things that matter to them personally， such as music if they are to become "sophisticated（水平高的）thinkers"…最后一段Singapore led the way with a score of 562 out of a possible 1，000． The average score was 500． The United States had a score of 508．对比了学生的能力以及数据分析等方法，没有做实验这个方法。故选D项。

4.标题判断题。通读全文可知，本文主要论述了儿童应该接受包括音乐和艺术在内的全面教育的重要性。C项：孩子们需要学习的不仅仅是“基础知识”。适合做本文标题。故C选项正确。