Question

    AUSTRALIAN adults want to see “life skills” introduced into school curriculums, including money management, job preparation and domestic tasks. New research from Monash University showed Aussie adults also widely supported the inclusion of technology, coding and artificial intelligence subjects to student curriculums to prepare them for future jobs.

Co-author Professor Neil Selwyn, from Monash’s new Education Futures think tank, said the survey results of more than 2,000 Australians had taken himself and Dr Deana Leahy by surprise. “The life skills—I wasn’t expecting that at all,” he said. Those quizzed were asked to rate the value of a list of subjects already in the curriculum, but were also given an open space to write what they think should be included. Prof. Selwyn said people called for schools to teach financial skills, budgeting, cooking and doing taxes. “You could argue that these are things people should be learning themselves, or learning from their families,” Prof. Selwyn said. “But we’ve got to be thinking forward in terms of the skills people will need for jobs and their ways of living.”

One respondent said schools should introduce a “contemporary life skills” subject: “A compulsory 1-hour a week class on skills needed that parents seem continually unable to teach their kids.” Suggestions for the class included resume writing, filing tax returns and health claims. Another respondent called for students to be taught “general life skills as unfortunately not enough kids will have parents to actually be bothered to educate them or simply parents don’t know themselves”.

Of the subjects, maths was the highest ranked (75.5 percent), followed closely by English (74.8 percent). And while science was the third highest ranked subject (46.2 percent), it was more strongly supported by those who earned higher wages and were university educated compared to lower income earners.

Aspects of school life considered least important were students having fun, learning about things that interested them and being given the opportunity to be creative.

1.Why did the adults suggest adding “life skills” to school curriculums?

A. To vary school curriculums.

B. To enrich students’ school life.

C. To prepare students for future work and life.

D. To save parents the trouble of educating kids.

2.What did Prof. Selwyn think of the adults’ suggestions?

A. Reasonable. B. Ridiculous.

C. Interesting. D. Impractical.

3.What does Paragraph 3 focus on?

A. Differences of school subjects. B. Reasons for the school survey.

C. Opinions from the surveyed. D. Investigations of the respondents.

4.What can we know from the text?

A. The present curriculums are to adults’ taste.

B. Contemporary life skills involve resume writing.

C. Students’ interests have been greatly promoted.

D. The parents quizzed think highly of school life

Answer

1.C

2.A

3.C

4.B

【解析】

本文为说明文。澳大利亚成年人希望将“生活技能”引入学校课程，包括理财、就业准备和家务。莫纳什大学(Monash University)的最新研究显示，澳大利亚成年人也普遍支持将科技、编码和人工智能课程纳入学生课程，为他们未来的工作做准备。

1.推理判断题。根据第一段中的AUSTRALIAN adults want to see “life skills” introduced into school curriculums, including money management, job preparation and domestic tasks.可推知，成年人建议在学校课程中增加“生活技能”，为学生未来的工作和生活做准备。故C选项正确。

2.推理判断题。根据第二段中的 “You could argue that these are things people should be learning themselves, or learning from their families,” Prof. Selwyn said. “But we’ve got to be thinking forward in terms of the skills people will need for jobs and their ways of living.”可推知，塞尔温教授认为成年人提出的这些建议还是合理的。A. Reasonable合理的；B. Ridiculous荒谬的；C. Interesting有趣的；D. Impractical不实际的。故A选项正确。

3.段落大意题。根据第三段中的One respondent said schools should…及Another respondent called for students to…可知，第三段集中阐述被调查者的不同观点。故C选项正确。

4.细节理解题。根据第三段中的One respondent said schools should introduce a “contemporary life skills” subject…Suggestions for the class included resume writing, filing tax returns and health claims.可知，现代生活技能包括写简历。故B选项正确。