2004年6月

Historians tend to tell the same joke when they are describing history education in America. It’s the one  61  the teacher standing in the schoolroom door  62  goodbye to students for the summer and calling  63  them, “By the way, we won World War II.”

The problem with the joke, of course, is that it’s  64  funny. The recent surveys on  65  illiteracy （無知）are beginning to numb（令人震驚）: nearly one third of American 17-year-olds cannot even   66  which countries the United States  67  against in that war. One third have no  68  when the Declaration of Independence was  69  . One third thought Columbus reached the New World after 1750. Two thirds cannot correctly  70  the Civil War between 1850 and 1900.   71   when they get the answers right, some are  72  guessing.

Unlike math or science, ignorance of history cannot be  73  connected to loss of international  74  . But it does affect our future  75  a democratic nation and as individuals.

The  76  news is that there is growing agreement  77  what is wrong with the  78  of history and what needs to be  79  to fix it. The steps are tentative（嘗試性的）  80  yet to be felt in most classrooms.

61. A) about                         B) in                            C) for                          D) by

62. A) shaking                      B) waving                     C) nodding                   D) speaking

63. A) in                              B) after                        C) for                          D) up

64. A) rarely                        B) so                            C) too                          D) not

65. A) historical                    B) educational               C) cultural                    D) political

66. A) distinguish                 B) acknowledge            C) identify                    D) convey

67. A) defeated                     B) attacked                   C) fought                            D) struck

68. A) sense                         B) doubt                       C) reason                            D) idea

69. A) printed                       B) signed                      C) marked                    D) edited

70. A) place                         B) judge                       C) get                          D) lock

71. A) Even                         B) Though                    C) Thus                       D) So

72. A) hardly                        B) just                          C) still                          D) ever

73. A) exclusively                 B) practically                C) shortly                     D) directly

74. A) competitiveness          B) comprehension         C) community        D) commitment

75. A) of                             B) for                           C) with                        D) as

76. A) fine                           B) nice                         C) surprising                 D) good

77. A) to                              B) with                         C) on                           D) of

78. A) consulting                  B) coaching                  C) teaching                   D) instructing

79. A) done                          B) dealt                        C) met                         D) reached

80. A) therefore                    B) or                            C) and                          D) as

2003年12月

It's an annual back-to-school routine. One morning you wave goodbye, and that 71 evening you're burning the late-night oil in sympathy. In the race to improve educational standards, 72 are throwing the books at kids. 73 elementary school students are complaining of homework 74 . What's a well-meaning parent to do?

　　As hard as 75 may be, sit back and chill, experts advise. Though you've got to get them to do it, 76 helping too much, or even examining 77 too carefully, you may keep them 78 doing it by themselves. "I wouldn't advise a parent to check every 79 assignment," says psychologist John Rosemond, author Of Ending the Tough Homework. "There's a 80 of appreciation for trial and error. Let your children 81 the grade they deserve."

　　Many experts believe parents should gently look over the work of younger children and ask them to rethink their 82 . But "you don't want them to feel it has to be 83 ," she says.

　　That's not to say parents should 84 homework—first, they should monitor how much homework their kids 85 . Thirty minutes a day in the early elementary years and an hour in 86 four, five, and six is standard, says Rosemond. For junior-high students it should be " 87 more than an hour and a half," and two for high-school students. If your child 88 has more homework than this, you may want to check 89 other parents and then talk to the teacher about 90 assignment

　　71.   A) very          B) exact     C) right 　　 D) usual

　　72.   A) officials     B) parents    C) experts 　D) schools

　　73. A) Also          B) Even      C) Then 　  D) However

　　74.   A) fatigue      B) confusion  C) duty 　　 D) puzzle

　　75.   A) there         B) we         C) they 　　  D) it

　　76.   A) via             B) under    C) by 　　      D) for

　　77.   A) questions   B) answers  C) standards    D) rules

　　78.   A) off            B) without  C) beyond 　   D) from

　　79.   A) single        B) piece    C) page 　　    D) other

　　80.   A) drop          B) short    C) cut 　　      D) lack

　　81.   A) acquire      B) earn     C) gather 　     D) reach

　　82. A) exercises   B) defects   C) mistakes      D) tests

　　83.   A) perfect      B) better    C) unusual    D) complete

　　84.   A) forget       B) refuse    C) miss 　　  D) ignore

　　85.   A) have          B) prepare   C) make　　   D) perform

　　86.   A) classes       B) groups    C) grades 　  D) terms

　　87.   A) about        B) no       C) much 　　 D) few

　　88.   A) previously  B) rarely     C) merely　    D) consistently

　　89.   A) with          B) in        C) out 　　    D) up

　　90.   A) finishing     B) lowering  C) reducing     D) declining