Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage.
Throughout the nation's more than 15,000 school districts, widely differing
approaches to teaching science and math have emerged. Though there can be
strength in diversity, a new international analysis suggests that this
variability has instead contributed to lackluster (平淡的) achievement scores by
U.S. children relative to their peers in other developed countries.
Indeed, concludes William H. Schmidt of Michigan State University, who led
the new analysis, "no single intellectually coherent vision dominates U.S.
educational practice in math or science.'' The reason, he said, "is because the
system is deeply and fundamentally flawed."
The new analysis, released this week by the National Science Foundation in
Arlington, Va., is based on data collected from about 50 nations as part of the
Third International Mathematics and Science Study.
Not only do approaches to teaching science and math vary among individual
U.S. communities, the report finds, but there appears to be little strategic
focus within a school district’s curricula, its textbooks, or its teachers'
activities. This contrasts sharply with the coordinated national programs of
most other countries.
On average, U.S. students study more topics within science and math than
their international counterparts do. This creates an educational environment
that "is a mile wide and an inch deep," Schmidt notes.
For instance, eighth graders in the United States cover about 33 topics in
math versus just 19 in Japan. Among science courses, the international gap is
even wider. U.S. curricula for this age level resemble those of a small group of
countries including Australia, Thailand, Iceland, and Bulgaria. Schmidt asks
whether the United States wants to be classed with these nations, whose
educational systems "share our pattern of splintered (支离破碎的) visions" but which
are not economic leaders.
The new report "couldn't come at a better time," says Gerald Wheeler,
executive director of the National Science Teachers Association in Arlington.
"The new National Science Education Standards provide that focused vision,"
including the call "to do less, but in greater depth."
Implementing the new science standards and their math counterparts will be
the challenge, he and Schmidt agree, because the decentralized responsibility
for education in the United States requires that any reforms be tailored and
instituted one community at a time.
In fact, Schmidt argues, reforms such as these proposed national standards
"face an almost impossible task, because even though they are intellectually
coherent, each becomes only one more voice in the babble ( 嘈杂声)."
31. According to the passage, the teaching of science and math in America
is
A) focused on tapping students' potential
B) characterized by its diversity
C) losing its vitality gradually
D) going downhill in recent years
32. The fundamental flaw of American school education is that ________.
A) it lacks a coordinated national program
B) it sets a very low academic standard for students
C) it relies heavily on the initiative of individual teachers
D) it attaches too much importance to intensive study of school
subjects
33. By saying that the U.S. educational environment is "a mile wide and an
inch deep" (Line 2, Para. 5), the author means U.S. educational practice
________.
A) lays stress on quality at the expense of quantity
B) offers an environment for comprehensive education
C) encourages learning both in depth and in scope
D) scratches the surface of a wide range of topics
34. The new National Science Education Standards are good news in that they
will
A) provide depth to school science education
B) solve most of the problems in school teaching
C) be able to meet the demands of the community
D) quickly dominate U.S. educational practice
35. Putting the new science and math standards into practice will prove
difficult because ________.
A) there is always controversy in educational circles
B) not enough educators have realized the necessity for doing so
C) school districts are responsible for making their own decisions
D) many schoolteachers challenge the acceptability of these standards.
Passage Four
Questions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage.
"I've never met a human worth cloning," says cloning expert Mark Westhusin
from his lab at Texas A&M University. "It's a stupid endeavor." That's an
interesting choice of adjective, coming from a man who has spent millions of
dollars trying to clone a 13-year-old dog named Missy. So far, he and his team
have not succeeded, though they have cloned two cows and expect to clone a cat
soon. They just might succeed in cloning Missy this spring - or perhaps not for
another 5 years. It seems the reproductive system of man's best friend is one of
the mysteries of modern science.
Westhusin's experience with cloning animals leaves him upset by all this
talk of human cloning. In three years of work on the Missy project, using
hundreds upon hundreds of dog's eggs, the A&M team has produced only a dozen
or so embryos (胚胎) carrying Missy's DNA. None have survived the transfer to a
surrogate (代孕的) mother. The wastage of eggs and the many spontaneously aborted
fetuses (胎) may be acceptable when you're dealing with cats or bulls, he argues,
but not with humans. "Cloning is incredibly inefficient, and also dangerous," he
says.
Even so, dog cloning is a commercial opportunity, with a nice research
payoff. Ever since Dolly the sheep was cloned in 1997, Westhusin's phone has
been ringing with people calling in hopes of duplicating their cats and dogs,
cattle and horses. "A lot of people want to clone pets, especially if the price
is right," says Westhusin. Cost is no obstacle for Missy's mysterious
billionaire owner; he's put up $3.7 million so far to fund A&M's
research.
Contrary to some media reports, Missy is not dead. The owner wants a twin
to carry on Missy's fine qualities after she does die. The prototype is, by all
accounts, athletic, good-natured and supersmart. Missy's master does not expect
an exact copy of her. He knows her clone may not have her temperament. In a
statement of purpose, Missy's owner and the A&M team say they are "both
looking forward to studying the ways that her clones differ from Missy."
Besides cloning a great dog, the project may contribute insight into the
old question of nature vs. nurture. It could also lead to the cloning of special
rescue dogs and many endangered animals.
However, Westhusin is cautious about his work. He knows that even if he
gets a dog pregnant, the offspring, should they survive, will face the problems
shown at birth by other cloned animals: abnormalities like immature lungs and
heart and weight problems~ "Why would you ever want to clone humans," Westhusin
asks, "when we're not even close to getting it worked out in animals yet?"
36. By "stupid endeavor" (Line 2, Para. 1), Westhusin means to say that
________.
A) animal cloning is not worth the effort at all
B) animal cloning is absolutely impractical
C) human cloning should be done selectively
D) human cloning is a foolish undertaking
37. What does the first paragraph tell us about Westhusin's dog cloning
project?
A) Its success is already in sight.
B) Its outcome remains uncertain.
C) It is doomed to utter failure.
D) It is progressing smoothly.
38. By cloning Missy, Mark Westhusin hopes to ________.
A) study the possibility of cloning humans
B) search for ways to modify .its temperament
C) examine the reproductive system of the dog species
D) find out the differences between Missy and its clones
39. We learn from the passage that animal clones are likely to have
________.
A) a bad temper
B) immune deficiency
C) defective organs
D) an abnormal shape
40. It can be seen that present cloning techniques ________.
A) still have a long way to go before reaching maturity
B) have been widely used in saving endangered species
C) provide insight into the question of nature vs. nurture
D) have proved quite adequate for the cloning of
humans
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