Question

GCSEs not fit for purpose

GCSEs （General Certificate of Secondary Education，普通中等教育證書(shū)）encourage "teaching to the test" and may be past their sell-by date, according to Britain's leading business organization. The Confederation of British Industry（CBI） warns that the qualification is stopping teachers delivering an "inspirational classroom experience" and should be replaced.

John Cridland, the CBI director general, said industry faced a shortage of key skills, particularly in science and maths. The CBI（英國(guó)工業(yè)聯(lián)合會(huì)）, which represents more than 240,000 companies, is also concerned about the 40% of young people who fail to achieve the benchmark of five good GCSE passes including English and maths. The percentage of pupils who reach this standard is the main measure of school success.

Speaking at the launch of a CBI inquiry into education, Cridland argued that abandoning GCSEs could help deliver a full education. "There's something about this GCSE limitation which produces a form of learning ------ teaching for the test.’’

"It frustrates teachers because it stops them delivering that inspirational classroom experience."

The CBI head suggested that raising the school leaving age to 18 – a change that comes into effect in 2015 – is an opportunity to reform the system. "It seems to me that we've raised the participation age to 18 and we're left with an education system that focuses on 16," said Cridland. More than 600,000 children in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are due to take GCSEs this summer.

Many other countries do without a public exam at 16. Finland, the highest performing school system in Europe, has just one public exam, at 18, though children are regularly tested at younger ages.

1.What does the author intend to tell us in paragragh1？

A.“Teaching to the test” should be encouraged.

B. We should stop teachers delivering “inspirational experience”.

C. The current qualification is out of date and should be replaced.

D. The Confederation of British Industry should be replaced.

2.What’s the main idea of the passage？

A. The British GCSEs are no longer practical and should be reformed.

B. In the GCSEs system , teachers don’t have freedom.

C. Five good GCSEs is hard to achieve.

D. The British Education Department will reform education system.

3.The meaning of the underlined word “benchmark” in paragraph 2 may be ______.

A. success                       B. target               C. standard      D. excellent grades

4.Where can we find this article?

A．TV series                              B. radio news

C. newspaper education section        D. government report

 

Answer 1

【答案】

 

1.C

2.A

3.B

4.C

【解析】

試題分析：文章主要講的是英國(guó)的教育問(wèn)題。GCSEs標(biāo)準(zhǔn)已經(jīng)過(guò)時(shí)，不符合社會(huì)發(fā)展的需要，應(yīng)該進(jìn)行改革，為社會(huì)培養(yǎng)合格的實(shí)用型人材。

1.根據(jù)第一段“the qualification is stopping teachers delivering an "inspirational classroom experience" and should be replaced”可知，這種資格認(rèn)證方式正在阻止老師進(jìn)行啟發(fā)性的課堂教學(xué)，應(yīng)該被取代。故選C。

2.根據(jù)“the qualification is stopping teachers delivering an "inspirational classroom experience" and should be replaced

abandoningGCSEs could help deliver a full education...teaching for the test...is an opportunity to reform the system”可知，GCSEs已經(jīng)不能滿足社會(huì)需求，應(yīng)該改革。故選A。

3.the 40% of young people who fail to achieve the benchmark of five good GCSE passes40%的年輕人未能達(dá)到五項(xiàng)良好的普通教育證書(shū)考試目標(biāo)。故選B。

4.A電視連續(xù)��；B廣播新聞；C報(bào)紙教育專欄；D政府報(bào)告。文章多次提到教師，根據(jù)"teaching to the test"..."It frustrates teachers because it stops them delivering that inspirational classroom experience."可知，文章主要講的是GCSEs已經(jīng)過(guò)時(shí)，教育體制需要改革。與教育有關(guān)的是C項(xiàng)。故選C。

考點(diǎn)：教育類短文閱讀