Question

Tests administered（实施）to most elementary and high-school students in the United States exert（发挥）an unfavorable influence on science and math teaching， according to a new ＄1 million study performed for the National Science Foundation．And because schools with high minority enrollments（入学）generally place a greater reliance（相信）on scores from these tests， the study finds，there tends to be “a gap in instructional emphases between high and low minority classrooms that differs from our national concern for the quality of education．”

George F．Madaus and his colleagues at Boston College analyzed not only the six most widely used national standardized tests， but also the tests designed to accompany（go with）the four most commonly used science and math texts in fourth-grade，eighth-grade，and high-school classrooms．Though curriculum（teaching program）experts argue that schools should place greater emphasis on problem solving and reasoning， the new study shows that the tests focus on lower-level skills—primarily mechanical memorization of routine formulas（公式）．

Researchers surveyed more than 2，200 math and science instructors，interviewing in depth some 300 teachers and administrators．Especially in schools with high minority enrollments，teachers reported feeling pressured to help students perform well on these tests．Some states judge schools and some schools determine teacher assignments（工作安排）based on students' test scores．

“With so much worry，”Madaus says，“teachers feel forced to focus their instruction on drilling what the tests will measure—at the expense of the more valuable，higher-level skills．”

The author of this article states that ____  _ ．

A．the tests don't affect teaching in most elementary and high schools

B．the science and math teaching is influenced by the present tests

C．no study is performed on tests for the National Science Foundation

D．the United States exerts a strong influence on science and math teaching

It can be inferred that in high minority classrooms ____  _ ．

A．the students can not get high score from the tests

B．scores from the tests are not important

C．instructional emphases are unfavourable

D．teaching doesn't focus on the quality of education

According to the second paragraph，the study has discovered that ____  _ ．

A．emphasis of teaching is on problem solving and reasoning

B．curriculum is good for national standardized tests

C．the tests mainly center around the memorization of some formulas

D．routine formulas are not useful for students to memorize

According to Madaus' opinion，teachers are forced to ____  _ ．

A．evaluate（评估）students' skills every year

B．suffer so much worry on the texts

C．teach what will be tested

D．focus their instruction on useful drillings

Answer 1

【小题1】B

【小题2】D

【小题3】C

【小题4】C

解析:

【小题1】根据文中第1句 Tests … exert an unfavorable influence on science and math teaching, according to a new $ million study … 证明A、C错，并且也说明政府的政策并没有得到贯彻。

【小题2】根据第一段第2句 And because schools with high minority enrollments generally place a greater reliance on scores …. that differs from our national concern for the quality of education. 学校的指导方针对学校、学生有利，因此C不完全正确。

【小题3】根据第二段末  … tests focus on lower-level skills — primarily mechanical memorization of routine formulas. 所以去A选C。文中没涉及课程设置与考试之间的关系，B错；公式肯定应该记，但它只是手段而非目的。

【小题4】根据第四段 With so much worry, teachers feel forced to focus their attention on drilling what the tests will measure—at the expense of the more valuable, high—level skills.