2015年全国硕士研究生考试英语二试题（2）
Directions:Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by
choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. (40 points)
Homework has never been terribly popular with students and even many
parents, but in recently years it has been particularly scorned. School
districts across the country, most recently Los Angeles Unified, are revising
their thinking on this educational ritual. Unfortunately, L.A. Unified has
produced an inflexible policy which mandates that with the exception of some
advanced courses, homework may no longer count for more than 10% of a student’s
academic grade.
This rule is meant to address the difficulty that students from
impoverished or chaotic homes might have in completing their homework. But the
policy is unclear and contradictory. Certainly, no homework should be assigned
that students cannot complete on their own or that they cannot do without
expensive equipment. But if the district is essentially giving a pass to
students who do not do their homework because of complicated family lives, it is
going riskily close to the implication that standards need to be lowered for
poor children.
District administrators say that homework will still be a part of
schooling; teachers are allowed to assign as much of it as they want. But with
homework counting for no more than 10% of their grades, students can easily skip
half their homework and see very little difference on their report cards. Some
students might do well on state tests without completing their homework, but
what about the students who performed well on the tests and did their homework?
It is quite possible that the homework helped. Yet rather than empowering
teachers to find what works best for their students, the policy imposes a flat,
across-the-board rule.
At the same time, the policy addresses none of the truly thorny questions
about homework. If the district finds homework to be unimportant to its
students’ academic achievement, it should move to reduce or eliminate the
assignments, not make them count for almost nothing. Conversely, if should
account for a significant portion of the grade. Meanwhile, this policy does
nothing to ensure that the homework students receive is meaningful or
appropriate to their age and the subject, or that teachers are not assigning
more than they are willing to review and correct.
The homework rules should be put on hold while the shool board, which is
responsible for setting educational policy, looks into the matter and conducts
public hearings. It is not too late for L.A. Unified to do homework right.
1. It is implied in paragraph 1 that nowadays homework____.
is receiving more criticism
is no longer an educational ritual
is not required for advanced courses
is gaining more preferences
2. L.A.Unified has made the rule about homework mainly because poor
students_____.
tend to have moderate expectations for their education
have asked for a different educational standard
may have problems finishing their homework
have voiced their complaints about homework
3. According to Paragraph 3’one problem with the policy is that it
may____.
discourage students from doing homework
result in students’ indifference to their report cards
undermine the authority of state tests
restrict teachers’ power in education
4. As mentioned in Paragraph 4 a key question unanswered about homework
is_____.
it should be eliminated
it counts much in schooling
it places extra burdens on teachers
it is important for grades
5. A suitable title for this text could be____.
wrong Interpretations of an Educational Policy
A Welcomed Policy for Poor Students
Thorny Questions about Homework
A Faulty Approach to Homework
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