American schools aren’t exactly frozen in time, but considering the pace of change in other areas of life, our public schools te

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问题    American schools aren’t exactly frozen in time, but considering the pace of change in other areas of life, our public schools tend to feel like throwbacks.
   For the past five years, the national conversation on education has focused on reading scores, math tests and closing the "achievement gap" between social classes. This is not a story about that conversation. This is a story about the big public conversation the nation is not having about education, the one that will ultimately determine not merely whether some fraction of our children get "left behind" but also whether an entire generation of kids will fail to make the grade in the global economy because they can’t think their way through abstract problems, work in teams, distinguish good information from bad or speak a language other than English.
   This week the conversation will burst onto the front page, when the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce, a high-powered, bipartisan assembly of Education Secretaries, business leaders and a former Governor releases a blueprint for rethinking American education to better prepare students to thrive in the global economy. There is a remarkable consensus among educators and business and policy leaders on one key conclusion: we need to bring what we teach and how we teach into the 21st century. Right now we’re aiming too low. Competency in reading and math is the inadequate minimum. Scientific and technical skills are, likewise, utterly necessary but insufficient. Today’s economy demands not only a high-level competence in the traditional academic disciplines but also what might be called 21st century skills. Here’s what they are:
   Knowing more about the world. Kids are global citizens now, whether they know it or not, and they need to behave that way. Mike Eskew, CEO of UPS, talks about needing workers who are "global trade literate, sensitive to foreign cultures, acquainted with different languages"—not exactly strong points in the U.S., where fewer than half of high school students are enrolled in a foreign-language class and where the social-studies curriculum tends to fixate on U.S. history.
   Thinking outside the box. Jobs in the new economy "put an enormous premium on creative and innovative skills, seeing patterns where other people see only chaos," says Marc Tucker, a lead author of the skills-commission report. That’s a problem for U.S. schools. Kids also must learn to think across disciplines, since that’s where most new breakthroughs are made. "It’s interdisciplinary combinations— design and technology, mathematics and art—that produce YouTube and Google," says Thomas Friedman, the best-selling author of The World Is Flat.
   Becoming smarter about new sources of information. In an age of overflowing information and booming media, kids need to rapidly process what’s coming at them and distinguish between what’s reliable and what isn’t. "It’s important that students know how to manage it, interpret it, validate it, and how to act on it," says Dell executive Karen Bruett, who serves on the board of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, a group of corporate and education leaders focused on upgrading American education.
   Developing good people skills. EQ is as important as IQ for success in today’s workplace. "Most innovations today involve large teams of people," says former Lockheed Martin CEO Norman Augustine. "We have to emphasize communication skills, the ability to work in teams and with people from different cultures."
   [A] places a high premium on interpersonal skills and teamwork spirit.
   [B] suggests scientific and technical skills are out of date in the 21st century.
   [C] requires his employees to know more about the world such as globalized business.
   [D] regards the ability to deal with mass of information quickly and properly as very important
   [E] is in charge of upgrading American education system to equip students for 21st century skills.
   [F] probably agrees that breakthroughs like Google come out of interdisciplinary combinations.
   [G] attaches great importance to inventive minds and innovative skills.
Karen Bruett

选项

答案D

解析 Karen Bruett出现在第六段。该段讲到,在这个信息过剩、媒体急速发展的年代,孩子们需要快速处理扑面而来的信息,并且要分辨出那些信息可信与否。Karen Bruett也说到,对学生来说,懂得如何去管理、解读、核实和利用信息行动是十分重要的。D中的mass of information阐明了原文it的指代含义(在Karen Bruett话中最后那几个it),ability to deal with…是对文中how to manage it,interpret it,validate it,and how to act on it的概括,important是原词复现,故确定D为本题答案。
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