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  3. As far as American school system is concerned, it is almost impossible to pick out one institution as typical or even representa

As far as American school system is concerned, it is almost impossible to pick out one institution as typical or even representa

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问题     As far as American school system is concerned, it is almost impossible to pick out one institution as typical or even representative. The primary reason for this bafflement is that there are too great a variety of schools at both primary and secondary level, and the differences between or among them are just too huge. However, while singling out typical schools is next to impossible, there are enough basic features among them to permit some generalizations.
    Under the U. S. Constitution, the federal government has no power to make laws in the field of education; instead, each state is fully responsible within its own territory. Accordingly, each state has an educational administration, not subject to federal control. The state authorities lay down general principles concerning the organization of schools and such matters as the ages of compulsory education schools are provided and managed by local community boards of education. A fairly large cit-y has a board of its own; otherwise a board may cover the area of a county or of several local communities. All states have for some time had compulsory school attendance up to the age of sixteen, and some beyond that, but the laws are not everywhere enforced with the same vigor, with so much local control, the standards of education provided in different parts of the United States are by no means uniform.
    Elementary education begins at the age of six. There are almost always required subjects at each level, and pupils who do not do well often have to repeat courses. Many schools also support summer classes, where students can make up for failed course or even take extra courses. At this stage, four fifths of all the teachers are women, mostly married. The atmosphere is usually very friendly, and the teachers have for a long time now accepted the idea that the important thing is to make the children happy and interested. The old rigid and authoritarian methods of education were discredited in America rather a long time ago—so much that many people now thinks that education has gone too far in the direction of trying to make children happy and interested rather than giving them actual instruction.
    Education in nearly all parts of the United States is comprehensive in that there is no selection of children who attend full scale secondary education. Distinctions within the educational system are based in part on the use of private instructions by the few who can pay for them and think it worthwhile to do so, and more importantly, on the different social characteristics of the areas in which schools are placed. Racial factors may be involved, although segregation has been formally abandoned. However ever, whether they are public or private, schools in the United States have always stressed character training or social skills training through extracurricular activities, including organized sports and performing arts. As most schools start at around 8 o’ clock every morning and classes often do not finish until 3 or 4 o’ clock in the afternoon, such activities mean that many students do not return home until the early evening. Students, on the whole, seem to take as much interest in extracurricular activities as they do in school curriculum itself if not more. Consequently cycling, A-merican schools usually provide a very broad range of extracurricular activities, such as mountain climbing, horse racing, and chess playing. Quite many schools publish their newspapers, and some have their own radio stations. Almost all have student orchestras, bands, choirs, and theater and drama societies. As part of extracurricular activities, students are also encouraged to work as volunteers in hospitals and homes for the aged and do other public service work. At any rate, extracurricular activities for American students come in every shape and style.
The passage is mainly about______.
选项 A、variety of American schools
B、extracurricular activities in America
C、primary and secondary education in America
D、American education
答案C
解析 第一段第二句提出有各种各样的小学中学，第三段主要讲小学教育的情况，第四段讲中学教育的情况，因此本文主要涉及美国的中小学教育，故选C。
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