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  3. The 35 percent of African-American youth living in poverty are the most visible victims of what is often called the achievement

The 35 percent of African-American youth living in poverty are the most visible victims of what is often called the achievement

admin2012-02-02  37
问题     The 35 percent of African-American youth living in poverty are the most visible victims of what is often called the achievement gap. But black children of all socioeconomic levels perform worse on national tests and graduate in fewer numbers than their white middle-class peers. A 2009 study by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics found that African-American students scored, on average, 26 points lower than white students on their reading and math tests.
    Some say, as Harvard psychologist Richard J. Herrnstein and American Enterprise Institute political scientist Charles Murray did in their 1994 book, The Bell Curve, that the cause is genetic. And though The Bell Curve has been discredited in scientific circles, the idea that IQ is somehow linked to race has been slow to retreat.
    Others, like Cornell University researchers Gary Evans and Michelle Schamberg, believe that "physiological stress is a plausible model for how poverty could get into the brain and eventually interfere with achievement," as they wrote in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Our best efforts at narrowing the gap nationally — think No Child Left Behind — haven’t worked.
But locally, there are now signs of hope. At the Harlem Children’s Zone’s Promise Academy charter schools, at least 97 percent of third graders scored at or above grade level on a statewide math test in 2008, outperforming the average scores of both black and white children in New York City and New York State.
    What the HCZ does is first recognize that the amelioration (改善) of poverty does not begin and end with an excellent education, but also requires a full belly, parental education, safety, advocacy, and the expectation that every student will succeed. "We help parents and kids through the system," HCZ founder Geoffrey Canada says. "We get them past every hindrance put in their way, whether it be at home or with social services. We can advocate on a child’s behalf, whether it be at home or in the classroom or with the juvenile justice system."
    Indeed, the HCZ starts early: it provides new parents with a Baby College to teach parenting skills during the crucial first three years of a child’s life and a preschool Gems program, where kids learn not only French and Spanish but healthy eating habits to combat childhood obesity.
    The Zone also offers the HCZ Asthma Initiative to provide medical care and education to families, thus drastically cutting down on the number of school days missed by students suffering from asthma (哮喘). And it has a network of afterschool programs that teach media literacy, karate (空手道), and computer skills. It’s called the pipeline — once families enter, it’s hoped that they’ll stay until their child graduates from college. The idea is to create a safety net woven so tightly that kids can’t slip through.  
When it comes to fighting poverty, the Harlem Children’s Zone______.
选项 A、stresses more on crime prevention
B、emphasizes an all-around system
C、condemns parents as a hindrance
D、sees excellent education as the sole way
答案B
解析 根据题干中的poverty以及the Harlem Children’s Zone将本题出处定位到第五段首句。该句提到，HCZ所做的是，首先认识到改变贫困并非只始于或者止于良好的教育，还需要以下因素：孩子不饿肚子、家长教育、安全、支持以及期望每个孩子都能成功。[B](强调一个全面的体系)正是对HCZ改变贫困五种看法的概括总结，故答案为[B]。[A]是针对末句提到的juvenile justice system设的干扰项。[C]项是针对倒数第二句提到的every hindrance put in their way，whether it be at home设的干扰项。[D]项与HCZ的观点矛盾，故排除。
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