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  3. There is something badly wrong with the way standards for school science being set in the US. When the Texas State Board of Educ

There is something badly wrong with the way standards for school science being set in the US. When the Texas State Board of Educ

admin2012-11-30  35
问题     There is something badly wrong with the way standards for school science being set in the US. When the Texas State Board of Education voted in new standards last week, it left the door open for teaching creationism (神造论) in the name of science in federally funded schools. These must be closed, and quickly.
    Because standards are set at state level, students in one state might be learning different science and using different textbooks from what students in another are learning and using. What is worse, the state boards of education that are responsible for standards and textbooks are made up of elected officials who lack any specific skills or qualifications in the relevant areas of science or education. As we saw in the 2005 trial over teaching intelligent design in Dover, Pennsylvania, and are now seeing in Texas, school boards have become a political battleground. Many board members appear to be acting on behalf of religious groups like local churches or the Discovery Institute.
    School science standards should be set by people who understand science and science education. At the same time, it is dangerous to argue that the powers of democratically elected officials should be taken away if they don’t produce the outcome you want. Yet that is what may happen in Texas. Some Democrats have introduced legislation that would transfer authority for textbooks and curricula to the Texas Education Agency.
    Is there a way out of this impasse? One possibility is that candidates for school boards should be tested before they stand. Another is that the pro-science (支持科学者) should try to engage more fully with the democratic process. After the Dover trial, board members who favored intelligent design were dumped by the voters. Something similar could happen in Texas.
    Another possibility is to push decisions further up the democratic ladder. President Barack Obama has already called for all states to have the same achievement standards, raising hopes that he might push for federal standards across all US schools. While this might drive conservative mad, it would put an end to the present situation in which an accident of geography can determine whether a child is taught valid science.
    Obama has already made remarkable changes in Washington by restoring scientific expertise to its rightful place in government. Many teachers and scientists would like to see him do the same in the place where it can count most: in the classroom.
Why has Texas introduced legislation to shift the educational authority?
选项 A、Only those who understand education can set the standards.
B、It is dangerous to deprive the elected officials of their authority.
C、Some Democrats don’t like to be controlled by the school boards.
D、Textbooks and curricula are so important that only Democrats can set them.
答案A
解析 推理判断题。第三段首句提到，作者认为教育标准应由了解教育的人来制定，于是德克萨斯州的民主党派通过立法决定把教育决策权转交给教育机关。A)“只有了解教育的人才能制定教育标准”与文章意思相符。
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