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  3. Throughout the nation’s more than 15,000 school districts, widely differing approaches to teaching science and math have emerged

Throughout the nation’s more than 15,000 school districts, widely differing approaches to teaching science and math have emerged

admin2012-02-02  62
问题     Throughout the nation’s more than 15,000 school districts, widely differing approaches to teaching science and math have emerged. Though there can be strength in diversity, a new international analysis suggests that this variability has instead contributed to lackluster (平淡的) achievement scores by U.S. children relative to their peers in other developed countries.
    Indeed, concludes William H. Schmidt of Michigan State University, who led the new analysis, "no single intellectually coherent vision dominates U.S. educational practice in math or science. " The reason, he said, "is because the system is deeply and fundamentally flawed. "
    The new analysis, released this week by the National Science Foundation in Arlington, Va., is based on data collected from about 50 nations as part of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study.
    Not only do approaches to teaching science and math vary among individual U. S. communities, the report finds, but there appears to be little strategic focus within a school district’s curricula, its textbooks, or its teachers’ activities. This contrasts sharply with the coordinated national programs of most other countries.
    On average, U.S. students study more topics within science and math than their international counterparts do. This creates an educational environment that "is a mile wide and an inch deep," Schmidt notes.
    For instance, eighth graders in the United States cover about 33 topics in math versus just 19 in Japan. Among science courses, the international gap is even wider. U.S. curricula for this age level resemble those of a small group of countries including Australia, Thailand, Iceland, and Bulgaria. Schmidt asks whether the United States wants to be classed with these nations, whose educational systems "share our pattern of splintered (支离破碎 的) visions" but which are not economic leaders.
    The new report "couldn’t come at a better time", says Gerald Wheeler, executive director of the National Science Teachers Association in Arlington. "The new National Science Education Standards provide that focused vision," including the call "to do less, but in greater depth".
    Implementing the new science standards and their math counterparts will be the challenge, he and Schmidt agree, because the decentralized responsibility for education in the United States requires that any reforms be tailored and instituted one community at a time.
    In fact, Schmidt argues, reforms such as these proposed national standards "face an almost impossible task, because even though they are intellectually coherent, each becomes only one more voice in the babble (嘈杂声). " (411 words)
According to the passage, the teaching of science and math in America is
选项 A、focused on tapping students’ potential
B、characterized by its diversity
C、losing its vitality gradually
D、going downhill in recent years
答案B
解析 本题属于事实细节题。根据关键词“teaching of science and math”定位到原文第一句：在美国超过一万五千个学区中，科学和数学的教学方法千差万别。该段第二句又提到“尽管多样化有好处……”，这说明“多样化”是美国科学和数学教学的特征，故B正确。A“集中开发学生的潜力”，文中无信息支持。C“逐步失去活力”，D“最近几年走下坡路”，文章虽指出了美国的教育体系有缺陷，但并未说其失去活力或走下坡路，故不应选C、D。
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