2. 外语
  3. The kids are hanging out. They are not old enough for jobs. Nor are they rich enough for camp. They are school children without

The kids are hanging out. They are not old enough for jobs. Nor are they rich enough for camp. They are school children without

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问题     The kids are hanging out. They are not old enough for jobs. Nor are they rich enough for camp. They are school children without school. The calendar called the school year ran out on them a few weeks ago. Once supervised by teachers and principals,they now appear to be in "self care".
    Americans framed the school year around the needs of work and family. In 19th century cities, schools were open seven or eight hours a day, 11 months a year. In rural America,the school year was arranged around the growing season. Now,only 3 percent of families follow the agricultural model,but nearly all schools are scheduled as if our children went home early to milk the cows and took months off to work the crops. Now,three-quarters of the mothers of school-age children work,but the calendar is written as if they were home waiting for the school bus.
    The six-hour day,the 180-day school year is regarded as somehow sacrosanct. But when parents work an eight-hour day and a 240-day year, it means that many kids go home to empty houses and that, in the summer,they hang out. "We have a huge mismatch between the school calendar and the realities of family life. School,whether we like it or not,is custodial and educational. It always has been,"Says Dr. Ernest Boyer,head of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. His is not a popular idea. Schools are routinely burdened with the job of solving all our social problems. Can they be asked now to synchronize our work and family lives?
    It may be easier to promote a longer school year on its educational merits. Despite the complaints and studies about our kids’ lack of learning,the United States still has a shorter school year than any industrial nation. In most of Europe,the school year is 220 days. While classroom time alone doesn’t produce a well-educated child, learning takes time and more learning takes more time. The long summers of forgetting take a toll.
    The opposition to a longer school year comes from families that want to and can provide other experiences for their children. It comes from teachers. It comes from tradition. And surely from kids. But the crux of the conflict has been over money. But we can,as Boyer suggests,begin to turn the hands of the school clock forward. The first step is to extend an optional after-school program of education and recreation to every district. The second step is a summer program with its own staff. The third step will be the hardest: a true overhaul of the school year. Once,school was carefully calibrated to arrange children’s schedules around the edges of family needs. Now,working parents,especially mothers,even teachers,try and blend their work lives around the edges of the school day. It’s time to get our calendars updated.
The main idea of this passage is that_____.
选项 A、the traditional school calendar is sacred and should not be changed
B、American schools have a shorter school day than those in other industrialized nations
C、the traditional school calendar doesn’t meet the needs of modern families
D、after-school programs would help solve the problem of idle children
答案C
解析 题目问：文章的主旨是什么?第三段第三句“We have a huge mismatch between the school calendar and the realities of family life”，最后一段最后一句“It’s time to get our calendars updated．”通过这段话可知，传统校历与家庭生活的现实有冲突，因此，应对校历进行变革。据此判断，应选择C。
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