There are some very good things about open education. This way of teaching allows the students to grow as people, and to develop their own interests in many subjects. Open education allows students to be responsible for their own education, as they are responsible for what they do in life. Some students do badly in a traditional classroom. The open classroom may allow them to enjoy learning. Some students will be happier in an open education school. They will not have to worry about grades or rules. For students who worry about these things a lot, it is a good idea to be in an open classroom.
But many students will not do well in an open classroom. For some students, there are too few rules. These students will do little in school. They will not make good use of open education. Because open education is so different from traditional education, these students may have a problem getting used to making so many choices. For many students it is important to have some rules in the classroom. They worry about the rules even when there are no rules. Even a few rules will help this kind of students. The last point about open education is that some traditional teachers do not like it. Many teachers do not believe in open education. Teachers who want to have an open classroom may have many problems at their schools.
You now know what open education is. Some of its good points and bad points have been explained. You may have your own opinion about open education. The writer thinks that open education is a good idea, but only in theory. In actual fact, it may not work very well in a real class or school. The writer believes that most students, but of course not all students, want some structure in their classes. They want and need to have rules. In some cases, they must be made to study some subjects. Many students are pleased to find subjects they have to study interesting. They would not study those subjects if they did not have to.
1. Open education allows the students to ______ .| A．grow as the educated |
| B．be responsible for their future |
| C．develop their own interests |
| D．discover subjects outside class |
| A．enjoy learning |
| B．do well in a traditional classroom |
| C．worry about grades |
| D．are responsible for what they do in life |
| A．they worry about the rules |
| B．there are too few rules |
| C．they hate activities |
| D．open education is similar to the traditional education |
| A．Some traditional teachers do not like it |
| B．Many teachers do not believe in open education |
| C．The teacher's feelings and attitudes are important to the students |
| D．Teachers may have problems in open classrooms |
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Even in a weak job market, the old college try isn’t the answer for everyone. A briefing paper from the Brookings Institution warns that “we may have overdone the message” on college, senior fellow Isabel Sawhill said.
“We’ve been telling students and their families for years that college is the only way to succeed in the economy and of course there’s a lot of truth to that,” Ms. Sawhill said. “On average it does pay off… But if you load up on a whole lot of student debt and then you don’t graduate, that is a very bad situation.”
One comment that people often repeat among the years of slow job growth has been the value of education for landing a job and advancing in a career. April’s national unemployment rate stood at 7.5%, according to the Labor Department. The unemployment rate for high-school graduates over 25 years old who hadn’t attended college was 7.4%, compared with 3.9% for those with a bachelor’s degree or more education. The difference is even bigger among those aged 16—24. The jobless rate for those with only a high school diploma in that age group is about 20%. At the same time, recent research by Canadian economists warns that a college degree is no guarantee of promising employment.
Ms. Sawhill pointed out that among the aspects that affect the value of a college education is the field of one’s major: Students in engineering or other sciences end up earning more than ones who major in the arts or education. The cost of tuition (学费) and the availability of financial aid are other considerations, with public institutions generally a better financial bargain than private ones.
She suggested two ways to improve the situation: increasing vocational (职业的)-technical training programs and taking a page from Europe’s focus on early education rather than post-secondary learning. “The European countries put a little more attention to getting people prepared in the primary grades,” she said. “Then they have a higher bar for whoever goes to college—but once you get into college, you’re more likely to be highly subsidized (资助).”
She also is a supporter of technical training—to teach students how to be plumbers, welders and computer programmers—because “employers are desperate” for workers with these skills.
1. People usually think that .
| A．the cost of technical schooling is a problem |
| B．technical skills are most important for finding a job |
| C．one will not succeed without a college degree |
| D．there is an increased competition in getting into a college |
| A．Learning from. | B．Changing from. |
| C．Differing from. | D．Hearing from. |
| A．Public institutions charge more for education. |
| B．European universities are stricter with students. |
| C．Canadian students prefer to major in engineering. |
| D．Students with certain skills are in great demand. |
| A．technical training is more important than college education |
| B．too much stress has been put on the value of college degrees |
| C．a college degree will ensure promising employment |
| D．it’s easier for art students to find favorite jobs |
【推荐2】Since terrorist attack in 2019 that killed 50 people in New Zealand was livestreamed on Facebook, many of the negative effects of social media have begun to be known. So far, it’s not looking good.
Not that social media is bad in nature. It does not necessarily cause mental health problems. What it is doing, however — especially in young people, a new study argues — is increasing the number of cases of young people’s depression (抑郁) and suicide (自杀).
The new study, led by psychologist Jean Twenge at San Diego State University, has researched the effects of technology and social media on the teenager brain. For this study, Twenge and her partners researched data (数据) from 2005 to 2017. They wanted to know what age groups suffered more from depression. Chance of mood disorders (紊乱), they write, “generally becomes less with age.” In this date range, depressive cases increased by 63 percent among young people aged 12 to 17, and 52 percent among young adults aged 18 to 25.
There are two tendencies that appear to be causing this problem.
According to the study, the increased use of electronic communication and digital media during this time period may have changed ways of socializing enough to affect mood disorders and suicide-related results. For example, people who spend more time on social media and less time with others face-to-face report poorer health and are more likely to be depressed.
Tied into increased screen time, which could lead to being affected by cyber-bullying, are sleep issues. Sleep duration is decreasing among all age groups, but especially young adults during a time in life when they need it the most. Lack of sleep has been linked to mood disorders, suicidal thoughts, and suicide attempts.
Using the technology for good is one step forward. But another would be to put the phone down more often. If you’ve only grown up in a world viewed through a screen, learning that other world — namely, the real one — exists might seem impossible. Therefore, some distance is feeling more necessary day by day.
1. How did the team carry out the research?| A．By studying the data. | B．By studying behavior. |
| C．By doing experiments. | D．By interviewing people. |
| A．Too early bedtime. | B．Face-to-face contact. |
| C．Good Internet connection. | D．Frequent use of phones. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Careful. | C．Unconcerned. | D．Unknown. |
| A．Culture. | B．Education. | C．Opinions. | D．History. |
【推荐3】Psychologists take opposing views of how external (外部的) rewards, from warm praise to cold cash, affect motivation and creativity. Behaviorists, who study the relation between actions and their consequences, argue that rewards can improve performance at work and school. Some other researchers who study various aspects of mental life, state that rewards often destroy creativity by encouraging dependence on approval and gifts from others.
The latter view has gained many supporters, especially among educators. But the careful use of small monetary rewards inspires creativity in grade-school children, according to a study in the June Journal Personality and Social Psychology.
“If they know they're working for a reward and can focus on a relatively challenging task, they show the most creativity,” says Robert Esenberger of the University of Delaware in Newark. “But it's easy to kill creativity by giving rewards for poor performance or creating too much expectation for rewards.”
Esenberger holds the view that a teacher who continually draws attention to rewards or who hands out high grades for ordinary achievement ends up with uninspired students. As an example of the latter point, he notes growing efforts to tighten grading standards and restore falling grades at major universities.
In earlier grades, the use of so-called token economics, in which students handle challenging problems and receive performance-based points towards valued rewards, shows promise in raising effort and creativity, the Delaware psychologist claims.
1. Psychologists are divided about their attitudes toward ________.| A．the appropriate amount of external rewards |
| B．the effects of external rewards on students' performance |
| C．the study of relationship between actions and consequences |
| D．the choice between moral encouragement and monetary rewards |
| A．Students’ grading standards. | B．The performance of problems. |
| C．Students’ expectation for rewards. | D．The careful use of rewarding system. |
| A．Giving them rewards they expect. |
| B．Giving them rewards they really deserve. |
| C．Assigning them tasks which require inventiveness. |
| D．Assigning them tasks they have not dealt with before. |
| A．Opposed | B．Supportive | C．Objective | D．Doubtful |
【推荐1】In China, in order to ease the pressure on parents’ wallets, education is free until children reach the age of about 15. So why is it that more than half of a typical family’s spending goes on education? The answer is cramming classes (补习班). To relieve the pressure on people’s wallets, now officials are doing their part.
But parents are not sure whether it will work. As many of them see it, cramming is not optional (可选择的). Exams for entry to senior high schools are fiercely competitive. Then comes the dreaded (令人畏惧的) Gaokao: the university-entrance exam on which a child’s future depends. No wonder the industry’s growth has been rapid. One firm, Zuoyebang (“help with homework”) says it offers live-streaming classes (直播课程) to more than 170m active users each month.
While as the People s Daily, an official newspaper, reported this month, the market for such services is in “endless chaos (混乱)”. It listed problems ranging from misleading advertising to high prices and the use of unqualified teachers.
Government’s new regulations of clamping down on cram schools sent shivers through the industry. New Oriental, one of China’s biggest cramming companies, saw its share price on the New York Stock Exchange drop below $8, from a high of more than $19 in February. On June 9th the education ministry said a new government department would be set up to oversee such businesses. including both online courses and lessons in the classroom.
Some analysts think the government may have another motive. Parents wonder whether they will benefit. Some are concerned that the new rules will leave them with no choice but to use private tutors, which could prove even more costly.
1. Why do cramming schools enjoy great popularity among Chinese students?
| A．The exams are so demanding that they have no choice. |
| B．The live-streaming classes offered are really appealing. |
| C．Entering senior high schools makes them less competitive. |
| D．Government officials are worried about their performance. |
| A．High fees. | B．Experienced tutors. |
| C．Improper advertising. | D．Chaotic management. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Indifferent. | C．Skeptical. | D．Critical. |
| A．China’s tech giants control the market. |
| B．New Oriental is the biggest cramming company. |
| C．Gaokao imposes too much burden to students. |
| D．China says no to the cramming business. |
【推荐2】Boys’ schools are the perfect place to teach young men to express their emotions and involve them in activities such as art, dance and music.
Far from the traditional image of a culture of aggressive masculinity (阳刚), the absence of girls gives boys the chance to develop without pressure to obey a stereotype (陈规旧俗), a US study says.
Boys at single-sex schools were said to be more likely to get involved in cultural and artistic activities that helped develop their emotional expressiveness, rather than feeling they had to obey the “boy code” of hiding their emotions to be a “real man”.
The findings of the study go against received wisdom that boys do better when taught alongside girls.
Tony Little, headmaster of Eton, warned that boys were being failed by the British education system because it had become too focused on girls. He criticized teachers for failing to recognize that boys are actually more emotional than girls.
The research argued that boys often perform badly in mixed schools because they become discouraged when their female peers do better earlier in speaking and reading skills.
But in single-sex schools teachers can tailor lessons to boys’ learning style, letting them move around the classroom and getting them to compete in teams to prevent boredom, wrote the study’s author, Abigail James, of the University of Virginia.
Teachers could encourage boys to enjoy reading and writing with “boy-focused” approaches such as themes and characters that appeal to them. Because boys generally have more acute vision learn best through touch, and are physically more active, they need to be given “hands-on” lessons where they are allowed to walk around. “Boys in mixed schools view classical music as feminine (女性的) and prefer the modern type in which violence and sexism are major themes,” James wrote.
Single-sex education also made it less likely that boys would feel they had to obey a stereotype that men should be “masterful and in charge” in relationships. “In mixed schools boys feel forced to act like men before they understand themselves well enough to know what that means,” the study reported.
1. The author believes that a single-sex school would ______.| A．force boys to hide their emotions to be “real men” |
| B．encourage boys to express their emotions more freely |
| C．help to cultivate masculine aggressiveness in boys |
| D．naturally reinforce in boys the traditional image of a man |
| A．perform relatively better | B．grow up more healthily |
| C．behave more responsibly | D．receive a better education |
| A．It fails more boys than girls academically. |
| B．It focuses more on mixed school education. |
| C．It fails to give boys the attention they need. |
| D．It places more pressure on boys than on girls. |
| A．teaching can be tailored to suit the characteristics of boys |
| B．boys can focus on their lessons without being distracted |
| C．boys can choose to learn whatever they are interested in |
| D．teaching can be designed to promote boys’ team spirit |
| A．They enjoy being in charge. | B．They obey stereotypes. |
| C．They are violent and sexist. | D．They have sharper vision. |
【推荐3】Sitting along Chicago’s southern edge are Ridge’s two elementary schools and one middle school. Here, one nurse travels among the three schools, and the two elementary schools share an art teacher and a music teacher.
“We simply can’t afford more staff,” says Kevin Russell, Ridge’s head teacher. “The Chicago Ridge School District in Illinois just spends $9,794 per child. It’s well below the national average of $11,841.”
Rondout School sits less than an hour north, in Chicago’s Rondout District. It has 22 teachers and 145 students, and spends $28,639 on each student. Class sizes in Rondout School are small, and every student has an individualized learning plan. Nearly all teachers have a decade of experience and earn, on average, more than $90,000.
This inequality isn’t specific to Illinois. It plays out across the US and can even date back to the birth of the nation.
In 1647, settlers in Massachusetts were worried that their children wouldn’t be able to read the religious texts. So they created a remarkable law: Neighborhoods of more than 50 families hire a teacher and the teacher be paid by the people living in each neighborhood.
“This law reflected the idea that the local community was responsible for the education of all children because the whole community depended on it, ”says Ben Justice, a professor at Rutgers. “Today, our school funding system is more complex, but is still based on the same idea.”
Nowadays, school funding comes from a combination of three sources: 10% from the federal(联邦的)government, 45% from the state government and 45%from local property tax, which is based on the value of the houses at the time they were purchased.
This brings us back to where we began this story: Why is it that one district only has $9, 794 to spend on each of its students, while another, nearby district has three times that? The answer is straightforward: Since property values vary a lot from neighborhood to neighborhood, district to district. And with them, the fund the schools in different districts receive differs greatly.
1. How much is spent on each student in Ridge School District?| A．$9,794. | B．$11,841. | C．$28,639. | D．$90,000. |
| A．Helping children read religious texts. |
| B．Training qualified workers. |
| C．Passing the university examinations. |
| D．Providing political leaders. |
| A．They are new. | B．They are expensive. |
| C．They are small. | D．They are inconvenient. |
| A．How Are Houses Valued and Taxed in the US? |
| B．How Much Money Can an American Teacher Earn? |
| C．Why Does American Society Have Money Problems? |
| D．What Has Led to the Inequality in American Schools? |
