《考研英語閱讀理解100篇 基礎(chǔ)版》第6章　教育類 Unit 80

Competition for admission to the country's top private schools has always been tough，but this year Elisabeth Krents realized it had reached a new level．Her wake-up call came when a man called the Dalton School in Manhattan，where Krents is admissions director，and inquired about the age cutoff for their kindergarten program．After providing the information （they don’t use an age cutoff），she asked about the age of his child．The man paused for an uncomfortably long time before answering．“Well，we don’t have a child yet,” he told Krents．“We’re trying to figure out when to conceive a child so the birthday is not a problem.” 
School obsession is spreading from Manhattan to the rest of the country．Precise current data on private schools are unavailable，but interviews with representatives of independent and religious schools all told the same story: a glut of applicants，higher rejection rates．“We have people calling us for spots two years down the road,” said Marilyn Collins of the Seven Hills School in Cincinnati．“We have grandparents calling for pregnant daughters.” Public-opinion poll after poll indicates that Americans’ No．1 concern is education．Now that the long economic boom has given parents more disposable income，many are turning to private schools，even at price tags of well over $10,000 a year．“We’re getting applicants from a broader area，geographically，than we ever have in the past,” said Betsy Haugh of the Latin School of Chicago，which experienced a 20 percent increase in applications this year． 
The problem for the applicants is that while demand has increased，supply has not．“Every year，there are a few children who do not find places，but this year，for the first time that I know of，there are a significant number of children who don’t have places,” said Krents，who also heads a private-school admissions group in New York． 
So what can parents do to give their 4-year-old an edge? Schools know there is no foolproof way to pick a class when children are so young．Many schools give preference to siblings or alumni children．Some use lotteries．But most rely on a mix of subjective and objective measures: tests that at best identify developmental maturity and cognitive potential，interviews with parents and observation of applicants in classroom settings. They also want a diverse mix．Children may end up on a waiting list simply because their birthdays fall at the wrong time of year，or because too many applicants were boys． 
The worst thing a parent can do is to pressure preschoolers to perform—for example，by pushing them to read or do math exercises before they’re ready．Instead，the experts say，parents should take a breath and look for alternatives．Another year in preschool may be all that's needed．Parents，meanwhile，may need a more open mind about relatively unknown private schools—or about magnet schools in the public system．There's no sign of the private-school boom letting up．Dalton's spring tours，for early birds interested in the 2001-2002 school year，are filled．The wait list? Forget it．That's closed，too． 
注（1）：本文選自Newsweek； 
注（2）：本文習(xí)題命題模仿對象為2003年真題Text 4。 
1．The author uses the example of Elisabeth Krents to show ______. 
A) the concern of Americans 
B) the charm of private schools 
C) the fierce situation for preschoolers 
D) the economic situation of American families 
2．What is implied in Paragraph 4? 
A) The harsh way of forming a class． 
B) The high expectation of parents. 
C) The wise way in selecting schools． 
D) The difficulty of training children. 
3．The author's attitude toward this event is ______. 
A) indifferent 
B) apprehensive 
C) supportive 
D) indignant 
4．Instead of giving their children great pressure to outperform，the parents should ______. 
A) avoid the competition and wait for another year 
B) give up their first choice and go to an unknown school 
C) let their children do what they want to do 
D) deal with the matter more casually and rethink the situation 
5．The text intends to express ______. 
A) the popularity of private schools 
B) parents’ worry about their children's schooling 
C) the plight of preschoolers 
D) the severe competition in going to school 

進入全國最好的私立學(xué)校的競爭往往是非常激烈的，不過伊麗莎白·克倫茨卻意識到今年的競爭已經(jīng)達到了一個新的水平?？藗惔氖锹D多爾頓學(xué)校的招生辦主任。她的叫醒電話剛響，就接到一位男士打給學(xué)校的電話，詢問有關(guān)孩子參加幼兒園課程的年齡限制。在答復(fù)了他的詢問后（他們沒有年齡限制），她問他的孩子有多大。這名男子局促不安地遲疑了好大一會兒才回答說，“噢，我們還沒有孩子，”他對克倫茨說，“我們正在考慮選個合適的時間要孩子，這樣孩子的出生日期在入學(xué)時不會成為一個問題。” 
入學(xué)引起的困擾不只存在于曼哈頓，在全國各地都很普遍。我們無法得到有關(guān)私立學(xué)校的確切的最新數(shù)據(jù)，但是對私立學(xué)校和教會學(xué)校代表的采訪結(jié)果表明，這些學(xué)校的情況都是一樣的：入學(xué)申請者供過于求，落選率高居不下。“有人打電話來詢問這兩年的入學(xué)狀況，”辛辛那提市塞文西爾斯學(xué)校的瑪里琳·柯林斯說，“我們還接到祖父母幫他們懷孕的女兒詢問入學(xué)的電話。民意測驗反復(fù)表明，教育是美國人關(guān)心的頭等大事。由于經(jīng)濟長期繁榮，父母可支配的收入增多，即使私立學(xué)校的收費每年超過一萬美元，很多父母還是選擇私立學(xué)校。芝加哥拉丁語學(xué)校的貝特西·霍說：“申請者的生源地較之過去更為寬泛。”這所拉丁語學(xué)校今年申請入學(xué)的人比過去增長了20%。 
申請者所面臨的問題是需求增加了，但供應(yīng)卻沒有。另外在紐約一所私立學(xué)校擔(dān)任錄取小組組長的克倫茨說：“每年都有少數(shù)孩子找不到就讀的學(xué)校，但今年，是我第一次聽說，有相當(dāng)一大批孩子無處就讀。” 
那么要使他們四歲的孩子出類拔萃，家長怎樣做才行呢？學(xué)校知道，為那么小的孩子們選擇合適的班級實在沒有絕對穩(wěn)妥可靠的辦法。許多學(xué)校往往優(yōu)先招收兄弟姐妹或校友的孩子，還有一些學(xué)校使用抽獎的辦法招生，但大多數(shù)學(xué)校還是依賴主客觀相結(jié)合的方法：采用能最好測試孩子的發(fā)育成熟程度和認(rèn)知潛能的考試，同學(xué)生家長面談，或在教室觀察孩子的反應(yīng)能力。他們還要考慮其他多種混合因素。可能只是由于孩子的出生月份與入學(xué)的要求不符，或是申請者中男孩的比例太高等原因，有些孩子最終被列在繼續(xù)等候的名單上。 
父母做的最不明智的事情就是強迫學(xué)齡前孩子去做一些事情——比如，當(dāng)孩子還很小的時候就逼迫他們?nèi)ラ喿x或者做數(shù)學(xué)題。專家的意見是，做父母的應(yīng)該歇口氣，放松放松，尋找其他的解決辦法。在幼兒園再待上一年可能是最好的辦法。同時，父母的眼界還要放寬一些，可以關(guān)注一下那些不太出名的私立學(xué)校——或者公立學(xué)校中那些有吸引力的學(xué)校。目前沒有跡象表明私立學(xué)校熱會迅速降溫。多爾頓學(xué)校已經(jīng)停止其春季巡回招生工作，因為2001～2002學(xué)年的入學(xué)名額早已報滿了。等候名單？算了吧，那也滿了。