2014年職稱英語(綜合類)教材閱讀理解文章及譯文18

　　Goal of American Education

　　Education is an enormous and expensive part of American life. Its size is matched by its variety.

　　Differences in American schools compared with those found in the majority of other countries lie in the fact that education here has long been intended for everyone ― not just for a privileged elite. Schools are expected to meet the needs of every child, regardless of ability, and also the needs of society itself. This means that public schools offer more than academic subjects. It surprises many people when they come here to find high schools offering such courses as typing, sewing, radio repair, computer programming or driver training, along with traditional academic subjects such as mathematics, history, and languages. Students choose their curricula depending on their interests, future goals, and level of ability. The underlying goal of American education is to develop every child to the utmost of his or her own possibilities, and to give each one a sense of civic and community consciousness.

　　Schools have traditionally played an important role in creating national unity and “Americanizing” the millions of immigrants who have poured into this country from many different backgrounds and origins. Schools still play a large role in the community, especially in the small towns.

　　The approach to teaching may seem unfamiliar to many, not only because it is informal, but also because there is not much emphasis on learning facts. Instead, Americans try to teach their children to think for themselves and to develop their own intellectual and creative abilities. Students spend much time, learning how to use resource materials, libraries, statistics and computers. Americans believe that if children are taught to reason well and to research well, they will be able to find whatever facts they need throughout the rest of their lives. Knowing how to solve problems is considered more important than the accumulation of facts.

　　This is America's answer to the searching question that thoughtful parents all over the world are asking themselves in the fast-moving time: “How can one prepare today's child for a tomorrow that one can neither predict nor understand?”

　　詞匯：

　　pricileged 享有特權的 curricula 課程

　　elite 精華，精英 underlying 潛在的

　　academic 學術的 reason 推理

　　注釋：

　　1.Its size is matched by its wariety：美國教育規(guī)模宏大、種類多樣。match這里作動詞用，意為“相配”。

　　2.develop to the utmost：充分發(fā)展，最大限度地發(fā)展。

　　3.a sense of civic and community consciousness：公民和社區(qū)意識

　　4.resource materials：參考資料

　　練習：

　　1. Which of the following best states the goal of American education?

　　A. To teach every learner some practical skills.

　　B. To provide every learner with rich knowledge.

　　C. To give every student the opportunity to fully develop his/her ability.

　　D. To train every student to be a responsible citizen.

　　2. It is implied in the passage that

　　A. all high-school students take the same courses.

　　B. every high-school student must take some practical ability training courses.

　　C. every public school offers the same academic subjects.

　　D. the subject every student takes may vary.

　　3. American schools place great emphasis on the learner's

　　A. enrichment of knowledge.

　　B. accumulation of facts.

　　C. acquisition of the ability to be creative.

　　D. acquisition of the ability to work with his hands.

　　4. According to the passage, American education meets the needs of all the following EXCEPT

　　A. the brightest students.

　　B. the slow students.

　　C. the students from foreign countries.

　　D. the immigrants.

　　5. Which of the following best states the feature of American education that makes it different from education in other countries?

　　A. The large number of its schools.

　　B. The variety of the courses offered in its schools.

　　C. Its special consideration given to immigrants.

　　D. Its underlying goal to develop every child's abilities to the fullest extent.

　　答案與題解：

　　1.C A，B:D均只指出了美國教育目標的一個方面。

　　2.D 文中提到學生可以根據自己的興趣、目標和能力來選擇課程。

　　3.C A，B，D都只提到教育的某一個方面，但美國教育最強調的是對學生獨立解決問題能力 的培養(yǎng)o

　　4.C本文中沒有提到外國留學生。

　　5.D給每個學生最充分地發(fā)揮自己能力的機會是美國教育的最重要特點。

　　譯文：美國教育的目標

　　教育是美國人的生活中很重要的一部分，花銷也大。其規(guī)模宏大，種類多樣。

　　與其他大多數(shù)國家相比，美國教育的不同在于美國教育是為每一個人設置的~"不只是為享 有特權的優(yōu)等生。學校是要滿足每個孩子的需要，不論其能力如何，同時也要滿足社會本身的需 求。這意味著公立學校提供的教育不只限于學術方面的課程。很多人來到美國之后會吃驚地發(fā)現(xiàn)， 高中除了提供傳統(tǒng)課程，例如：數(shù)學、歷史和語言之外，他們還提供一些課程如打字、縫紉、無線電修理、計算機課程或駕駛訓練課程。學生選擇課程是根據個人喜好、目標以及能力水平。美 國教育的潛在目標是將每一個孩子的能力最充分地發(fā)揮出來，培養(yǎng)每一個孩子的公民和社區(qū)覺悟感。

　　成千上萬的移民者涌入這個國家，他們的出身背景不同。傳統(tǒng)上,學校在建立民族團結以及 使移民者美國化兩方面起著重大作用。在社區(qū)中，尤其在小城鎮(zhèn)，學校仍然起著重要作用。

　　大家對美國的教學方法彳以乎也很陌生。因為這種教學方法不僅不正式，而且不把重點放在學 習具體知識上。相反，美國人教孩子獨立思考，教他們自己去開發(fā)自己的智慧以及創(chuàng)造能力。學 生花很多時間學習怎樣使用參考資料、圖書館、數(shù)據以及計算機。美國人認為只要孩子具有好的 推理能力，好的研究方法，他們就能在以后找到自己所需的具體知識。他們還認為懂得怎樣解決 問題比積累事實更重要。

　　在這個變化萬千的時代里，全世界細心的父母都在思考一個尖銳而深刻的問題：“怎樣為孩子的明天做準備呢?孩子的明天既不能預料也不能理解?！鄙鲜龅慕虒W方法正是美國對這一問題 的回答。