Americankidsaretakingmoreteststhaneverbefore,andthey're...

问题详情：

American kids are taking more tests than ever before, and they're stressed out. Is help on the way? Just the sight of a test booklet (小册子) makes some kids sweat. For others，it is a blank answer sheet. Then there are the dreaded words. “Take out your Number 2 pencil. ”All these fill 10­year­old Chelsea Logo with fear. “I start to tap my pencil on the desk，” says  the  fifth  grader  from  Toluca  Lake Elementary，near Los Angeles, California. “Then I feel the_Butterflies_in_my_stomach.”

Chelsea is not alone. In a recent survey by KidsHealth. org, more than 70% of kids aged 9 to 13 said they worry about tests. It's no wonder. Across the United States, public schools give more than 250 million standardized tests each year.

Why do kids have to take so many tests? The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law requires that students in grades 3 through 8 be tested each year. The law's goal is for all students to be at grade level by 2016. Students must pass the tests and meet other requirements or their schools may be shut down.

U. S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan wants to change NCLB. But that doesn't mean he favors getting rid of tests. Duncan believes tests should be used mainly to evaluate kids' strengths and weaknesses. Tests, Duncan says，should not be used to punish kids or their schools for failure. “The goal is to focus on great teaching and learning, ”Duncan said.

Under NCLB, each state sets its own standards for students to meet. The result，Duncan says, is that states are making the tests easier. To fix this problem, 48 states are now working together to create common standards. “I want to set a high bar for kids，”Duncan says，“so they' ll be in great shape to achieve their dreams.”

Like them or not，tests are here to stay. So how can you handle test nerves? Schools are teaching students to relax through deep breathing and stretching (伸展运动). In Oakland, California, Principal Zarina Ahmad of Piedmont Avenue Elementary leads her students in a cheer to get them excited about learning.

“Kids are under high pressure，”says Ahmad. “There has to be time for kids to be kids. Still，we need tests to help us assess what students have yet to learn.”

9.    The underlined part“the butterflies in my stomach”can be replaced by ________.

A. guilty                            B. nervous

C. exciting                          D. proud

10．According to the passage, the NCLB law ________.

A．is focusing on teaching methods in schools

B．is requiring schools to make the tests more difficult

C．is trying to make schools be responsible for students

D．aims to evaluate kids' strengths and weaknesses by means of tests

11．We can learn from the passage that Arne Duncan ______.

A．is strongly against tests

B．suggests closing some schools

C．is concerned about students' development

D．suggests each state set its own standard

12．We can learn from the last two paragraphs that ________

A．it's impossible to get rid of tests

B．schools have no good way to deal with students' stress

C．tests help assess what student's have to learn

D．schools are aware of students' stress caused by tests

【回答】

BCCD

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