In the past few years, reformers have embraced a disarmingly simple idea for fixing schools: Why not actually flunk those students who don't earn passing grades? Both Democrats and Republicans have begun attacking the practice of "social promotion"——shuttling bad students to the next grade, advancing them with peers even if they are failing. Make F truly mean failure, the movement says.
Last week in Los Angeles, the reformers learned just how ornery the current system can be. According to a plan released Tuesday by the L.A. school district, ending social promotion there will take at least four years, could cost hundreds of millions of dollars——and probably would require flunking about half the district's students. That's a pessimistic assessment, but it's not just bureaucrats' caterwauling. Rather, L.A. school superintendent Ruben Zacarias was an eager convert to the crusade against social promotion. In February he unveiled an ambitious plan to end unwarranted promotions in five grades during the 1999-2000 school year——a full year ahead of the timetable set by a state law.
At the time, Zacarias acknowledged that his goal would be hard to meet. He estimated that as many as 6 of every 10 students would flunk if they had to advance on merit. Zacarias wanted to spend $140 million in the first year alone to help these kids. Why so much? Because a mountain of research shows that ending social promotion doesn't work if it just means more Fs. Kids who are simply forced to repeat grades over and over usually don't improve academically and often drop out. Zacarias wanted more tutoring, summer school and intensive-learning classes. Unqualified students wouldn't rise to the next grade; nor would they be doomed to redo work they already failed. It was a forward-looking plan that Zacarias, 70, didn't have the clout to enact. He wasn't popular enough——the school board recently bought out his contract after a bitter power struggle——but even fellow reformers think his plan was too much, too soon. Says board member David Tokofsky: "You've got the unions who want their say. And, of course, there's the facilities issue: Where do you send all these eighth-graders if you can't send them to high school?" The district now says it will stop advancing low-achieving students only in two grades （second and eighth）, and it will begin next year.
Los Angeles isn't the only place that has run into roadblocks while trying to end social promotion. In New York City, some advocates have said in lawsuits that parents weren't notified early enough that their kids were flunking. And in Chicago, which led the nation on the issue, a parents' group has filed civil rights complaints alleging that the promotion crackdown holds back a disproportionate number of black and Latino kids.
Still, the war on social promotion could have one salutary consequence: if every school district takes L.A.'s approach, struggling students will get a lot more teaching help, not just a kick in the rear as they finish another unproductive school year.
注（1）：本文選自Time；12/13/99, p73, 2/3p, 1c
注（2）：本文習(xí)題命題模仿對(duì)象2001年真題text 2和text 4第4題（本習(xí)題第5題）
1.“Social promotion” is ___________.
[A] a simple idea for fixing school
[B] flunking students who don't earn passing grades
[C] making F more or less meaningless
[D] a political movement
2.Education officials give the reform prospect a pessimistic assessment because_______.
[A] it takes too long time, costs too much and may produce undesirable result
[B] there is no feasible plan yet
[C] it involves too many students
[D] it is not approved by state legislature
3.The writer mentioned the case of Zacarias to show that ______________.
[A] ending social promotion doesn't work
[B] schools do not have the ability to enact his plan
[C] plans like his are too ambitious
[D] it's hard to reach agreement on the issue of ending social promotion
4.It seems that the effort at ending social promotion _____________.
[A] is confronting a lot of resistance
[B] has proved fruitless
[C] has little hope of success
[D] does more harm than good
5.Toward the proposal of ending social promotion, the author's attitude seems to be ________.
[A] pessimistic
[B] optimistic
[C] objective
[D] biased
答案：C A D A B
篇章剖析：
本篇文章圍繞教育改革派主張?jiān)诿绹行W(xué)取消“自動(dòng)升級(jí)”的問題展開了討論，第一段介紹了改革派的主張：取消“自動(dòng)升級(jí)”。第二、三段以洛杉磯教育區(qū)為例，說明取消“自動(dòng)升級(jí)”在實(shí)施過程中所面臨的巨大困難。第四段介紹了這種實(shí)踐引起的社會(huì)反響。后一段介紹了它可能帶來的有益后果。
詞匯注釋：
disarmingly: [dis5B:miNli] adv. 使人消除警惕性[疑心]地, 使人不緊張的地
flunk: [flQNk] v. 使不及格
social promotion: 自動(dòng)升級(jí)
shuttle: [5FQtl] v. 穿梭運(yùn)送
peer: [piE] n. 同等的人；同輩
ornery: [5C:nEri] adj. 脾氣壞的; 愛爭吵的
assessment: [E5sesmEnt] n. 評(píng)估，評(píng)價(jià)
bureaucrat: [5bjuErEukrAt] n. 官僚；官吏
caterwauling: [`kAtE9WR:lIV] n. 哀訴聲,抱怨聲
superintendent: [7sju:pErin5tendEnt] n. 主管, 負(fù)責(zé)人, 指揮者, 管理者
convert: [kEn5vE:t] n. （常與to連用）改變信仰或意見的人
crusade: [kru:5seid] n. 討伐；改革運(yùn)動(dòng)；熱心于社會(huì)除惡的運(yùn)動(dòng)
unwarranted: [5Qn5wCrEntid] adj. 無根據(jù)的, 未獲保證的, 無保證的, 未獲承認(rèn)的
clout: [klaut] n. 影響力
enact: [i5nAkt] v. 制定，制訂成法律
roadblock: [`rEJdblCk] n. 障礙, 障礙物
advocate: [5AdvEkit] n. （常與of連用）擁護(hù)者；提倡者
notify: [5nEutifai] v. 正式通知（某人）
allege: [E5ledV] v. 〈法〉指控
crackdown: [5krAkdaun] n. 鎮(zhèn)壓, 打擊
disproportionate: [7disprE5pC:FEnit] adj. 不相稱的；不成比例的；不勻稱的
Latino: [lA5ti:nEu] n. 拉丁美洲人
salutary: [5sAljutEri] adj. 有益的
難句突破
And in Chicago, which led the nation on the issue, a parents' group has filed civil rights complaints alleging that the promotion crackdown holds back a disproportionate number of black and Latino kids.
主體句式：a parents' group has filed complaints
結(jié)構(gòu)分析：本句是一個(gè)復(fù)雜句，在介詞in引導(dǎo)的狀語中包含了一個(gè)which引導(dǎo)的非限定性定語從句，修飾Chicago，在主句中包含一個(gè)分詞alleging引導(dǎo)的狀語，這個(gè)狀語自己還包含了一個(gè)that引導(dǎo)的賓語從句。
句子譯文：在芝加哥，一個(gè)家長團(tuán)體提出了民權(quán)控訴，宣稱取消自動(dòng)升級(jí)使相當(dāng)比例的黑人和拉丁美洲裔的孩子升不了級(jí)。
題目分析：
1. 答案為C, 屬事實(shí)細(xì)節(jié)題。從文章第一段破折號(hào)后對(duì)social promotion的解釋來看，它的意思是：就算差生考試不及格，他們照樣可以和其他同學(xué)一起進(jìn)入下一年級(jí)。在從改革派反對(duì)“social promotion”，主張使F真正意味著“不及格”來看，social promotion 顯然使F失去了意義。
2. 答案為A，屬事實(shí)細(xì)節(jié)題。本文答案可以在that's a pessimistic assessment前面的部分讀到。
3. 答案為D，屬推理判斷題。文章第三段先介紹了Zacarias的計(jì)劃，然后說明他的計(jì)劃為什么難以實(shí)施：他在校董事會(huì)的權(quán)力之爭中落敗，以及其他改革派對(duì)他的計(jì)劃所持的不同意見。以這樣一個(gè)例子旨在說明在取消“自動(dòng)升級(jí)”問題上難以達(dá)成一致意見。
4. 答案為A，屬事實(shí)細(xì)節(jié)題。根據(jù)文章第四段所舉的例子可知，這一改革方案遭到了較多的抵制。
5. 答案為B，屬推理判斷題。雖然文章用了較大篇幅介紹取消“自動(dòng)升級(jí)”所面臨的困難和計(jì)劃實(shí)施中存在的問題，但作者的態(tài)度仍然是積極樂觀的。這一點(diǎn)可以從作者評(píng)論Zacarias的計(jì)劃時(shí)所用的措辭“forward-looking”以及后一段作者評(píng)論其有益后果看出。
參考譯文：
過去幾年，改革派一直堅(jiān)持用一種令人毫無懷疑的簡單想法解決學(xué)校的問題：對(duì)于那些成績不達(dá)標(biāo)的學(xué)生，為什么不讓他們留級(jí)？民主黨和共和黨已經(jīng)開始抨擊“自動(dòng)升級(jí)”的做法——按照這種做法，就算差生考試不及格，他們照樣可以和其他同學(xué)一起進(jìn)入下一年級(jí)。這場運(yùn)動(dòng)主張要讓“F”這個(gè)成績真的意味著“不及格”。
上周在洛杉磯，改革派領(lǐng)教了當(dāng)前體制令人不快的一面。根據(jù)洛杉磯教育區(qū)周二發(fā)布的一項(xiàng)計(jì)劃，取消“自動(dòng)升級(jí)”將需要至少花費(fèi)四年的時(shí)間，耗資成百上千萬美元——也許還會(huì)使地區(qū)一半左右的學(xué)生留級(jí)。這是悲觀的估計(jì)，但官員們并非危言聳聽。洛杉磯的學(xué)校督導(dǎo)員魯本·扎卡雷斯以前曾積極參與反對(duì)“自動(dòng)升級(jí)”的活動(dòng)。二月份他提出了一項(xiàng)很有挑戰(zhàn)性的計(jì)劃，以期在1999-2000學(xué)年在五個(gè)年級(jí)取消無根據(jù)的升級(jí)——這比該州法律設(shè)定的時(shí)間表提前了整整一年。
扎卡雷斯承認(rèn)他的目標(biāo)在當(dāng)時(shí)很難實(shí)現(xiàn)。他估計(jì)如果按照成績升級(jí)的話，十個(gè)學(xué)生中將有六個(gè)過不了關(guān)。僅第一年扎卡雷斯就打算花費(fèi)1.4億美元來幫助這些孩子。為什么要花這么多錢呢？因?yàn)楸姸嘌芯勘砻魅绻∠白詣?dòng)升級(jí)”僅僅意味著有更多學(xué)生無法升級(jí)的話，那么它就失去了意義。那些被迫一遍又一遍地復(fù)讀的孩子成績并沒有提高，甚至還經(jīng)常會(huì)退學(xué)。扎卡雷斯希望學(xué)生們能得到更多的指導(dǎo)，開設(shè)更多的夏季班和強(qiáng)化學(xué)習(xí)班。不合格的學(xué)生不會(huì)進(jìn)入下一年級(jí)，但也不必把功課重學(xué)一遍。他提出的這一計(jì)劃很有遠(yuǎn)見，但70高齡的扎卡雷斯本人并沒有足夠的影響力將其付諸實(shí)施——他還不夠受歡迎——在一場激烈的權(quán)力斗爭之后，該校董事會(huì)近買斷了他的合同——但就連其他改革派也認(rèn)為他的計(jì)劃太宏大，太迫切。另一位董事會(huì)成員大衛(wèi)·托科夫斯基說：“工會(huì)想要有發(fā)言權(quán)。當(dāng)然，還有設(shè)施的問題：如果不能把八年級(jí)學(xué)生送入中學(xué)，那該把他們送往哪里呢？”現(xiàn)在，該教育區(qū)宣布它將只在兩個(gè)年級(jí)（二年級(jí)和八年級(jí)）對(duì)成績較差的學(xué)生取消升級(jí)，并將從明年起實(shí)施。
洛杉磯并不是一個(gè)在取消“自動(dòng)升級(jí)”工作中遇到困難的地方。在紐約市，一些辯護(hù)律師在訴訟中稱家長沒有及時(shí)被告知他們的孩子會(huì)留級(jí)。在芝加哥，一個(gè)家長團(tuán)體提出了民權(quán)控訴，宣稱取消自動(dòng)升級(jí)使相當(dāng)比例的黑人和拉丁美洲裔的孩子升不了級(jí)。
然而，這場關(guān)于“自動(dòng)升級(jí)”的戰(zhàn)爭還是會(huì)帶來一個(gè)有益的結(jié)果：如果每個(gè)教育區(qū)采用洛杉磯的做法，那些學(xué)習(xí)吃力的學(xué)生就會(huì)得到學(xué)習(xí)幫助，而不僅僅是在學(xué)完一年毫無收獲之外再被踢上一腳。
Last week in Los Angeles, the reformers learned just how ornery the current system can be. According to a plan released Tuesday by the L.A. school district, ending social promotion there will take at least four years, could cost hundreds of millions of dollars——and probably would require flunking about half the district's students. That's a pessimistic assessment, but it's not just bureaucrats' caterwauling. Rather, L.A. school superintendent Ruben Zacarias was an eager convert to the crusade against social promotion. In February he unveiled an ambitious plan to end unwarranted promotions in five grades during the 1999-2000 school year——a full year ahead of the timetable set by a state law.
At the time, Zacarias acknowledged that his goal would be hard to meet. He estimated that as many as 6 of every 10 students would flunk if they had to advance on merit. Zacarias wanted to spend $140 million in the first year alone to help these kids. Why so much? Because a mountain of research shows that ending social promotion doesn't work if it just means more Fs. Kids who are simply forced to repeat grades over and over usually don't improve academically and often drop out. Zacarias wanted more tutoring, summer school and intensive-learning classes. Unqualified students wouldn't rise to the next grade; nor would they be doomed to redo work they already failed. It was a forward-looking plan that Zacarias, 70, didn't have the clout to enact. He wasn't popular enough——the school board recently bought out his contract after a bitter power struggle——but even fellow reformers think his plan was too much, too soon. Says board member David Tokofsky: "You've got the unions who want their say. And, of course, there's the facilities issue: Where do you send all these eighth-graders if you can't send them to high school?" The district now says it will stop advancing low-achieving students only in two grades （second and eighth）, and it will begin next year.
Los Angeles isn't the only place that has run into roadblocks while trying to end social promotion. In New York City, some advocates have said in lawsuits that parents weren't notified early enough that their kids were flunking. And in Chicago, which led the nation on the issue, a parents' group has filed civil rights complaints alleging that the promotion crackdown holds back a disproportionate number of black and Latino kids.
Still, the war on social promotion could have one salutary consequence: if every school district takes L.A.'s approach, struggling students will get a lot more teaching help, not just a kick in the rear as they finish another unproductive school year.
注（1）：本文選自Time；12/13/99, p73, 2/3p, 1c
注（2）：本文習(xí)題命題模仿對(duì)象2001年真題text 2和text 4第4題（本習(xí)題第5題）
1.“Social promotion” is ___________.
[A] a simple idea for fixing school
[B] flunking students who don't earn passing grades
[C] making F more or less meaningless
[D] a political movement
2.Education officials give the reform prospect a pessimistic assessment because_______.
[A] it takes too long time, costs too much and may produce undesirable result
[B] there is no feasible plan yet
[C] it involves too many students
[D] it is not approved by state legislature
3.The writer mentioned the case of Zacarias to show that ______________.
[A] ending social promotion doesn't work
[B] schools do not have the ability to enact his plan
[C] plans like his are too ambitious
[D] it's hard to reach agreement on the issue of ending social promotion
4.It seems that the effort at ending social promotion _____________.
[A] is confronting a lot of resistance
[B] has proved fruitless
[C] has little hope of success
[D] does more harm than good
5.Toward the proposal of ending social promotion, the author's attitude seems to be ________.
[A] pessimistic
[B] optimistic
[C] objective
[D] biased
答案：C A D A B
篇章剖析：
本篇文章圍繞教育改革派主張?jiān)诿绹行W(xué)取消“自動(dòng)升級(jí)”的問題展開了討論，第一段介紹了改革派的主張：取消“自動(dòng)升級(jí)”。第二、三段以洛杉磯教育區(qū)為例，說明取消“自動(dòng)升級(jí)”在實(shí)施過程中所面臨的巨大困難。第四段介紹了這種實(shí)踐引起的社會(huì)反響。后一段介紹了它可能帶來的有益后果。
詞匯注釋：
disarmingly: [dis5B:miNli] adv. 使人消除警惕性[疑心]地, 使人不緊張的地
flunk: [flQNk] v. 使不及格
social promotion: 自動(dòng)升級(jí)
shuttle: [5FQtl] v. 穿梭運(yùn)送
peer: [piE] n. 同等的人；同輩
ornery: [5C:nEri] adj. 脾氣壞的; 愛爭吵的
assessment: [E5sesmEnt] n. 評(píng)估，評(píng)價(jià)
bureaucrat: [5bjuErEukrAt] n. 官僚；官吏
caterwauling: [`kAtE9WR:lIV] n. 哀訴聲,抱怨聲
superintendent: [7sju:pErin5tendEnt] n. 主管, 負(fù)責(zé)人, 指揮者, 管理者
convert: [kEn5vE:t] n. （常與to連用）改變信仰或意見的人
crusade: [kru:5seid] n. 討伐；改革運(yùn)動(dòng)；熱心于社會(huì)除惡的運(yùn)動(dòng)
unwarranted: [5Qn5wCrEntid] adj. 無根據(jù)的, 未獲保證的, 無保證的, 未獲承認(rèn)的
clout: [klaut] n. 影響力
enact: [i5nAkt] v. 制定，制訂成法律
roadblock: [`rEJdblCk] n. 障礙, 障礙物
advocate: [5AdvEkit] n. （常與of連用）擁護(hù)者；提倡者
notify: [5nEutifai] v. 正式通知（某人）
allege: [E5ledV] v. 〈法〉指控
crackdown: [5krAkdaun] n. 鎮(zhèn)壓, 打擊
disproportionate: [7disprE5pC:FEnit] adj. 不相稱的；不成比例的；不勻稱的
Latino: [lA5ti:nEu] n. 拉丁美洲人
salutary: [5sAljutEri] adj. 有益的
難句突破
And in Chicago, which led the nation on the issue, a parents' group has filed civil rights complaints alleging that the promotion crackdown holds back a disproportionate number of black and Latino kids.
主體句式：a parents' group has filed complaints
結(jié)構(gòu)分析：本句是一個(gè)復(fù)雜句，在介詞in引導(dǎo)的狀語中包含了一個(gè)which引導(dǎo)的非限定性定語從句，修飾Chicago，在主句中包含一個(gè)分詞alleging引導(dǎo)的狀語，這個(gè)狀語自己還包含了一個(gè)that引導(dǎo)的賓語從句。
句子譯文：在芝加哥，一個(gè)家長團(tuán)體提出了民權(quán)控訴，宣稱取消自動(dòng)升級(jí)使相當(dāng)比例的黑人和拉丁美洲裔的孩子升不了級(jí)。
題目分析：
1. 答案為C, 屬事實(shí)細(xì)節(jié)題。從文章第一段破折號(hào)后對(duì)social promotion的解釋來看，它的意思是：就算差生考試不及格，他們照樣可以和其他同學(xué)一起進(jìn)入下一年級(jí)。在從改革派反對(duì)“social promotion”，主張使F真正意味著“不及格”來看，social promotion 顯然使F失去了意義。
2. 答案為A，屬事實(shí)細(xì)節(jié)題。本文答案可以在that's a pessimistic assessment前面的部分讀到。
3. 答案為D，屬推理判斷題。文章第三段先介紹了Zacarias的計(jì)劃，然后說明他的計(jì)劃為什么難以實(shí)施：他在校董事會(huì)的權(quán)力之爭中落敗，以及其他改革派對(duì)他的計(jì)劃所持的不同意見。以這樣一個(gè)例子旨在說明在取消“自動(dòng)升級(jí)”問題上難以達(dá)成一致意見。
4. 答案為A，屬事實(shí)細(xì)節(jié)題。根據(jù)文章第四段所舉的例子可知，這一改革方案遭到了較多的抵制。
5. 答案為B，屬推理判斷題。雖然文章用了較大篇幅介紹取消“自動(dòng)升級(jí)”所面臨的困難和計(jì)劃實(shí)施中存在的問題，但作者的態(tài)度仍然是積極樂觀的。這一點(diǎn)可以從作者評(píng)論Zacarias的計(jì)劃時(shí)所用的措辭“forward-looking”以及后一段作者評(píng)論其有益后果看出。
參考譯文：
過去幾年，改革派一直堅(jiān)持用一種令人毫無懷疑的簡單想法解決學(xué)校的問題：對(duì)于那些成績不達(dá)標(biāo)的學(xué)生，為什么不讓他們留級(jí)？民主黨和共和黨已經(jīng)開始抨擊“自動(dòng)升級(jí)”的做法——按照這種做法，就算差生考試不及格，他們照樣可以和其他同學(xué)一起進(jìn)入下一年級(jí)。這場運(yùn)動(dòng)主張要讓“F”這個(gè)成績真的意味著“不及格”。
上周在洛杉磯，改革派領(lǐng)教了當(dāng)前體制令人不快的一面。根據(jù)洛杉磯教育區(qū)周二發(fā)布的一項(xiàng)計(jì)劃，取消“自動(dòng)升級(jí)”將需要至少花費(fèi)四年的時(shí)間，耗資成百上千萬美元——也許還會(huì)使地區(qū)一半左右的學(xué)生留級(jí)。這是悲觀的估計(jì)，但官員們并非危言聳聽。洛杉磯的學(xué)校督導(dǎo)員魯本·扎卡雷斯以前曾積極參與反對(duì)“自動(dòng)升級(jí)”的活動(dòng)。二月份他提出了一項(xiàng)很有挑戰(zhàn)性的計(jì)劃，以期在1999-2000學(xué)年在五個(gè)年級(jí)取消無根據(jù)的升級(jí)——這比該州法律設(shè)定的時(shí)間表提前了整整一年。
扎卡雷斯承認(rèn)他的目標(biāo)在當(dāng)時(shí)很難實(shí)現(xiàn)。他估計(jì)如果按照成績升級(jí)的話，十個(gè)學(xué)生中將有六個(gè)過不了關(guān)。僅第一年扎卡雷斯就打算花費(fèi)1.4億美元來幫助這些孩子。為什么要花這么多錢呢？因?yàn)楸姸嘌芯勘砻魅绻∠白詣?dòng)升級(jí)”僅僅意味著有更多學(xué)生無法升級(jí)的話，那么它就失去了意義。那些被迫一遍又一遍地復(fù)讀的孩子成績并沒有提高，甚至還經(jīng)常會(huì)退學(xué)。扎卡雷斯希望學(xué)生們能得到更多的指導(dǎo)，開設(shè)更多的夏季班和強(qiáng)化學(xué)習(xí)班。不合格的學(xué)生不會(huì)進(jìn)入下一年級(jí)，但也不必把功課重學(xué)一遍。他提出的這一計(jì)劃很有遠(yuǎn)見，但70高齡的扎卡雷斯本人并沒有足夠的影響力將其付諸實(shí)施——他還不夠受歡迎——在一場激烈的權(quán)力斗爭之后，該校董事會(huì)近買斷了他的合同——但就連其他改革派也認(rèn)為他的計(jì)劃太宏大，太迫切。另一位董事會(huì)成員大衛(wèi)·托科夫斯基說：“工會(huì)想要有發(fā)言權(quán)。當(dāng)然，還有設(shè)施的問題：如果不能把八年級(jí)學(xué)生送入中學(xué)，那該把他們送往哪里呢？”現(xiàn)在，該教育區(qū)宣布它將只在兩個(gè)年級(jí)（二年級(jí)和八年級(jí)）對(duì)成績較差的學(xué)生取消升級(jí)，并將從明年起實(shí)施。
洛杉磯并不是一個(gè)在取消“自動(dòng)升級(jí)”工作中遇到困難的地方。在紐約市，一些辯護(hù)律師在訴訟中稱家長沒有及時(shí)被告知他們的孩子會(huì)留級(jí)。在芝加哥，一個(gè)家長團(tuán)體提出了民權(quán)控訴，宣稱取消自動(dòng)升級(jí)使相當(dāng)比例的黑人和拉丁美洲裔的孩子升不了級(jí)。
然而，這場關(guān)于“自動(dòng)升級(jí)”的戰(zhàn)爭還是會(huì)帶來一個(gè)有益的結(jié)果：如果每個(gè)教育區(qū)采用洛杉磯的做法，那些學(xué)習(xí)吃力的學(xué)生就會(huì)得到學(xué)習(xí)幫助，而不僅僅是在學(xué)完一年毫無收獲之外再被踢上一腳。