3 SLOWING DOWN A QUICK FIX

Ending "social promotion" sounds great. But L.A. discovers it could mean flunking half its students

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.

By John Cloud Time; 12/13/99, Vol. 154 Issue 24, p73, 2/3p, 1c

注(1)：本文选自Time；12/13/99, p73, 2/3p, 1c

注(2)：本文习题命题模仿对象2001年真题text 2和text 4第4题(本习题第5题)

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：

本篇文章围绕教育改革派主张在美国中小学取消“自动升级”的问题展开了讨论，第一段介绍了改革派的主张：取消“自动升级”。第二、三段以洛杉矶教育区为例，说明取消“自动升级”在实施过程中所面临的巨大困难。第四段介绍了这种实践引起的社会反响。最后一段介绍了它可能带来的有益后果。

词汇注释：

disarmingly: [dis5B:miNli] adv. 使人消除警惕性[疑心]地, 使人不紧张的地

flunk: [flQNk] v. 使不及格

social promotion: 自动升级

shuttle: [5FQtl] v. 穿梭运送

peer: [piE] n. 同等的人；同辈

ornery: [5C:nEri] adj. 脾气坏的; 爱争吵的

assessment: [E5sesmEnt] n. 评估，评价

bureaucrat: [5bjuErEukrAt] n. 官僚；官吏

caterwauling: [`kAtE9WR:lIV] n. 哀诉声,抱怨声

superintendent: [7sju:pErin5tendEnt] n. 主管, 负责人, 指挥者, 管理者

convert: [kEn5vE:t] n. (常与to连用)改变信仰或意见的人

crusade: [kru:5seid] n. 讨伐；改革运动；热心于社会除恶的运动

unwarranted: [5Qn5wCrEntid] adj. 无根据的, 未获保证的, 无保证的, 未获承认的

clout: [klaut] n. 影响力

enact: [i5nAkt] v. 制定，制订成法律

roadblock: [`rEJdblCk] n. 障碍, 障碍物

advocate: [5AdvEkit] n. (常与of连用)拥护者；提倡者

notify: [5nEutifai] v. 正式通知(某人)

allege: [E5ledV] v. 〈法〉指控

crackdown: [5krAkdaun] n. 镇压, 打击

disproportionate: [7disprE5pC:FEnit] adj. 不相称的；不成比例的；不匀称的

Latino: [lA5ti:nEu] n. 拉丁美洲人

salutary: [5sAljutEri] adj. 有益的

难句突破

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.

主体句式：a parents’ group has filed complaints

结构分析：本句是一个复杂句，在介词in引导的状语中包含了一个which引导的非限定性定语从句，修饰Chicago，在主句中包含一个分词alleging引导的状语，这个状语自己还包含了一个that引导的宾语从句。

句子译文：在芝加哥，一个家长团体提出了民权控诉，宣称取消自动升级使相当比例的黑人和拉丁美洲裔的孩子升不了级。

题目分析：

1. 答案为C, 属事实细节题。从文章第一段破折号后对social promotion的解释来看，它的意思是：就算差生考试不及格，他们照样可以和其他同学一起进入下一年级。在从改革派反对“social promotion”，主张使F真正意味着“不及格”来看，social promotion 显然使F失去了意义。

2. 答案为A，属事实细节题。本文答案可以在that’s a pessimistic assessment前面的部分读到。

3. 答案为D，属推理判断题。文章第三段先介绍了Zacarias的计划，然后说明他的计划为什么难以实施：他在校董事会的权力之争中落败，以及其他改革派对他的计划所持的不同意见。以这样一个例子旨在说明在取消“自动升级”问题上难以达成一致意见。

4. 答案为A，属事实细节题。根据文章第四段所举的例子可知，这一改革方案遭到了较多的抵制。

5. 答案为B，属推理判断题。虽然文章用了较大篇幅介绍取消“自动升级”所面临的困难和计划实施中存在的问题，但作者的态度仍然是积极乐观的。这一点可以从作者评论Zacarias的计划时所用的措辞“forward-looking”以及最后一段作者评论其有益后果看出。

参考译文：

过去几年，改革派一直坚持用一种令人毫无怀疑的简单想法解决学校的问题：对于那些成绩不达标的学生，为什么不让他们留级？民主党和共和党已经开始抨击“自动升级”的做法---按照这种做法，就算差生考试不及格，他们照样可以和其他同学一起进入下一年级。这场运动主张要让“F”这个成绩真的意味着“不及格”。

上周在洛杉矶，改革派领教了当前体制令人不快的一面。根据洛杉矶教育区周二发布的一项计划，取消“自动升级”将需要至少花费四年的时间，耗资成百上千万美元---也许还会使地区一半左右的学生留级。这是悲观的估计，但官员们并非危言耸听。洛杉矶的学校督导员鲁本·扎卡雷斯以前曾积极参与反对“自动升级”的活动。二月份他提出了一项很有挑战性的计划，以期在1999-2000学年在五个年级取消无根据的升级---这比该州法律设定的时间表提前了整整一年。

扎卡雷斯承认他的目标在当时很难实现。他估计如果按照成绩升级的话，十个学生中将有六个过不了关。仅第一年扎卡雷斯就打算花费1.4亿美元来帮助这些孩子。为什么要花这么多钱呢？因为众多研究表明如果取消“自动升级”仅仅意味着有更多学生无法升级的话，那么它就失去了意义。那些被迫一遍又一遍地复读的孩子成绩并没有提高，甚至还经常会退学。扎卡雷斯希望学生们能得到更多的指导，开设更多的夏季班和强化学习班。不合格的学生不会进入下一年级，但也不必把功课重学一遍。他提出的这一计划很有远见，但70高龄的扎卡雷斯本人并没有足够的影响力将其付诸实施---他还不够受欢迎---在一场激烈的权力斗争之后，该校董事会最近买断了他的合同---但就连其他改革派也认为他的计划太宏大，太迫切。另一位董事会成员大卫·托科夫斯基说：“工会想要有发言权。当然，还有设施的问题：如果不能把八年级学生送入中学，那该把他们送往哪里呢？”现在，该教育区宣布它将只在两个年级(二年级和八年级)对成绩较差的学生取消升级，并将从明年起实施。

洛杉矶并不是唯一一个在取消“自动升级”工作中遇到困难的地方。在纽约市，一些辩护律师在诉讼中称家长没有及时被告知他们的孩子会留级。在芝加哥，一个家长团体提出了民权控诉，宣称取消自动升级使相当比例的黑人和拉丁美洲裔的孩子升不了级。

然而，这场关于“自动升级”的战争还是会带来一个有益的结果：如果每个教育区采用洛杉矶的做法，那些学习吃力的学生就会得到学习帮助，而不仅仅是在学完一年毫无收获之外再被踢上一脚。