Something extraordinary is happening in London this week: in Lambeth, one of the city’s poorest boroughs(区), 180 children are starting their secondary education in a brand new school. The state- funded school was set up by parents who were fed up with the quality of local education. In countries with more enlightened education systems, this would be unremarkable. In Britain, it is an amazing achievement by a bunch of desperate and determined people after years of struggle.
Britain’s schools are in a mess. Average standards are not improving despite billions in extra spending, and a stubbornly long tail of underachievers straggles(拖后腿) behind. A couple of years ago, a consensus emerged among reformers that councils had too much control and parents too little.
One might have expected more from the Conservatives, who stood for election on a pledge to bring in school vouchers. Yet the Tory policy group charged with thinking deep thoughts about public servi
A. The new school in Lambeth is financed by parents not satisfied with the local education.
B. Reformers recently agreed that parents had less control over British schools than the councils.
C. The establishment of this school is more remarkable in Britain than in some other countries.
D. British schools have managed to use a large sum to ameliorate the level of education.
| Many things make people think artists
are weird—the odd hours, the nonconformity, the clove cigarettes. However, the
weirdest may be this: artists’ only jobs are to explore emotions, and yet they
choose to focus on the ones that feel lousy. This wasn’t always so. The earliest
forms of art, like painting and music, are those best suited for expressing joy.
But somewhere in the 19th(上标) century, more artists began seeing happiness as
insipid, phony or, worst of all, boring. In the 20th(上标) century, classical
music became more atonal, visual art more unsettling. Sure, there have been exceptions, but it would not be a stretch to say that for the past century or so, serious art has been at war with happiness. In 1824, Beethoven completed his "Ode to Joy". In 1962, novelist Anthoy Burgess used it in A Clockwork Orange as the favorite A. musicians and novelists share similar artistic taste B. violent people have a strong desire to be happy C. serious art is often contradictory with happiness D. music is enjoyed by good and bad people alike 我来回答: 提交
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