The familiar sounds of an early English summer are with us once again. Millions of children sit clown to SATs, GCSEs, AS-levels, A-levels and a host of lesser exams, and the argument over educational standards starts. Depending on whom you listen to, we should either be letting up on over-examined pupils by abolishing SATs, and even GCSEs, or else making exams far more rigorous.
The chorus will reach a peak when GCSE and A-level results are published in August. If pass rates rise again, commentators will say that standards are falling because exams are getting easier. If pass rates drop, they will say that standards are falling because children are getting lower marks. Parents like myself try to ignore this and base our judgements on what our children are learning. But it’s not easy given how much education has changed since we were at school.
Some trends are encouraging—education has been made more relevant and enthuses many children that it would hav
A. SATs is one of the most rigorous exams mentioned
B. it has been debated if children should be given exams
C. few parents approve of the exam systems in England
D. each year children have to face up to some new exams
The familiar sounds of an early English summer are with us once again. Millions of children sit clown to SATs, GCSEs, AS-levels, A-levels and a host of lesser exams, and the argument over educational standards starts. Depending on whom you listen to, we should either be letting up on over-examined pupils by abolishing SATs, and even GCSEs, or else making exams far more rigorous.
The chorus will reach a peak when GCSE and A-level results are published in August. If pass rates rise again, commentators will say that standards are falling because exams are getting easier. If pass rates drop, they will say that standards are falling because children are getting lower marks. Parents like myself try to ignore this and base our judgements on what our children are learning. But it’s not easy given how much education has changed since we were at school.
Some trends are encouraging—education has been made more relevant and enthuses many children that it would hav
A. whether their children have passed the exams
B. what knowledge their children have acquired
C. what educators say about curriculum planning
D. whether their children’s school scores are stable
Sometime in the next century, the familiar early-newspaper on the front gate will disappear. And instead of reading your newspaper, it will read to you. You’ll get up and turn on the computer newspaper just like switching on the TV. An electronic voice will distribute stories about the latest events, guided by a program that selects the type of news you want. You’ll even get to choose the kind of voice you want to hear. Want more information on the brief story A simple touch makes the entire text appear. Save it in your own personal computer if you like. These are among the predictions from communication experts working on the newspapers of the future. Pictured as part of broader home-based media and entertainment systems, computer newspapers would unite print and broadcast reporting, offering news and analysis with video images of news events.
Most of the technology is available (可用的) now, but convincing (说服) more people that they don’t need paper to re
A. it is technologically impossible now
B. computer newspapers are too expensive
C. there is strong resistance from both the general population and professional journalists
D. traditional newspapers are easy to read
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