北京地区成人本科学士学位英语统一考试 2014.05.10 Part I Reading Comprehension (30%) Directions: There are three passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. You should decide on the best choice and blacken the corresponding letter m the Answer Sheet. Passage 1 Questions 1 to 5 are based on the following passage: The first year of school in America, known as kindergarten, usually begins between the ages of five and six. Among rich countries such a late start is very strange. President Obama believes it is an economic and social problem; his education secretary goes as far as to say that it is "morally wrong". This statement has some support, as it is clear from research into vocabulary that youngsters from poor families enter kindergarten well behind those from rich families—a disadvantage that usually lasts a lifetime. Children from households on welfare knew 525 words by the age of three, while the children of professionals had mastered 1,116. (76) Pre.school can help close this gap. So in a speech last month, Mr, Obama called for a partnership between the federal government and the states to expand it to every American child. It later became known that "every" meant those who come from families with incomes of up to 200% above the poverty line—equal to an income of $47,000 for a family of four. (77) Some critics say that sending children to school at the age of four does not work. The evidence suggests otherwise. For example, on March 20th new results were announced from a study of 9.to.l 1.year.olds in New Jersey. This report found that disadvantaged children who had a...
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