Part A: Reading Comprehension

Text 1

Homework has never been terribly popular with students and even many parents, but in recent years it has been particularly scorned. School districts across the country, most recently Los Angeles Unified, are revising their thinking on this educational ritual. Unfortunately, L. A. Unified has produced an inflexible policy which mandates that with the exception of some advanced courses, homework may no longer count for more than 10% of a student’s academic grade.

This rule is meant to address the difficulty that students from impoverished or chaotic homes might have in completing their homework. But the policy is unclear and contradictory. Certainly, no homework should be assigned that students cannot complete on their own or that they cannot do without expensive equipment. But if the district is essentially giving a pass to students who do not do their homework because of complicated family lives, it is going riskily close to the implication that standards need to be lowered for poor children.

District administrators say that homework will still be a part of schooling; teachers are allowed to assign as much of it as they want. But with homework counting for no more than 10% of their grades, students can easily skip half their homework and see very little difference on their report cards. Some students might do well on state tests without completing their homework, but what about the students who performed well on the tests and did their homework? It is quite possible that the homework helped. Yet rather than empowering teachers to find what works best for the students, the policy imposes a flat, across-the-board rule.

At the same time, the policy addresses none of the truly thorny questions about homework. If the district finds homework to be unimportant to its students’ academic achievement, it should move to reduce or eliminate the assignments, not make them count for almost nothing. Conversely, if homework matters, it should account for a significant portion of the grade. Meanwhile, this policy does nothing to ensure that the homework students receive is meaningful or appropriate to their age and the subject, or that teachers are not assigning more than they are willing to review and correct.

The homework rules should be put on hold while the school board, which is responsible for setting educational policy, looks into the matter and conducts public hearings. It is not too late for L. A. Unified to do homework right.

21. It is implied in Paragraph 1 that nowadays homework

[A]

is receiving more criticism. 

[B]

is gaining more preferences. 

[C]

is no longer an educational ritual. 

[D]

is not required for advanced courses. 

22. L. A. Unified has made the rule about homework mainly because poor students

[A]

tend to have moderate expectations for their education. 

[B]

have asked for a different educational standard. 

[C]

may have problems finishing their homework. 

[D]

have voiced their complaints about homework. 

23. According to Paragraph 3, one problem with the policy is that it may

[A]

result in students’ indifference to their report cards. 

[B]

undermine the authority of state tests. 

[C]

restrict teachers’ power in education. 

[D]

discourage students from doing homework. 

24. As mentioned in Paragraph 4, a key question unanswered about homework is whether

[A]

it should be eliminated. 

[B]

it counts much in schooling. 

[C]

it places extra burdens on teachers. 

[D]

it is important for grades. 

25. A suitable title for this text could be

[A]

A Faulty Approach to Homework. 

[B]

A Welcomed Policy for Poor Students. 

[C]

Thorny Questions about Homework. 

[D]

Wrong Interpretations of an Educational Policy. 

答案解析 (Answers & Explanations)

21. [A] is receiving more criticism.
解析：第一段首句提到：“家庭作业从未受到学生甚至许多家长的欢迎，但近年来它尤其遭到鄙视（particularly scorned）。” “scorned（鄙视/嘲弄）”对应选项 A 中的“receiving more criticism（受到更多批评）”。

22. [C] may have problems finishing their homework.
解析：第二段首句明确指出：“这项规则旨在解决来自贫困或混乱家庭的学生在完成家庭作业时可能遇到的困难（address the difficulty that students from impoverished... homes might have in completing their homework）”。这直接对应选项 C 中的“可能在完成作业时遇到问题（may have problems finishing their homework）”。

23. [D] discourage students from doing homework.
解析：第三段提到，由于家庭作业占总成绩的比例不超过10%，学生可以“轻易地跳过一半的作业，而在成绩单上几乎看不出什么区别（can easily skip half their homework...）”。这意味着该政策会让学生觉得做不做作业无所谓，从而“打消了学生做作业的积极性（discourage students from doing homework）”，选 D。

24. [B] it counts much in schooling.
解析：第四段讨论了关于家庭作业的“棘手问题（thorny questions）”。作者指出：如果学区认为作业“不重要”，就该减少或取消；反之，“如果作业重要（if homework matters）”，它就应该在成绩中占重要比例。因此，未被回答的关键问题是：家庭作业在学校教育中到底重不重要（whether it counts much in schooling），选 B。选项 D 只是表象，本质问题是它到底有没有用。

25. [A] A Faulty Approach to Homework.
解析：主旨题。文章第一段指出洛杉矶联合学区的政策是“僵化的（inflexible）”和“不幸的（Unfortunately）”；第二段说它“不清楚且矛盾（unclear and contradictory）”；第三段说它“一刀切（a flat, across-the-board rule）”；最后一段呼吁将该规定“搁置（put on hold）”。通篇作者都在批判这个关于家庭作业的政策，因此 A 选项“对待家庭作业的一种错误方法/政策（A Faulty Approach...）”最贴切主旨。

核心长难句精解 (High-Light)

1. 复杂的定语从句与同位语从句嵌套：
"But if the district is essentially giving a pass to students who do not do their homework because of complicated family lives, it is going riskily close to the implication that standards need to be lowered for poor children."
【解析】句首的 if 引导条件状语从句，其中 who 引导定语从句修饰 students。主句中 it 代指这种行为，that 引导同位语从句解释 implication 的内容。作者一针见血地指出，纵容由于家庭原因不写作业的学生，实际上是在暗示穷孩子的能力不行（需要降低标准），这是一种危险的偏见。

2. 并列宾语从句：
"Meanwhile, this policy does nothing to ensure that the homework students receive is meaningful or appropriate to their age and the subject, or that teachers are not assigning more than they are willing to review and correct."
【解析】动词 ensure 后面跟了两个由 that 引导的并列宾语从句。第一个从句中 students receive 是省略了引导词的定语从句，修饰 homework。这句话批判了该政策完全没有触及家庭作业的“质量控制”问题。