Part A: Reading Comprehension
Text 1
It is curious that Stephen Koziatek feels almost as though he has to justify his efforts to give his students a better future.
Mr. Koziatek is part of something pioneering. He is a teacher at a New Hampshire high school where learning is not something of books and tests and mechanical memorization, but practical. When did it become accepted wisdom that students should be able to name the 13th president of the United States but be utterly overwhelmed by a broken bike chain?
As Koziatek knows, there is learning in just about everything. Nothing is necessarily gained by forcing students to learn geometry at a graffitied desk stuck with generations of discarded chewing gum. They can also learn geometry by assembling a bicycle.
But he’s also found a kind of insidious prejudice. Working with your hands is seen as almost a mark of inferiority. Schools in the family of vocational education “have that stereotype... that it’s for kids who can’t make it academically,” he says.
On one hand, that viewpoint is a logical product of America’s evolution. Manufacturing is not the economic engine that it once was. The job security that the US economy once offered to high school graduates has largely evaporated. More education is the new principle. We want more for our kids, and rightfully so.
But the headlong push into bachelor’s degrees for all—and the subtle devaluing of anything less—misses an important point: That’s not the only thing the American economy needs. Yes, a bachelor’s degree opens more doors. But even now, 54 percent of the jobs in the country are middle-skill jobs, such as construction and high-skill manufacturing. But only 44 percent of workers are adequately trained.
In other words, at a time when the working class has turned the country on its political head, frustrated that the opportunity that once defined America is vanishing, one obvious solution is staring us in the face. There is a gap in working-class jobs, but the workers who need those jobs most aren’t equipped to do them. Koziatek’s Manchester School of Technology High School is trying to fill that gap.
Koziatek’s school is a wake-up call. When education becomes one-size-fits-all, it risks overlooking a nation’s diversity of gifts.
21. A broken bike chain is mentioned to show students’ lack of
22. There exists the prejudice that vocational education is for kids who
23. We can infer from Paragraph 5 that high school graduates
24. The headlong push into bachelor’s degrees for all
25. The author’s attitude toward Koziatek’s school can be described as
答案解析 (Answers & Explanations)
21. [A] practical ability.
解析：第二段末尾将“能叫出美国第13任总统的名字（书本知识）”与“面对断掉的自行车链条束手无策（实际操作）”进行对比。作者以此讽刺当前教育重理论轻实践，指出学生缺乏“实际操作能力”，选A。
22. [C] are not academically successful.
解析：第四段明确提到职业教育（vocational education）存在一种刻板印象（stereotype），即认为它是“专门给那些在学业上无法成功（can’t make it academically）的孩子准备的”。这直接对应选项C。
23. [B] used to have more job opportunities.
解析：第五段指出：“美国经济曾经为高中毕业生提供的职业保障（job security）已经很大程度上蒸发了”。由此可推断，过去的高中毕业生相比现在拥有更多的就业机会和保障，选B。
24. [D] indicates the overvaluing of higher education.
解析：第六段提到，这种全民追求学士学位（bachelor's degrees for all）的狂热以及对“除此之外任何教育”的贬低（subtle devaluing），忽略了一个事实：美国经济不仅仅需要本科学历。这表明社会过度看重高等教育（overvaluing of higher education），选D。
25. [A] supportive.
解析：作者在文中称 Koziatek 的学校是“开创性的（pioneering）”，并称其为针对社会现状的“明显解决方案（obvious solution）”和“警钟（wake-up call）”，且最后一段肯定了其对多样性天赋的尊重。这些褒义词汇表明作者对该校持“支持（supportive）”态度。
核心长难句精解 (High-Light)
1. 疑问句形式的对比：
"When did it become accepted wisdom that students should be able to name the 13th president... but be utterly overwhelmed by a broken bike chain?"
【解析】`it` 是形式主语，真正的 `that` 引导主语从句。从句中 `should be able to... but be...` 构成了鲜明的讽刺对比，揭示了教育与现实脱节的荒诞。
"When did it become accepted wisdom that students should be able to name the 13th president... but be utterly overwhelmed by a broken bike chain?"
【解析】`it` 是形式主语，真正的 `that` 引导主语从句。从句中 `should be able to... but be...` 构成了鲜明的讽刺对比，揭示了教育与现实脱节的荒诞。
2. 复杂的定语从句与同位语：
"In other words, at a time when the working class has turned the country on its political head, frustrated that the opportunity... is vanishing, one obvious solution is staring us in the face."
【解析】`when` 引导时间状语从句修饰 `time`。`frustrated` 是过去分词短语作状语，修饰 `working class`。主句核心是 `one obvious solution is staring us in the face`（一个明显的解决方案就在我们面前）。
"In other words, at a time when the working class has turned the country on its political head, frustrated that the opportunity... is vanishing, one obvious solution is staring us in the face."
【解析】`when` 引导时间状语从句修饰 `time`。`frustrated` 是过去分词短语作状语，修饰 `working class`。主句核心是 `one obvious solution is staring us in the face`（一个明显的解决方案就在我们面前）。
3. 条件状语从句与动名词：
"When education becomes one-size-fits-all, it risks overlooking a nation’s diversity of gifts."
【解析】`one-size-fits-all` 形象地描述了“一刀切”的教育模式。`risks` 后面接动名词短语 `overlooking...` 作宾语。这句话概括了全文主旨：单一的评价标准会扼杀人才的多样性。
"When education becomes one-size-fits-all, it risks overlooking a nation’s diversity of gifts."
【解析】`one-size-fits-all` 形象地描述了“一刀切”的教育模式。`risks` 后面接动名词短语 `overlooking...` 作宾语。这句话概括了全文主旨：单一的评价标准会扼杀人才的多样性。