Passage One
Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.
While human achievements in mathematics continue to reach new levels of complexity, many of us who aren't mathematicians at heart (or engineers by trade) may struggle to remember the last time we used calculus (微积分).
It’s a fact not lost on American educators, who amid rising math failure rates are debating how math can better meet the real-life needs of students. Should we change the way math is taught in schools, or eliminate some courses entirely?
Andrew Hacker, Queens College political science professor, thinks that advanced algebra and other higher-level math should be cut from curricula in favor of courses with more routine usefulness, like statistics.
“We hear on all sides that we're not teaching enough mathematics, and the Chinese are running rings around us,” Hacker says. “I'm suggesting we're teaching too much mathematics to too many people…not everybody has to know calculus. If you're going to become an aeronautical (航空的) engineer, fine. But most of us aren't.”
Instead, Hacker is pushing for more courses like the one he teaches at Queens College： Numeracy 101. There, his students of “citizen statistics” learn to analyze public information like the federal budget and corporate reports. Such courses, Hacker argues, are a remedy for the numerical illiteracy of adults who have completed high-level math like algebra but are unable to calculate the price of, say, a carpet by area.
Hacker's argument has met with opposition from other math educators who say what's needed is to help students develop a better relationship with math earlier, rather than teaching them less math altogether.
Maria Droujkova is a founder of Natural Math, and has taught basic calculus concepts to 5-year-olds. For Droujkova, high-level math is important, and what it could use in American classrooms is an injection of childlike wonder.
“Make mathematics more available,” Droujkova says. “Redesign it so it's more accessible to more kinds of people: young children, adults who worry about it, adults who may have had bad experiences.”
Pamela Harris, a lecturer at the university of Texas at Austin, has a similar perspective. Harris says that American education is suffering from an epidemic of “fake math”—an emphasis on rote memorization (死记硬背) of formulas and steps, rather than an understanding of how math can influence the ways we see the world.
Andrew Hacker, for the record, remains skeptical.
“I'm going to leave it to those who are in mathematics to work out the ways to make their subject interesting and exciting so students want to take it,” Hacker says. “All that I ask is that alternatives be offered instead of putting all of us on the road to calculus.”
46. What does the author say about ordinary Americans?
A)They struggle to solve math problems.
B) They think math is a complex subject.
C) They find high-level math of little use.
D) They work hard to learn high-level math.
47. What is the general complaint about America's math education according to Hacker?
A)America is not doing as well as China.
B) Math professors are not doing a good job.
C) It doesn't help students develop their literacy.
D) There has hardly been any innovation for years.
48. What does Andrew Hacker's Numeracy 101 aim to do?
A)Allow students to learn high-level math step by step.
B) Enable students to make practical use of basic math.
C) Lay a solid foundation for advanced math studies.
D) Help students to develop their analytical abilities.
49. What does Maria Droujkova suggest math teachers do in class?
A)Make complex concepts easy to understand.
B) Start teaching children math at an early age.
C) Help children work wonders with calculus.
D) Try to arouse students' curiosity in math.
50. What does Pamela Harris think should be the goal of math education?
A)To enable learners to understand the world better.
B) To help learners to tell fake math from real math.
C) To broaden Americans' perspectives on math.
D) To exert influence on world development.
答案解析：
由题干中的关键词“ordinary Americans”定位到第一段“many of us who aren't mathematicians at heart (or engineers by trade) may struggle to remember the last time we used calculus (微积分).”以及第三段Andrew Hacker认为“not everybody has to know calculus. But most of us aren't.”，说明普通美国人觉得高等数学用处不大，所以选C。
由题干中的关键词“general complaint about America's math education”“Hacker”定位到第四段“We hear on all sides that we're not teaching enough mathematics, and the Chinese are running rings around us,” Hacker says. “I'm suggesting we're teaching too much mathematics to too many people…”，Hacker提到大家总说美国数学教得不够，中国遥遥领先，他觉得是教得太多，可推断出一般抱怨是美国数学教育不如中国，所以选A。
由题干中的关键词“Andrew Hacker's Numeracy 101”“aim”定位到第五段“Instead, Hacker is pushing for more courses like the one he teaches at Queens College： Numeracy 101. There, his students of “citizen statistics” learn to analyze public information like the federal budget and corporate reports.”，说明Numeracy 101旨在让学生能实际运用基础数学，所以选B。
由题干中的关键词“Maria Droujkova”“suggest math teachers do in class”定位到第七段及第八段，第八段都是祈使句，是提建议的口吻，所以最终定位到第八段。第八段提到“Make mathematics more available,” Droujkova says. “Redesign it so it's more accessible to more kinds of people: young children, adults who worry about it, adults who may have had bad experiences.”，说明Maria Droujkova建议数学老师重新设计课堂教学内容，昂数学变得浅显易懂，所以选A。
由题干中的关键词“Pamela Harris”“goal of math education”定位到第九段“Harris says that American education is suffering from an epidemic of “fake math”—an emphasis on rote memorization (死记硬背) of formulas and steps, rather than an understanding of how math can influence the ways we see the world.”，说明Pamela Harris认为数学教育目标应是让人们了解数学如何影响人们看待世界的方式，即人们对数学产生新的认知，拓展对数学的认知角度，所以选C。
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