2010秋西安交通大学研究生《高级英语写作》期末考试试题.doc

201011学年 第1学期西安交通大学研究生高级英语写作期末考试试题(B)姓名学 号英语班号考场所在院系考试日期Part I: Summary Writing (40 points)Read the following article carefully, and then write a summary in about 200 words. The Advantages of HomeschoolingBy Margy Lawrence and John Laing (adapted from ww.homeschoolfacts.com, http:/www.successful-homeschooling.com/homeschooling-facts.html and school.familyeducation.com/home-schooling)Homeschooling is defined as the education of children at home, primarily by parents or guardians. Homeschooling is the single fastest growing educational trend in the United States, and that trend is expanding worldwide. Dr. Brian Ray, one of the leading homeschool researchers, estimates that homeschooling has increased 15% per year over the past several years. While accurate statistics regarding the number of families homeschooling is difficult to come by, Dr. Rays estimates are supported by the U.S. Department of Educations National Household Education Survey program.In 1999, the Department of Ed estimated that there were about 850,000 homeschoolers nationwide, and this number had increased to about 1.1 million by 2003. Ray estimated that there were between 1.7 and 2.1 million homeschoolers at the end of that period, and that currently, there are between 2.5 and 4 million homeschoolers nationwide.It is not hard to see why. Every day there are reports about how our traditional education systems are failing to keep pace with business and industry, as well as worldwide education systems, in preparing our nations youth to enter the workforce. Students in Japan, India, and China, for example, spend more time in school and far surpass our youth in math and science. Additionally, U.S. classrooms are becoming more and more crowded and classes more rowdy, even violent. Finally, the values advocated in public schools are moving away from more traditional notions of respect for authority and fixed moral standards, and this is disturbing for a certain subset of American citizens. Thus some Americans feel that their children fare better by being schooled at home. Most professional educators fiercely disagree, feeling that the vast majority of parents are simply not equipped to teach children what they need to learn and that homeschooled children will not be properly socialized. However, in most cases, homeschooling is a viable and even preferable alternative to public school, provided that there is a parent who is able to stay home and do the teaching.Too many people think that homeschooled children will not receive appropriate levels of education compared with students learning in public and private schools. Most homeschooling parents have not received training as teachers and may not be well-versed in the wide range of subjects their children need to study. However, there are multiple resources to help parents. Parents of home scholars work with their local boards of education, principals, and / or other educational consultants to ensure they are meeting the requirements set forth. Most homeschool curriculum packages also come with detailed instructors guides and lesson plans that tell parents exactly how to teach specific subjects. And high school students still have the option to take one or more classes in local public schools or at homeschooling centers. Evidence that homeschooling works educationally is that colleges recognize the value of homeschooling. Many of the most prestigious colleges around the nation have accepted homeschoolers: Brown, Georgetown, Harvard, MIT, Princeton, the United States Military Academy at West Point, UC at Berkeley, University of Michigan, Notre Dame, and Yale, just to name a few. Colleges and universities all around the nation have realized the positive benefits of attracting homeschoolers. Research indicates that homeschoolers who have gone to college have no social skill deprivation, exhibit greater leadership skills, demonstrate a stronger work ethic, and have higher moral values integral to their college success.In addition to questions about the educational viability of homeschooling, there is a common fear that homeschooling produces social misfits, since students do not get to mingle enough with their peer groups, other instructors, and school personnel. In fact, Home Schooling as the Solution studies have shown that children who are home schooled are more socially and emotionally adjusted than children who go to private or public schools. The myth of the maladjusted homeschooler partially arises from an assumption that traditional education systems provide “normal” socialization activities. Dr. Raymond Moore, in his book Better Late than Early writes that “The idea that children need to be around many other youngsters in order to be socialized is perhaps the most dangerous and extravagant myth in education and child rearing today.” Although children clearly need to learn to play and communicate with other children, consistent, meaningful contact with adults can often be a more effective socializing influence than large crowds of other children. Children who are home schooled have stronger ties with their family and feel more secure because they know that they have their familys support. These children learn from the people they trust and with whom they have the closest ties: their parents. This gives them more confidence to think and act without subjecting themselves to peer pressure. Also, because homeschooled children have close contact with adults (both parents and other adults with whom their parents interact), they learn to model their behavior after adult forms of communication and conflict resolution. The end result is that homeschoolers learn to resort to patience and reason rather than aggression. They are better socialized since they interact with different people other than those in their own age group and they are more emotionally secure compared with children who learn in a classroom setting.Additionally, its just not the case that homeschooled students are isolated from other children and adults, though the groups they interact with may be smaller than public school classes. In fact, homeschooled students may very well interact with a larger variety of types of people than do students at conventional schools. Students at home meet with other children in home school groups to take specialized classes and to tour all types of local and distant places that coordinate with their study plans. And equally, if not more important, home school students are introduced to real life people throughout their days: bankers, grocers, and other professionals introduced through their program studies and real life as they go on errands with parents. There is ample research that indicates that because home schooled students are exposed to a wider variety of people and situations, they learn to communicate with many kinds of people, making them socially mature and better able to adjust to new situations.Homeschooling is not for everyone. It requires financial sacrifice since one parent must stay home. And it requires great patience and diligence on the part of the teacher parent. Additionally, the availability of outside homeschooling resources, such as additional classes, varies from state to state. However, the classic objections to homeschooling are not valid. Homeschooling can and does provide children with excellent learning and socialization opportunities and, in fact, in many cases, is superior to public schools in both of these arenas.Part II: Essay Writing (60 points)Write a 400-word argument in which you agree or disagree with the following proposition:“In order to effectively address traffic problems in Xian, heavy fines should be imposed on both vehicle operators and pedestrians who violate traffic safety principles.” (A “fine” is money that the government requires people to pay if they break a law. “Pedestrians” are people walking on the street.)第 3 页 共 3 页