Goal of American Education

Education is an enormous and expensive part of American life. Its size is matched by its variety.

Differences in American schools compared with those found in the majority of other countries lie in the fact that education here has long been intended for everyone — not just for a privileged elite. Schools are expected to meet the needs of every child, regardless of ability, and also the needs of society itself. This means that public schools offer more than academic subjects. It surprises many people when they come here to find high schools offering such courses as typing, sewing, radio repair, computer programming or driver training, along with traditional academic subjects such as mathematics, history, and languages. Students choose their curricula depending on their interests, future goals, and level of ability. The underlying goal of American education is to develop every child to the utmost of his or her own possibilities, and to give each one a sense of civic and community consciousness.

Schools have traditionally played an important role in creating national unity and “Americanizing” the millions of immigrants who have poured into this country from many different backgrounds and origins. Schools still play a large role in the community, especially in the small towns.

The approach to teaching may seem unfamiliar to many, not only because it is informal, but also because there is not much emphasis on learning facts. Instead, Americans try to teach their children to think for themselves and to develop their own intellectual and creative abilities. Students spend much time, learning how to use resource materials, libraries, statistics and computers. Americans believe that if children are taught to reason well and to research well, they will be able to find whatever facts they need throughout the rest of their lives. Knowing how to solve problems is considered more important than the accumulation of facts.

This is America's answer to the searching question that thoughtful parents all over the world are asking themselves in the fast-moving time: “How can one prepare today's child for a tomorrow that one can neither predict nor understand?”

1. Which of the following best states the goal of American education?

A. To teach every learner some practical skills.

B. To provide every learner with rich knowledge.

C. To give every student the opportunity to fully develop his/her ability.

D. To train every student to be a responsible citizen.

2. It is implied in the passage that

A. all high-school students take the same courses.

B. every high-school student must take some practical ability training courses.

C. every public school offers the same academic subjects.

D. the subject every student takes may vary.

3. American schools place great emphasis on the learner's

A. enrichment of knowledge.

B. accumulation of facts.

C. acquisition of the ability to be creative.

D. acquisition of the ability to work with his hands.

4. According to the passage, American education meets the needs of all the following EXCEPT

A. the brightest students.

B. the slow students.

C. the students from foreign countries.

D. the immigrants.

5. Which of the following best states the feature of American education that makes it different from education in other countries?

A. The large number of its schools.

B. The variety of the courses offered in its schools.

C. Its special consideration given to immigrants.

D. Its underlying goal to develop every child's abilities to the fullest extent.

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