Question

Frederick M. Hess is the director of education policy study at the American Enterprise Institute, which is a nonprofit organization that does research on many public topics. He says that a long summer vacation doesn’t make sense in today’s world.

Can American students afford to take a summer vacation? In a summer vacation, millions of children spend valuable time sending messages, watching TV, playing video games and doing shopping in the mall. They will also be putting their academic futures at risk.

Summer vacation once made sense in the past when you didn’t need an education to get a good job. But now things have changed. For today’s students, academic skills are important to students’ future success, but such skills are affected in the summer time. Many other countries don’t give children an American style summer vacation. They offer no more than seven consecutive (連續(xù)的) weeks of vacation. Most American school districts offer up to thirteen weeks. To compete in the global marketplace, Americans must be prepared to go up against international competitors.

Summer vacation also causes challenges for today’s families. In the 1960s, more than 60% of families had a stay?at?home Mum. Now, two thirds of American children live in households where every adult works. For these families, summer vacation can be more a burden than a break. Someone must watch the kids.

But the biggest problem may be how summer vacation hurts academic achievement. Researchers have found that disadvantaged students lose ground in the summer time.

Any good suggestion? Yes. A longer school year does not have to be an invitation to hard boring work. Rather, it should allow time-pressed teachers to conduct richer and more imaginative lessons. Students would have more time to devote to sports, music and the arts.

To conclude, a long summer vacation can be a great thing. But in the 21st century, it may also be outdated. （313 words）

Title：About 1.

Theme	A long summer vacation doesn’t make sense in today’s world.
Basic Information	Vacation length	●In other countries: no more than 7 weeks ●In the USA: mostly 2. weeks
Students’ activities	●Sending messages and watching TV ●Playing video games ●Doing 3.
Causing 4. for families	Making parents watch kids at home
Hurting 5.	Making disadvantaged students 6. ground
7.	Students should study richer and more imaginative 8. , and have more time for sports, music and the arts in a longer school year.
9.	Summer vacation can be great but may be 10. as well.

Answer 1

1.(Long) Summer Vacations/Holidays

2.(up to )Thirteen

3.shopping

4.challenges

5.academic achievement

6.lose

7.Suggestion/Advice/Tip

8.lessons

9.Conclusion/Summary

10.outdated

【解析】

本文是一篇說(shuō)明文，圍繞暑假的主題，對(duì)比了現(xiàn)在和過(guò)去的暑假，對(duì)比了美國(guó)和其他國(guó)家孩子們的暑假現(xiàn)狀，提出了一些建議。

1. Summer Vacations/Holidays。分析歸納題。這篇文章主要圍繞的是暑假。文章對(duì)比了現(xiàn)在和過(guò)去的暑假，提出了現(xiàn)在暑假的現(xiàn)狀，以及建議。故表格題目為(Long) Summer Vacations/Holidays。

2. to )Thirteen/13。細(xì)節(jié)題。文章第三段倒數(shù)第二句Most American school districts offer up to thirteen weeks. 大多數(shù)美國(guó)的州暑假長(zhǎng)至13周，故填 (up to )Thirteen/13。

3. In a summer vacation, millions of children spend valuable time sending messages, watching TV, playing video games and doing shopping in the mall.在暑假，成千上萬(wàn)的孩子們將珍貴的時(shí)間花在發(fā)短信、看電視、玩游戲和商城上購(gòu)物上。故填shopping

4. vacation also causes challenges for today’s families. In the 1960s, more than 60% of families had a stay?at?home Mum.暑假對(duì)于如今的家庭也產(chǎn)生了挑戰(zhàn)，在20世紀(jì)60年代，超過(guò)百分之60的家庭有一個(gè)在家的婦女。故填challenges。

5. achievement細(xì)節(jié)題，第五段But the biggest problem may be how summer vacation hurts academic achievement. Researchers have found that disadvantaged students lose ground in the summer time.但是最大的問(wèn)題可能是暑假如何損傷學(xué)術(shù)成果。研究者發(fā)現(xiàn)，貧困生的學(xué)生的學(xué)生在暑假失利。故填academic achievement

6. lose 細(xì)節(jié)題，第五段。Researchers have found that disadvantaged students lose ground in the summer time.研究者已經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn)，貧困生在暑假的時(shí)候失利。故填lose

7. 分析推斷題。根據(jù)該空右邊的內(nèi)容在文中倒數(shù)第二段中體現(xiàn)。告訴第二段第一句any suggestions？可以知道應(yīng)填Suggestion/Advice/Tip。

8. it should allow time-pressed teachers to conduct richer and more imaginative lessons. 此外，還需要時(shí)間緊迫的老師們?nèi)ソ虒?dǎo)更充實(shí)和富有想象力的課程。故填lessons。

9. conclude可以看出是在總結(jié)，故填Conclusion/Summary。

10. 細(xì)節(jié)題。To conclude, a long summer vacation can be a great thing. But in the 21st century, it may also be outdated. 總的來(lái)說(shuō)，一個(gè)長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的暑假可能是一個(gè)好事，但是在21世紀(jì)，它可能還是落伍了。故填outdated。

考點(diǎn)：考察說(shuō)明文閱讀。