The demoralizing environment, decrepit ( 老朽的) building and minimal materials make the high school experience for these children an uphill battle， Merely graduating from such a high school is difficult,much less becoming a high-caliber science or engineering student. Schools with students from a higher socioeconomic level would not tolerate the obstacles I encountered daily. Improvements need to be made efficiently and made soon,or the divisions among people in this country will only become more extreme.
Of course.there are things that concerned citizens can do to help. Get involved with a school,especially one in a poor area. Volunteer to give a presentation or just to spend time with the children. My students were excited to talk to an insurance salesperson who came to give a career exploration lecture. They not only were genuinely interested in the opportunities he described hut also were amazed that such a man would donate an afternoon to them.
Although those measures can help,they are not enough. For teaching to be effective, the entire environment of the inner city needs to be changed. Teaching someone the difference between velocity and acceleration is irrelevant if the person is hungry and scared. Programs that educate parents in child-rearing,organize low-income groups into cooperative units,fight drug trafficking and help to clean up the ghettos physically will improve the life in the community.
The small alterations and "new" proposals currently filling the newspapers are certainly not strong enough to transform a decaying and demoralized school structure that has been disintegrating for decades. Inner-city schools need so much more,and the children deserve so much more than our society is willing to give. Like many other people, I entered the teaching profession eager to investigate change and found many institutionalized obstacles in my way. It should hoe be so difficult to make a difference.
41. By saying "an uphill battle" ,the author means
A] a tough task.
[B] a easy job.
C] an upgrade class.
D ] climbing a hill.
42. We can learn from the text that
A ] the political circle will offer the help to the high schools.
[ B ] giving a presentation is beneficial to students.
[ C] teaching methods have to be changed.
D ] students are afraid to talk to strangers.
43. The author believes that
A ] the divisions among people result from their property.
B] a high-caliber science student graduates from a ordinary high school.
C ] the small alterations should be done immediately.
D] the society's help to inner-city schools is inadequate.
44. It is the author's opinion that __ will improve the life of inner city people.
A ] offering more education programs to students
B ] helping to clean up the ghettos physically
[ C ] taking measures to help extreme poor students
D ] bringing up more engineering students
45. It can be concluded from the author's remarks that
A]we should educate more high schools students.
B ] the obstacles in teachers' way should be moved away.
C ] the decaying school buildings should be reconstructed.
[D ] we should build up more high schools in our city.
参考译文
令人沮丧的环境，老朽的建筑，和最低的物质消耗使得中学生活对这些孩子来说是一种艰难的战斗。仅仅要从这样的中学毕业就已经很难，更不用说成为优等的理工科学生了。来自社会经济水平更高的家庭的孩子所就读的学校里不会容忍我每天都会遇到的困难。必须尽快而有效地改善学校的状况，否则这个国家中人和人的分化只会加剧。
当然，公民可以做一些相关的事情。和某所学校建立联系，尤其是贫困地区的学校。自告奋勇做个报告，或者只是跟孩子们呆在一起。跟来做职业探索讲座的保险销售员谈天让我的学生们非常兴奋。他们不仅对他所描述的机遇真的感兴趣，而且对这样一个人愿意为他们奉献一个下午感到新奇。
虽然这些方法可以有所帮助，但还是不够的。要使教学有成效，市中心区的整个环境都需要改变。如果一个人处于饥饿和恐慌之中，教他速度和加速度的区别是徒劳的。诸如教育父母如何养育孩子，组织低收入群体组成互助小组，打击贩毒和帮助清洁贫民区等项目将能够改善社区的生活。
目前充斥着报纸的小的改变和“新”的提议肯定力度不够，不足以改变几十年来一直在土崩瓦解的腐朽消沉的学校结构。市中心区学校需要的和孩子们有权得到的比我们的社会愿意给予的要多得多。跟许多人一 样，我加入教师这个行业，是因为渴望探究变革，结果发现在我面前有很多由来已久的障碍。要改变现状不应如此艰难。
责任编辑：sealion1986
