阅读理解。
Margaret Cook is a professional, married woman with two young children. The elder, who is four, has
just started at a local primary school. It is a school that she was eager for her daughter to attend because
it has a mix of racial and social cultures. As a white from a middle-class family, she thought it important for her daughter to go to a local school that was representative of the cultural and social mix of the society in
which we live. Having met, however, some of the other parents and children, she's becoming increasingly
unsure about her choice. She is worried that along with the accent and vocabulary of her classmates, her
daughter will also pick up what appears to be a very narrow-minded, uneducated attitude. She wants her
daughter to be able to adapt and to fit in with her friends at school, but not necessarily to model her
behaviour on theirs. She wants her to like them but not be like them.
Is she worrying unnecessarily? Or should she abandon her principles and send her children to private
school? A report, published by the Independent Schools Council, shows record numbers of parents want
to send their children to private schools that stress "moral standards" and classroom discipline as they lose
faith in state education, even many Labour voters would consider going private for the first time if they
could afford the fees.
But is it right without question to see private schools as heavens where moral standards are high,
teachers are models of correctness and learning, children all come from open-minded families, and where
our little ones will be protected from the ills of the world? The only difference is that those who can afford
school fees are in the habit of making expensive mistakes. One of my colleagues who sends all his children to private schools tells stories of drug abuse, troublemakers, the decline of discipline and ever younger
age of rebellion (叛逆).
It's an excellent plan to send our children to a mixed school. Placed in an entirely new environment,
they are at the risk of rejection, bullying (欺负) and maybe long-term alienation (疏离).But as soon as
our children step out of the front door they are faced with a challenging world where boundary between
the good and bad is so complex that young people have difficulty telling them apart. For this reason I
believe that Cook is better advised to bring her children up in the real world.
1. From this passage we know that the woman's daughter _______.
A. is changing others' behavior
B. is mixing with trouble-makers
C. is attending a mixed school
D. is applying for a private school
2. The mother wants her daughter to be _______.
A. popular and attractive
B. a fighter against social ills
C. a model for her classmates
D. open-minded and well-educated
3. What does the writer think of the private school?
A. It's a heaven of pleasure.
B. It is going from bad to worse.
C. It is experiencing moral decline.
D. It's a place of high moral standard.
4. The writer suggests sending kids to a mixed school because he thinks _______.
A. it is well managed
B. it is close to the real world
C. kids there are well protected
D. the competition there isn't fierce