About the time that schools and others quite reasonably became interested in seeing to it that all children, whatever their background, were fairly treated.intelligence testing became unpopular.
Some thought it was unfair to minority children. Through the past few decades such testing has gone out offashion and many communities have indeed forbidden it.
However. paradoxically. just recently a group of black parents filed lawsuit(诉讼)in California claimingthat the state's ban on IQ testing discriminates against their children by denying them the opportunity totake the test (They believed correctly, that IQ tests are a valid method of evaluating children for special education classes.) The judge, therefore. reversed, at least partially. his original decision.
And so the argument goes on and on. Does it benefit or harm children from minority groups to have their intelligence tested? We have always been on the side of permitting. even facilitating, such testing. If a child of any color or group is doing poorly in school it seems to us very important to know whether it is because he or she is of low intelligence. or whether some other factor is the cause.
What school and family can do to improve poor performance is influenced by its cause. It is not discriminative to evaluate either a child's physical condition or his intellectual level.
Unfortunately, intellectual level seems to be a sensitive subject, and what the law allows us to do variesfrom time to time. The same fluctuation back and forth occurs in areas other than intelligence. Thirty years or so ago. for instance, white families were encouraged co adopt black children. It was considered discriminative not to do so.
And then the style changed and this cross-racial adopting became generally unpopular, and social agencies felt that black children should go to black families only. It is hard to say what are the best procedures.But surely good will on the part of all of us is needed.
As to intelligence. in our opinion, the more we know about any child's intellectual level, the better for the child in question.
1. Why did the intelligence test become unpopular in the past few decades?
A) Its validity was challenged by many communities.
B) It was considered discriminative against minority children.
C) It met with strong opposition from the majority of black parents.
D) It deprived the black children of their rights to a good education.
2. The recent legal action taken by some black parents in California aimed to
A) draw public attention to IQ testing
B) put an end to special education
C) remove the state's ban on intelligence tests
D) have their children enter white schools
3. The author believes that intelligence testing_____________.
A) may ease racial confrontation in the United States
B) can encourage black children to keep up with white children
C) may seriously aggravate racial discrimination in the United States
D) can help black parents make decisions about their children’s education
4. The author's opinion of child adoption seems to be that________________.
A) no rules whatsoever can be prescribed
B) white families should adopt black children
C) adoption should be based on IQ test results
D) cross-racial adoption is to be advocated
5. Child adoption is mentioned in the passage to show that_________________.
A) good will may sometimes complicate racial problems
B)social surroundings are vital to the healthy growth of children
C) intelligence testing also applies to non-academic areas
D) American opinion can shift when it comes to sensitive issues
六级阅读理解参考答案:
1.过去的几十年当中,为什么智力测验不受欢迎?
A)很多社群质疑智力测验的有效性。
B)智力测验被视作歧视少数儿童。
C)智力测验受到了来自大多数黑人父母的反对。
D)智力测验剥夺了黑人孩子受良好教育的权利。
[B]根据文章第2段“有些人认为智力测验对少数民族儿童不公平。因此,在过去的几十年里,智力测验已不再流行,在有些社区甚至被禁止了”,这里的it指代前面的intelligence testing。因此,B与文章所表达的意思一致。
2.最近一些加州的黑人父母采取的法律行动是旨在__________________。
A)引起大众对智力测验的关注
B)结束特殊教育
C)消除加州的智力测验禁令
D)让自己的孩子进入白人学校就读
[C]根据文章第3段第2句“最近,一群黑人父母提出诉讼,声称该州禁止智商测验剥夺了他们的孩子接受这种测验的机会,是对孩子的歧视”,由此可判断黑人父母要求取消对智力测试的禁令。故此,应该选C。
3.作者认为智力测验________________。
A)会缓和美国的种族对抗
B)能够鼓励黑人孩子赶上白人该子
C)会严重地激化美国的种族歧视
D)可以帮助黑人家长决定孩子的教育问题
[D]根据文章第4段末句和第5段首句“如果任何一种肤色的小孩在学校的成绩不好,弄清楚是由于他的智商低.还是由于其他原因引起的对我们来说似乎很重要;学校和家庭只有弄清楚孩子成绩不好的原因才能帮助孩子”,因此,应选D。
4.作者对于收养儿童的意见似乎是____________________。
A)没有什么法则可出台
B)白人家庭应该收养黑人孩子
C)收养应该基于智力测验的结果之上
D)应该倡导跨种族收养
[A]根据文章第7段末句“因此,很难说到底怎样才是最好的。但肯定无疑的是,我们大家都需要有善意”,由此可推断,人们并不能制定某种规则来限制它,故此,A与文章的意思相符。
5.文章中提到收养儿童是为了显示_______________。
A)良好的意愿有的时候会将种族问题复杂化
B)社会环境对于儿童的健康成长至关重要
C)智力测验对于非学术领域也同样适用
D)美国人对于敏感议题的意见会发生变化
[D]文章第6段前两句,作者提出“智商水平似乎是个敏感的问题。法律允许我们不时改变观点。在智商以外的其他领域也存在着这种来来回回不断变化的情况”,儿童收养问题只是作者举的一个例子,旨在说明在一些敏感问题上,人们的观点可以不断变化的情况。故选D。