Poorer children would be offered the chance to attend lessons on Saturday
to help catch up with their middle class peers (同龄人), the shadow schools secretary, Michael Gove, said today. The
Conservatives would give English state schools the freedom to choose to have
longer teaching hours and extra classes at the weekend, he told the Association
of Teachers and Lecturers’ annual conference.?
Gove said the move would help to close the achievement gap with
richer children whose parents could afford extras such as tutoring and music
lessons.?
He told delegates (代表) in
Manchester: “For children who come from homes where parents don’t have the
resources to provide additional stretch and cultural experiences, there are
benefits in having those children in the learning environment, in school, for
longer.”?
“Parents would love to have schools starting earlier in some
circumstances, and certainly going on later in the afternoon, given the reality
of their working lives,” he said. He held up the example of Kipp (Knowledge is
Power Program) schools in the US, which are often based in the poorest
communities and open from 7:30 am to 5pm on weekdays, plus Saturdays.?
But it would be up to schools to decide to offer longer hours,
Gove added. ?
Parents said Saturday classes could become a “badge of dishonor”
if pupils were forced to go, while teachers raised concerns about their
workload.?
Margaret Morrissey, of Parents Outloud, said: “I think the
suggestion the government made about one-to-one teaching for these kids would
be a more preferable way of improving these children’s performance. I’m just
not sure whether taking away a child at weekends is actually going to make them
cleverer in the week.”?
The ATL’s general secretary, Mary Bousted, said: “If we want
Saturday schools, then we need more teachers doing the extra hours, not the
same teachers working longer.”?
51. The program is intended for children____________. ?
A. who are from middle-class families?
B. whose parents can’t afford extra help ?
C. who perform poorly academically ?
D. whose weekends are mostly unoccupied
52. “Additional stretch” in Paragraph 4 probably refers
to_________.?
A. music lessons
B. physical relaxation ?
C. entertainment activities?
D. out-of-school improvement
53. Why did Gove mention Kipp schools in the US? ?
A. To make a comparison.?
B. To introduce a new program.?
C. To seek supportive evidence.?
D. To prove his program is better.
54. What is Margaret Morrissey’s opinion about the new program? ?
A.
Favorable. B.
Doubtful. C.
Optimistic. D. Acceptable.
55. Which of the following is true??
A. Teachers may not like the program. ?B. Schools
are trying to make profits.?
C. The program is already under way. D. The program is
popular with children.