Reading comprehension.
We are all interested in equality, but while some people try to protect the school and examination system
in the name of equality, other, still in the name of equality, want only to destroy it.
Any society which is interested in equality of opportunity and standards of achievement must regularly
test its pupils. The standards may be changed-no examination is perfect-but to have to tests or examinations
would mean the end of equality and of standards. There are groups of people who oppose this view and who
do not believe either in examinations or in any controls in schools or on teachers. This would mean that
everything would depend on luck since every pupil would depend on the efficiency, the values and the purpose
of each teacher.
Without examinations, employers will look for employees from the highly respected schools and from
families known to them-a form of favouritism will replace equality. At the moment, the bright child from an
ill-respected school can show certificates to prove he or she is suitable for a job, while the lack of certificate
indicates the unsuitability of a dull child attending a well-respected school. This defence of excellence and
opportunity would disappear if examinations were taken away, and the bright child from a poor family would
be a prisoner of his or her school's reputation, unable to compete for employment with the child from the
favoured school.
The opponents of the examination system suggest that examinations are an evil force because they show
differences between pupils. According to these people, there must be no special, different, academic class.
They have even suggested that there should be no form of difference in sport or any other area: all jobs or
posts should be filled by unsystematic selection. The selection would be made by people who themselves are
probably selected by some computer.
1. The word "favouritism" in paragraph 3 is used to describe the phenomenon that _____.
A. bright children also need certificates go get satisfying jobs
B. children from well-respected schools tend to have good jobs
C. poor children with certificates are favoured in job markets
D. children attending ordinary schools achieve great success
2. What would happen if examinations were taken away according to the author?
A. Schools for bright children would lose their reputation.
B. There would be more opportunities and excellence.
C. Children from poor families would be able to change their schools.
D. Children's job opportunity would be affected by their school reputation.
3. The opponents of the examination system will agree that _____.
A. jobs should not be assigned by systematic selection
B. computers should be selected to take over many jobs
C. special classed are necessary to keep the school standards
D. schools with academic subjects should be done away with
4. The passage mainly focuses on _____.
A. schools and certificates
B. examination and equality
C. opportunity and employment
D. standards and reputation
