The use of lotteries ( * * ) to allocate (分配) school places is to be reviewed by the British government because more than 20 percent of children are failing to get into their first-choice schools in parts of the country.
The struggle for secondary school places has reached record levels this year, increasing anxiety for hundreds of thousands of families. A report from 43 local authorities suggests that in many areas, up to a fifth of children face disappointment. Families in London are the hardest hit.
This week is admissions week, when about 570,000 families will receive notice about their child’s secondary school acceptance. As the recession (不景气) forces more parents to consider a state education rather than a private one for their children, more than a third of local authorities have noted rises in the number of applications for secondary school places.
This year, just 62 percent of children in Richmond-upon-Thames got into their parents’ first-choice school, down from 64 percent last year. The council said this was caused by an increase in applications.
In another London authority, Tower Hamlet, 71.1 percent of children were admitted to their parents’ first choice school. In Leeds and Warwickshire, 85 percent were successful. In Derby the figure was 81 percent, while in Wiltshire, Stockport and Lincolnshire, the figure was 89 percent.
In many authorities, the figures are similar to those of last year. Exceptions include Brighton and Hove, which introduced a lottery system to allocate oversubscribed places last year. This year, it has seen a 3.5 percent increase in the number of children obtaining their first choice, bringing the total to nearly 88 percent. However, more than 5 percent of children in this area have been allocated a place at a school that was not among any of their choices.
Lotteries are being used at the government’s suggestion by a small number of oversubscribed schools in around twenty-five local authorities. They were meant to prevent middle-class parents from abusing the system by buying or renting homes close to the best schools.
小题1:According to the passage, more and more parents in Britain prefer to send their children to _______.
A．a state school
B．a private school
C．a school in London
D．a school in Brighton小题2:Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
A．The lottery system is certainly a good way to allocate school places.
B．Over one in five children fail to get into their first-choice schools in parts of Britain.
C．The lottery system is welcomed by parents around twenty-five local authorities.
D．The number of applications for secondly school places is falling this year.小题3:In the following places, the highest preferred school admission rate is in _______.
A．Richmond-upon-Thames
B．Brighton and Hove
C．Lincolnshire
D．Derby小题4:The purpose of using lottery system is to ________.
A．keep middle-class parents buying or renting homes close to the best schools.
B．increase the number of children obtaining their first choice
C．decrease the number of applications for some good schools
D．create equality between children from different social classes小题5:The passage is most probably taken from _______.
A．a survey on education
B．a textbook on science
C．a speech on radio
D．an essay on economy
