Text 3 England's problematic vocational

考试题库2022-08-02  49

问题 Text 3 England's problematic vocational education system has been subjected to wave after wave of reform.Yet improving the quality of technical education has eluded governments of all colours.University technical colleges(UTCs)are only the latest example of a shiny innovation that ran on to the rocks.Seven UTCs have now announced they are closing their doors.UTCs were intendecl to provide quality vocational education,combining technical and academic learning,for young people from the age of 14.Despite the millions the government has invested in them,ihey have on the whole been plagued by poor GCSE results and an inability to attract sufficient numbers of young people.Several attempts to establish quality vocational eclucation from 14 have failed.The issues affecting UTCs provide an opportunity to revisit whether this merits continuing support.We should take it.Barely a year passes without a lament about the low status of vocational qualifications.These often fail to recognise the chicken and egg that holds vocational learning back.Its status will only improve when ii is not seen as the preserve of those who have been failed by the school system.But while its status is low,these are the only young people likely to try something unproven and untested.This dynamic means new institutions often replicate the problems of the old seconclary moderns.Young people who attend UTCs are more likely to be from poor backgrounds,have made poor progress in primary school,and have attended secondary schools rated poorly by Ofsted.They are children who have been failed by the school system.In this day and age,there is no such thing as a career that does not require functional literacy and numeracy.Yet drawing low-achieving children out of mixed-ability schooling at age 14 makes them less likely to get the decent GCSEs in maths and English that are so critical in the eyes of employers.Setting up alternative vocational institutions for 14-year-olds thus risks closing down future vocational options,rather than expanding them.Vocational education is often posited as an alternative for those who are not"academically minded",orten a code for those who have disengaged from school.Yet this is far more likely to be a symptom of poor teaching ancl a lack of adequate support rather than a young person's inability to engage with a broad pre-16 curriculum that includes both academic and applied learning.Selection by academic ability at age 11 is wrong.But so i.s backdoor selection by academic ability at 14.The rlght to experience an engaging curriculum and finish school with adequate levels of literacy and numeracy is best achieved by options at 16 not 14.This wili not solve everything;but it is a better basis for ensuring 16-year-olds have the skills they need to flourish in any job.In the author's view,establishing alternative vocational institutions for 14-year-olds would_____A.equip them with more vocational skillsB.encourage their engagement in schoolC.restrict their future vocational choicesD.discourage their academic learning

选项 A.equip them with more vocational skills
B.encourage their engagement in school
C.restrict their future vocational choices
D.discourage their academic learning

答案 C

解析 [信息锁定]第四段末句指出,为14岁孩子设立替代性职业教育学院不会拓宽其未来职业选择,反而有限制其选择的风险。C.是原文closing down future vocational options的同义表达,符合文意。[解题技巧]A.利用末段末句“掌握在任何一项工作中崭露头角都需要的技能”干扰,但将所述主体由”在1 6岁根据学术能力做出选择”偷换为“14岁进人职业教育学院”。B.由第五段首句“职业教育学院的学员与(普通)学校教育脱节”而来,但原文意在指出人们对职业教育的普遍看法“与(普通)学校教育脱节学生的另一种选择”,而非职业教育学院的作用“能够使学生融入学校”。D.根据第四段②句“在1 4岁将学业成绩较低的孩子从混合能力教育中抽离”捏造出“这可能打消学生学术学习的积极性”,而文意重在指出这种做法的后果“学员GCSE成绩更差”。
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