英語長文
(1)Education has been called America's religion. Today more than 56 million Americans are attending school. One half of all the people in the country between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five are enrolled in either a college or university; close to 49 million boys and girls are going to school. Education is an enormous （ and expensive ） part of American life. Its size is matched by its variety. The widely different educational system and possibilities are as difficult for an outsider to understand as anything about American life.
(2)Differences in American schools compared with those found in the majority of other countries lie in the fact that education here has long been intended for everyoneーnot just for a privileged elite. Schools are expected to meet the needs of every child, regardless of ability, and also the needs of society itself. This means that tax-supported public schools offer more than academic subjects. It surprises many people when they come here to find high schools offering such courses as typing, sewing, radio repair, computer programming, or driver training, along with traditional academic subjects such as mathematics, history, and languages. Students choose their curricula from a large serection of courses, depending on their interests, future goals, and level of ability. The underlying goal of American education is to develop every child to the utmost of his or her own possibilities, however great or small these may be, and to give each one a sense of civic and community consciousness.
(3)Because there is no national religion and because there are so many different backgrounds and origins among the people, schools have traditionally played an important role in creating national unity and “ Americanizing ” the millions of immigrants who have poured into this country from its earliest days. Schools still play a large role in the community, especially in small towns.
(4)The approach to teaching may seem unfamiliar to many, not only because it is informal, but also because there is less emphasis on learning facts than is true in the systems of many other countries. Instead, Americans try to teach their children to think for themselves, to delve, to explore, to develop their own intellectual and creative abilities. Students spend much time learning how to use resource materials, libraries, statistics, computers. Americans believe that if children are taught to reason well and to research well, they will be able to find whatever facts they need throughout the rest of their lives. Knowing how to solve problems is considered more important than the accumulation of facts, which often grow obsolete.
(5)Computers are used in many classrooms, frequently starting in kindergarten. If a child doesn't know how to use computers, parents can help him or her a great deal by providing computer lessons in advance, so the child will not feel handicapped. To find such classes, one can consult the school or ask a local computer store where classes are given.
(6)This is America's answer to the searching question that throughtful parents all over the world are asking themselves in this fast-moving time: “How can one prepare today's child for a tomorrow that one can neither predict nor understand?
本文の原文は、こちらから引用しました。
http://res.chinaedu.com/eol/005/eol08_4.htm
【設問】
・第3段落、‘schools have traditionally played an important role’ の具体的内容
→‘creating national unity～this country’の箇所にしました。
・最終段落、‘the searching question’の具体的内容
→“How can～understand?”の箇所で良いでしょうか。
お願いします。
お礼
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