schoolers want their children to learn not only traditional subject
matter but also “strict religious doctrine and a conservative
political and social perspective. Not incidentally, they also want
their children to learn — both intellectually and emotionally — that
the family is the most important institution in society.”
Other home schoolers contend “not so much that the schools teach
heresy, but that schools teach whatever they teach inappropriately”.
Van Galen writes, “These parents are highly independent and strive to
‘take responsibility’ for their own lives within a society that they
define as bureaucratic and inefficient.”
Questions 16-20 are based on Passage Four.
16. According to the passage, home schoolers are______.
A. those who hire teachers to educate their children after school
B. those who are educated at home instead of going to school
C. those who advocate combining public education with home schooling
D. those who teach their children at home instead of sending them to
school
17. Public schools are softening their position on home schooling
because______.
A. they want to show their tolerance for different situation
B. there isn’t much they can do to change the present situation
C. public schools cannot offer proper education for all children
D. home schooling provides a new variety of education for children
18. Home-school advocates are of the opinion that ______.
A. things in public schools are not so bad as they have often been
said
B. their cooperation with public school will bring about benefits to
all
C. home schooling is superior and, therefore, they will not easily
give in
D. their tolerance of public education will attract more kids to
public schools
19. Most home schoolers’ opposition to public education stems from
their______.
A. devotion to religion
B. concern with the cost involved
C. respect for the interest of individuals
D. worry about the inefficiency of public schools
20. According to Van Galen, some home schoolers believe that ______.
A. public schools take up a herdlike approach to teaching children
B. teachers in public schools are not as responsible as they should be
C. public schools cannot provide good enough education for their
children
D. public schools are the source of bureaucracy and inefficiency in
society
Passage Five
Imagine a world in which there was suddenly no emotion — a world in
which human beings could feel no love or happiness, no terror or hate.
Try to imagine the consequences of such a transformation.
People might not be able to stay alive: knowing neither joy nor
pleasure, anxiety nor fear, they would be as likely to repeat acts that
hurt them as acts that were beneficial. They could not learn: they
could not benefit from experience because this emotionless world would
lack rewards and punishments. Society would soon disappear: people
would be as likely to harm one another as to provide help and support.
Human relationships would not exist: in a world without friends or
enemies, there co uld be no marriage, affection among companions, or
bonds among members of groups. Society’s economic underpinnings would
be destroyed: since earning $10 million would be no more pleasant than
earning $ 10, there would be no incentive to work. In fact, there would
be no incentives of any kind. For as we will see, incentives imply a
capacity to enjoy them.
In such a world, the chances that the human species would survive are
next to zero, because emotions are the basic instrument of our survival
and adaptation. Emotions structure the world for us in important ways.
As individuals, we categorize objects on the basis of our emotions.
True we consider the length, shape, size, or texture, but an object’s
physical aspects are less important than what it has done or can do to
us — hurt us, surprise us, anger us or make us joyful. We also use
categorizations colored by emotions in our families, communities, and
overall society.
Out of our emotional experiences with objects and events comes a social
feeling of agreement that certain things and actions are “good” and
others are “bad”, and we apply these categories to every aspect of
our social life — from what foods we eat and what clothes we wear to
how we keep promises and which people our group will accept.
In fact, society exploits our emotional reactions and attitudes, such
as loyalty, morality, pride, shame, guilt, fear and greed, in order to
maintain itself. It gives high rewards to individuals who perform
important tasks such as surgery, makes heroes out of individuals for
unusual or dangerous achievements such as flying fighter planes in a
war, and uses the legal penal system to make people afraid to engage in
anti-social acts.
