2017年公共英語(yǔ)四級(jí)考試閱讀精選（6）

　　Changing Roles of Public Education

　　One of the most important social developments that helped to make possible a shift in thinking about the role of public education was the effect of the baby boom of the 1950's and 1960's on the schools. In the 1920's, but especially in the Depression conditions of the 1930's, the United States experienced a declining birth rate —— every thousand women aged fifteen to forty-four gave birth to about 118 live children in 1920，89.2 in 1930，75.8 in 1936, and 80 in1940. With the growing prosperity brought on by the Second World War and the economic boom that followed it young people married and established households earlier and began to raise larger families than had their predecessors during the Depression. Birth rates rose to 102 per thousand in 1946, 106.2 in 1950, and 118 in 1955. Although economics was probably the most important determinant, it is not the only explanation for the baby boom. The increased value placed on the idea of the family also helps to explain this rise in birth rates. The baby boomers began streaming into the first grade by the mid 1940's and became a flood by 1950. The public school system suddenly found itself overtaxed. While the number of schoolchildren rose because of wartime and postwar conditions, these same conditions made the schools even less prepared to cope with the flood. The wartime economy meant that few new schools were built between 1940 and 1945. Moreover, during the war and in the boom times that followed, large numbers of teachers left their profession for better-paying jobs elsewhere in the economy.

　　Therefore in the 1950's and 1960's, the baby boom hit an antiquated and inadequate school system. Consequently, the "custodial rhetoric"of the 1930's and early 1940's no longer made sense that is, keeping youths aged sixteen and older out of the labor market by keeping them in school could no longer be a high priority for an institution unable to find space and staff to teach younger children aged five to sixteen. With the baby boom, the focus of educators and of laymen interested in education inevitably turned toward the lower grades and back to basic academic skills and discipline. The system no longer had much interest in offering nontraditional, new, and extra services to older youths.

　　公共教育的角色變化

　　一項(xiàng)重要的、有可能促使人們對(duì)公共教育的角色的看法發(fā)生轉(zhuǎn)變的社會(huì)發(fā)展是本世紀(jì)五六十年代的生育高峰對(duì)學(xué)校的影響。在 20 年代，尤其是在 30 年代后的大蕭條中，美國(guó)經(jīng)歷了一次出生率的下降——1920 年每千名年齡在 15 歲至 45 歲的婦女生下大約 118 個(gè)存活嬰兒，1930 年 89.2 個(gè)，1936 年 75.8 個(gè)，1940 年 80 個(gè)。隨著二戰(zhàn)帶來的持續(xù)繁榮以及隨之而來的經(jīng)濟(jì)增長(zhǎng)，年輕人比大蕭條中的同齡人更早地結(jié)婚成家，而且比前輩養(yǎng)育更大的家庭。1946 年出生率上升到 102%，1950 年達(dá) 106%，1955 年達(dá) 118%。對(duì)于生育高峰，經(jīng)濟(jì)有可能是最重要的決定因素，但它并不是唯一的解釋。不斷受到重視的家庭觀念也有助于解釋出生率的上升。到 40 年代中期為止，這些生育高峰出生的孩子們開始源源不斷地進(jìn)入小學(xué)一年級(jí)。到了 1950 年，就形成了一股洪流。公共教育系統(tǒng)突然感到不堪重負(fù)了。由于戰(zhàn)時(shí)和戰(zhàn)后的狀況，使得學(xué)齡兒童人數(shù)增加，這些狀況使得學(xué)校面對(duì)這股洪流更加措手不及。戰(zhàn)時(shí)經(jīng)濟(jì)意味著在 1940 年到 1950 年間幾乎沒有建立新學(xué)校。而且，在戰(zhàn)時(shí)和隨后的經(jīng)濟(jì)增長(zhǎng)時(shí)期，大量的教師離開崗位去別處從事報(bào)酬更為優(yōu)厚的工作。

　　因此，在五六十年代，生育高峰沖擊著陳舊而不完備的學(xué)校體系。這樣一來，30 年代以及 40 年代早期，"監(jiān)護(hù)理論"就不再有意義了。也就是說，通過使 16 歲以上的年輕人留在學(xué)校不進(jìn)入勞動(dòng)力市場(chǎng)的做法再也不是教育機(jī)構(gòu)的優(yōu)先考慮了。因?yàn)榻逃龣C(jī)構(gòu)不再能找到場(chǎng)地和教師來教育那些更 小的 5-16 歲的孩子。隨著生育高峰，教育者和圈外人士對(duì)教育的興趣和焦點(diǎn)，不可避免地轉(zhuǎn)向了更低的年級(jí)和基礎(chǔ)的學(xué)術(shù)技能和學(xué)科上。這個(gè)系統(tǒng)不再有濃厚的興趣給較年長(zhǎng)的年輕人提供非傳統(tǒng)的新式的和額外的服務(wù)。