閱讀理解：
It is really a surprise that after hundreds of years, educationists have still failed to design anything more efficient and reliable than examinations. It is claimed that examinations test what you know, but it is common knowledge that they more often do the exact opposite. They may be a good means of testing memory, or the skills of working rapidly under extreme pressure, but they can tell you nothing about a person's true ability.
As anxiety-makers, examinations are second to none. That is because so much depends on them. They are the mark of success or failure in our society. Your whole future may be decided in one fateful day. No one can show his best in worry, or after a sleepless night, yet this is precisely what the examination system expects him to do.
A good education should, among other things, train you to think for yourself. The examination system, however, does anything but that. What has to be learnt is laid down by a syllabus(教學大綱), so the student is encouraged to memorize it. Examinations do not motivate a student to read widely, and they do not enable him to seek more and more knowledge. Furthermore, teachers themselves are often judged by the results of their students' examinations. Consequently, they have to train their students to master exam techniques which they dislike. The most successful candidates are not always the best educated but the best trained.
The results on which so much depends are often nothing more than a subjective assessment by some anonymous(匿名的) examiners. They certainly make mistakes, because they have to mark mountains of scripts(答卷) in a limited amount of time. They work under the same sort of pressure as the candidates.
問題：
1.The main idea of this passage is that examinations are __________.
A.anxiety-makers
B.harmful to education
C.reliable and efficient
D.good measures of memory
【參考答案】B
[考點]主旨大意題
【精析】B 本文通篇都在講述考試的弊端，A項(考試是焦慮創(chuàng)造者)和D項(考試是好的記憶測量方法)都是考試弊端的具體表現，而不能培養(yǎng)學生的獨立思考能力是考試最大的弊端。故B項(考試對教育不利)是本文的主旨。
2. It is clear that the author _______ examinations.
A.argues for
B.argues against
C.is interested in
D.is indifferent to
【參考答案】B
[考點]觀點態(tài)度題
【精析】B 根據上一題的分析可知，考試有諸多弊端，且不利于教育。由此可推知，作者對它的態(tài)度應是反對的、批評的，故B項正確。A項意為“贊成”;C項意為“對……有興趣”;D項意為“對……漠不關心”。
3. The fate of students is decided by _______ according to the passage.
A.examinations
B.education
C.teaching
D.learning
【參考答案】A
[考點]推理判斷題
【精析】A 根據第二段前四句“As anxiety-makers, examinations are second to none. That is because… Your whole future may be decided in one fateful day.”可知，考試決定著許多事，它是一個人在社會中成功或失敗的標志，它決定著一個人的未來。故選A。
4. According to the author, the most importance of a good education is to ______.
A.encourage students to read widely
B.teach students how to tackle exams
C.train students to think on their own
D.encourage students to seek more knowledge
【參考答案】C
[考點]事實細節(jié)題
【精析】C 根據第三段第一句“A good education should, among other things, train you to think for yourself.”可知，好的教育最應當具有的作用就是培養(yǎng)學生的獨立思考能力。故選C。on their own是文章中的for yourself的同義替換。B項在文中未提及;A、D兩項只是培養(yǎng)學生獨立思考能力的兩種具體方法，所以都不正確。
5. Which statement is NOT mentioned in the passage?
A.Examinations can make students anxious.
B.The examiners might make mistakes in marking.
C.Teachers' work is judged based on the results of examinations.
D.Tools better than examinations to test students' ability have been found.
【參考答案】D
[考點]事實細節(jié)題
【精析】D 根據第二段第一句“As anxiety-makers…”可知，考試會讓學生焦慮，所以A項正確;根據最后一段第一、二句“…anonymous examiners. They certainly make mistakes…”可知，考官在打分時會犯錯，所以B項正確;根據第三段倒數第三句“…teachers themselves are often judged by the results of their students' examinations.”可知，老師的工作通常是根據學生的考試結果來進行評定的，所以C項正確;根據第一段第一句“It is really a surprise that…still failed to design anything more efficient and reliable than examinations.”可知，數百年后，教育家們還是沒有找到比考試更為可靠和有效的手段。由此可知，D項說法與原文不符。故選D。