大学英语四级分类模拟题347.docxVIP

大学英语四级分类模拟题347 Reading Comprehension Since early colonial times American people have shown a great concern for education. There were a very high proportion of educated men among the first settlers. In the Massachusetts colony in the early 1600s, there was an average of one university man to every 40 or 50 families—much higher than in England. Some of these men, many of whom graduated from Cambridge, came together and founded Harvard College in 1636, 140 years before American Independence. Before the Revolution in 1776, nine colleges had already been opened in the colonies, and most of them later became universities. Within thirty years of the first settlement in Massachusetts, all towns were required to hire a schoolmaster at public expense. Other colonies also prepared for flee public schools. Throughout the 17th century, for instance, free schools had been established in a number of places. In 1787 the Continental Congress asked every new township to reserve one plot of land for public schools. By 1900, there were almost a thousand institutions of higher education in the U.S. Among them were law and medical schools and hundreds of small, four-year liberal art colleges. One of the latter, Oberlin College, which was founded in 1837 in Ohio, was the first to admit women on an equal basis with men. Today, about 43 million pupils and students attend public elementary and secondary schools, which do not charge tuition but rely on local and state taxes for funding. And another 6 million attend private schools, for which their parents pay tuition. Four out of five private schools are run by religious groups, where religious instruction is part of the curriculum. There are also a small but growing number of parents who educate their children themselves at home, a practice known as home schooling. Every year, about 12 million Americans are enrolled in the over 3,000 colleges and universities of every type. Nearly 80 percent of the college students attend public institutions