It is curious that Stephen Koziatek feels almost as though he has to justify his efforts to give his students a better future.

Mr. Koziatek is part of something pioneering. He is a teacher at a New Hampshire high school where learning is not something of books and tests and mechanical memorization, but practical. When did it become accepted wisdom that students should be able to name the 13th president of the United States but be utterly overwhelmed by a broken bike chain?

As Koziatek knows, there is learning in just about everything. Nothing is necessarily gained by forcing students to learn geometry at a graffitied desk stuck with generations of discarded chewing gum. They can also learn geometry by assembling a bicycle.

But he’s also found a kind of insidious prejudice. Working with your hands is seen as almost a mark of inferiority. Schools in the family of vocational education “have that stereotype ... that it’s for kids who can’t make it academically,” he says.

On one hand, that viewpoint is a logical product of America’s evolution. Manufacturing is not the economic engine that it once was. The job security that the US economy once offered to high school graduates has largely evaporated. More education is the new principle. We want more for our kids, and rightfully so.

But the headlong push into bachelor’s degrees for all—and the subtle devaluing of anything less—misses an important point: That’s not the only thing the American economy needs. Yes, a bachelor’s degree opens more doors. But even now, 54 percent of the jobs in the country are middle-skill jobs, such as construction and high-skill manufacturing. But only 44 percent of workers are adequately trained.

In other words, at a time when the working class has turned the country on its political head, frustrated that the opportunity that once defined America is vanishing, one obvious solution is staring us in the face. There is a gap in working-class jobs, but the workers who need those jobs most aren’t equipped to do them. Koziatek’s Manchester School of Technology High School is trying to fill that gap.

Koziatek’s school is a wake-up call. When education becomes one-size-fits-all, it risks overlooking a nation’s diversity of gifts.

1.A broken bike chain is mentioned to show students’ lack of _________.

A practical ability

B academic training

C pioneering spirit

D mechanical memorization

解析：选A。A 目的意图题。根据a broken bike chain定位到第二段，前半部分说Koziatek所在高中教给学生的都是关乎实践的，后半部分马上进行反问，可见反问的内容是为了说明现在的学生缺乏实践能力，故选A。

2.There exists the prejudice that vocational education is for kids who _________.

A have a stereotyped mind

B have no career motivation

C are not academically successful

D are financially disadvantaged

解析：选C。C 细节理解题。根据prejudice和vocational education定位到第四段，可知当前存在的一种偏见是职业教育是为那些学业不行的孩子准备的，C符合原文，故选C。

3.We can infer from Paragraph 5 that high school graduates _________.

A used to have big financial concerns

B used to have more job opportunities

C are reluctant to work in manufacturing

D are entitled to more educational privileges

解析：选B。B 细节理解题。根据题目定位到第五段，可知美国制造业已不再是经济引擎，美国经济曾经提供给高中毕业生的工作保障很大程度上已消失，可推知美国制造业的发展曾给高中毕业生带来很多就业机会，故选B。

4.The headlong push into bachelor’s degrees for all _________.

A helps create a lot of middle-skill jobs

B may narrow the gap in working-class jobs

C is expected to yield a better-trained workforce

D indicates the overvaluing of higher education

解析：选D。D 推理判断题。根据headlong push into bachelor’s degrees定位到第六段，可知轻率地将所有人推进学士学位并不是美国经济所需要的的唯一东西；即使是现在，美国的大部分工作都只需要中等技能。可见D“表明高等教育被高估”更符合原文，故选D。

5.The author’s attitude toward Koziatek’s school can be described as _________.

A supportive

B tolerant

C disappointed

D cautious

解析：选A。A 观点态度题。根据最后一段可知Koziatek所在学校给我们敲响了警钟，当教育变得一刀切时，可能就忽略了人才的多样性，可推知作者对Koziatek所在学校的做法是支持的，故选A。