① Homework has never been terribly popular with students and even many parents, but in recent years it has been particularly scorned. School districts across the country, most recently Los Angeles Unified, are revising their thinking on this educational ritual. Unfortunately, L.A. Unified has produced an inflexible policy which mandates that with the exception of some advanced courses, homework may no longer count for more than 10% of a student’s academic grade.
② This rule is meant to address the difficulty that students from impoverished or chaotic homes might have in completing their homework. But the policy is unclear and contradictory. Certainly, no homework should be assigned that students cannot complete on their own or that they cannot do without expensive equipment. But if the district is essentially giving a pass to students who do not do their homework because of complicated family lives, it is going riskily close to the implication that standards need to be lowered for poor children.
③ District administrators say that homework will still be a part of schooling; teachers are allowed to assign as much of it as they want. But with homework counting for no more than 10% of their grades, students can easily skip half their homework and see very little difference on their report cards. Some students might do well on state tests without completing their homework, but what about the students who performed well on the tests and did their homework? It is quite possible that the homework helped. Yet rather than empowering teachers to find what works best for their students, the policy imposes a flat, across-the-board rule.
④ At the same time, the policy addresses none of the truly thorny questions about homework. If the district finds homework to be unimportant to its students’ academic achievement, it should move to reduce or eliminate the assignments, not make them count for almost nothing. Conversely, if homework matters, it should account for a significant portion of the grade. Meanwhile, this policy does nothing to ensure that the homework students receive is meaningful or appropriate to their age and the subject, or that teachers are not assigning more than they are willing to review and correct.
⑤ The homework rules should be put on hold while the school board, which is responsible for setting educational policy, looks into the matter and conducts public hearings. It is not too late for L.A. Unified to do homework right.
1.1.It is implied in Paragraph 1 that nowadays homework ________.
A is receiving more criticism
B is gaining more preferences
C is no longer an educational ritual
D is not required for advanced courses
解析：选A。A推理判断题。根据题干nowadays, homework定位至第一段首句（homework, in recent years）。该句指出，家庭作业从未真正受欢迎，近几年来更是饱受批评。即家庭作业正遭受更多批评，A正确。
2.2.L.A. Unified has made the rule about homework mainly because poor students ________.
A tend to have moderate expectations for their education
B have asked for a different educational standard
C may have problems finishing their homework
D have voiced their complaints about homework
解析：选C。C细节理解题。根据题干poor students与原文词汇impoverished、poor children的对应关系定位到第二段。该段首句指出，此规定（洛杉矶联合学区有关家庭作业的新规定）旨在解决贫困或混乱家庭学生在完成家庭作业方面可能的困难。可见C体现了洛杉矶联合学区新政主要目的，为正确项。
3.3.According to Paragraph 3, one problem with the policy is that it may ________.
A result in students’ indifference to their report cards
B undermine the authority of state tests
C restrict teachers’ power in education
D discourage students from doing homework
解析：选D。
D细节理解题。第三段②句指出，由于家庭作业不得超过学业成绩的10%，学生大可逃掉一半作业而成绩却不会有明显变化，即：学生会因逃避作业对成绩几乎无影响而降低做作业的积极性，D正确。
4.4.As mentioned in Paragraph 4, a key question unanswered about homework is whether ________.
A it should be eliminated
B it counts much in schooling
C it places extra burdens on teachers
D it is important for grades
解析：选B。
B推理判断题。第四段首句指出新政策并未解决关于家庭作业真正棘手的问题，接下来指出：如果认为家庭作业对学业不重要，那就应该减少甚至撤销家庭作业；如果认为家庭作业重要，那就应该让其在成绩中占重要比例。即：新政策当前做法未明确回答“家庭作业在教育中的重要性”，B正确。
5.5.A suitable title for this text could be ________.
A A Faulty Approach to Homework
B A Welcomed Policy for Poor Students
C Thorny Questions about Homework
D Wrong Interpretations of an Educational Policy
解析：选A。
A主旨大意题。解答文章主旨题需要纵览全文。本文第一段引出话题，洛杉矶联合学区就家庭作业制定了新政策；第二至四段多角度说明新政存有的问题；第五段做出结论“应暂缓实施新规”。可见全文围绕“家庭作业新政策”展开，着重分析了新政的各种弊端，A是对全文内容的恰当概括。故选A。
