A
(2020·福建质检)Australian adults want to see “life skills” introduced into school curriculum, including money management, job preparation and domestic tasks. New research from Monash University showed Aussie adults also widely supported the inclusion of technology, coding and artificial intelligence subjects in student curriculum to prepare them for future jobs.
Coauthor Professor Neil Selwyn, from Monash’s new Education Futures think tank, said the survey results of more than 2，000 Australians had taken himself and Dr. Deana Leahy by surprise.“The life skills—I wasn’t expecting that at all，” he said. Those quizzed were asked to rate the value of a list of subjects already in the curriculum, and were also given an open space to write what they think should be included. Prof. Selwyn said people called for schools to teach financial skills, budgeting, cooking and doing taxes.“You could argue that these are things people should be learning themselves, or learning from their families，” he said.“But we’ve got to be thinking forward in terms of the skills people will need for jobs and their ways of living.”
One respondent said schools should introduce a “contemporary life skills” subject：“A compulsory 1hour a week class on skills needed that parents seem continually unable to teach their kids”. Suggestions for the class included resume writing, filing tax returns and health claims. Another respondent called for students to be taught “general life skills” as unfortunately not enough kids will have parents to actually be bothered to educate them or simply parents don’t know themselves.
Of the subjects, maths was the highest ranked(75.5 percent), followed closely by English(74.8 percent). And while science was the third highest ranked subject(46.2 percent), it was more strongly supported by those who earned higher wages and were universityeducated compared to lower income earners.
Aspects of school life considered least important were students having fun, learning about things that interested them and being given the opportunity to be creative.
【解题导语】 本文是一篇说明文。来自莫纳什大学的新的研究表明，澳大利亚成年人广泛支持将科技、人工智能等科目引入学校课程，以让学生为他们未来的工作做好准备。
1．Why did the adults suggest adding “life skills” to school curriculum?
A．To vary school curriculum.
B．To enrich students’ school life.
C．To prepare students for future work and life.
D．To save parents the trouble of educating kids.
C 解析：细节理解题。根据第一段中的“Aussie adults also widely supported the inclusion of...to prepare them for future jobs”，并结合该段内容可知，澳大利亚成年人支持将“生活技能”引入学校课程旨在让学生为他们未来的工作和生活做好准备，故C项正确。
2．What did Prof. Selwyn think of the adults’ suggestions?
A．Reasonable. B．Ridiculous.
C．Interesting. D．Impractical.
A 解析：推理判断题。根据第二段中的“You could argue that...But we’ve got to be thinking forward in terms of the skills people will need for jobs and their ways of living.”可知，Selwyn教授认为成年人将“生活技能”引入学校课程的建议是合乎情理的，故A项正确。
3．What does paragraph 3 focus on?
A．Differences of school subjects.
B．Reasons for the school survey.
C．Opinions from the surveyed.
D．Investigations of the respondents.
C 解析：段落大意题。根据第三段中的“One respondent said schools should introduce a ‘contemporary life skills’ subject”和“Another respondent called for students to be taught ‘general life skills’”可知，第三段主要介绍了被调查者的观点，故C项正确。
4．What can we know from the text?
A．The present curriculum is to adults’ taste.
B．Contemporary life skills involve resume writing.
C．Students’ interests have been greatly promoted.
D．The parents quizzed think well of school life.
B 解析：细节理解题。根据第三段中的“One respondent said schools should introduce a ‘contemporary life skills’ subject...included resume writing, filing tax returns and health claims.”可知，当代生活技能包括写简历、提交纳税申报单和健康索赔，故B项正确。
