We are all interested in equality, but while some people try to protect the school and examination system in the name of equality, others, still in the name of equality, want only to destroy it.
Any society which is interested in equality of opportunity and standards of achievement must regularly test its pupils. The standards may be changed—no examination is perfect—but to have no tests or examinations would mean the end of equality and of standards. There are groups of people who oppose this view and who do not believe either in examinations or in any controls in schools or on teachers. This would mean that everything would depend on luck since every pupil would depend on the efficiency, the values and the purpose of each teacher.
Without examinations, employers will look for employees from the highly respected schools and from families known to them—a form of favoritism will replace equality. At the moment, the bright child from an ill-respected school can show certificates to prove he or she is suitable for a job, while the lack of certificate indicates the unsuitability of a dull child attending a well-respected school. This defense of excellence and opportunity would disappear if examinations were taken away, and the bright child from a poor family would be a prisoner of his or her school’s reputation, unable to compete for employment with the child from the favored school.
The opponents of the examination system suggest that examinations are an evil force because they show differences between pupils. According to these people, there must be no special, different, academic class. They have even suggested that there should be no form of difference in sport or any other area: all jobs or posts should be filled by unsystematic selection. The selection would be made by people who themselves are probably selected by some computer.
32. The word “favoritism” in paragraph 3 is used to describe the phenomenon that ________.
A. bright children also need certificates to get satisfying jobs
B. poor children with certificates are favored in job markets
C. children from well-respected schools tend to have good jobs
D. children attending ordinary schools achieve great success
33. What would happen if examinations were taken away according to the author?
A. Children’s job opportunity would be affected by their school reputation
B. Schools for bright children would lose their reputation.
C. There would be more opportunities and excellence.
D. Children from poor families would be able to change their schools.
34. The opponents of the examination system will agree that ________.
A. computers should be selected to take over many jobs
B. jobs should not be assigned by systematic selection
C. special classes are necessary to keep the school standards
D. schools with academic subjects should be done away with
35. The passage mainly focuses on ________.
A. schools and certificates
B. opportunity and employment
C. standards and reputation
D. examination and equality