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A greater proportion of young people receive higher education in the United States than in any other country. These students also can choose from more than 4 000 very different institutions. They can attend two-year community colleges or more specialized technical training institutes. Traditional four-year institutions range from small liberal arts colleges to massive state universities in places like California, Arizona, Ohio, and New York, each with multiple campuses and student populations exceeding 30 000. Approximately one-third of U.S. colleges and universities are private and generally charge tuition costs substantially higher than state-run public institutions.

Schools had problems providing equal opportunities for all because quality, costs, and admissions criteria varied greatly. To deal with these problems, the federal government introduced the policy of affirmative action in education in the early 1970s. Affirmative action required that colleges and universities take race, ethnicity, and gender into account in admissions to provide extra consideration to those who have historically faced discrimination. It was intended to assure that Americans of all backgrounds have an opportunity to train for professions in fields such as medicine, law, education, and business administration.

Affirmative action became a general social commitment during the last quarter of the 20th century. In education, it meant that universities and colleges gave extra advantages and opportunities to blacks, Native Americans, women, and other groups that were generally underrepresented at the highest levels of business and in other professions. Affirmative action also included financial assistance to members of minorities who could not otherwise afford to attend colleges and universities. Affirmative action has allowed many minority members to achieve new prominence and success.

At the end of the 20th century, the policy of affirmative action was criticized as unfair to those who were denied admission in order to admit those in designated group categories. Some considered affirmative action policies a form of reverse discrimination, some believed that special policies were no longer necessary, and others believed that only some groups should qualify （such as African Americans because of the nation’s long history of slavery and segregation）. The issue became a matter of serious discussion and is one of the most highly charged topics in education today. In the 1990s three states—Texas, California, and Washington—eliminated affirmative action in their state university admissions policies.

The GI Bill of Rights is the popular name for the Serviceman’s Readjustment Act, a law passed in 1944 that marked the beginning of the popularization of higher education and its transformation from a privilege for the wealthy elite to a basic right of all Americans, regardless of economic class. The bill provided all World War II veterans with a complete educational allowance to attend any accredited school, college or university. Included were all costs of tuition, student fees and books, which the government paid directly to the institution, and a monthly stipend paid to the veteran for living expenses along with home-loan guarantees.Benefits extended over a period of time determined by each veteran’s length of service.

The irony of the GI Bill was that its enactment was not motivated by any desire to popularize higher education. Indeed, the primary purpose was to prevent a repetition of the mass unemployment of demobilized servicemen that had plagued the United States following the end of World War I. The GI Bill was expected to create a temporary increase of college and university enrollments and a gradual return to normal as veterans—usually older men, often with family responsibilities—found jobs and returned to civilian life. To the astonishment of the U.S. government and the higher-education establishment, the veterans— many of them from impoverished backgrounds, but nonetheless far more mature than typical undergraduates—not only completed their higher education, they also performed better academically than anyone had expected. As they emerged with degrees, the expanding U.S. economy absorbed them at such unexpectedly high salary levels that public perception of higher education changed from that of an esoteric pastime for the rich into a means of achieving success for the average American. Indeed, the academic successes of former GIs at college inspired President Harry Truman to establish a Commission on Higher Education, in 1946, and its report, two years later, confirmed that American colleges and universities would have to open their doors to every citizen and cease reserving their classrooms for an intellectual elite.

In 1952, the GI Bill was extended to cover Korean War veterans, but the government changed its procedures. Direct payments to institutions were stopped, but veterans received larger direct payments from which they were to pay their own tuition and educational costs. By 1960, the GI Bill had provided educational benefits to more than 10 million veterans, whose education had either been delayed or interrupted by military service. Legislation in 1966 and 1967 extended coverage to Vietnam War veterans, and subsequent legislation provided educational benefits to all service personnel, regardless of whether they had served in any armed conflicts.

Most recently, all GI Bill benefits are contingent on the servicemen or -women contributing $1 200 from their military salaries during their first year of service. Then, after completing their three-year minimum enlistment terms, they become eligible for up to $36 144 toward education expenses. An additional $600 contribution adds $5 400 to those benefits. Although the Department of Veterans Affairs claims that the amount covers 70% of the average costs of attending a four-year public institution, the College Board estimates that the benefits, which total just over $9 000 a year, cover only about 60% of college costs, which average $14 600 for tuition, books, fees and living costs at a four-year residential publiccollege. Although nearly 95% of service personnel sign up for the GI Bill and 70% use at least some portion of their benefits, the rest fail to do so and forfeit their initial investments.

1. block scheduling长班教学，就是打破传统的学校教学计划，将学校一天乃至一学期、一学年的教学时数重新安排，划分为较少的教学时间段或单元。与传统的每天 6-8 节课，每节课 45-50 分钟不同，长班教学每个课时是传统课时的 1.5-3 倍，即每节课在75-150 分钟之间，而每天上课的节数却减少了，只有4节左右。长班教学产生的动机在于创造足够充分的教师教学和学生学习的时间，让学生深入理解学习的内容并巩固所学习的内容。

2. The Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890《莫雷尔法案》，又称《莫雷尔赠地法案》（Morrill Land-Grant Acts），分别于1862年和1890年由美国国会颁布。该法案授权联邦政府对各州赠予土地来创办农业和机械制造工艺的新型高等学校。它的颁布促进了美国的职业技术教育，成了美国教育史上的重要里程碑。

3. No Child Left Behind Act of 2001有教无类法案，是2002年1月8日由布什总统签署的一项美国联邦法律。该法案主要旨在解决贫困地区学生和黑人男生的受教育问题。

4. Horace Mann霍瑞斯·曼（1796－1859），美国教育学家，他一生致力于美国公立学校的创立，被誉为美国公立学校之父。主张国民教育必须是普及的、免费的和世俗的，强调教育对社会秩序和经济发展的重要作用。

5. high-stakes examination美国人把标准化考试称作“高风险考试”（high stakes），因为考试的结果决定学生能不能毕业或升学，学校的校长、教师能不能保住饭碗，学校能不能获得教育拨款等，可以说分数是方方面面人士的命根。

6. GI Bill of Rights美国国会在1944年颁布《退伍军人权利法案》，授权联邦政府向二战期间服役超过90天的美国退伍士兵提供生活救济金、住房贷款和免费的教育与职业技术训练。这个法案的颁布实施推动了美国战后职业教育的发展。

I. Fill in the blanks according to the text.

1. In 1787, ___________ asked every new township to reserve one plot of land for public schools.

2. Children generally begin elementary school with ___________ at age five and continue through ________________ to age 18.

3. ___________________provided federal financial support to state universities and also led to the establishment of many new land-grant colleges and state universities through gifts of federal land to the states for the support of higher education.

4. A study by the National Association of School Principals found the four factors critical to school success were the degree of autonomy given the school by its district;___________________; ___________________; and the competency, diversity and stability of the school staff.

5. Since the 1980s, virtually all states have given unprecedented attention to their role in___________________. Much of the initiative for greater state involvement in education stemmed from the publication of a report entitled ___________________.

6. In the 1990s three states—_______________________, ______________________ and___________________—eliminated affirmative action in their state university admissions policies.

7. By 1960, ________________ had provided educational benefits to more than 10 million veterans, whose education had either been delayed or interrupted by military service.