Passage Three

Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage.

It is difficult to estimate the number of youngsters involved in home schooling, where children are not sent to school and receive their formal education from one or both parents. Legislation and court decisions have make it legally possible in most states for parents to educate their children at home, and each year more people take advantage of that opportunity.

Supporters of home education claim that it is less expensive and far more efficient than mass public education. Moreover they quote several merits: relief of school overcrowding, added curricular and pedagogical ( 课程和教学法 ) alternatives, strengthened family relationships, lower dropout rates, increased motivation, higher standardized test scores, and reduced discipline problems. Supporters of home schooling also believe that it provides the parents with the opportunity to reinforce their moral values through education.

Critics of home schooling movement claim that it creates as many problems as it solves. They acknowledge that, in a few cases, home schooling offers educational opportunities superior to those found in most public schools, but few parents can provide such educational advantages. Some parents who withdraw their children form the schools in favor of home schooling have an inadequate educational background and insufficient formal training to provide a satisfactory education for their children. Typically, parents have fewer, not more technological resources available than do schools. However, the relatively inexpensive computer technology that is readily available today is causing some to challenge the notion that home schooling is in any way not so good as more highly structured classroom education.

Finally, a sociological ( 社会学 ) concern is the restricted social interaction experienced by children who are educated at home. Technology will never replace the pupil-teacher relationship. Also, while relationships with parents and brothers and sisters may be improved, children taught at home may develop a distorted ( 歪曲的 ) view of society.

31. The main idea of the passage is that .

A. more and more parents are in favor of home schooling

B. home schooling is superior to school education because it has been legally approved

C. though home schooling has its advantages, it creates as many new problems at the same time

D. school education is no doubt better than home education

32. Those who support home schooling think that .

A. it’s less expensive and more efficient apart from other merits