American schools aren’t exactly frozen in time, but considering the pace of change in other areas of life, our public schools te

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问题    American schools aren’t exactly frozen in time, but considering the pace of change in other areas of life, our public schools tend to feel like throwbacks.
   For the past five years, the national conversation on education has focused on reading scores, math tests and closing the "achievement gap" between social classes. This is not a story about that conversation. This is a story about the big public conversation the nation is not having about education, the one that will ultimately determine not merely whether some fraction of our children get "left behind" but also whether an entire generation of kids will fail to make the grade in the global economy because they can’t think their way through abstract problems, work in teams, distinguish good information from bad or speak a language other than English.
   This week the conversation will burst onto the front page, when the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce, a high-powered, bipartisan assembly of Education Secretaries, business leaders and a former Governor releases a blueprint for rethinking American education to better prepare students to thrive in the global economy. There is a remarkable consensus among educators and business and policy leaders on one key conclusion: we need to bring what we teach and how we teach into the 21st century. Right now we’re aiming too low. Competency in reading and math is the inadequate minimum. Scientific and technical skills are, likewise, utterly necessary but insufficient. Today’s economy demands not only a high-level competence in the traditional academic disciplines but also what might be called 21st century skills. Here’s what they are:
   Knowing more about the world. Kids are global citizens now, whether they know it or not, and they need to behave that way. Mike Eskew, CEO of UPS, talks about needing workers who are "global trade literate, sensitive to foreign cultures, acquainted with different languages"—not exactly strong points in the U.S., where fewer than half of high school students are enrolled in a foreign-language class and where the social-studies curriculum tends to fixate on U.S. history.
   Thinking outside the box. Jobs in the new economy "put an enormous premium on creative and innovative skills, seeing patterns where other people see only chaos," says Marc Tucker, a lead author of the skills-commission report. That’s a problem for U.S. schools. Kids also must learn to think across disciplines, since that’s where most new breakthroughs are made. "It’s interdisciplinary combinations— design and technology, mathematics and art—that produce YouTube and Google," says Thomas Friedman, the best-selling author of The World Is Flat.
   Becoming smarter about new sources of information. In an age of overflowing information and booming media, kids need to rapidly process what’s coming at them and distinguish between what’s reliable and what isn’t. "It’s important that students know how to manage it, interpret it, validate it, and how to act on it," says Dell executive Karen Bruett, who serves on the board of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, a group of corporate and education leaders focused on upgrading American education.
   Developing good people skills. EQ is as important as IQ for success in today’s workplace. "Most innovations today involve large teams of people," says former Lockheed Martin CEO Norman Augustine. "We have to emphasize communication skills, the ability to work in teams and with people from different cultures."
   [A] places a high premium on interpersonal skills and teamwork spirit.
   [B] suggests scientific and technical skills are out of date in the 21st century.
   [C] requires his employees to know more about the world such as globalized business.
   [D] regards the ability to deal with mass of information quickly and properly as very important
   [E] is in charge of upgrading American education system to equip students for 21st century skills.
   [F] probably agrees that breakthroughs like Google come out of interdisciplinary combinations.
   [G] attaches great importance to inventive minds and innovative skills.
Mike Eskew

选项

答案C

解析 Mike Eskew出现在第四段。该段的主要观点是:更多地了解世界,并以Mike Eskew对员工的要求为例来论证这一观点。Mike Eskew要求员工具备全球贸易知识,对异国文化敏感,并熟悉多种语言。C中的know more about the world是对原文global trade literate,sensitive to foreign cultures,acquainted with different languages的概括,同时也是本段的主旨句,而employees、globalized business分别与原文的workers、global trade同义,故确定C为答案。
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