46. What does the U.S. secretary of education say in his open letter?
- A. It is of vital importance to respond promptly to the school absence crisis.
- B. The academic performance of chronically absent students is deplorable.
- C. Low academic achievement is mainly attributed to school absences.
- D. The effect of school absences on American education is worrisome.
答案：C
答案句：In 2015, the U.S. secretary of education responded to this crisis, urging communities to support every student to attend every day and be successful in school. His open letter stated that missing 10% of school days in a year for any reason-excused or unexcused-is a primary cause of low academic achievement.
参考译文：2015年，美国教育部长对这一危机作出回应，敦促社区支持每个学生每天上学并在学校取得成功。他的公开信指出，一年中因任何原因（无论请假与否）缺课10%是学业成绩低下的主要原因。
定位线索：题干“U.S. secretary of education”→答案句“His open letter stated”；文中“missing 10% of school days...is a primary cause of low academic achievement”对应选项C“Low academic achievement is mainly attributed to school absences”（“primary cause”对应“mainly attributed to”）。
解析：题干问教育部长在公开信中说了什么，答案句直接引用其公开信内容，指出缺课是学业成绩低下的主要原因，与选项C同义。选项A“respond promptly”无中生有，选项B“deplorable”是官员对缺课现象的评价而非信中内容，选项D“worrisome”是作者观点，均答非所问。
49. What is the assumption underlying education policies in the U.S.?
- A. Children's academic performance depends on reducing the number of absences.
- B. Schools can boost children's academic performance by effective intervention.
- C. Schools as well as families should be held responsible for out-of-school crises.
- D. Children's academic performance is closely related to the quality of instruction.
答案：A
答案句：These policies assume that missing school for any reason harms children academically because they are missing classroom instruction. They also assume that schools will be able to effectively intervene by reducing student absences. We find neither to be the case.
参考译文：这些政策假设，无论何种原因缺课都会因错过课堂教学而损害孩子的学业。它们还假设学校能够通过减少学生缺课来进行有效干预。我们发现这两种情况都不是事实。
定位线索：题干“assumption underlying education policies”→答案句“These policies assume”；文中“schools will be able to effectively intervene by reducing student absences”对应选项A“Children's academic performance depends on reducing the number of absences”（“reducing student absences”对应“reducing the number of absences”）。
解析：答案句列出政策的两大假设，其中第二个假设是减少缺课能有效干预，即学业表现取决于减少缺课，对应选项A。选项B“effective intervention”是政策假设而非作者观点，选项C“out-of-school crises”是作者观点非政策假设，选项D“quality of instruction”无中生有。