Ask a man in the street what education is for, and an immediate response might be “for equipping young people with the skills to get a job”. Well, yes，but is education not about a lot more than that?

Indeed, I would argue that it is because our British education holds a higher ideal (理想)- equipping young people with self-confidence and an understanding of the world around them-that it is booming internationally.

Yet I believe that what makes our education great is being threatened by the ever increasing focus on teaching to the test. The focus has arisen because only by testing children can we know what progress they have made. It's a paradox(自相矛盾)，since the curriculum（课程）changes that are taking effect were designed to widen young people's knowledge of the world around them.

But please do not misunderstand me. I am not suggesting that tests should be withdrawn. I am saying that schools need to have the confidence to aim much higher and wider than teaching to the test. They should put a rich learning experience for students first; the test should be used to validate(证实) learning, not an end in itself.

Teachers count. A good many subject teachers know their departments have been short-changing their students, but they lack the self-confidence and support to move away from teaching to the test. So, what is the secret to getting back on track? What good schools have known all along is that a staffroom full of teachers with a good knowledge of what they are teaching, together with a passion and skill for communicating it, lies at the heart of the best education. Teachers' insistence on putting their love of subjects first will produce more engaged(参与) students. And with more engaged students often come better examination results, greater self- confidence and so on.

Schools should also find the self-confidence to put a focus on inspiring teachers who are keen to broaden what they teach. In this way, I believe educational achievement will improve.

【小题1】Which belongs to the purpose of education according to the author?

A．Helping young people to have a job.

B．Preparing students for all kinds of tests.

C．Making young people behave confidently.

D．Enabling young people to succeed in life.

【小题2】What does the author think of tests at present?

A．Formal and competitive.	B．Necessary but imperfect.
C．Standard but worthless.	D．Important and functional

【小题3】What should teachers do to face the challenge according to the author?

A．Arrange interesting classes to students' taste.

B．Train students according to new teaching standards.

C．Encourage students to express their love of subjects,

D．Feel confident to care about more than examinations.

【小题4】What is a suitable title for the text?

A．What is the future of British education?

B．What is the true purpose of British education?

C．Schools must aim higher than teaching to the test

D．Schools should withdraw tests for the sake of students