[解析]
(1)细节理解题。根据第一段第一句A new report shows that most American fourth and eighth graders did not do well in math and reading tests(一项新报告表明,美国大多数上四年级和八年级的学生,在数学考试和阅读考试中都表现得不好)可知,最新的《国家报告卡》告诉我们,美国大多数八年级学生不擅长阅读。故选A项。
(2)词义猜测题。第二段第一句提到Nationally,however,America' s eighth graders are falling behind in math and reading.(不过,在全国范围来看,美国八年级的学生在数学和阅读方面是落后的),由此可推知,划线词所在句"Only a little more than one﹣third of eighth graders are proficient in reading and math."意为"八年级的学生中,只有比三分之一多一点儿的学生精通阅读和数学",所以划线词"proficient"意为"精通的,熟练的",A.Poor.可怜的;B.Puzzled.感到困惑的;C.Slow.慢的;D.Skilled.技术娴熟的。故选D项。
(3)推理判断题。根据第四段第三句Instead,she called for expanded school choice.(相反,德沃斯呼吁扩大学校的选择)及第五段最后一句But with education freedom,American students can compete (但是有了教育自由之后,美国的学生竞争力也会很强)可知,Betsy DeVos认为学生出现成绩危机是由于被限制的教育自由。故选D项。
(4)推理判断题。根据最后一段最后两句He thinks DeVos is wrong and that"'money matters in education." The falling scores are because of lower spending on education following the Great Recession(经济衰退) of 2008.(他认为DeVos说的不对,认为"资金对于教育来说是至关重要的。"分数下降是因为2008年出现金融危机之后,教育方面的支出减少了)可知,在教育上投入资金是解决办法。故选B项。