A
It is hard to say the first day of school in the United States because when the first day of school is and what happens on the first day of school usually are different by districts (地区)．
The first day of school for many school districts in different states is on the day after the first Monday in September.In some other school districts, school begins in midtolate August.For example, the Denver, Colorado schools go back in midAugust and schools in Cleveland, Ohio start back usually one week before the first Monday in September.The Boston，Chicago, New York City and San Diego schools start back on the Tuesday or Wednesday after the first Monday in September.
Schools in Cleveland, Ohio used to start the school year on the day after the first Monday in September, but in the 1976—1977 and 1977—1978 academic years, the school year was affected by several bad snowstorms, extremely cold.In the 1978—1979 school year, the Ohio Department of Education moved the start of the year to late August, one week before the first Monday in September.This went into effect in the 1980—1981 school year.
In most school districts in Utah, the school year starts between August 25 and August 30, and goes until the last week of May or the first week in June next year.
In American high schools, the freshmen class usually goes back one or two days before the rest of the school body for an orientation(迎新) period.An orientation period helps the freshmen get familiar with their new school, its rules, and surroundings.
In some schools, the freshmen classes have their photographs taken for identification purposes.Some high schools have tried to make the first week of school fun for incoming freshmen.
这是一篇说明文。美国开学的日期没有明文规定，因地区而异。
21．According to the passage, which schools start their school year the earliest?
A．Schools in Denver.
B．Schools in Cleveland.
C．Schools in New York City.
D．Schools in Boston.
答案：A
解析：细节理解题。根据文章第二段中的“For example，the Denver，Colorado schools go back in midAugust”可知，丹佛的学校在八月中旬开学，开学最早。
22．Why did the Ohio Department of Education change the start of the school year?
A．Because of some political events.
B．Because of the entrance examinations.
C．Because of the increasing number of students.
D．Because of the extreme weather.
答案：D
解析：细节理解题。根据文章第三段中的“but in the 1976—1977 and 1977—1978 academic years，the school year was affected by several bad snowstorms，extremely cold”可知俄亥俄州学校的学年曾受到暴风雪的影响，因而开学日发生了变化。
23．The article is probably taken from________.
A．a book about one's life story
B．an official website of education
C．an advertisement in a newspaper
D．a sports magazine
答案：B
解析：推理判断题。通读全文可知，本篇文章讲的是有关美国学校开学日期的内容，应属教育类，故选B项。
