阅读理解

Passage 2

Questions 16—20 are based on the following passage.

Nowadays, it is more common for people to express their thoughts in an e-mail or text. Infact, more and more students use technology for written communication in their lives. Even so,research shows that teaching handwriting skills has its benefits. However, are the benefitsworth spending valuable classroom time in teaching handwriting skills when students could belearning more about computer keyboarding?

States across the country have good reasons to require students to learn computerkeyboarding skills. For one, students are learning technology that will help them communicatefaster with more people and in many different forms, such as e-mails, websites, blogs, and so

on. Also the better a student's computer keyboarding skills, the greater the chance that a student has to become a better writer. Computer tools such as the grammar and spell check makecorrecting quick and easy, although not 100% accurate. With these and many other tools,students gain important computer skills. Furthermore, students no longer have to worry abouttheir writing being graded poorly by teachers. All in all, computer keyboarding skills are a stepin the right direction.

Still, the advantages of computer keyboarding skills may not be enough to leave handwritinginstruction in the dust. Marlena Hamilton, professor of neurology at University ofPennsylvania, did an experiment with her co-workers to study what happens in students' brainswhen writing. They found that many of the areas of the brain light up. These are the same areasthat are used to learn to read. They then wondered if the same would be true when studentslooked at letters on a keyboard."What we found," she states,"is that brains are much lessinvolved when we just look at letters. When we actually use our hands to make things, the brainworks much harder.”

Schools across the nation are looking at the evidence and deciding what to do. WilliamMcIntyre, a reading coach at Sunshine Elementary School in Albany, New York, says,"Whatwe have learned from the research is that learning handwriting benefits students educationally.What we also know is that students need to be taught keyboarding skills."Now, it is up to eachschool to make a decision.

单选题 ( )From the first paragraph, we can know that ____.

A、 students don't want to learn handwriting skills any more
B、 students don't like communicating with friends in person
C、 students' communicating by technology is more and more common
D、 students spend more time in playing computer games than before

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】推理判断题。根据首段第二句In fact,more and more students use technology for written communication in their lives(事实上，越来越多的学生在生活中通过科技进行书面交流)可知，学生通过科技进行交流变得越来越普遍。故选C。

单选题 ( )What does the second paragraph mainly talk about?

A、 The roles of computer tools.
B、 The advantages of computer keyboarding skills.
C、 The importance of communication skills.
D、 The necessity of developing writing skills.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】段落大意题。根据第二段首句States across thecountry have good reasons to requirestudents to learn computer keyboarding skills （全国各州都有充分的理由要求学生学习使用脑键盘技能)和尾句All in all, computer keyboarding skills are a stepin the right direction(总之，电脑键盘技能是朝着正确方向迈出的一步)可知，第二段主要讲述电脑键盘技能的优势。故选B。

单选题 ( )What's the author's attitude to students'learning keyboarding skills?

A、 Worried.
B、 Doubtful.
C、 Uncaring.
D、 Supportive.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】推理判断题。根据第二段尾句All in all，computer keyboarding skills are a step in thright direction可知，作者对于学习电脑键盘技能是支持的。worried意为“担忧的”;doubtful 意为“怀疑的”;uncaring意为"不在乎的" supportive意为"支持的"。故选D。

单选题 ( )What can we infer from Hamilton's experiment?

A、 Keyboarding skills are very useful.
B、 Handwriting is helpful for students to learn.
C、 Keyboarding makes our brain more active.
D、 Handwriting is more difficult than keyboarding.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】细节理解题。根据倒数第二段尾句When we actually use our hands to make things, the brain works much harder(当我们真正用手制东西时，大脑会更加努力地工作)可知，实验结果是手写有助于学生学习。故选B.

单选题 ( )What kind of decision does the author refer to in the last paragraph?

A、 Whether schools should offer computer classes.
B、 Whether schools should still teach handwriting.
C、 Whether students should learn keyboarding skills.
D、 Whether students should use the grammar and spell check.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】推理判断题。根据最后一段William McIntyre所说What we have learned from the research is that learning handwriting benefits students educationally.What we also know is that students need to be taught keyboarding skills. Now, it is up to each school to make a decision(学习书法对学生的教育有益，我们还知道，学生需要学习键盘技能。现在，由每所学校做出决定)可知，文中提到的决定是学校是否仍然教授书法。故选B。