单选题 There is a popular belief among parents that schools are no longer interested in spelling. No school I have taught in has ever ignored spelling or considered it unimportant as a basic skill. There are, however, vastly different ideas about how to teach it, or how much priority it must be given over general language development and writing ability. The problem is, how to encourage a child to express himself freely and confidently in writing without holding him back with the complexities of spelling.
If spelling becomes the only focal point of his teacher’s interest, clearly a bright child will be likely to" play safe". He will tend to write only words within his spelling range, choosing to avoid adventurous language. That’s why teachers often encourage the early use of dictionaries and pay attention to content rather than technical ability.
I was once shocked to read on the bottom of a sensitive piece of writing about a personal experience:" This work is terrible! There are far too many spelling errors and your writing is illegible." It may have been a sharp criticism of the pupil’s technical abilities in writing, but it was also a sad reflection on the teacher who had omitted to read the essay, which contained some beautiful expressions of the child’s deep feelings. The teacher was not wrong to draw attention to the errors, but if his priorities had centered on the child’s ideas, an expression of his disappointment with the presentation would have given the pupil more motivation to seek improvement.
单选题 Teachers are different in their opinions about______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】细节题。本题需要回答教师们在对待学生作文问题上的意见分歧表现在哪一方面。文章第一段的第三句话说明教师们的分歧在于如何进行单词拼写教学,以及拼写教学与培养学生全面的语言能力和写作能力上哪个更具优先考虑权。由此可见选项B“(教师们的分歧在于)拼写在全面培养学生语言发展能力上的作用”为正确答案。
单选题 The underlined expression" play safe" (Para.2) probably means______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】词汇题。本题需要从play safe这一词组所出现的上下文中推断出它的意义。文章中指出如果教师只关注拼写,聪明的孩子很有可能就会play safe以迎合老师的心理。学生是怎样play safe的呢?接下来的一句话作了解释“He will tend to write only words within his spelling range,choosing to avoid adventurous language”,学生就会只使用自己会拼写的单词,而放弃冒险使用一些自己没有把握的单词。因此选项D“避免使用自己没有把握的单词”为正确答案。
单选题 The writer seems to think that the teacher’s judgement on that sensitive piece of writing is ______
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】推理题。本题要求考生推断作者对一位老师评阅学生作文时的态度。根据文章第三段的内容一位教师在评价一篇作者认为写得极富表现力的作文时仅注意到了拼写正确与否,书写工整与否,作者对此感到shocked。作者认为这或许是对学生写作时表现出的技巧方法的过份sharp的批评。由此可看出作者认为这位教师对待这样一篇作文的态度是“不公正的”,选项A为正确答案。