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 encoreage 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 (难以辨认的)." 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 centred on the child"s idea, 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】[考点] 推理判断题。
[解析] 文章第一段第三句指出,至于怎样教孩子们拼写,拼写在孩子总体语言发展和写作能力中被重视的程度,看法却大不相同。故选B。
单选题 The expression "play safe" probably means ______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[考点] 词语理解题。
[解析] 文章第二段第一句指出,如果教师们过分关注拼写问题,聪明的孩子就可能“做得安全些”,随后又解释到,那就是只用自己有把握拼写正确的词语。
单选题 The writer seems to think that the teacher"s judgement on that sensitive piece of writing is ______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[考点] 推理判断题。
[解析] 在文章第三段中,作者见到教师对一个孩子习作的评语时,认为这种批评太尖刻,而且这位教师并没有注意到这篇习作的内容,所以这种批评是不公平的。
单选题 The major point discussed in the passage is ______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[考点] 主旨大意题。
[解析] 通读全文,作者在讨论拼写能力与孩子总体语言水平发展的关系后,对某些教师过分关注孩子们拼写的正确性提出批评,并指出,孩子习作的内容比拼写正确更重要。因此,本文讨论的要点是:拼写和作文内容的关系。