Question

There is a popular belief among parents that schools are no longer interested in spelling. No school I have ever taught in has ever ignored spelling or considered it unimportant as a basic skill. There are, however, different ideas about how to teach it, or how much priority (優(yōu)先) 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 (復雜性) of spelling.
If spelling becomes the only focal (焦點的) 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 terrible.” 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 (動機) to seek improvement.
【小題1】Teachers are different in their opinions about _________.

A．the difficulties in teaching spelling

B．the role of spelling in general language development

C．the complexities of the basic writing skills

D．the necessity of teaching spelling

【小題2】 The underlined expression “play safe” probably means ________.

A．to write carefully	B．to do as teachers say
C．to use dictionaries frequently	D．to avoid using words one is not sure of

【小題3】Teachers encourage the use of dictionaries so that ____________.

A．students will be able to express their ideas more freely

B．students will have more confidence in writing

C．students will have less trouble in correcting mistakes

D．students will learn to be independent of teachers

【小題4】The author seems to think that the teacher’s judgment on that sensitive piece of writing is __________.

A．unfair

B．reasonable

C．foolish

D．careless

【小題5】The major point discussed in the passage is ___________.

A．the importance of developing writing skills

B．the complexities of spelling

C．the correct way of marking compositions

D．the relationship between spelling and the content of a composition

Answer 1

【小題1】B
【小題1】D
【小題1】A
【小題1】A
【小題1】D

解析【小題1】細節(jié)題。本題需要回答教師們在對待學生作文問題上的意見分歧表現(xiàn)在哪一方面。文章第一段的第三句話說明教師們的分歧在于如何進行單詞拼寫教學，以及拼寫教學與培養(yǎng)學生全面的語言能力和寫作能力上哪個更具優(yōu)先考慮權。由此可見選項B“(教師們的分歧在于)拼寫在全面培養(yǎng)學生語言發(fā)展能力上的作用”為正確答案。
【小題1】詞匯題。本題需要從play safe這一詞組所出現(xiàn)的上下文中推斷出它的意義。文章中指出如果教師只關注拼寫，聰明的孩子很有可能就會play safe以迎合老師的心理。學生是怎樣play safe的呢接下來的一句話作了解釋“He will tend to write only words within his spelling range，choosing to avoid adventurous language”，學生就會只使用自己會拼寫的單詞，而放棄冒險使用一些自己沒有把握的單詞。因此選項D“避免使用自己沒有把握的單詞”為正確答案。
【小題1】文章第二段提到“That’s why teachers．．．technical ability”，說明教師鼓勵學生用字典是為了讓他們在表達自己的想法時不再受拼寫的限制，因此[A]“學生能夠更加自由的表達他們的思想”是正確答案。
【小題1】細節(jié)題：從最后一段的句子：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.可知作者認為老師這么做是不公平的。選A
【小題1】主旨題：整篇文章是圍繞拼寫和寫作的關系。選D