Question

【題目】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 in 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.

【1】Teachers differ in their opinions about ________.

A. the difficulties in teaching spelling

B. the necessity of teaching spelling

C. the complexities of the basic writing skills

D. the role of spelling in general language development

【2】The expression "play safe" probably means “_______”.

A. to write carefully

B. to avoid using words one is not sure of

C. to do as teachers say

D. to use dictionaries frequently

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

A. teachers will have less trouble in correcting mistakes

B. students will have more confidence in writing

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

D. students will learn to be independent of teachers

【4】The major point discussed in the passage is ________.

A. the relationship between spelling and content of a composition

B. the importance of developing writhing skills

C. the correct way of marking compositions

D. the complexities of spelling

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】D

【2】B

【3】C

【4】A

【解析】

試題分析:本文主要講了拼寫和寫作的關系。

【1】D考查細節(jié)理解。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D“(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，故選D。

【2】B考查推理判斷。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B“避免使用自己沒有把握的單詞”為正確答案，故選B。

【3】C考查推理判斷。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C選項“學生能夠更加自由的表達他們的思想”是正確答案，故選C。

【4】A考查主旨要義。整篇文章是圍繞拼寫和寫作的關系，故選A。