Question

    There is a popular belief among parents that schools are no longer interested in spelling. No school I have taught in has ever ignored( 忽视) spelling or considered it unimportant as a basic skill. There are, however, different ideas about how to teach it, or how much priority(优先) 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(复杂性) of spelling?

If spelling becomes the only focus of his teacher’s interest, clearly a clever child will be likely to “play safe”. He will tend to write only words that he can spell, choosing to avoid adventurous language. That’s why teachers often encourage the early use of dictionaries and pay attention to content rather than technical(技术上的) ability.

I was once shocked to read on the bottom of a sensitive piece of writing about a personalexperience: “This work is terrible! There are too many spelling mistakes 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( 省略 ) to read the composition, which contained some beautiful expressions of the child’s deep feelings. The teacher was not wrong to pay attention to the mistakes, 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 explore improvement.

1.Teachers are different 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 underlined expression “play safe” probably means “      ”.

A.to write carefully

B.to avoid using words he/she 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 main idea discussed in the passage is                 .

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

B.the importance of developing writing skills

C.the correct way of marking compositions

D.the complexities of spelling

Answer

1.D

2.B

3.C

4.A

【解析】

文章大意：作者通过这篇文章向我们介绍了关于教导学生拼写的一些问题，但是对于拼写教师们之间也存在分歧，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。

1.细节理解题。根据There are, however, different ideas about how to teach it, or how much priority it must be given over in general language development and writing ability. 然而，对于如何教授英语，或者在一般的语言发展和写作能力中英语应该给予多少优先权，人们有不同的看法。可知，教师对于拼写在一般语言发展中的作用有不同的看法，故答案选D。

2.词句猜测题。根据下文He will tend to write only words that he can spell, choosing to avoid adventurous language. 他将倾向于只写他会拼写的单词，避免使用冒险的语言。结合If spelling becomes the only focus of his teacher’s interest, clearly a clever child will be likely to “play safe”. 如果拼写成为老师唯一感兴趣的内容，那么很明显，聪明的孩子很可能会“避免使用冒险的语言”，即“避免使用他/她不确定的词语”，故答案选B。

3.细节理解题。根据He will tend to write only words that he can spell, 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.他将倾向于只写他会拼写的单词，避免使用冒险的语言。这就是为什么老师们经常鼓励学生们尽早使用字典，并且注重内容而不是技术能力。可知老师鼓励学生使用词典是为了让他们在表达自己的想法时不再受拼写的限制，让他们书写的时候更加自信，这样学生就能更自由地表达他们的思想，故答案选C。

4.主旨大意题。根据There are, however, different ideas about how to teach it, or how much priority it must be given over in general language development and writing ability. 然而，对于如何教授英语，或者在一般的语言发展和写作能力中英语应该给予多少优先权，人们有不同的看法。结合文章内容，可知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。所以整篇文章是围绕拼写和写作的关系来展开的，故答案选A。