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 (优先) 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 plexities (复杂性) of spelling.
If spelling bees the only focal (焦点的) 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 (动机) to seek improvement.
【小题1】Teachers are different in their opinions about .A．the difficulties in teaching spellingB．the role of spelling in general language developmentC．the plexities of the basic writing skillsD．the necessity of teaching spelling【小题2】 The underlined expression “play safe” probably means . A．to write carefullyB．to do as teachers sayC．to use dictionaries frequentlyD．to avoid using words one is not sure of【小题3】Teachers encourage the use of dictionaries so that .A．students will be able to express their ideas more freelyB．students will have more confidence in writing C．students will have less trouble in correcting mistakesD．students will learn to be independent of teachers【小题4】The author seems to think that the teacher’s judgment on that sensitive piece of writing is .A．unfairB．reasonableC．foolishD．careless【小题5】The major point discussed in the passage is .A．the importance of developing writing skillsB．the plexities of spellingC．the correct way of marking positionsD．the relationship between spelling and the content of a positionB
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(答案→)B
解析：
【小题1】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。
【小题1】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。
【小题1】文章第二段提到“That’s why teachers．．．technical ability”，说明教师鼓励学生用字典是为了让他们在表达自己的想法时不再受拼写的限制，因此[A]“学生能够更加自由的表达他们的思想”是正确答案。
【小题1】细节题：从最后一段的句子：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.可知作者认为老师这么做是不公平的。选A
【小题1】主旨题：整篇文章是围绕拼写和写作的关系。选D