Passage Four

We find that bright children are rarely held back by mixed-ability teaching. On the contrary, both their knowledge and experience are enriched. We feel that there are many disadvantages in streaming (把……按能力分班) pupils. It does not take into account the fact that children develop at different rates. It can have a bad effect on both the bright and the not-so-bright child. After all, it can be quite discouraging to be at the bottom of the top grade!

Besides, it is rather unreal to grade people just according to their intellectual ability. This is only one aspect of their total personality. We are concerned to develop the abilities of all our pupils to the full, not just their academic ability. We also value personal qualities and social skills, and we find that mixed-ability teaching contributes to all these aspects of learning.

In our classrooms, we work in various ways. The pupils often work in groups: this gives them the opportunity to learn to co-operate, to share, and to develop leadership skills. They also learn how to cope with personal problems as well as learning how to think, to make decisions, to analyse and evaluate, and to communicate effectively. The pupils learn from each other as well as from the teacher.

Sometimes the pupils work in pairs; sometimes they work on individual tasks and assignments, and they can do this at their own speed. They also have some formal class teaching when this is appropriate. We encourage our pupils to use the library, and we teach them the skills they need in order to do this efficiently. An advanced pupil can do advanced work: it does not matter what age the child is. We expect our pupils to do their best, not their least, and we give them every encouragement to attain this goal.

76. In the passage the author’s attitude towards “mixed-ability teaching” is .

A. critical B. questioning C. approving D. objective

77. By “held back” (Line 1) the author means “ ”.

A. made to remain in the same classes

B. forced to study in the lower classes

C. drawn to their studies

D. prevented from advancing

78. The author argues that a teacher’s chief concern should be the development of the student’s .

A. personal qualities and social skills

B. total personality

C. learning ability and communicative skills

D. intellectual ability

79. Which of the following is NOT MENTIONED in the third paragraph?

A. Group work gives pupils the opportunity to learn to work together with others

B. Pupils also learn to develop their reasoning abilities

C. Group work provides pupils with the opportunity to learn to be capable

organizers

D. Pupils also learn how to participate in teaching activities

80. The author’s purpose in writing this passage is to .

A. argue for teaching bright and not-so-bright pupils in the same class

B. recommend pair work and group work for classroom activities

C. offer advice on the proper use of the library

D. emphasize the importance of appropriate formal classroom teaching

V. Writing (20 points)

Directions:

For this part, you are allowed 20 minutes to write a letter of about 80 words according to the following situation.

你是Alice。你的朋友Bonnie很快就要到你的乡间小屋拜访，但你却要出去一会儿。留一张便条给她，告诉她食品在哪儿，告诉她一个人在屋里时应注意些什么。