Question

Teaching children to read well from the start is the most important task of elementary schools. But relying on educators to approach this task correctly can be a great mistake. Many schools continue to employ instructional methods that have been proven ineffective. The staying power of the "looksay" or " wholeword" method of teaching beginning reading is perhaps the most flagrant example of this failure to instruct effectively.

The wholeword approach to reading stresses the meaning of words over the meaning of let?ters,thinking over decoding,developing a sight vocabulary of familiar words over developing the ability to unlock the pronunciation of unfamiliar words. It fits in with the selfdirected, "learning how to learn" activities recommended by advocates (倡导者) of "open" classrooms and with the concept that children have to be developmentally ready to begin reading. Before 1963,no major publisher put out anything but these "Run-Spot-Run" readers.

However,in 1955,Rudolf Resch touched off what has been called "the great debate" in beginning reading. In his bestseller Why Johnny Cant Read,Flesch indicted (控诉) the nation's public schools for miseducating students by using the looksay method. He said―and more scholarly studies by Jeane Chall and Rovert Dykstra later confirmed―that another approach to beginning reading,founded on phonics (语音学) ，is far superior.

Systematic phonics first teaches children to associate letters and letter combinations with sounds;it then teaches them how to blend these sounds together to make words. Rather than building up a relatively limited vocabulary of memorized words,it imparts a code by which the pronunciations of the vast majority of the most common words in the English language can be learned. Phonics does not devalue the importance of thinking about the meaning of words and sentences;it simply recognizes that decoding is the logical and necessary first step.

(   ) 1. What does the underlined phrase " touchedoff" most probably mean?

   A. Moved off. B. Set off. C. Took off. D. Droped off.

(   ) 2. The author accuses the "looksay" reading approach because         .

   A. it overlooks decoding

   B. some experts agree with him

   C. it devalues the useful phonics method

   D. many schools still use this method

(   ) 3. The difference between the looksay method and the phonics method is         .

   A. looksay is only logical and natural

   B. phonics is merely effective and reasonable

   C. looksay is easier to teach and reliable

   D. phonics gives readers access to far more words

(   ) 4. According to the passage,the better way of teaching children reading is         .

   A. "looksay" or "wholeword" method

   B. systematic phonics approach

   C. " learning how to learn" activities

   D. "Run-Spot-Run" method

Answer 1

BADB

作者认为，语音教学法通过发音、联想、构词等形式，教授学生们如何阅读学习，而不是不加理解地死记硬背数量众多的英语词汇。

1. B猜测词义题。本题要求利用上下文猜测短语的意思。此处touch off是"引起"的意思。 set off与它同义。 move off离去，出发，走掉;take off起飞，脱掉，取消；drop off减弱，减少，掉落。

2. A细节理解题。由第一段的最后一句"looksay"或"wholeword"可知阅读教学方法是失败的。第二段分析了这种方法失败的原因,是因为它”stresses the meaning of words over the meaning of letters,thinking over deco?ding..."

3. D理解判断题。三、四段有答案出处。

4. B判断题。文章在最后一段谈到了phonics method的特点和好处，这种方法能使学习者获得更大的词汇量。