Question

One topic is rarely mentioned in all the talk of improving standards in our schools: the almost complete failure of foreign-language teaching. As a French graduate who has taught for more than twenty-five years, I believe I have some idea of why the failure is so total.   55   the faults already found out in the education system as a whole-such as child-cantered learning, the “discovery”method, and the low expectations by teachers of pupils-there have been several serious     56     which have a direct effect on language teaching.

The first is the removal from the curriculum（課程）of the thorough teaching of English

57    . Pupils now do not know a verb from a noun, the subject of a sentence from its object, or the difference between the past, present, or future.

Another important error is mixed-ability teaching, or teaching in ability groups so   58    that the most able pupils are     59     and are bored while the least able are lost and    60   Bored. Strangely enough, few head teachers seem to be in favor of mixed-ability school football teams.

Progress depends on memory, and pupils start to forget immediately they stop having     61     lessons. This is why many people who attended French lessons at school, even those who got good grades, have forgotten it a few years later.  62     they never need it, they do not practice it.

Most American schools have accepted what is inevitable and     63     modem languages, even Spanish, from the curriculum. Perhaps it is time for Britain to do the same, and stop     64     resources on a subject which few pupils want or need.

55．A．Due to	B．In addition to	C．Instead of	D．In spite of
56．A．errors	B．situations	C．systems	D．methods
57．A．vocabulary	B．culture	C．grammar	D．literature
58．A．wide	B．similar	C．separate	D．unique
59．A．kept out	B．turned down	C．help back	D．left behind
60．A．surprisingly	B．individually	C．equally	D．regular
61．A．extra	B．traditional	C．basic	D．regular
62．A．Although	B．Because	C．Until	D．Unless
63．A．restored	B．absorbed	C．prohibited	D．withdrawn
64．A．wasting	B．focusing	C．exploiting	D．sharing

 

Answer 1

國外好多中小學的外語教學出現(xiàn)了誤區(qū)。一是不開設語法課程，學生不懂語法和句子結構；二是不同智力水平的學生混合編班上課，造成優(yōu)等生被埋沒，差等生厭學。學過的語言知識由于長時間不使用而遺忘，因此現(xiàn)在美國大多數(shù)學校的課程計劃中都取消了外語課。

55．  B

  解析：由下文 “there have been several serious……”可推斷，此處表遞進關系，故選B項。in addition to除…外還…；due to由于；instead of表否定含義；in spite of雖然，盡管。

56． A

  解析：文章第三段第一句 “another important error…”已暗示，空格內應填error，其他三項與題意不符。

57． C

  解析：由下文的 Pupils do not know a verb and a noun.”可知，此處指的是英語語法課程已停止。

58 A

  解析：學生的智力水平參差不齊在同一個班級上課，造成優(yōu)秀生被埋沒。

59． C

  解析：由于學生的智力水平不同，在同一個班級上課，勢必會造成智力好的學生受到壓抑。 hold back 阻止，使壓抑。

60． C

  解析：由句中的while一詞可知，智力水平高和智力水平低的學生均感到厭煩，故equally（均等地）符合題意。

61． D

  解析：學生不按部就班上課，學過的東西就開始遺忘。regular正規(guī)的，經常的。

62． B

  解析：前后句為因果關系，故空格內填Because。

63． D

  解析：由上文的 “…h(huán)ave accepted what is inevitable（老一套的）…”可知，大多數(shù)美國的中小學已取消了西班牙語課程。

64． A

  解析：英國也效仿美國的做法（do the same），不再浪費有限的課程資源。