Question

What do college teachers think of high school English teachers’English teaching? And how should we see it? Let’s read the following.

A teacher from a community college addressed a sympathetic audience. Heads nodded in agreement when he said, “High school English teachers are not doing their jobs.” He described how weak his students were—all high school graduates who can use language only at a Grade 9 level.

My topic is not standards nor its decline（降低）. What the speaker was really saying is that he is no longer young; he has been teaching for sixteen years, and is able to think and speak like a mature adult.

My point is that the frequent complaint of one generation about the one immediately following is natural. It is also human nature to look for the reasons for our dissatisfaction. Before English became a school subject in the late nineteenth century, it was difficult to find the target of the blame for language deficiencies（缺陷）. But since then, English teachers have been under constant attack.

The complainers think they have hit upon an original idea. As their own command of the language improves, they notice that young people do not have this same ability. Unaware that their own ability has developed through the years, they assume the new generation of young people must be hopeless in this respect. To the eyes and ears of sensitive adults, the language of the young always seems inadequate.

Since this concern about the decline and fall of the English language is not seen as a generational phenomenon but rather as something new and peculiar(特有的) to today’s young people, it naturally follows that today’s English teachers cannot be doing their jobs.

1.The speaker believed that ________.

A. he was an excellent language teacher because he had been teaching English for sixteen years

B. the younger generation was as likely as not worse at language than the older generation 

C. high school English teachers should be responsible for their students’ poor command of English

D. The fact that the students didn’t work hard enough contributed to their poor command of English

2. In the author’s opinion, the speaker ________.

A. had exaggerated (夸大) the language problems of the students  

B. was right in saying English teachers were not doing their jobs       

C. gave a correct judgment of the English level of the students

D. thought and spoke in a wise and responsible way

3.What can we conclude from the passage?

A. Language learning and improving needs time and effort.

B. The author disagrees with the speaker over the standard of English at Grade 9 level. 

C. It is reasonable to include English as one of the high school subjects.

D. The English language teaching is by no means an easy job for college teachers.

4.The author’s attitude towards the speaker’s remarks is ________.

A. neutral（中立的）   B. critical

C. positive    D. compromising(妥協的)

 

Answer 1

【答案】

 

1.C

2.A

3.A

4.B

【解析】

試題分析：針對目前大學生英語能力下降這一現象，有些人把責任歸咎到高中教師身上，認為他們沒有盡到職責。在文中作者對此進行了剖析，批判了這一觀點，指出語言的學習是需要時間和努力的一個長期過程，學生能力差只不過是成年人在用自己多年培養出的能力標準來衡量學生的水平。

1.C。細節理解題。從文章第二段大學老師的抱怨“High school English teachers are not doing their jobs.”可以推斷得知他們認為學生英語能力差是老師的失職造成的，所以C選項正確。

2.A推理判斷題。根據文章倒數第二段Unaware that their own ability has developed through the years, they assume。。。 To the eyes and ears of sensitive adults, the language of the young always seems inadequate.可知作者指出抱怨者忽略了他們是在用自己多年培養形成的能力在來衡量學生們的能力水平，由此推斷作者暗含的意思是這些抱怨的人夸大了學生所存在的問題。故A選項正確。

3.A推理判斷題。從文章倒數第二段Unaware that their own ability has developed through the years,可知語言的培養需要時間和努力，所以A選項正確。

4.B推理判斷題。A中立的；B批判的；C積極的；D妥協的。從文章字里行間可以看出作者是不贊同抱怨者的說的話，尤其在文章最后一段作者指出“既然他們不把英語水平的下降看做一代人的現象的話，那么很自然就有了對高中教師的這種抱怨”。由此可知B選項正確。

考點：考查教育類短文閱讀。