阅读理解。
Do American children still learn handwriting in school? In the age of the keyboard, some
people seem to think handwriting lessons are on the way out. 90% of teachers say they are
required to teach handwriting. But studies have yet to answer the question of how well they
are teaching it. One study published this year found that about three out of every four teachers
say they are not prepared to teach handwriting. Some teachers are teaching handwriting by
providing instruction for ten to fifteen minutes a day, and then other teachers who basically
teach it for sixty to seventy minutes a day － which really is pretty much for handwriting.
Many adults remember learning that way － by copying letters over and over again. Today's
thinking is that short periods of practice are better. Many experts also think handwriting should
not be taught by itself. Instead, they say it should be used as a way to get students to express
ideas. After all, that is why we write.
Handwriting involves two skills. One is legibility, which means forming the letters so they can
be read. The other is fluency － writing without having to think about it. Fluency continues to
develop up until high school.
But not everyone masters these skills. Teachers commonly report that about one fourth of
their kids have poor handwriting. Some people might think handwriting is not important any
more because of computers and voice recognition programs.
But Steve Graham at Vanderbilt says word processing is rarely done in elementary school,
especially in the early years. American children traditionally first learn to print, and then to write
in cursive, which connects the letters. But guess what we learned from a spokeswoman for the
College Board, which administers the SAT college admission test. More than 75% of students
choose to print their essay on the test rather than write in cursive.
1. We can infer from the first paragraph that ______.
A. teachers spend little time in teaching handwriting.
B. most teachers attach importance to teaching handwriting.
C. handwriting teaching is not commonly required.
D. most teachers are at a loss how to teach handwriting
2. Which of the following about traditional handwriting in the USA is NOT true?
A. The students are taught by practicing a long period.
B. Printing is taught in preference to writing in cursive.
C. Handwriting is taught for its own sake.
D. Two skills get involved in handwriting.
3. Some American people consider handwriting not important any more because ______.
A. all the American children learn to print first
B. about 1/4 of the students choose to print their essay on the test
C. it is unnecessary to use handwriting in the age of keyboard
D. computers and voice recognition programs are widely used
4. ______ may serve as the best title for the passage.
A. Handwriting: fascinating in keyboard age
B. Right or wrong: the death of handwriting
C. Two skills involved in handwriting
D. Handwriting lessons on the way out
