问题 问答题

The teaching of English as a second language (ESL) in schools has had a history of conflicting arguments, interesting innovations and some very positive methodological changes. To understand the present situation, it is necessary to consider the past and the wider educational context which has a hearing on it.

Until quite recently, approaches to ESL work have been ply influenced by methods developed to teach English as a foreign language to older learners. These methods placed much emphasis on drills, exercises and remedial programs that focus on language in abstraction. 46) The prescriptive nature of such methods and the demands they made on the teacher’s time developed the belief that ESL work could be tackled only by the specialist ESL teacher working with small groups of children. Such an approach does not fit comfortably into current notions of learning and teaching in the primary school, nor does it sufficiently equip ESL learners in the secondary school to benefit from normal schooling. 47) In prescribing what language is to be taught, it has ignored what children bring to the learning task and the choices they make about how and what they want to learn. Furthermore, the location and organization of language provision did not measure up to the demand. 48)The language centers and English language services all contributed to providing special and concentrated teaching of English as a second language in small groups, varying in size from four or five to fifteen. Whatever the pattern of provision, the main aim was to give pupils sufficient English to enable them to join normal schools as quickly as possible. The success of such special provision depended very much on the close and constant liaison of language teachers with the subject teachers and the class teachers and on the continuity of learning experiences provided by them. 49)One of the important disadvantages of language centers and withdrawal groups was that ESL children were being taught away from those English -speakers who provide the most powerful models, i. e. their peer group. Peer-group interaction is an important element in any learning situation, but its particular strengths in a classroom with ESL learners cannot be overemphasized.

50) The separation of second language learners from the mainstream classroom cannot easily be justified on educational grounds, since in practice it leads to both their curriculum and language learning being impoverished.

Notes: context 环境。bear on 对......有影响,关系到...... 。例如:I don’t see how this bears on the matter. (我不明白这一点与那些事的关系。)liaison n. 联结。liaison of A with A与B之间的联系。

46) The prescriptive nature of such methods and the demands they made on the teacher’s time developed the belief that ESL work could be tackled only by the specialist ESL teacher working with small groups of children.

答案

参考答案:

这些方法的规定性特征以及它们对教师时间上的要求使人们相信,作为第二语言的英语教学工作只能由这方面的专业教师和一些孩子们分小班进行。

解析:

[注释] make demand on(of)对……提出要求。例如;I know that they make the most unreasonable demand on you, developed the belief that... 引申后译为“使人们相信……”。

阅读理解与欣赏

阅读下面的文字,完成小题。

继父

邵宝健

不怕你笑话,巷口那个驼背鞋匠是我的继父。他是背上先有座“小山”才不得已弄了个鞋匠的行当,还是因为长期弓着背补鞋钉掌才弄了个“小山”在背上,未可知。他还喜欢喝酒。他那难看的始终绯红的酒糟鼻,就是因为酒喝得过多的缘故。在他两年前和我母亲结婚时,我正对司画女神爱得疯狂。

20岁的男子汉嘛,是很要面子的。继父刚来我家时,我连出门也不好意思。我没有理由恨母亲。她嫁给那个驼背,完全是为了不务正业的我和尚在初中读书的小妹。我有了个继父后,画画就有了物质保障。尽管这样,我一点也不喜欢他。我从来没有叫过他一声“爸”。

他对我的游手好闲,并不反感;而对我钟情于画画,却有点不以为然。这自然是我的花销要威胁他的酒钱。我还从他的眼神里,感觉到他对我的警告。

我自小爱好画画,也许是天赋不足,抑或是未遇到机遇,学画多年,至今仍一事无成。但我不气馁。高考落榜后,我索性关起门来潜心作画。那些画友,自从知道我有了个驼背继父,似乎也不大愿意和我切磋画技了。哼!

这天,我恐怕是向母亲要钱多了一点。继父也似乎多喝了点酒,说了许多含糊不清的话。经过母亲的翻译,才知道——他说我已是条汉子了,不能老呆在家里吃闲饭,将来他们两口子总会死的,到时再想成家立业便来不及了,实在找不到合适的工作,可和他学习补鞋,以后就可以继承他的鞋铺。

这是什么话!我一气之下,三天不回家。后来还是母亲和小妹把我从我的同学家找回去。

我了解到县城那家裘一品画斋,代人出售画作。我跃跃欲试,手舞之,足蹈之。

经过七天七夜的苦战,我终于完成了一幅油画,题为《傍晚》。我决定用这幅油画去裘一品画斋碰碰运气。一位戴金丝边眼镜的白须长者细细鉴定后,问我想定怎么个价。我踟蹰了。我老做寄生虫,脸上无光啊。我渴望钱。我伸出右手,五个手指撑开:“500元。”那位长者以为定价过高了点,用体恤的口吻要我掉价。

我不想掉价,咽了一口唾液:“就这样定了!”

几天过去了,没有买主。一个月过去了,画面上蒙上了些灰尘。

我终于病了。高烧,昏睡,说胡话。我被送进医院,继父的鞋铺停业了半个月。他在我的病榻前守护了许多个夜晚。这是事后听母亲说的。我在昏睡中还尽说些“傍晚——500,500——傍晚”的胡话,谁也不悟其义。

病愈后,我回家养息。我变得终日无力,不思茶饭,人瘦脸黄,判若两人。

这天,我接受母亲的劝告,外出散步。不知不觉又踱到裘一品画斋。再也没有勇气进去了。那位白须长者发现了我,走出店堂喊住我。我运气像太阳一样升起来了——《傍晚》已在三天前被人买去。

母亲不敢相信,眼眶也湿润了:“原来你的画这么值钱啊。”

继父闻悉此事,特意买了些酒菜,以示祝贺。

自此,我的身体恢复了元气。我画画的热情高涨。

继父继续拼命地做鞋活,还把鞋铺的门面开大了些。为了省钱,他自己动手搭了个绿色的玻璃钢雨棚。记得那天,继父特别高兴,哼着小调,把竹梯靠在墙上。他背了座“小山”往上爬的样子,叫人看了直想发笑。突然,只听见他轻轻地“唔”了一声,人便从竹梯上滑落下来。

脑溢血。当夜,继父再也说不出话,心脏停止了搏动。他含着笑睡去,带走属于那个已经消逝的岁月里的沉沉的叹息。

我在整理继父的遗物时,意外地发现了一幅油画藏品——我的杰作《傍晚》!

我捧着画,哀伤和苍凉的情绪急剧地袭来,我号啕大哭。大哭一场后,看着继父的遗像,我决定做鞋匠。至于将来我有没有希望当上画家,那要看我的运气了。

(选自2011年第10期《微型小说选刊》,有删改)

小题1:小说第一自然段对继父的外貌描写主要有什么作用?(4分)

小题2:简要分析“我”终于改变主意“决定作鞋匠”,主要有哪些原因。(5分)

小题3:这篇小说写的是平常人、平常事,但写得很感人。请你结合“继父”的形象加以分析。(6分)

阅读理解与欣赏