Last year, a report by a committee of education experts said that a lot of American students cannot write well. The report noted the concerns of business leaders and teachers. The experts said that more students should have to pass a writing test before they can finish high school. They pointed out that major college entrance tests are changing now to include a writing part.
Educators know that teaching students to write well is not easy. One problem is the amount of time needed to read through large amounts of work. So some companies have developed computer programs. These can grade student writing much more quickly than a person can. Writing tests can also cost less to carry out by computer than paper-and-pencil. These computer systems are known as e-readers. They use artificial (人工的) intelligence to think in a way like teachers. In the state of Indiana, computer grading of a statewide writing test began with a test of the system itself. For two years, both a computer and humans graded the student writing. Officials say there was almost no difference between the computer grades and those given by the human readers.
The entrance test commonly used by business schools, the GMAT, already uses e-readers. The GRE and TOEFL tests might start; officials are deciding. The GRE is the Graduate Record Examination. TOEFL is the Test of English as a Foreign Language.
Systems are also being used to grade writing in college classes. The computers read a few hundred examples of student writing already graded by humans. Then the systems compare new writings against those already examined.
How do teachers feel all about this? Many say machines can never do the job as well as people can. A computer can find spelling and grammar mistakes. But these teachers say it can never really understand what a writer is trying to say. Critics say a program cannot follow a thought or judge humor or understand a beautifully expressed idea.
But inventors of the programs say computer grading guarantees that each piece of writing is graded in the same way. They also say the systems are meant to judge knowledge more than creativity.
1．What do the teachers think of the computer system?
A. They think highly of the computer systems.
B. They think that computers cannot grade writing as well as people.
C. They believe that computers can understand a writer’s idea well
D. They are glad computers will spare their effort to correct students’ school work.
2．From the first paragraph we can conclude that _________.
A. American students’ writing ability is being improved
B. American students’ writing ability is not satisfactory
C. business leaders and teachers are not worried about students’ writing
D. all college entrance tests will include a writing part
3．Which of the following is NOT the advantage of e-readers?
A. Saving much of teachers’ time.
B. Saving a lot of money.
C. Being fair and objective.
D. Appreciating humor and beauty
4．The best title of this passage might be _________.
A. Computer-graded Writing
B. Human-graded Writing
C. How to Improve Students’ Writing
D. Advantages of E-readers
