There is a common belief among parents that schools are no longer interested in spelling. No school I have taught in has ever considered spelling unimportant as a basic skill. There are, however, quite different ideas about how to teach it, or how much priority (优先) it must be given over general language development and writing ability. The problem is, how to encourage a child to express himself freely in writing without holding him back with spelling.
If spelling becomes the only point of his teacher’s interest, clearly a bright child will be likely to “play safe”. He will write only words within his spelling range (范围). That’s why teachers often encourage the early use of dictionaries and pay attention to content rather than technical ability.
I was once shocked to read on the bottom of a sensitive piece of writing about a personal experience:“This work is terrible! There are far too many spelling mistakes.” It may have been a sharp criticism(批评) of the pupils technical abilities in writing, but it was also a sad thing for the teacher who had omitted (略过) to read the composition, which contained some beautiful expressions of the child’s deep feelings. The teacher was not wrong to draw attention to the mistakes, but if his priority had centered on the child's ideas, an expression of his disappointment with the presentation would have given the pupil more hope to seek improvement.
小题1:The expression “play safe” probably means ____.
A．to write carefully
B．to do as teachers say
C．to use dictionaries frequently
D．to avoid using words one is not sure of小题2:Teachers encourage the use of dictionaries so that____.
A．students will be able to express their ideas more freely
B．teachers will have less trouble in correcting mistakes
C．students will have more trust in writing
D．students will learn to spell words correctly小题3:The writer seems to think that the teacher’s judgement on that sensitive piece of writing is____.
A．reasonable
B．unfair
C．foolish
D．careless小题4:The major point discussed in the passage is _______.
A．the importance of developing writing skills
B．the importance of spelling
C．the correct way of marking composition
D．the relationship between spelling and the content of a composition
