首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Ask an American schoolchild what he or she is learning in school these days and you might even get a reply, provided you ask it
Ask an American schoolchild what he or she is learning in school these days and you might even get a reply, provided you ask it
admin
2013-01-12
33
问题
Ask an American schoolchild what he or she is learning in school these days and you might even get a reply, provided you ask it in Spanish. But don’t bother, here’s the answer. Americans nowadays are not learning any of the things that we learned in our day, like reading and writing. Apparently these are considered fusty old subjects, invented by white males to oppress women and minorities.
What are they learning? In a Vermont college town I found the answer sitting in a toy store book rack, next to typical kids’ books like "Heather Has Two Mommies and Daddy is ’Dysfunctional’". It’s a teacher’s guide called "Happy To Be Me", subtitled "Building Self-Esteem". Self-esteem as it turns out, is a big subject in American classrooms. Many American schools see building it as important as teaching reading and writing. They call it "whole language" teaching, borrowing terminology from the granola people to compete in the education marketplace.
No one ever spent a moment building my self-esteem when I was in school. In fact, from the day I first stepped inside a classroom my self-esteem was one big demolition site. All that mattered was "the subject", be it geography, history, or mathematics. I was praised when I remembered that "near", "fit", "friendly", "pleasing", "like" and their opposites took the dative case in Latin. I was reviled when I forgot what a cosine was good for. Generally, I lived my school years beneath a torrent of castigation so consistent I eventually ceased to hear it, as people who live near the sea eventually stop hearing the waves.
Schools have changed. Reviling is out, for one thing. More important, subjects have changed. Whereas I learned English, modern kids learn something called "language skills". Whereas I learned writing, modern kids learn something called "communication". Communication, the book tells us, is seven per cent words, twenty three per cent facial expression, twenty per cent tone of voice, and fifty per cent body language. So this column, with its carefully chosen words, would earn at most a grade of seven per cent. That is, if the school even gave out something as oppressive and demanding as grades.
The result is that, in place of English classes, American children are getting a course in "How to Win Friends and Influence People". Consider the new attitude toward journal writing: I remember one high school English class when we were required to keep a journal. The idea was to emulate those great writers who confided in dimes, searching their soul and honing their critical thinking on paper.
"Happy To Be Me" states that journals are a great way for students to get in touch with their feelings. Tell students they can write one sentence or a whole page. Reassure them that no one, not even you, will read what they write. After the unit, hopefully all students will be feeling good about themselves and will want to share some of their entries with the class.
There was a time when no self-respecting book for English teachers would use "great" or "hopefully" that way. Moreover, back then the purpose of English courses (an antique term for "Unit") was not to help students "feel good about themselves". Which is good, because all that reviling didn’t make me feel particularly good about anything .
In Paragraph 2, "whole language" teaching is in inverted commas because ______.
选项
A、the writer is using direct speech
B、the writer is questioning the education concept
C、the words quoted have been extracted from a translation
D、the writer is quoting from another source
答案
B
解析
综观全文,作者对于当前的这种教育方式是持否定态度的,因此B项为正确答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/2l9O777K
0
考博英语
相关试题推荐
Ihopethatyou’llbemorecarefulintypingtheletter.Don’t______anything.
Anumberofresearchershaveexaminedthevariables/strategiesthataffectstudents’learningEnglishasasecondlanguage.This
Inproposing(suchphilanthropicdonations),thedirectorofthecompanycertainlyspoke(from)agenuineconcern(fortheneedy
TheteachersmadetheEnglishclassconsistofa______groupofthestudentsofsimilarabilities.
Thewordscienceisheardsoofteninmoderntimesthatalmosteverybodyhassomenotionofitsmeaning.Ontheotherhand,its
Genetherapyandgene-baseddrugsaretwowayswecouldbenefitfromourgrowingmasteryofgeneticscience.Buttherewillbeo
Oldpeoplearealwayssayingthattheyoungpeoplearenot【51】theywere.Thesamecommentis【52】fromgenerationtogenerationan
The______questioninthiscaseiswhethertheaccusedhadamotiveforthiscrimeornot.
Vitaminsareorganiccompoundsnecessaryinsmallamountsinthedietforthenormalgrowthandmaintenanceoflifeofanimals,
Zoosareamongmankind’soldestinstitutions,datingbackatleast4500years,andprobablymore.Acrosstheworldtheyhavebr
随机试题
某项发明专利,保护期为20年,但由于无形资产损耗大,拥有该项专利实际能获超额收益的期限为10年,则评估该项专利时所应考虑的期限为
患者男性,68岁。因原发性肝癌、肝功能失代偿期住院治疗,期间患者出现扑翼样震颤,最可能的原因是
三叉神经痛的主要病理表现是
支票持有人在超过提示付款期限提示付款时,下列做法不符合规定的是()。
佛教美术按其类别,一般可分为佛教壁画、_______和佛教建筑三大类。
新民主主义革命时期,在分析了近代中国社会的主要特点之后,毛泽东指出,近代中国社会的主要矛盾包括()。①资产阶级和无产阶级的矛盾②反动统治阶级内部的矛盾③帝国主义和中华民族的矛盾④封建主义和人民大众的矛盾
在对顽固势力的斗争中,中国共产党应当采取的正确策略有( )
设f(x)=ax(a>0,a≠1),则
在下面的程序段中,有关paint()方法中正确的说法是()。publicvoidpaint(Graphicsg){g.drawstring("Anyquestion",10,0);}
Allhesaidwassofreefromeffortand______andwassaidwithsuchacaptivatingcharm.
最新回复
(
0
)